Read Watching Yute for Free Online Page B

their spears to Marcus and
Cassidy and left, wishing Cassidy luck. Marcus stood on one side,
holding his spear with one hand, back end resting on the ground, so
Cassidy followed suit on the other side. The spear was very light,
and she wondered how heavy the original model was. She watched the
previous shift walk away, then looked to Marcus. “Soooooooo, when’s
the rush here?” she joked.
    “ Well, that was one right
there. Next one’s in eight hours, then two other folks come by and
we hand the spears to them.”
    Cassidy smirked. “So… this is what it’s
all about? Oh, geez, are we supposed to be silent?”
    “ No, no, conversation is
pretty much the only way to pass the time around here.”
    Cassidy looked around. The statue was
still staring forward, almost expectantly. With nothing else to
talk about, she finally said “I spy, with my little eye, something
that weighs a couple hundred tons.”
    Marcus chuckled a little. “You’re not
used to silence, are ya?”
    “ Can’t say I’d had much use
for it in general.”
    “ Well, there’s plenty to be
had around here. Ah, I’ve kinda been wondering, what made you
decide to come on board with us here?”
    Cassidy leaned a bit, putting some
weight on the short middle handle of the spear, and huffing a bit
of a sigh. “Well… seemed like good timing for a change of scenery…
It’s certainly pretty enough out here.” Marcus nodded. He didn’t
ask for more, but he didn’t need to. The silence seemed to draw it
out of her all on its own. She looked out the front, down the
stairs, past the opening with the gap in the floor, down more
stairs, to the sands.
    “ I was dumped.” she finally
added. “Seems like Brandy and I had been together for ages, but...
well... to be quite honest... I wasn’t putting much into the
relationship lately. Long distance… and I guess just … “
    Cassidy sighed, frustrated with
herself.
    “ It’s alright.” Marcus said,
in an almost fatherly tone.
    Not really hearing him, she eventually
went on after a long pause. “You hear about people taking each
other for granted, and it sounds dumb, it sounds like something you
wouldn’t do. But I guess I did. But... I hadn’t even seen her in a
long time, except messages. I may as well have not been going out
with her for a long, long time.” She idly twisted the spear a
little, and felt how the stray grains of sand ground against the
stone floor. “In a way, it shouldn’t even bug me. Being dumped
didn’t really change anything.”
    “ Except that suddenly it was
official” Marcus added.
    Cassidy snapped her stare over to him,
her face tense with thought. “Yeah. I guess that’s it. I had
someone out there. Out there somewhere, and she was mine, I was
hers, and it was safe. Now I don’t have that.”
    “ On the other hand, you’re
free.” Marcus tried to point out a silver lining, but Cassidy
wasn’t too moved. She looked back out onto the sand. “Yeah, well, I
hope Brandy is feeling better about her freedom than me. Freedom is
overrated.”
    The silence that came now bore heavier
on Cassidy than before. Marcus decided to change the topic. “So,
Cassidy, do you follow World Cup at all?”
    Cassidy gave the hint of a chuckle.
Marcus had the wisdom to know when to leave things alone. Why she
opened up to her new C.O. like that for no real reason, she
couldn’t put her finger on. Nonetheless, it was good to vent a
little.

    ~~~

    The man who Kirison finally met with
after lots of waiting and an entirely new appointment, was
significantly less terrifying than he had feared. He expected some
chain smoking, overweight, middle aged man with sunken dark eyes,
massive rings on every finger, an expensive yet tasteless suit, and
an expression as warm as an undertaker.
    The reality of “Mr. Irving” was a
downright skinny old man, tall and lively. He was also dressed
business casual, not too far from what Kirison had chosen for
himself. That was good.
    Regardless,