Chapter 16 - Slow sunset

Our tablecloth was spread over the freshly cut grass, birds chirped from low branches as a light wind rustled the leaves. I don't remember the last time I sat on the ground in such close contact with nature. I pulled on my black shorts trying to get comfortable. Grant joined me, he pulled out the sandwiches and the half bottle of juice that I eagerly accepted. Demos sat directly on the ground playing with a blade of grass between his lips.

"I haven't been this hungry in ages," I bit into a triangular-shaped bread and groaned with pleasure. "What kind of drugs did you slip between those two slices of bread to make it taste this good?" I narrowed my eyes at Grant. He burst out in laughter, he showed his cute dimples.

"I used some of the sauce left from movie-night pasta and cheese. I'm guessing you like it. I'm cutting cost but still added vegetables to maintain a healthy balance," he added with pride. Seemed Grant likes to ponder me and that made me really happy.

We were sitting a little further from the other groups in the shade of a tree with roots hanging from its branches. Grant did mention the name, however, I had any idea what it was. I was stressing about people seeing us three holding hands thus I couldn't follow the conversation. I turned back to admire the view. There were families and their kids enjoying the sunny afternoon. Joyful giggles rose and fell as the kids ran around. Demos relaxed on the grass mindless of getting his clothes dirty. He placed his hands behind his head, eyes lost in the foliage. Large beams of light filtered through the leaves to the green grass below.

"I never thought trees would have this effect," I looked up as I finished my second sandwich. Grant nodded in agreement. A breeze blew my hair away from my face, it carried the fresh scent of grass mixed with earth and dry leaves. I don't remember living such a serene moment in the last years...maybe at all. The farthest memory I could bring up was when I was a little girl before the void hit hard.

"This garden is peaceful, I want to move here," I whispered. I peeked at both of them, they nodded in agreement. "We could hang out in the afternoon and have picnics on Sundays. I could get a job in one of those fancy shops," I giggled as I imaged it. Grant leaned closer and rubbed my back.

"We could help you with the bills," he wiggled his eyebrows making me laugh harder.

"Can you work? Are you allowed to?" Demos opened his screen and scrolled to check their restrictions in the manual.

"We can, only if you allow it in writing to the person hiring us," he answered. "But the rent is quite expensive in Level twenty-three. The lifestyle is better though, with many activities like concerts, sports events, shopping, etc. If you rent a place with a yard you can grow your own food," Grant and I straightened up rubbing our hands eagerly. We closer to peer at his screen. It sounded like a fantasy.

"Could we look into those houses?" I sat next to Demos as he scrolled down the different properties. Those were light-years from my type 6 B apartment. There were cute unit houses with flowers and large windows allowing sunlight in.

"What about the price?" Demos shook his head in dismay.

"Those are two hundred units per month. If you want to buy it you'll have to invest in a housing plan of about three hundred and fifty units for a minimum of ten years depending on how old you are," my smile dropped. It was way out of my budget. My small salary was enough for my simple unhealthy lifestyle for these past seven years. I was satisfied with this much. I've never saved money or had any plans for the future. Anyway, I already had a large debt to repay Sognare before I could make such plans.

"What's wrong?" asked Grant.

"Nothing," I shook my head. He stroked my back, lately, he took a liking in doing so.

"If things are bothering you. You shouldn't keep it to yourself. Share your burden with us," he reassured me. I exhaled and sunk back on the brown tablecloth rubbed grass blades that have stuck on my red knees.

"I have seventy-four months to pay Sognare's, like two hundred units per month," I let out a nervous laugh. "I won't be able to afford anything for a while. I don't think I'll have enough food if I don't find a solution soon… with the thing that happened at work…" my voice trailed off. Eyes lowering to my hands on my lap.

"We'll find a solution don't worry," Grant kissed my hair.

"Anyway, the evaluator said he will help fix the issue at SolTec," added Demos with a sigh. They were right, it can only get better. I looked up with a weak smile.

"Thanks, guys," I said.

"Can I get a hug?" Grant grinned and pulled me closer before I could answer. Demos got to his feet and joined in knocking us to the ground. I squealed in surprise as I hit the grass, we all burst out into uncontrollable laughter.

"Get off, you're heavy! Get off, jerk! We are in public, for god sake!" I tried to squeeze my way out. Demos tickled me, making me fall flat on my back giggling like a madwoman. "Stop. Please! It's so embarrassing," I gasped between laughter hiding my red face.

"Grant!" I called out of breath. He came to my rescue and pulled me away from the big bad wolf smirked at me ready to strike back. I hid behind Grant glaring at him as I caught my breath.

"Jerk!" I stick my tongue out at him.

"Stop call him a jerk," said Grant over his shoulder. "He's actually enjoying the nickname," I slapped Grant on the back for mocking me. He laughed and tried to grab me for more tickles. I quickly evaded him and ran in circles while Demos let me win pretending he couldn't catch me.

Later we visited other parts of the gardens. Plants, artificial waterfalls, sculptures of dodos… an extinct fat bird. There was an interactive exhibition about the catastrophe in twenty-twenty-four. We steered away from it as we didn't want to get too emotional and ruin the awesome day we were having. At five pm, we returned to the commercial section. The main plaza was getting ready for a giant open sky dance floor. The workers were busy getting the lights ready. A small crowd gathered on the edge of the plaza watching as the work progress. We stopped and watched too. Grant tapped me on the shoulder.

"You want some ice cream?" he pointed to street vendors on the right. My smile widened. He sure knew how to melt my heart. Give me sugar I'll fall head over heels for sure.

"Come," he held out his hand, which I took without a second of hesitation. We left Demos behind and went to the vendor. There was a staggering amount of choice and combination of the different flavors. After a moment of indecision, I went with some crazy green sour apple and passion fruit mix over vanilla on a waffle cone. It was huge. The vendor smiled as he added a spoon made of pasta in a corner of the cone. Grant insisted on paying for the money I gave him previously.

"Here you go, Miss," I squealed with joy and hurried to Demos to show him the size of the ice cream. By then, the band was doing a sound check of their instruments.

"Damn! You will need to burn a lot of calories to take that out of your system," he chuckled. I glared at him. I dug in my trophy with contentment. Divine was too dull of a word to describe the complexity of the flavors as they mixed. When I was done, I was too tired to take the same route we took to get here. We headed to the station and hopped on a Transfer back to Level twenty-two. We had to squeeze our way in, it was packed as hell. Demos and Grant stood close to prevent strangers from rubbing against me. I chuckled internally at how ridiculous it all was. I had my own bodyguards. I was happy to be safe with them. When we reached our destination, the sun was slowly setting between the gray buildings of our familiar neighborhood. Gone were the lively shops and colorful surroundings. The only touch of color here was the neon signs against stack gray flats.

"We are back home! We had a really nice day," I smiled at both of them. I extended my hands and each grab hold with a grin. The streets were almost deserted so it was ok to hold hands, I guess. We turned to the corner leading towards our eighty-eight-floor tower. When a man wearing a large black jacket, dark pants and a cap hiding his face rounded the corner and almost bumped into us. Grant evaded him by letting go of my hand. Demos pulled me against him at the last minute.

"Freaks," he murmured as he quickly strode away.

"Are you ok?" Demos asked, he looked down at me. I stared in shock as the man disappeared behind a closed shop. What was that? I have a strange feeling I've seen him somewhere.