Yesterdays Gone: SEASON TWO (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER) (Yesterday's Gone)

Brent and Jane. They were good friends, with similar interests in books and movies. That was it. But Brent wasn’t certain Emily understood the distinction. And he wasn’t about to say anything to either the girl or her mother for fear of alienating Jane or crushing Emily. So, he simply enjoyed the relationship for what it was, a quasi-family unit that they’d successfully avoided discussing or delving into with any depth at all.
    “What did you do today?” Emily asked from behind a mouthful of lasagna.
    “Michael and I flew over the city looking to see if we could find any other people.”
    “Did you?” Emily asked, half-chewed lasagna rendering her question barely intelligible.
    “No,” Brent said, “Not this time.”
    “Do you think your family is still alive?” Emily asked.
    Jane’s face went red, “Emily Rose!”
    “What? I was just asking . . .”
    “It’s okay,” Brent said, “I don’t know. I don’t think there’s anyone else out there; at least not in the city.”
    Emily’s eyes were big and sad, “Are you going to keep looking?”
    Jane’s face grew redder, but it was too late to say anything, so she said, “I’m sorry, Brent. Let’s change the subject, shall we?”
    “She’s curious,” Brent said in the child’s defense. “It’s okay. I don’t think the helicopters are going to go out too many more times. And it’s too dangerous to go by myself. From what Michael says, they’ve pretty much scoured the city and gotten everyone they could.”
    “I don’t want you to go back there,” Emily said. “They’re probably in Heaven, anyway.”
    “Emily!” Jane said, “I want you to apologize to Mr. Foster right now.”
    Emily looked at him, confused at what she’d said wrong, doe-eyed and adorable. It was impossible to get mad at a face like that – for him, anyway.  
    “I’m sorry,” the girl said. “I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I don’t want to lose you, too.”
    Brent leaned over and hugged Emily, his eyes welling up. Jane’s eyes were red, too, as she excused herself and went into the kitchen, out of sight.
    “It’s okay, Emily,” Brent said, giving her a kiss on the top of her head. “Wait here, I’m gonna get some more to drink, okay?”
    “Okay,” she said, pushing the food around on her plate with the fork.
    Brent went into the kitchen and found Jane leaning against the fridge with her face in her hands, shuddering. She hadn’t noticed Brent in the room yet, and he worried that maybe he should go back into the living room so he wouldn’t embarrass her. She obviously wanted privacy. Before he could leave, she turned, looked at him, eyes red, cheeks wet, and blew her nose into a napkin.  
    “I’m sorry,” she said.
    The awkwardness of the moment deepened. He had no problems showing affection to Emily, but he and Jane were more like two male friends, avoiding anything close to intimacy. As she stood there, vulnerable and crying, he felt stupid not embracing her. He surrendered to his instinct, walked to Jane, and put both arms around her.
    She fell into his chest, crying and sniffing louder. Her warmth and lightly perfumed scent reminded him how long it had been since he’d touched another woman. He thought of Gina and how much he missed her, then found himself inappropriately aroused. A flush of guilt flooded his body.
    Jesus, Brent, what the hell?
    “Are you okay, Mommy?” Emily asked, standing at the kitchen’s entrance.
    Jane pulled away, leaned down, then hugged her daughter, “Mommy just got sad. I’ll be okay.”
    Brent stared at his “family” as they held their embrace and felt even more like an outsider.

    **

    After Emily went to bed, Brent and Jane sat on her couch together watching a DVD of some comedy show neither of them had ever seen, nor remembered being on the air. He had no idea whether the show was funny or not because all he could think about was the fact that Jane was just inches away. He grabbed a few looks at her whenever he could, trying not to be too obvious, something Gina said he was horrible at hiding whenever he’d look at another woman on the streets.
    Brent was surprised that he’d not really noticed Jane’s beauty before now. He’d recognized that she was pretty, of course, but dismissed it as one might recognize their sister as pretty, yet not be attracted to them. But he hadn’t really thought of her sexually until their embrace in the kitchen. He hadn’t thought of any