CHAPTER 115: HIKING WITH ANALISE (11)

"Do you want chicken curry with rice, or beef stew with sweat potatoes?" he asked.

"Um, can I have the curry?"

He handed her the packet along with a spoon. Picking up the other packet, he showed her how to gently massage the packet to make sure the water was spread evenly throughout the mixture. He also had several energy dense food bars, and he ate one while he waited for the food to finish soaking up the water.

Then, as they opened the packets, the smell of curry and stew wafted out.

She ate a spoon full, then said, "Mmm, this is good! It’s almost as good as what you can get at a restaurant."

"Yep. I like this brand. Pretty much all their freeze-dried meals are good."

They ate in silence, just enjoying the sun, cool breeze, and birdsong. In the background, they could also hear the faint burble of the brook that was the runoff from the lake.

They’d finished eating, and he was packing the empty, resealed food packets back into his backpack when Analise spoke.

"Um, did you mean it when you said you’re my boyfriend? Does that mean I’m your girlfriend?"

She sounded worried, hopeful, even a little desperate. He was beginning to think that maybe her past experiences had included many cases where guys dumped her after having sex with her once.

"Yes, Analise. I’m not going to push you away just because we had sex. I like you and think we can get along well together. So I see no reason to not consider us boyfriend and girlfriend."

She nodded, but didn’t say anything. When he moved closer to her, she came up to stand on her knees and they hugged. He kissed her, then smacked her lightly on her ass.

"Hey!" she complained, though she didn’t sound serious.

"I don’t know about you, he said, but I want to have time to dry out before beginning the hike back, so let’s pack up and swim back across the lake. We can lay out the blanket in the meadow on the other side. Though we’ll probably want to start back before 3pm."

"Okay," she agreed.

After getting dressed and re-sealing their packs, they returned to the water and he paddled them across. He took his time, and they chatted about inconsequential things, commenting on the scenery and other possible good hiking destinations.

As they crossed, he noticed that there were seven people sitting on boulders or fallen tree trunks enjoying the view. Two of them were the mother-daughter pair.

As they climbed out of the water, one of the women in a group of three said, "Damn, wish I’d thought of that. I could use a cool dip right now."

At the same time, the daughter got up and stomped towards them.

Great, just great. He thought.

She stopped arm’s length away and stomped her foot like a toddler having a fit. Then pointed at Analise.

"What’s so special about her?" she demanded.

Then she grabbed her tits and hefted them. They were a little bigger than Analise’s.

"Mine are bigger. Why don’t you look at me the way you look at her?" She stomped her foot again.

Because you’re rather plain and act like a child? Seriously, what was wrong with her? He got the impression the girl’s tits might be fake.

He leaned forward, got right into her face, and said, "Her brains are ten times bigger than yours. And unlike your tits, your brains cannot be augmented. I like smart women, not annoying, shallow, self centered little girls."

Then he straitened and watched the girl’s face transition from indignant outrage to crestfallen despair.

At that moment, her mother caught up to her and said, "I’m so sorry. I have no idea what’s gotten into her. She’s never behaved like this before."

"Not where you could see it anyway," he said. "Have you ever considered that you’ve managed to raise a selfish, self-centered, spoiled, immature daughter and failed to instill in her any real character?"

The mother’s eyes widened, and she gasped, "Well, I never!"

"Well then, now’s a good time to start. I grow tired of you presence. Begone!"

Much to the surprise of everyone witnessing their little exchange, the mother and daughter turned and walked away.

It was the first time he’d ever spoken to someone with such an imperious, commanding tone. That he’d done so was just as surprising as the mother-daughter pair’s response. He suspected his soul strength had something to do with it.

The same woman, of the three, who spoke before, muttered, "Damn, do you see that?"

Ignoring them, he and Analise hiked through the trees and found a nice corner of the meadow away from the trail and laid down on his blanket.

"I think there was something wrong with that girl," said Analise, laying next to him, holding his hand.

He suspected what really happened was the girl had a strange reaction to his strong soul. Like a twisted version of how the Yokorian chick, the military chick and the two dancers had reacted. It seemed like the personality of the person had a big impact on how they reacted. Most people seemed to behave normally, if maybe a bit more accommodating that he was used to. But some people, it seemed, had more extreme reactions. He didn’t yet understand what was different about those five girls that had led to their more extreme responses.

But he couldn’t tell Analise any of this, not yet, so he said, "You might be right. The way she stomped her foot made me think she might be developmentally challenged."

Pfft. She blew air through her lips while trying not to laugh out loud, and gently slapped him on his leg.

"Has that happened to you before? Were those other four girls you mentioned like that?"

"No, they were forward, but only leg humper was mildly aggressive. None of them acted like entitled little brats."

"Huh. Weird. Better you than me. I’d freak out if a guy approached me like that."

"I can imagine."

She rolled over and snuggled up next to him, resting her head on his shoulder and draping her leg across his hips. As they lay there, holding each other, he considered how she had behaved in the clearing on the other side of the lake. It reminded him a bit of how Miranda had been. And he had a strong suspicion that if he offered her a soul bond, she’d accept immediately. But, based on the questions she’d asked, he suspected she would be motivated by her insecurity more than anything else. So, he decided to wait. There was no compelling reason to soul bond her right away, and he would rather wait until he thought she could make the decision without being overly influenced by her insecurities.