Chapter 14 Krista
KRISTA
I jerked awake after an hour of waiting for our captors to return. Drool had formed in a small pool beside my mouth, but it was the snoring that really woke me up.
It was actually my own snoring, but still, it did the job.
“Are you awake?” I hissed to Claire.
“Yeah. My hands are numb.”
“Well, maybe if your hubby showed up, we wouldn’t be in this position. For Superman, he really sucks.”
“Superman always comes to the rescue. You need to relax.”
“Oh, sure. I’ll relax while we lay on concrete floors. My ass is freezing and my hands are numb.”
She sighed heavily. “You know, you really suck at playing the kidnapped victim.”
“And you have lots of experience with this?” I hissed.
“Actually, I do. Derek and I like to role-play. I’ve had tons of practice.”
I grimaced at the thought of what went on in their bedroom. Not that it really mattered. Whatever got their rocks off wasn’t of great importance to me. At least, I really hoped it didn’t factor into this rescue equation.
“Okay, but just because you’ve had practice doesn’t mean we should wait for your husband to stroll through the door and decide now is the time to save the day.”
“Why not? It’s more fun that way. I’ve gotten really good at moaning in pain and crying when the kidnapper puts a knife to my throat. Seriously, I should be an actress.”
God, this woman and her fantasies. Did women really think about being rescued and the man whipping her up into his arms and kissing her silly? The whole thing sounded so…archaic.
“Okay, but what if this time, we surprise them by saving ourselves?”
She thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. “That doesn’t fit the scenario. I mean, if he strolls in here to save the day, and I’m already saved, where’s the fantasy?”
She had a point. A rather good one, but still…how could she put so much faith in someone else to do the job for her? Whatever happened to women not relying on men?
What she needed was a new fantasy.
“Okay, imagine this…those guys come back in here, but Derek doesn’t arrive. What do you do?”
“I wait for him to arrive.”
“Right, but say they have chainsaws and big, scary torture devices. Are you still going to wait around for him to arrive?” When she still didn’t answer, I continued.
“Say they come at you with a chainsaw, and they’re going to rip you apart limb by limb.
Are you really going to sit there because you expect your hubby to come to the rescue?
Or are you going to do something about it? ”
“Well, I would assume if I haven’t done anything yet, it’s because I can’t get myself out of the situation I’m in.”
“Exactly my point! You’ve already said you should just sit around and wait for him to show up.
You haven’t helped yourself at all! But!
Imagine if you could get yourself out of that situation.
You kill the bad guys, blow up the building, and walk out with flames shooting into the sky behind you.
And as you’re walking out, Derek finally arrives and sees his badass woman walking out of a burning building.
Tell me he’s not gonna be hard as a rock from that sight. ”
A smile played across her lips as she considered it. “Well, I always wanted to be Maggie.”
“See?”
“And I do enjoy blowing stuff up. I mean, it’s kind of a contradiction that I’m always so prepared for a fight, but then I wait to be rescued.”
“Exactly. And why should you wait for a man?”
She nodded along with me. “Yeah. I mean, I’m capable.”
“Right?”
“Not that Derek would notice. He pretty much said that I was only here because it wasn’t dangerous.”
“Because you’ve let him think that you need to be rescued!”
“Yeah. Because men need to be the ones who rush in and save the day. Well, not anymore. I won’t be held down by the tyrannical boot of the alpha male!”
“You go, sister!”
“I can get myself out of this all on my own!”
“You know it!”
“And I will show him that I can fight my way out, and I don’t need some man to rescue me!”
“See? He’s had you thinking that you’re not capable!”
She scoffed at that. “Well, not anymore. I don’t need a man to fight my battles.”
“Hell no!”
“I don’t need some man to tell me I’m too weak. I’m the opposite of weak! I’m formidable!”
“You’re Fort Knox!”
“I was going to say Timur.”
“Who the hell is Timur?”
“Oh, he was the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. He was undefeated in battle, and is pretty much considered the greatest ruler of all time.”
I nodded, not really interested.
“You’d know that if you read.”
“I guess I’ll have to go on through my life knowing that I was bested by you because I didn’t read enough about some ancient guru.”
“He was actually from Uzbekistan. And it was in the 1400s, so not really that ancient.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Am I going to get a history lesson, or are we going to plot our awesome escape?”
“I’m sorry, but seriously, who doesn’t like to read?”
“Me! Okay? I never read the required reading in school. I hate historical fiction. I don’t have a thing for Highlanders. And Fabio looks like a girl!”
She gasped in horror at the last comment. “Take it back.”
“I will not!”
“Take it back!” she said, even angrier than before. She rolled toward me, her feet kicking out as she tried to…well, I wasn’t sure what she was trying to do, but it wasn’t working.
“Hey! Have I said one word to you about how you don’t ride horses?”
“That’s a Western thing. Reading is universal,” she said angrily.
“That doesn’t mean everyone needs to like it!”
“I forbid you to say such a thing! Reading is life! Reading is portable magic! Reading is a gift you can open again and again!”
“Oh my God! Shut up!” I yelled. “No one cares about your stupid books!”
Again, she gasped, and then tears filled her eyes.
God, I was a crap person. Here she was, passionate about something, and I was shitting all over it. And for what? Because I was pissed and didn’t want to hear about the fascinating world she lived in? God, what her mind must be like, cluttered with all those stories.
But then again, her imagination ran rampant. She was singularly the most interesting person I’d ever come across, and not just because of the fact that her sex life was so much more interesting than mine.
Maybe I had this wrong. Maybe I really was boring and needed some adventure.
“You know what? Maybe my books are stupid to you. Maybe I am just some…some librarian with an overactive imagination. But at least I’m not a scobberlotcher!”
Then again, maybe this woman needed a lesson.