The Power of Weakness

Chapter 8 - 🕯️

When bleary-eyed Ari woke, it took her a moment to realize she was not at home. Her first clue was the man lying in a half-open bathrobe.

Oh my god. I've slept with Sebastian Meyer.

Once the fog and shock both cleared, she was able to ascertain that not only was he on the other bed, she was still fully clothed. These facts gave her some comfort, but did nothing for her overall discomfiture.

Meyer hadn't been sleeping, but thinking: memory, metaphor, timing, Ari. He believed that he finally began to understand some of what the shaman had told him.

"Good morning. I think for your first experience with wine, you learned that three glasses is beyond your limit."

She covered her face with her hands. "Oh no. Oh no. This is not happening. I'm so, so sorry Mr. Meyer. This is incredibly embarrassing for so many reasons."

"Not at all. Everyone has a time in their life where they need to be cared for when they're drunk. I'm honored that you chose me as your guardian. Let's order breakfast." His manner suggested that this was a perfectly normal situation, but Ari didn't feel normal or natural at all. Without asking Ari what she wanted, he picked up the phone and called room service to place an order.

She went into the bathroom and examined her reflection. Her light makeup was somewhat sleep worn and her clothes slightly wrinkled, but still fully buttoned and tucked. She didn't feel as though anything had happened, but she wasn't sure what "anything" would feel like. Ari returned to the bedroom, hoping Meyer would soon make his own trip to the bathroom so she could make a wordless escape, but he never did.

They sat in silence waiting for breakfast. Unexpectedly, the longer it was quiet in the room, the more comfortable Ari became. Meyer watched as she relaxed her stiff posture and dropped her shoulders. She took a deep breath and no longer seemed to be shrinking away from him. The silence was broken by the knock from a porter who delivered a breakfast cart and set empty plates and flatware on a small table by the window.

"Come here and sit," Meyer directed her when the porter left.

He filled his plate and began eating. Ari took only a small portion of what was there. She stared at her plate as she slowly pushed her food around.

"I ordered a variety of dishes, do you not like them?"

Ari froze and looked down at her lap.

"Are the waffles too dry?"

Getting no response, Meyer took it upon himself to add butter and syrup to hers.

"Do you want juice or milk?"

"Just water. Please." Ari finally spoke. She took a bite of the waffle as he filled her glass.

Meyer finished his omelet and vegetables before Ari had eaten half of what little food there was in front of her. When his plate was empty, she gently set her fork down. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go home now."

"Would you like a ride? There's still time before I need to be in the office."

She ducked her head, shy again. "Oh, no that's not necessary."

"Ari, you trusted me enough to take care of you last night. You trusted me enough to not run away screaming this morning. Surely you can trust me enough to escort you home." He carefully put a small amount of hurt in the underlying timbre of his voice.

She nodded her head. "I got a bit of syrup on my fingers and need to wash my hands before we leave though."

When she came out of the bathroom, he was still in the bathrobe, but he was once again sitting on the bed he'd slept in. He tilted his head to the side and squinted slightly.