Socially Distanced

Chapter 16

     Brett started up the dvd player and sat next to me on the couch. I struggled to remain in such close proximity with another person. If one of us was sick, or getting sick, we would surely end up infecting the other. The worst part was that you never knew when someone was going to come down with something. People are often more contagious before they even show any symptoms. I sighed.

"You doing okay, maple syrup?"

"For now," I nervously replied. 

Brett's cat jumped up on the couch with us and he ruffled his fur. "Who's a good boy?"

I laughed. "No wonder your cat acts like a dog. You treat him just like one."

"He likes it," said Brett, looking down at the cat. "Who wants a treat? Huh?" The cat sat down on the couch. "Maybe later?" He looked up and clicked 'play' on the remote after the previews ended. 

I grew increasingly nervous as the movie progressed, not knowing when I was going to be faced with my fear. Finally my unease became too much. "Is it going to happen soon? Is it? Just tell me."

"It'll happen in a few minutes. I told you I'd warn you." Brett grabbed my hand and I jumped. "Hey, try to calm down, okay?"

"Not a good time, Brett." I said "Maybe we can try the holding hands thing after this movie."

"I know this is tough for you, but it has to be in order for you to overcome this. Why don't you try to focus on the movie and then wash your hands afterwards?" I nodded. "The scene is coming up soon. Think you're ready? Remember it's just pixels on a screen."

I nodded quickly, struggling to keep my eyes on the screen. This was not going to be easy. 

Suddenly I jumped up and ran into the kitchen, missing the scene. "I can't do this. I'm sorry. We can try it another time." I turned the water on, scrubbing my hands.

I heard Brett pause the movie and walk into the kitchen. "It's fine, Mabel. I admire that you gave it a shot. We can try again some other time. I'll look forward to seeing you conquer this."

I felt guilty. If Brett could somehow believe in me, why wouldn't I believe in myself? "No, no. Let's go back. Rewind the movie." I walked back into the family room, sitting on the couch next to the cat. 

"Are you sure?"  Brett asked. 

I nodded and patted the couch. "Come on. Sit down next to your cat-dog and let's get this over with." I chuckled.

He shrugged. "Okay."

He clicked 'play' on the remote after rewinding the movie. I reflexively grabbed his hand, without even thinking and surprised myself.

He glanced at me, but I didn't meet his gaze, not wanting to miss the scene again. I could do this, after all, Brett believed in me.

I kept my eyes glued to the TV despite the fact that everything in me was screaming to look away; to flee and get out of there. Somehow, I watched every second of that horrific scene. I didn't space out, I didn't look away, no, I actually conquered this.

Brett paused the movie after the scene had concluded. "I'm impressed!" he said, startling me.

"Sorry, sorry," I said. "My nerves are a little shot."

"Do you realize how important that was, Mabel? You did it! You did something that you never thought possible."

I laughed nervously. "I guess I did." After watching the scene, it seemed to ease all of my fears and I didn't feel the need to wash my hands at all. Maybe I should've tried exposure therapy sooner, I thought. 

My stomach rumbled. Oh yeah, forgot I skipped breakfast. "Well, I should probably get going."

"Already? Don't you want to have lunch?"

I hesitated, but decided to be completely honest. "I don't really want to eat anything that you, um..." I tried to be as inoffensive as possible, but Brett cut me off.

"You don't want to eat anything that I prepared in case I didn't wash my hands enough?" he asked with a smile.

I bit my lip and nodded. "I literally won't eat anything prepared by anybody unless it's at a restaurant because they have to be clean. They have health standards and rules and stuff." I cringed. "I didn't mean to make it sound like you're gross. That's not it, I-"

Brett laughed. "I'm not offended, Mabel. I won't take it personally." He smiled.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness he understands. I stood up to get ready to leave and then I remembered something. "Oh! I meant to ask you," I started. "Can I have your number, so we can like, officially talk? I kinda wanted to have your contact in addition to your email address." I laughed.

"Sure," said Brett. "But email's kind of our thing. It's how we first started communicating. It holds a special place in my heart," he joked. Anyway, here's my number." He handed me a piece of paper. "But let's stick to email for now." He shrugged. "It's fun."

"You are such a dork," I snickered. I turned to leave.

"Wait."

I paused.

"How about a goodbye kiss?" he smirked.

"Oh, I uh, I don't think I'm ready for that yet." Now that I had actually watched somebody get sick on screen, seeing it in real life didn't seem as scary. Maybe I would be ready for it sooner than I thought, but this? This seemed even more difficult. I just wasn't ready to knowingly swap billions of bacteria through saliva. And that's exactly what I told Brett.

"Wow, Mabel. How romantic. Now that you put it that way, I don't think I'm ready for that either." We both laughed. "Come on, I'll walk you to your car." He held out his hand and I took it, without hesitating this time.

When I got home I made some lunch and programmed Brett's number into my phone. I was about to reach out to him and send a text, but then I remembered what he said. I reached for my laptop instead, logging into my email.