Spin in Perturbation

"Omo, you kinda look like her, Lucas. Don't you think so?" Jenny yanked Lucas's sleeve and pointed at the semi-finished drawing.

"Now that I think about it, maybe that's why I had a good impression of her," she continued to blabber on, this time, her voice was soft as a whisper.

Lucas kept mum, his mind now messed up, yet he looked unaffected. He thought of ways of how to deal with the truth if it was the Pirate.

His mind continued to wander around to the moment Jenny turned her back and walked away from him. He clutched onto the cold metal arms of the office swivel chair.

The artist proceeded to draw and was not bothered one bit by Jenny's exclamations.

However, across the room, Pio's intestines started to churn abnormally; he almost sh*t his pants with nervousness.

'Please don't let it be Pirate. Please don't let it be Pirate,' his mind continued to plead to all the gods known to men regardless of whether he believed in them or not.

The cold and tensed atmosphere did not go unnoticed by Jenny. She scrutinized the two men with stoic faces in the room and raised an eyebrow at their unreadable faces.

Something felt amiss, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She stared at the man beside her and prodded Lucas, "Are you ok? You look… anxious."

Lucas was startled by the touch of Jenny's cold finger. He shifted in his seat, let out a deep breath, and said, "Mmmm. Nothing. Just curious if the artist will get her face right."

Jenny leaned closer, her finger traced on Lucas's arm as she said in a hushed tone, "Don't say that. You're making him nervous." Lucas let out a small smile and automatically went back to his wallflower self, blending in the background.

From time to time, Jenny would make suggestions on the sketch to match the face she had in mind. When the sketch artist was doing final touches, Jenny closed her eyes to jog a little in her memory.

"On the count of three, we jump to survive, okay?"

She shook like a leaf on her seat at the surge of a buried memory. Lucas touched her arm, the sting from the sunburn woke her up from her stupor.

"Ouch," she mumbled, "Could you turn on the heater, please. It's cold, and I don't like the cold."

Pio stood up immediately and adjusted the temperature to the Queen's liking. He was on his way back to his seat when the sketch artist's drawing caught his eye.

He shot a knowing look to his boss, who sat silently beside the love of his life. He knew his life was about to become more stressful than ever. Maybe he should ask for a raise before all hell breaks loose, right?

The sketch artist tapped and cleared the paper from eraser shavings and presented it to Jenny; he slid the drawing in front of her, the face of the girl who saved her was brought to life with the rich and dark color of the charcoal pencil.

She averted her gaze from the drawing and escaped into Lucas's comforting eyes — afraid to see the final sketch.

Afraid to remember everything.

Afraid to accept the truth in case her savior died as she, on the other hand, swam closer to her safety.

Lucas stroked her back and motioned for her to take a look at the drawing.

She only took a glance, then looked away and nodded her head. Her eyes were still closed, terrified that the girl on the sketch would come to life or worse… even haunt her.

"Are you sure it was her?' Lucas took the sketch to scrutinize it.

"I think so," Jenny's lips quivered. Her savior's voice rang in her ears and her mind — beautifully haunting her while she's awake.

"Meimei, just follow Da-jie, and you will be fine. Ok?"

"On the count of three, we jump to survive, okay?"

"No, no. You would sink. I can swim. I'm a pirate, remember? Let's sing! Let's sing till we reach the harbor? Ready? Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"

Pio stood up and stepped out of the meeting room to fetch a glass of water for the distressed Jenny… and himself too. 'How am I going to survive this ordeal, unscathed?' he pondered, the cold water quenching his bottomless thirst.

Lucas consoled the sobbing mess beside him; he gently rubbed her back, patted her head, and lifted her chin to meet his gaze, then said, "Don't cry. Let's first check if she's included in the list."

Jenny bobbed her head. She searched for her hand-embroidered handkerchief in her classic calfskin clutch. Lucas took the handkerchief from her and meticulously dabbed at the tears from her face.

Pio walked into the room with glasses of water for the rest.

While Jenny was busy with her water, Lucas lifted the paper from the table. He almost ripped the paper in half when his head started to spin in perturbation, unsure of what to feel at the sudden blow.

Should he be thankful that Pirate saved Jenny...

...or furious that her body was nowhere to be found?

Edited by Swaning