John James Searle (inneedofrepair) wrote in the_colony, @ 2010-07-02 01:23:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | ^ week 10, bridget mackenzie, john james searle, | bridget and searle |
Week ten - Sunday
Characters: Bridget and Searle.
Location: Siena Suites; library.
Summary: Bridget and Searle chat about the people that have gone.
Rating: PG
Searle let himself into the library, shutting the door behind him against the wind. The tousled state of his hair suggested he’d been walking outside for a while, which he had been, to think. There had been a few changes within their group since the traders’ visit, which didn’t sit well with him. For a while, he’d been reading the book Bridget had assigned to take his mind off of everything, but it had become too muddled to continue. And he needed some supplementary reading.
“Hey,” he greeted as he saw Bridget already there, reluctantly letting go of the doorknob as he did so. If he’d known she would be in, he might have avoided the library until later on. He still couldn’t get the memory of Orin leaving her suite Saturday morning out of his head, even though the only reason he’d seen it was because he was seeing Nevaeh out of his own suite.
Bridget looked up from her book and forced a smile at the teen, a bit surprised to see him in there. “Good morning, Searle.” She should have known that if she wanted total privacy she should have stayed in her suite, but a person could stay in one spot only so long before going stir crazy.
The young woman was still trying to come to terms with the fact that she’d cheated on her husband. Sure, Jake was probably dead, but she didn’t know that. Without knowing that how could she sleep with another man? It bothered her more than she cared to admit, both the hope that Jake was still alive out there somewhere and that she’d been so easy to cast her vows aside and sleep with the first man who’d shown blatant interest who she found attractive.
“I was wondering ... are there any dictionaries in here?” Searle could tell Bridget wasn’t her most cheerful self, so he decided to skip the smalltalk.
“Dictionaries?” Bridget blinked at the thought of Searle wanting a dictionary and put her own book aside. “Yes, we’ve got some over there on the far table, along with a couple thesauruses. What are you wanting to look up?”
“There are some words in the book you gave me I don’t understand,” Searle admitted, while heading over to the table indicated. He didn’t spend much time looking through the selection, just grabbing one that looked like it would do.
“Well, that was kind of the point, along with the content.” Bridget told him with a bit more natural a smile at the admission. “You’re only fifteen, and that’s a pretty advanced book. I’d be surprised if you got every word right off the bat. There’s not going to be any such thing as formal schooling anymore, at least not for your generation at a minimum, so this is how you’re going to have to learn things.”
“How many other kids are getting schooled nowadays?” Searle turned to Bridget, offering a smile. “I’m betting not a lot of people are going to have big vocabularies twenty years from now.”
“My kids and any growing up around me will if I have anything to say about it.” Bridget said firmly, rising to the bait. “Just because the world ended is no excuse not to learn how to read at a high level, especially if I can keep us in books.”
“I’m not complaining,” Searle said, lifting his hands up disarmingly, “just asking. But I hope you’re making Jack read something hard, too.”
Bridget chuckled. “She’s a little further behind than you, given her age, but yeah she’s got something that’ll make her work at it a little.”
Searle smiled, not really because he was happy Jack would be struggling with her book like him, but more because it was easier being normal with Bridget than he’d thought. Not that he wasn’t still jealous, though.
“So ... on Friday, the traders.... Did you think anyone was going to leave with them?”
Bridget’s face fell slightly at the mention of the traders. While she’d been glad of the visit, the last thing she’d expected was the drop in their numbers that resulted. “No, I didn’t. I had thought Gill would have stuck around too, but I guess she was too much of a loner.” Leo had been the biggest surprise, what with how he and Alice had gotten involved.
“Why do you think people are leaving?” Searle asked, frowning.
Bridget sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “I wish I knew. Zoé was always something of a free spirit, I don’t think she was all that happy with us. Cass...I guess there was more between them than any of us knew. I have no idea why Leo decided to just leave.”
“I think Walker liked it around here.” He would miss the boy, and Zoé’s energy had always been refreshing. As for something more between Cass and Zoé than met the eye ... Searle wasn’t sure he wanted to think about that. “It’s not a bad place. I don’t get why people keep leaving.” Searle studied Bridget. “Have you ever thought about it?”
“Not really,” Bridget answered after a few moment’s thought. “I mean, I found out I was pregnant almost as soon as I got here. It helped put things into perspective.” She was quiet a moment longer, then added. “If I’d found out Jake was still alive out there somewhere, then maybe, but otherwise no.”
“I hope he’d want to join us. It’d really suck if I never got to see your baby.” Among other things, Searle thought.
“I’m sure he would,” Bridget wiped eyes that had become suspiciously moist as she thought of Jake. “He was the whole reason we came out this way, as he thought there would be survivors that we could join up with. If it had been up to me we’d have probably stayed in the forest a few more months then headed back to my family’s farm to start over. But then I wouldn’t have met all of you.”
“I think stuff happens for a reason,” Searle said, quietly. “I never thought I’d stay in Vegas this long, but it was meant to be. I think.” He offered a sheepish smile. “All I know is it feels right.”
Bridget couldn’t quite say the same. What felt right to her would be being back home in Pennsylvania with her mother and sister squealing over her ultrasound pictures and her sleeping in her husband’s arms. But the first two weren’t going to happen and the last wasn’t likely either. She smiled weakly at Searle and reached over to pat him on the arm. “Thanks Searle, you’re a good friend.”
“Yeah.” Searle breathed a laugh, lowering his eyes to the dictionary in his hands. “Well, I should probably keep reading.” He gestured with the book. “Where’s the check out list?”
“Just over there,” Bridget pointed toward a clipboard hanging on the wall. “Just write it down so I know who to come find if it stays out for a while.”
Searle did just that, doing his best to write legibly. “It probably will. I still have a bunch of the book to go.”
“That’s fine. We’ve got a couple different dictionaries.” She assured him. “Fortunately nobody took any books with them when they left, so I didn’t lose any.”
“Wish I’d got to say good-bye. I wasn’t close to any of them like I was to Kathleen, but it still kinda feels bad.”
Bridget sighed and slumped into her chair. “I was getting there with Cass, and I liked Leo. I don’t know why they all felt they had to go, but I hope they do well wherever they end up.”
“Me too.” Searle nodded, then stepped toward the door. “All right, well, I’m gonna go, but uh, are you free for dinner tonight?”
The corners of her mouth curled up and she looked at him. “I could be. Why? You want something better than you can make yourself?” Her tone was teasing.
Searle laughed. “Yeah, and you’d understand if you ever ate my cooking.”
“Thought so. Sure, come on over about seven and I’ll feed you.”
“Okay.” That brought a smile to Searle’s face, and he grabbed the doorknob of the exit to let himself out. “See you later.”