Page 105 of Nothing Special X: The Last Stand

He stopped.

The kitchen blurred.

Ro set his beer down.

Furi squeezed the edge of the counter. “He doesn’t eat right when he works too much. Or when he’s stressed. He forgets vegetables unless I put them on the plate and stare at him until he eats them.”

Furi tried to smile but it didn’t work.

“Has he been eating any fruit?” Furi coughed back the tears. “He likes bananas, and kiwi. Not the green ones, the golden ones.”

Ro came around the island and pulled him into his arms.

Furi gripped Ro’s shoulder and buried his face against him. The flood was right there, rising behind his eyes.

Ro’s voice was low near his ear. “I’ll cook a stir-fry tonight. Make sure he gets some vegetables. And I’ll put bananas and golden kiwi on the grocery list, okay?”

Furi dipped his head, then pulled back before he shattered.

He wiped under one eye quickly and pointed to the bag.

“There’re protein bars in there. The chocolate peanut butter ones he likes. And the electrolyte packets because he’ll drink more water if it has flavor. There’s also Tums and peppermint tea for when his stomach gets bad.”

Ro looked sadly at the bag.

“He left in such a hurry,” Furi whispered.

Ro touched his shoulder as he walked him to the front door. “I’ll make sure he gets it.”

At the threshold, Furi stopped and glanced back, but he couldn’t see the patio from where he stood.

“Call me if…”

Ro’s voice was gentle. “I will.”

Furi walked back to his Harley. He swung his leg over his bike and sat there, helmet resting on his thigh.

For a long moment, he didn’t start the engine. He didn’t want to go home.

He just stared down the street through burning eyes trying to convince himself that leaving didn’t mean he was giving up.

Cassidy

Cassidy learned fast that movie sets didn’t know how to be normal especially when something was wrong, and now Xander was back in the middle of it.

Stage 8 had been partially reset since the attack, but Cassidy could still feel the memory of what had happened clinging to the walls.

The production crew dressed the space to look like the interior of a weathered ranch house with rough, plank flooring, a half-open bedroom door, dusty curtains, old family photos, an oak sleigh bed, low amber lamps, and a wide fake window with a painted night beyond it.

Xander was back on set but under a tight new protocol.

Yesterday had changed things. After Ruxs and Green lost their only active lead and irritated the LAPD, God required that everyone tighten up.

No more casual risks or assumptions.

The rest of Xander’s meeting had been finished over Zoom from the hotel. Jesse didn’t like being on a ‘need to know’ basis with her client, but she understood his safety was priority.

Afterward, they’d used the hotel to run countless simulations.