Dinner with Kelly

The rest of the day goes smoothly, and at home you find the harmony you’ve come to expect. Sirona and the rest are getting along wonderfully, and you can’t imagine how lucky you must be to have them all. The next day is a bit of a blur, and before you know it, you find yourself approaching the restaurant you used to frequent with Kelly.

It’s not terribly fancy, a simple Italian food place, but for some reason the two of you had been drawn to it. Given Kelly’s desire to be seemingly high class, it always surprised you, but it’s one of the few happy memories of the relationship. It was always a pleasant experience.

You look around before heading in, but you don’t see anyone around. With a shrug, you start to walk in the door. As you reach for the handle, however, you hear a car door close, and you hear a familiar voice calling your name.

“Brian! Wait, I’m right here!”

You turn, recognizing Kelly’s voice, but the woman you see approaching is almost unrecognizable to you. You always saw Kelly with long, flowing blonde hair, heavily made up, and dressed in elegant clothes, usually something to show off her figure. What you see instead is almost the polar opposite.

Her hair is cut short and dyed black, and she’s wearing little if any makeup. She’s wearing conservative clothing, though it’s still stylish, and honestly, you think she looks better this way. As she reaches you, there’s a friendly smile on her face, and she offers a hand to shake.

You shake her hand. “Kelly? I barely recognize you.”

She nods. “I’ve gone through a few changes. Come on, let’s sit. I have plenty to say.”

A bit bewildered, both by her new look and her cordial attitude, you follow her inside. You’re soon seated, and you both order some food. Once you’re all settled, you look across the table at Kelly and nod.

“So, here we are. What’s going on? Our last few interactions haven’t exactly been pleasant.”

Her smile fades a notch, and she sighs. “That’s putting it very politely. I fell in with some bad people, without knowing it. As you know, I was chasing money, and I started working for this group because the pay was incredible, far beyond what I could normally make.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Sounds like a classic of ‘it’s too good to be true’ to me.”

Kelly nods. “It’s clear in hindsight, yes, but all I cared about was the money. I didn’t think that they’d slowly indoctrinate me like they did.”

You lean forward. “You mean the whole anti-monster girl thing?”

She sighs. “Exactly. Again, in hindsight, it should have been obvious. The so called ‘purity project’. That sort of thing is almost never good.”

You shake your head. “No, not generally. But it explains a lot about the things you said to me. So what happened?”

She looks away. “Well…after that incident in the diner, I realized what was happening. No, that’s not exactly it. I took a look in the mirror, and saw what you saw. It was like stepping out of the fog. The next day, I went and changed my hair, and quit. I’m…working as a barista now.”

You nod. “Well, at least you got out. It was clearly bad there. But why am I here? What is it you want? You and I aren’t a thing anymore, Kelly.”

She smiles. “I know. That bridge was burned a long time ago, though I regret it now. I have three reasons I wanted to talk. First off, to thank you, for your part in breaking the hold they had on me.”

You shrug. “I didn’t do much, really.”

She shakes her head. “Doesn’t matter. Thank you, regardless. The second is far more selfish. I doubt we’ll see each other again after this, and I don’t want your last impression of me to be what you saw in the diner.”

You nod. “That wasn’t your best moment, for sure.”

She laughs. “Well said. And lastly, I want to warn you. The people I worked with, they’re scary. They call themselves the human purity project, and they’re very fanatical about it. And someone is funding them, with a lot of money. I don’t know how far they’ll go, but I wouldn’t put anything past them.”

You stare for a moment, then nod. “I’ll share that with the people at the AWIO. They’ll know what to do.”

She nods. “Good. Now, let’s have one last meal together, shall we?”

Despite the ominous way she said that, you nod, just as food is delivered. It’s delicious as always, and it’s a pleasant experience. The two of you finish, and as you’re leaving, she gives you a kiss on the cheek.

“Good bye, and good luck, Brian. Be safe.”

Without waiting for an answer, she turns and leaves.