A Bubble in Time

Zoe, Thomas, and Andy met in art club in H.S. Very quickly they became good friends. Thomas was from England, and had a gaunt, almost medieval look. He was also a very serious person. To everyone he met, he would very seriously say, "My name is Thomas, not Tom," without any trace of petulance or whininess in his voice. His constant brooding was very sexy to the female art students, including Zoe. They became extremely close friends when Thomas moved to her town in the beginning of High School. Aside from the constant pensive brooding, Thomas liked to talk about his process, his pencils & pens, his influences, and his career ambitions in a tone very similar to Alan Rickman or Benedict Cumberbatch.

Whenever they went to an art gallery or museum, at every painting and sculpture, Zoe always looked to see if Thomas liked or disliked it, and formed her opinion of the piece based on his. She was always a bit of an outcast, but rather than develop her own sense of style, she was a pretty blank slate when Thomas came to town and showed her the light of day.

One day in Junior year, Andy joined Zoe and Thomas in Art club. He was quiet, though not quite an outcast, and he was extremely interested in politics and political activism. He didn't have hips, but there was something slightly feminine about his appearance and demeanor, coming off as more androgynous than male. For the better part of that year, the three were inseparable friends, but everything changed that February, on Valentine's Day.

Finding companionship allowed them to come out of their shells a little bit, and it opened up the idea that they could actually love and be loved. On the way to school that wintry morning, Andy stopped Zoe by the bare oak tree at the far end of the school track. He confessed to her that he wanted to take her out to dinner and a movie. This suggestion of a plan aside from sitting around and reading and drawing surprised Zoe, coming from Andy. She liked him a lot, but she confessed that the previous day Kevin had already asked her out. She was, unfortunately, taken. The following day, Zoe was shocked to hear that Andy and Thomas hooked up. She didn't realize that one or both of them could be gay or bi, but she was happy that they had love on Valentine's Day.

After High School, each of them went to a different college, and they each had difficulties adapting to life on their own. High School had afforded them a perfect situation, a sanctuary in the cold, cruel world, but in college, it was every man for himself. Zoe went on dates but could never find herself in a firm relationship. Andy and Thomas tried to have a long distance relationship, but things fizzled out after a while.

Zoe came back home for spring break after her first semester and change, while most of her cohorts went south. Andy and Thomas had returned home as well. Over the course of the lonely semester, Zoe's feelings for Andy bubbled up and came to a boil inside of her. When Andy asked to come over, she was ecstatic. They sat and watched a movie, sexual tension buzzing under the surface. Zoe made the first move, and Andy surprised her by revealing that he thought himself to be firmly gay. But Zoe was desperate to connect. "Please, I need this..." she whispered, begging him to have her. When he resisted, she offered to blow him. Feeling pressured, he turned the lights off and allowed her to try. Zoe wished the lights were on so she could see him, but she let it slide. In the dark, she put her soft mouth over his soft penis, and the situation stayed soft. It just wasn't working.

The next day, while going to meet Thomas for lunch, Zoe was blindsided by Thomas's icy look of disdain. They faced off in the icy blizzard, Zoe too scared to move. "What have I done to earn this disrespect?" asked Thomas. He shouted in a demonic tone of voice that he had undying love for Andy. Zoe finally realized that their break up was not mutual as the wind picked up, whipping her in the face and eyes. She had never been more scared of Thomas, but rather than running away to forsake him forever, she stayed and let him lecture her. She felt badly about what she had done to her master. His friendship meant more than anything to her, so when he stopped ranting, she apologized and begged for forgiveness. Zoe and Thomas spent the rest of the holiday together, after which they both dropped out of school and got married. During the honeymoon, Zoe hated herself for finding it sexy when he told her things like, "You're one of the few people I can stand spending time with and not want to kill."

Thomas made a modest living, painting murals on commission. Zoe had no time or energy to follow her own dreams while having to deal with Thomas's physical and emotional needs.

One day, while working as a cashier at the local Walgreens, Zoe was greeted by Kevin, the sweet, simple guy who had asked her out on Valentine's Day in High School. Her loins were on fire, as he looked more handsome now than he did then. He was a year out of college and on his way to becoming a lawyer. He explained how he was interning at a local firm as he wanted to spend time back home after his college girlfriend's sudden, shocking death a year before while they were vacationing in Mexico. She needed an affair, not only to satisfy her own soul, but to get back at Thomas for his "secret" affairs with Andy, which she had recently found out about through love letters hidden in Thomas's closet. He couldn't be the only one in the relationship having fun.

He invited her back to his parents' house, where he was living temporarily. They drank vodka and watched a Shrek movie. Zoe was laughing and having fun for the first time in years. When the movie ended and they were shrouded in darkness, aside from the glow of the static on the T.V., she leaned in to kiss him. Kevin suddenly pulled back. He wasn't ready to love again. Zoe then realized that Kevin was now more golem than man, filling the whole in his heart with a professional demeanor and forced smiles. He was now an adult, scarred by the world but pressing on, and she was still a child.

Feeling dead inside, Zoe suddenly had a personal revelation. She could fill her emptiness with good deeds. Everyone loves someone who does good deeds! She really needed someone to love her, and this was a very safe, innocuous way to get it. While volunteering at a local blood drive, she met Tanya. From there, she was invited to Tanya's book club, where everyone was superficially thoughtful and nice. The mutual love was somewhat satisfying, even if it was just empty calories. It definitely acted as a good buffer for Thomas's suffocating emotional abuse, which was all the more potent since his violent breakup with Andy. That was until Thomas found out what she was doing, and out of his own deep loneliness, joined the book club. Pretty soon, Tanya and Thomas were inseparable. Zoe was so hurt, she had thoughts of murder. But she was too much of a coward to do that to Master.

In February, Zoe had her week vacation from work. She decided to visit home, and Master Thomas thankfully showed some mercy in not coming, not that he wanted to go anyway. While being comforted by her mother's homemade mac and cheese, Zoe's father asked her why she couldn't just leave her husband. "What has he ever given you?" For some reason, she found herself defending Thomas. She told her father that he was being pretty judgmental for someone who didn't even know Thomas that well. She said that they connect on a very deep level. But deep inside, past the layer of rationalizing bullshit, she knew that in reality she was just scared of ever upsetting Master.

A month later, Andy came back to town. His father had passed away and he was feeling despondent. He needed comfort. He called Zoe to hang out, not Thomas. Without any type of romantic affection, they sat, watched a movie, and joked about the trials and tribulations of their lives.

Zoe, unable to keep a secret from Master, told him that Andy was back, and that his father had died and that they had a good, Platonic time together. Surprisingly, Thomas did not lose his cool. He simply wondered suggestively why he was not invited. Zoe offered that maybe next time they could all get together like they did in High School. She judged her Master, not concerned with Andy's feelings over his father, just about himself. But he was the Master, and the Master must be obeyed. That is the law of the universe.

Over the following months the three hung out together and had a relatively pleasant time together, but it wasn't like old times. Whenever Zoe got along easily with Andy, Thomas could be seen boiling with jealousy. As a muralist, he couldn't relate to their shared experiences. When Zoe and Thomas were alone, Thomas spent most of his time complaining about Andy's inscrutable behavior.

One day, while shopping at the grocery store, Zoe ran into Andy. She felt like she was a secret agent having a rendezvous with a contact while deep undercover. They walked around, talking about anything aside from their true feelings. She talked about the kinds of groceries she liked and the reasons why. She liked Hilshire Farms deli meats because they keep longer than fresh cuts. She explained that she's getting cod because she and Thomas had salmon last week. They enjoyed this time together greatly, and then parted without words, their experience a bubble in time.

When she returned home, she found Thomas more rageful than he'd ever been, his eyes popping out, his lip snarling. In his hand was a paintbrush, dripping paint of a color she'd never seen before. He had painted a mural of the living room wall. It was an uncannily lifelike portrayal of a nude Andy. He looked frightened, but erect. Thomas then painted on the finishing touch to the figure beside Andy, the lips of what looked like Zoe around Andy's member. She felt a tingling everywhere, like her whole body had gone to sleep. Then she felt something big and throbbing filling her mouth. She knew that she was in the mural, sucking on Andy's dick, despite how ludicrous and impossible that seemed. And Zoe and Andy would stay in that position forever, unless the Master forgave them. But he would never forgive.