Irresistible Danger

A Berry Big Surprise

Thanks to a full night of (mostly) dreamless sleep, you found yourself more alert and ready to tackle the day upon waking the next morning. After throwing on yet another generic t-shirt, this one a faded peach color, with your worn jeans and sneakers, you decided to head outside for some much needed vitamin D.

After spending so much time in your room yesterday, you felt a bit stir crazy, especially since this was the longest period of time you'd gone without your weekly forest adventures. You didn't feel brave enough to ask Dwight to help you get past the fence again; not that he was likely to agree anyways after what happened last time. The only option left was to find a quiet spot outside the building but still inside the fences. Unfortunately, the area was mostly paved and severely lacking in any vegetation aside from the man-made garden around back that housed some basic vegetables.

Choosing an empty picnic table which was sitting near the front corner of the large factory-type building that made up the compound, you sat down and placed a yellow notepad and pencil on the table in front of you. Surveying the area, there were few people outside at this time; most were probably inside finishing breakfast. Except for dinner, the only meal offered was some dull oatmeal for breakfast every morning. Since that required hardly any prep work, Ben insisted on serving it himself, and usually a few of the newer kitchen members took shifts helping him out. There were a few times when you had tried to help, but he had gently nudged you out of the kitchen, saying that you spent enough time and effort planning and cooking the daily dinners. A bit hypocritical since you swore Ben lived in the kitchen; sometimes you glanced around the corners of the pantry expecting to see a cot and blanket as proof that he never left.

Lifting your face to the sun, you soaked in its rays. It wasn't late enough in the morning for the heat to be sweltering, but it was well on its way. Turning your attention to the notepad, you started outlining the potential meals for the upcoming week, listing the ingredients you knew were plentiful in the pantry and trying to think of both classic recipes as well as some new and interesting combinations to attempt.

You were so absorbed in the notepad that you didn't realize anyone had walked up to the table until your peripheral vision caught someone sitting down on your right. Looking up, Maria gave a little wave and smile.

"Mind if I join you?"

"No, of course not; how have you been?" you asked, putting down your pencil and turning your attention to the middle-aged woman beside you.

Maria had skin a few shades darker than your own and clear brown eyes that always appeared calm and comforting. Her dark hair hung in loose curls slightly past her shoulders and she was wearing an outfit that even pre-apocalypse would've probably cost more than you could ever afford. In fact, the black, low-cut halter top alone probably cost more than your entire outfit. You knew that Negan made sure his wives wore nice clothes, and apparently even nicer lingerie, but to you it just contributed a little too much to the trophy wife stereotype. Well, trophy wives to be more exact.

After chatting for a few minutes about neutral topics such as the weather (hot as hell as usual) and how things were going in the kitchen, you lapsed into a comfortable silence. Or at least you thought it was comfortable, until you noticed that Maria had started wringing her hands nervously and was staring down at the ground.

"Is something wrong?" you asked with concern.

"No, I mean, maybe. There's just some gossip that's been going around the compound, and I think I should bring it to your attention before you hear it from someone else."

Furrowing your brows in confusion you replied, "What did you hear?"

"Well, I'm sure it's not true, but apparently it's been spread that you...had dinner with Negan last night in his private quarters." She hurried quietly through the last half of the sentence, as if embarrassed to say the words aloud.