Orchid Ch. 00

"Or, uh... yanno... if you want to try and tie this into your own narrative, think of how many people worked here? How many people bled for a place like this?"

"Uh huh."

"Decades of busting your ass for a business, and twenty years down the road, do you think this dump made a difference in the world?"

"It probably provided a lot of food for people."

"Sure," she allowed. "I mean, it's not a perfect metaphor, but I'm improvising here. Work with me."

"Uh huh."

"Even, yanno, what were you talking about before? Graphic design? Art, sure. Art can... I dunno... influence people? It has that capacity. But if you think for a moment about the sheer magnitude of art that gets made every year, yanno, the volume of it all. How much of that matters in the grand scheme?"

"It is sad commentary on my parents that this is the best pep talk I've ever had."

"Well I haven't gotten to the point yet, Billy."

"It's Gill," he said, testily.

Eve rolled her eyes and grinned. "What I was sayin' before? That's all big picture stuff. Think small now. Think about the lady that worked the register there on October second, 1979. Do you think she was overcome with the futility of a dead end job? Having the best day of her life? Or do you think she probably had a day like any other, went home, and baked a meatloaf?"

"This just slipped below the speech my Peewee football coach gave before a third place game when I was 10."

"Ha ha." She smirked as she started walking again, and Gill fell right in step with her. "I'm not saying you've gotta try to live every moment with the dial set to YOLO, but... like..." She frowned for a moment, collecting her thoughts. "My point is that everyone is going to spend decades doing something. 99.99999% of us are gonna live our entire lives without doing anything that truly matters. The only thing that's left, then, is to make sure that what you do is something you wanted to do in the first place." They made their way across the waste. "Dust to dust and all that."

"Saved it with the solo," he said, nodding, and was rewarded with a booming laugh from the tiny girl. They pushed through two big swinging doors into the back area of the store. More of the same empty decay. He didn't see nothing, though. In flashes, he saw the way things could have been. The way they probably were. Pallets of food. People going about their jobs. Good days and bad.

"Hey," barked a voice. Gill whirled, his senses sharpened in the instant. "Keep it down over there."

"Hey Gary," Eve said.

A man, a bit shabby but none the worse for wear, leaned out around a pile of empty bags. "Oh, hey Eve. Been a while." She continued on away from Gary, smiling fondly, and Gill reluctantly followed. "You headed up on the roof?"

"Yup."

"New boyfriend?"

"Just a friend," she called, as they turned a corner. Gary laughed disbelievingly behind them.

"I feel like we might be going through the relationship stages in the wrong order," Gill said, very proud of himself. Wit was not his strong suit.

"Didn't hear you complaining," she said with a mild shrug.

Gill had no response to that, so he merely followed behind her as she hopped up a long flight of steps.

The door at the top opened, to his surprise, on the roof. He took another look up, awed as always by the night sky, as she kicked a rock under the door to wedge it open. She was moving differently now, he saw. With purpose. Her strides more confident. Heel planted and legs extended instead of that hip sway from before. A ground-chewing cadence. Not that this was any less sexy. Gill was surprised at how much he was staring at her legs. How focused he was on them. He'd never considered himself much of a leg man either.

She stepped over a slight rise 30 yards beyond the stairs. In his mind, Gill tried to picture distances and walls, and where he knew the grocery store to end. The waterproof sealant on the other side looked different too. He did little more than raise his eyebrow as he followed her over the warehouse adjacent, and then over another one after that.

"This is it," she said grimly, as she walked up to a hatch. Eve wiggled the toe of her shoe under a corner and lifted with her foot. "I used to work here," she explained, as she tucked her hands into the sleeves of her hoodie and proceeded down the ladder. She paused halfway down and waved her hand at him. "You might want to cover your hands too, if you can."

"There's no party, is there?"

"What are you talking about?" she said, incredulously. "Can't you hear that thumping bass?" She gave him another wink and lowered herself down to the floor. Gill sighed. His jacket fit too tightly to slip his hands inside the wrists, but he did have a pair of driving gloves.

The ladder dropped down into a well-stocked maintenance room. Hundreds of hand tools he recognized littered the expansive counter space. A forklift truck was backed in, with the propane-powered motor half disassembled. The forklift, he thought, was probably a good deal older than himself, and the intervening years had not been kind to it.

"Keep up," Eve called, and he hurried after her.

The warehouse beyond was rows and rows of... stuff. Barrels. Drums. Pallets stacked chest-high with bags. Eve was using her smartphone as a flashlight, so he could see a little, but not enough to know what was in the containers. Everything had labels, but it all looked like gibberish. Some of it was stacked twenty feet high, but every row was full, front to back.

"See that?" she said over her shoulder, pointing her phone up in the air. Gill squinted and looked, and cursed when he saw the camera pointed right at them. "Don't worry. It doesn't work. It's just there to scare you. Cus they're assholes."

"There are other ways you could have handled that," he wheezed, clutching his chest.

"The only cameras are inside. They're not interested in scaring away thieves, just scaring the shit out of their employees."

"This is breaking and entering, isn't it?"

"It's about to be a lot worse than that, but don't worry. The alarm system works just as well as the cameras. Cheap ass bastards."

"Are we just gonna, like... vandalize this place?"

"Sure," she said with a nod. "Let's go with that." There was an edge in her expression that hadn't been there before. Something in her eyes. She moved on, and he trailed in her wake.

"I worked hard," she explained. "I wasn't a perfect employee, but I worked hard." Gill's eyes roamed, taking in what he could see. Some kind of processing stations ran along one wall, but he couldn't tell what any of the machinery did. He saw some hoses, and guessed that most of it ran pneumatically but, functionally, that told him nothing.

A big information board hung near a lone incandescent bulb. He recognized a binder full of MSDS's, but a brief flip through it told him nothing. Eastern Polymer Incorporated. The name was at the top of the board, but he hadn't seen it in the low light at first. As his eyes adjusted, he spotted a Wall of Honor... and his blood ran cold as he stared at the pictures for Employee of the Month for last February and March. Big eyes, pixie nose, and a wide smile. Everett Ginsman, looking very much male.

Gill turned slowly as Eve stormed through a door, and then right back out a few seconds later with an empty jug in her hand. His hand, Gill corrected.

Fuckin' faggot. His father's voice came so quickly to mind that it startled him. How's a thing like that natural?

Gill grit his teeth as he watched Eve fill the plastic jug from a pump at the other end of the warehouse.

Parading around like that. Outta be fuckin' illegal, like it says in the Bible.

Gill had never known his father to be a religious man except when it suited him. Eve was cursing under her breath as she walked back. Gill followed her as she went back into the room she'd gone in earlier.

"Mother fuckers," she snarled, voice shaky. There was more, but it was too quiet to make out. She knelt down in front of an open cabinet, muttering incoherently, and set the jug back in a spot that seemed prepared for it. Tubing hung down for it from a machine that sat on the countertop. Gill fumed as he watched her... him... "All that shit I was saying before?"

"Yeah?" he said, icily.

"It was all bullshit." She twisted the cap on part-way, and fiddled with a loose wire hanging down. "I don't have anything figured out. I like to sound like I do, but it's all an act." Her voice was... choked. "Everything is an act, and it's all lies." She slumped a little, pink hair falling around her face. Gill looked back out at the door. Back in the direction of that Wall of Honor. Employee of the Month. Twice. And now, she was here about to burn the place down. Crying, and trying hard not to show it.

"This one's for you, Dad."

"W-what?" Her voice was muddled with tears as she looked up at him. If her mascara had run a bit before, it was ruined now.

"Nothing," he said, smiling as he crouched down. He could smell the alcohol in the jug she'd filled. There was an exhaust fan in the small space, and the covering over it was jagged and hanging crookedly. The power cord was frayed, worn thin from slipping through the covering and rubbing against the fan blades. Eve reached in and gave the jug a hard shove, splashing the walls in the small space with the flammable liquid. She jammed the exposed wire inside the fan covering, and closed the cabinet.

"Come on," she said, as she stood and walked to the door. Gill walked through and waited, turning to look at the Wall of Honor again. The smile was the same, just like in the license photo. Eve flicked the light switch on just inside the door, and then off again. Brief light flooded the warehouse through the open door, along with a loud woooosh. She was so full of determination as she walked away, and Gill couldn't help but relate.

Back through the warehouse. Back up the ladder. Back across the rooftops. The city was quiet. Nothing coming or going. She kicked the rock loose, and they went back down the long staircase into the abandoned grocery store.

"Get the lights on your way out," Gary grumbled.

"I will," Eve replied, still moving at a brisk pace, "but it might get a little noisy tonight."

Gary said something else in reply, but they had already moved out of earshot. Gill jogged over to the door and backed it open while Eve flipped off the lights. Once out into the parking lot, they fast walked back to his car and drove off. After leaving the grocery store, Eve only said one word. A place Gill knew, and had no trouble getting them to.

***

"Thank you," Eve said quietly, as they sat on the hood of his Barracuda. The fire was visible now, although it only looked like a struck match from the distant hilltop they were parked on. "I didn't really... I didn't plan for that."

"It looked like you knew what you were doing."

Eve rolled her eyes and smiled. "I'd thought about it, sure... but it was one of those things where you see all these piece and you know how you could fit them together. I just never thought I'd have cause, or... the... just..."

"Rage?"

"YES! Fuck! I'm not an angry person, but some people!"

Gill nodded and looked down at the ground. At least, he intended to look down at the ground, but as had happened so often that night he found himself staring at her legs again. They were tucked in tight, her chin resting on her knees. Her arms wrapped across her shins, each hand gripping the forearm of the opposite. In the back of his mind his father raged, and that brought a little smile to his face.

Gill thought about his father's garage, and had a brief moment of clarity. Years and years of calendars hanging on doors, and always with blondes. Blondes with killer racks. The disdain for Ford. The Dr. Pepper machine in the corner. He had to shake himself out of it as he started to really comprehend all of the things he did and thought and liked simply because that had been the path laid out for him, because it was staggering. That was an entire night's worth of processed emotions, and if he did that here, now... he'd miss out. He'd miss the lesson.

Eve was sitting... not closely to him. There was definite space. Gill slid closer.

"Billy, listen—"

"It's Gill, not Billy."

"Whatever. Look, what I was saying earlier? About everything being an act?"

"I know," he said, as he sat up and faced her.

"No, you don't. I—"

"I know," he repeated patiently. Calmly. Eve blinked and stared back. For the first time all night, she looked more afraid than he did. More afraid by the second as he leaned in slowly and pressed his lips to hers. She whimpered, air escaping through her nose as he kissed her gently. Sweetly. Her eyes, wide and shimmering.

For a moment, he jumped back to earlier in the day. Jennifer came by to pick up her sedan. He'd gotten cleaned up as best he could. His face, more than presentable. His hands were still blacked with oil, but he'd done his best to keep her interior clean. Gloves, shoe covers, steering wheel covers, seat covers. The whole nine yards.

She never once got off her phone, never once looked him in the eye. Never stopped the conversation she'd been having while she paid and left. She never did. For years, he'd hoped she would look up just once, and she never did.

Eve trembled as he cupped her cheek and pulled her toward him. Her lip, quivering.

"Is this ok?" he whispered.

Her mouth opened and closed, lips forming the word 'yes', but there was no sound. Eve had no voice. Her throat, closed shut completely. Gill leaned in and kissed her again, just as softly as the first. Again. Again, more emphatically. Eve's eyes closed, and their lips stayed connected. He leaned further, twisting and moving in front of her. The more he came at her, the more Eve retreated onto the hood. Her arms, unwound from around her legs and planted behind her. Her knees parted slowly, feet sliding out to either side of his broad torso. Pursue and retreat. His hands flat on the hood. Pursue and retreat. Their lips, magnetized. Held together with a ferocity that carried their mutual frustrations.

He could feel her attraction. He could feel her nervous need. Her fullness. His hips thrust by instinct, grinding against her. "My back pocket," he whispered. Eve lurched around him, fishing out his wallet. She twisted her head to the side and pulled out the condom neatly tucked in the middle, while he suckled on her collarbone. The wrapper, ripped open with her one free hand and her teeth. His belt loosened, jeans dropped. Her skirt flipped up, panties pulled aside. And through it all, his lips and tongue were on her.

Gill grunted as he pushed inside her that first time, but the sound it birthed out of Eve was otherworldly. Long, low, and continuous. She reached down and grabbed her knees, pulling them up. Her white and pink sneakers, hovering in the air. Bobbing, as he started driving deep into her. Over and over.

"Oooooooh god," Eve cried. Her eyes shut tight, and her teeth clenched. "Mmmmm-mmmm-mmmmmm!"

Gill cursed under his breath. She moaned as he grabbed her hips and pulled her closer to the edge. Faster. He was on fire. His cock pistoned in and out of her ass. The squelching sound was loud in his ears, but it played second fiddle to Eve's song. Gone was the rasp; in its place was a symphony of squeals and moans. Faster.

After several minutes, Eve's cries reached a peak. Her feet jerked around in the air, toes pointed straight out and her back arched high. He looked down briefly to see that she'd cum all over her skirt. A little had gotten on his shirt too, but he didn't mind. He leaned in and planted a row of kisses along her neck while she rode the glorious wave of her orgasm all the way to shore. He even found a spot, right on the corner between her neck and her shoulder, that made her twitch and hum. He focused there, suckling patiently.

She nodded, giving him the all clear, and Gill began again. Slowly at first, but faster and faster as he went. Her tiny whimpers, so close to his ear, skirted the fine line between pain and ecstasy. Driving him wild. Harder and harder. Animalistic. Primal.

She clung to him. Hands clawed at his back through his shirt, and her feet intertwined behind him. "Fuck me," she whispered. Her lips danced against the edge of his ears. "Please! I need it." Gill slowed down, breaking the seal on the purple mark he'd left on her neck, and kissed her again. Each push now, going long and slow from tip to groin. Her tongue was so delicate. So small.

Gill didn't last much longer. He pushed up and away for a few last, vicious thrusts, and screamed into the night. Release that had been a long time coming.

Eve looked so beautiful beneath him. The thick, white stain on her skirt. The way her feet rose and fell in time with her ragged breathing. The sheen of sweat across her brow. Fireflies alighted across the hilltop around them, giving the small clearing a magical glow. Gill smiled.

***

It was dark and quiet when he got home long after 3 AM. Gill tiredly hung his coat on the hook just inside the garage door and dropped his keys in the little glass bowl on the edge of the counter. When he sat down at the kitchen table, however, and began unlacing his boots, he stared thoughtfully. Along the mudroom wall in front of him was a line of sneakers and work shoes. He always took them off and put them in the same spot, not because they needed to go there, but because that's where he'd always put them. He smiled as he went upstairs, looking forward to the morning for the first time in a while. He had some thinking to do.