A small laugh escaped from her, feeling weary at the thought of getting into verbal disagreements with someone in as close quarters as they both were. Confined spaces did strange things to people, to relationships. You had to have space, breathing room, time apart and lives for them to work, none of which she’d get on board a weird space station. “Me, arguing?” she smirked a little. “Now what idiot would do that when there’s no place to run to? Small communities always stick their opinions in where they’re not needed and here is as small a place as anywhere. There’s probably nomadic tribes in the Amazon with higher population densities. And I don’t know dick about science.”
Abi had never liked being the centre of attention, preferring instead to slip away and do her own thing, free from judgement. She’d hated her parents hovering over her when they were alive and missed it after they were dead. The prospect of a tiny community was terrifying to her stubborn streak – she only knew two people here still.
“Dorms? Fuck no, that’s hell on earth to me. I don’t mind a party, but actually living with them? I kept my own apartment, about the only thing in the world my grandma had to give, and it saved me a buttload of money. Can never thank her enough for that.”
The coffee was down to the dregs, cold and sweet from the sugar she always put in. “Write,” she smiled. “You say that like it’s easy. Like I have an idea what to write, like I know a voice still. I’m a journalist, not a novelist. I wanted to travel, get people’s stories and show them to the world, the truth of culture, good and bad.” Abi shook her head, feeling more than a little confused about her path now. “I need to adapt, find another way to do what I loved, you know? Make something good in the world.”
Though she very much doubted he was a total asshole, she was still wary of putting herself out there for him to stomp on. It happened to too many girls she knew, girls who had dreams put on a side burner by marriage and babies, their determination forgotten because they thought they had to choose between being a mother and having a career. You couldn’t have it all for free, but it was hard work worth doing well. “Maybe you are, can’t say I know the real you that well, can I?” she said with a teasing tone. “But if you are, I’ll have to cut my losses and walk away, as far as this tiny station could get me.”
She wasn’t sure whether or not he was winding her up about the damn movie and her eyes sparkled with mischief. “But isn’t there so much that you’ve missed? Cultural revolutions, crises, wars… Hell, if there’s people from the future, I wanna know what I’ve missed. Even if they are from a different reality than me, and I’d have centuries of future history to learn about.”
Abi thought that, yes, he was definitely that easy to wind up. She probably shouldn’t be having so much fun about it, but damn if the man didn’t like squirming for her. She drained the last of the cold coffee from her mug and set it and her empty plate aside, looking back up at him pointedly. Time to see what this thing was really gonna be.
“I have to ask, if I have the opportunity to ask Mr Ernest Hemingway one very probing and, frankly, rude question that he doesn’t have to answer…” she licked her bottom lip slightly, pinning his gaze. “Why did you leave Hadley? It has bothered me for a long time, you know? I couldn’t make sense of it. Please tell me where I can get off if you want.“ She wasn’t judging, or even particularly concerned about it, but rather just wanting some kind of answer. It would speak to the kind of man he truly was, and what he wanted from her as a person. Had he got bored? Got his head turned by another girl? All men had a limit, she supposed.
“People… it’s hard to be alone sometimes. I have, admittedly, hidden away in being independent for a long time,” she cleared her throat. “I had friends, but none of them were close. I moved a lot around the state for a while, so never got the roots back until I got my inheritance. I had a boyfriend back home, but it was gonna be finished before I woke up here so I don’t think I can say anyone’s really missing me. No family, not since I was a teenager. I’m just me, living in the tiniest place ever.”