SURROGATE : Conception (+18) BOOK 1 (COMPLETE)

| 52 | In The Meantime ||

Liam wasn't sure why consciousness started to pelt him with hearing. In fact, he wasn't sure when unconsciousness took hold of him.

"Uhuh, don't you go in there."

He frowned.

Then it became clear to him when consciousness disturbed his slumber. It was Penelope's voice that roused him.

"Go in there and you're going to get--" Her startled gasp was followed by ominous music. A few moments later a muffled squeal. "OH MY gosh!" She said through gritted teeth. "You're so dumb!"

His eyes struggled open, the light from the screen not helping. When they were sort of open, he focused on the woman, perched in the adjacent chair. The one that he referred to as hers. She was sitting on her knee and shoveling popcorn in her mouth. It'd only been a couple days though it felt like an eternity since his snide comments to her out by the pool.

He'd been doing a lot of thinking about how he was going to make things right with Penelope. Morgan, for all intents and purposes, was easy. She took his apology with a steady, calm, grace saying the right words before moving into the next item on the agenda.

He exhaled.

Penelope was a different bear altogether, not to mention the Gala was in a couple days. He had to do something he knew that, but he'd been putting it off and so it'd become a pending anxious thing screaming in his mind.

"Can't you run any faster? AWE COME ON! He's walking for god sake-- Awe damn you messed up now, falling all over the place." She shoved in more popcorn, but that didn't seem to stop her from ranting at the screen. "Get up! GET YOUR PUNK AHH--" She screamed and some popcorn flew out the top of the bucket.

He frowned and glanced at the television. What the hell was this? He didn't remember having this on.

"See, couldn't have black people in this damn movie," she grumbled, collecting the rogue kernels and eating them. "Because it would be like two minutes long--" She screamed and hid behind her fingers, then parted them a little bit.

He laughed, he couldn't help it.

The joy quickly filled him.

She looked back at him with a sheepish smile after stuffing a handful of popcorn in her mouth. He looked down at his lap where he last remembered the bucket of popcorn resting but alas there were only his hands.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Her face was in shadow, but he could feel her gaze on him.

"Saying yes would be admitting to falling asleep, which I will not give you the satisfaction."

She giggled. "Popcorn?" She offered it and he waved it away. Popcorn was not what he wanted in his mouth at that moment. He knew the thought was not good the moment it passed his mind, but it was a thought. It came, then went and what was he meant to do about it now?

He frowned.

He had to get himself together. The theater had been a refuge for him for so long that it made him ornery just thinking about how small his very sizable house felt as of late. He wasn't mad and Penelope, of course. It wasn't her fault or her problem. In fact, he wanted her to feel comfortable to roam anywhere she pleased in the house.

If he were taking the moment to be completely honest, he actually enjoyed their brief interludes as she was a pleasant person to be around.

Her sarcasm broke the direction of his thoughts, which was probably a good thing. "Sliced and diced you damn dodo bird." She switched the leg under her butt and kept mindless eating popcorn and watching.