The Lonely Girl

Chapter 15

Sahara

The evening was definitely not what I expected. Santi now knows pretty much everything about my past, I actually feel relieved to have shared it with someone. It’s never something I’ve been determined to keep secret, Ive just never been close enough to anyone to share. I also don’t want to be pitied. Standing with Santi resting my head against his chest watching the sunset was the most relaxed I’ve ever felt. Even if the relationship doesn’t progress I’ll remember that night for the rest of my life. After the sunset I was ready for bed. Santi was just leaving when he turned and said “my room is right across the hall, come and see me if you need anything “ he then closed the door. I wonder why he put me in the room next to his, I can’t imagine needing to ask him anything.

The bed was as comfy as I imagined. I fell asleep almost immediately, the sound of my alarm going off every 2 hours was irritating but necessary. I wonder if there will be a time when I’ll sleep through the night without nightmares. I’ve tried stretching the time out to 3 hours before, it was too long. At 7am I got up and showered, I could definitely get used to this bathroom! By the time I was done I was quite hungry, not wanting to wake Santi up I went downstairs to the kitchen. I was hoping to fix myself a quick bowl of cereal but to my surprise there was a full breakfast laid out on the table. It looked like enough food to feed an army! “Sahara” I heard someone calling my name, turning around it was Alana. “Hey, how was your first night, I was going to come see you but I noticed Santi was there so I thought I’d leave you both to it!” I blushed a little bit, “we had dinner together on the balcony, it was really nice”. “Is there always this much food” I asked pointing to the table. “Yeah, we like to provide for all workers, if there’s something you want just ask the kitchen staff, they will make it happen “ Alana replied. “No this is great” I said, there was so much variety I can’t imagine anyone not being satisfied. “I’m about to head to the gym if you want to join me after breakfast “ Alana asked. That sounded great, I loved to workout, I went to the gym almost daily back at home. “Yes, I’ll come now just give me a minute to get changed “. I grabbed an apple and headed back to my room to put some workout gear on.

The gym was enormous, I was in awe of all the equipment. I started with some cardio and quickly went to the boxing bags. I’d taken some boxing classes a few back for self defence, I found it to be a great release. “Damn Sahara, hit that bag!” Alana exclaimed. I laughed, and continued my assault on the boxing bag. I started to tire and turned to get a drink. To my surprise Santi was standing watching with an interested look. “Wow, you’ve got some strength, hope it wasn’t my face you were imagining on that bag!” I smirked, “just don’t get on my bad side hey!” . Santi picked up some sparring pads. “How about I block you attack” he suggested. I hadn’t sparred with anyone for awhile so it’d be nice to give it a go. After a few rounds I was exhausted, I sat down to have a drink, satisfied with the workout. Santi sat next to me, “you’ve got great technique” he stated, “ I didn’t realise you were interested in boxing “. “I really wanted to be able to defend myself so I took a few lessons and really enjoyed it” I replied. , “If you’re interested I could train you in some other methods “ he replied. It sounded interesting, “what methods are we talking about “ I asked. “A lot of people here train in street fighting, it teaches you how to defend yourself against an attack but also to strike back”. Ok that did sound good, Alana came to join us. “Did I hear you’re joining training “ she said with a smile. “You train as well” I asked. “ Yeah it’s something a lot of us do from a young age , you’ll love it, it can be tough but you feel stronger “. Training with Santi was an extra bonus, I’m finding that I want to be around him all the time. In a short period I’m becoming dependent on someone, I just hoped it wouldn’t come back to bite me.

I went back to shower after the workout feeling pretty good about everything. Life seemed so much lighter somehow. I got dressed and thought I’d head down to the clinic. It’s about time I checked it out since that’s the reason I’m here. I walked about of my room and stepped into the hallway without looking immediately hitting into something hard. Stumbling backwards I felt tingles as a hand grabbed my arm. “Whoa sorry, are you ok” Santi exclaimed. “Yeah wasn’t watching where I was going “ I said embarrassed. “Lucky I was here to save you” Santi replied smiling. “If you weren’t in the way it wouldn’t have happened “ I retorted with a laugh. I looked down realising that Santi was still holding my arm. He put his arm over my shoulders and we started walking, I thought that would be awkward but it felt natural. “I was headed to the clinic “ I stated. “Great, I was coming to get you to show you around “ Santi replied. “The clinic has a lot of equipment but it’s hardly been used, there’s not much need for it” Santi explained. I was confused, it seemed like a lot of people around, I’m not sure what a lot of people did for a living but it seemed to be a busy place. “How many people live out here” I asked curiously. “About 300 at any given time. Some people have jobs that take them out of town”. “I’m surprised there’s not much use for a clinic with that many people “ I said not expecting an answer. We reached the clinic, it was a small neat looking building with a small office and clinic room. Around the corner was a larger treatment room with a bed. The room was filled with a lot of expensive looking equipment that looked very new. I suspect some of it had never been used. “I would like to meet the person who’s been working in here please. I’m curious to know what to expect, how many patients come and usually what with” I asked switching straight to work mode. “She’ll be here shortly “ Santi replied, “now remember how I said she wasn’t really trained. She’s actually one of the elders here who just likes to help people, she hasn’t got any formal qualifications “ Santi said sheepishly. Wow what kind of place are they running here I thought. Do people not get very sick or travel out of town for everything I thought. It seemed a little weird. After a few minutes a woman who looked to be in her 70’s walked in. Everyone stood in silence for a few moments, it almost looked like a silent conversation was happening. Suddenly the elderly lady turned towards me with a smile. “Hi, I’m Evelyn, I take care of the clinic “. “Nice to meet you I replied, can we go though the process here and the type of procedures or injuries I’m likely to treat”. I asked. “Well dear, we don’t see too many people, some general health checks is about all, the occasional injury, everyone’s pretty healthy here”. I looked at the others, it almost seemed that Santi was nervous. I had a feeling they all weren’t telling me something. I figured I was going to get nowhere asking, I’d have to do some research myself. I wondered why Santi wanted me to work here, maybe Evelyn was getting too old for it. In any case I was grateful to try something new. “Thanks Evelyn I’m looking forward to getting started” I replied with a smile. Santi looked relieved at my statement. “Well now that’s done, would you like to see the cottage you’ll be staying in?” Santi asked. I definitely wanted to see this, I was looking forward to having my own space. “ Yes” I replied excitedly. We left the clinic, everyone headed towards the main house except Santi. We rounded a corner and hidden in the trees was a large very grand two story house that looked to have tradesmen running around. I can’t imagine what they could be doing, the house looked brand new. “Here it is” Santi stated. My jaw dropped, I was speechless. I must have been silent for a while. Santi asked nervously “do you like it?”. “ I thought you said it was a cottage “ I replied, “this is much bigger than I expected. But yes what’s not to like, this is incredible “. Santi”a face lit up. “I’m so glad, the builders should be done in a couple of days”. I was still a little lost for words, why would he do this for me, it seemed too good to be true. I stood in stunned silence staring at the house when suddenly a loud siren went off. I looked at Santi to see what that meant. He looked panicked, he quickly grabbed me arm and started to pull me along. “Run Sahara, your in danger “ he yelled. I started to run with him, unsure why when about 10 of the biggest wolves I’ve ever seen in my life came out from the trees.