Gap
1394 Words
Cara felt a sudden urge to run toward the old man and hug him.
It had been so long since she’d had any human contact. Years. She craved it, as any normal human would.
“I’m honored that you have so much faith in me,” Cara said. “But how am I supposed to deal with the constant disrespect? He's such a...”
“An ass?" Gus finished. Cara laughed and nodded. "Oh, sweetheart, he’s not disrespecting you. He doesn't even realize that he's being an ass. People on the spectrum just... they have a different way of viewing the world. Sometimes he seems so normal that it’s easy to forget how different he really is at his core.” He took another labored step toward Cara and rested his arm against the banister.
“He was not born with a natural ability to understand emotions... not like us.” Gus explained. “He’s had to teach himself things that come naturally to everyone else. But he has worked very hard to get where he is now.”
“So you’re sure he’s not a serial killer or something?” Cara teased... partially.
Gus burst out laughing, but his joy was cut short by a sharp cough. He doubled over, and Cara had to fight the instinctual urge to run to his side.
“Are you okay?” She asked.
He raised up a hand and waved it at her. “I’m fine,” he sputtered between coughs. “I just need to get some rest. Can you promise me you'll just give him a little more time... to adjust to having you around? I don't want to wake up in an empty house again."
She smirked, then her shoulders slumped as she relinquished. "Fine. I'll give him a couple of days."
"Thank you," Gus said through a cough. "This old fart is going to head to bed. But you... You should get back to work before the ‘serial killer’ comes looking for you,” he said with a wink.
Cara smiled as she watched the old man hobbling away, longing to help him.
She took a deep breath, then decided to swallow her pride and return to the basement.
The world was at stake after all.
She opened the ornate door and plunged back into the darkness below. When she finally reached the bottom of the stairs, she closed her eyes and took a breath. She vowed to not let her pride get in the way this time, and to try to be more understanding of everything Bradley had been through.
When she opened her eyes, she saw him at the wall of computer monitors typing fervently. He’d taken off his shirt, and was wearing only a tight-fitting tank top that showed off his perfectly chiseled physique. It was like staring at a marble Michelangelo masterpiece.
Bradley stopped typing for a moment to run his fingers through his hair, and the muscles of his bare arms and shoulders rippled and flexed deliciously. Her jaw dropped a little despite herself. Every time he repeated that enticing gesture it made Cara's chest tighten a little.
Yep, she thought, this is torture. Thankfully he hadn’t even noticed that she’d come down the stairs.
Then it hit her. She needed to use this... to use her skills to get some buzz going. Even if there wasn’t anything to buzz about yet. People would go crazy for this handsome mad scientist, especially if they saw the great Cara James working with him.
She pulled out her phone and turned around, finding the best possible angle and lighting. She made sure that Bradley’s handsome yet mysterious silhouette was in the background, as well as a few of the charts and maps.
She snapped the selfie, then changed her pose a bit and took a few more. After finding just the right filter she posted the picture with a simple caption;
“Exciting news is coming! #wecanendthis”
Immediately notifications started popping up, her phone buzzing with activity.
Finally Bradley noticed her presence. He turned around in his chair and raised a curious eyebrow at her. She tucked her phone away quickly and smiled. “Sorry,” she said, “I know you’re not the biggest fan of my career.”
He shrugged. “I know I give you a hard time, but in this case it could save the world. You could save the world,” he said with a smile she could see through his mask.
Cara couldn’t help but be drawn to those piercing eyes and the way they wrinkled at the corners when he smiled. She chewed her lip a little.
“Come see what I’ve designed so far,” he said excitedly. It was refreshing to see such a pure and happy emotion from the mysterious doctor.
She walked over to the wall of monitors, and he backed away to make a little space for her. But he was still dangerously close by today’s standards.
It made her pulse quicken a little, even though he wasn’t yet close enough to touch. But as she passed by him, they made true eye contact for the first time.
They both froze in that moment, their eyes locked.
For Cara, it was like she was really seeing Bradley for the first time. She finally saw a young man who had been through so much at the hands of a cruel world that crushed anyone who was slightly different. And yet somehow, he still wanted to save that world.
For Bradley, he had tried so hard to keep people at bay. People only caused him pain. Yet this girl was so brazen, so strong, she poked holes in his stony façade. He could feel it crumbling as she got closer to him.
They blinked awkwardly and looked away, but didn’t step farther apart.
Cara turned to look at the monitor, and in front of her was a screen full of neatly ordered columns, lines of text formatted like an old-fashioned newspaper and a few bland logos. It had all the personality of a dead fish.
“This...” she said hesitantly, “This is your app?”
“Yes,” he said with a proud smile.
He was like a child enthusiastically showing off a terrible piece of artwork and she couldn’t help but be slightly charmed by it.
“Here,” he said, taking another step closer to point at a small round logo on the screen. “Click there and you’ll be taken to my profile.”
He was close enough that she could smell the remnants of his body wash. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this close to another human, let alone someone as devastatingly gorgeous as this doctor.
She clicked the button, and Cara had to stifle a laugh when Bradley’s picture loaded. His stoic expression looked more like a mugshot than a social media profile picture.
“Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me,” she teased.
He frowned a little, stood up and crossed his arms in a huff. “You don’t like it?” He looked wounded by her words. Cara immediately regretted her sarcasm.
Though the way his muscular arms were crossed against his tightly-clothed chest made her want to tease him a little more. He was awfully fun to look at when he was angry.
“Hey,” she said with a sweet smile, “I’m sorry. I just meant that I can help you make this more... appealing. That’s what I do.”
He relaxed a little. “I suppose that’s why I brought you here, isn’t it?”
“I suppose,” she said, “Unless this is all a ruse and you’re really an internet stalker who’s secretly in love with me.”
At that, his smile immediately faded and he took a step toward her, closing the already dangerously narrow gap between them.
- Writer
