Lock Step - Love Under Lockdown

“Oh, yeah. That’s what I should do, too. Binge watch something. I hear this Tiger King documentary is pretty good. Looks weird though.”

“I saw the trailer,” explained Gillian. “He loves tigers, and he tries to kill this woman. I think he ends up in jail.”

“You just gave it away!”

“That was in the trailer,” assured Gillian. “Trust me. Sounds like there’s way more to it than that.”

“I actually wanted to watch this new Star Trek show, but everyone says it’s terrible.”

“It’s so weird you have to pay for it now. I think the first episode’s free. You have Netflix?”

“I’m not sure what we have. I think we have a whole package. Including Amazon Prime.”

“Oh, yeah, that one is lit. Good ole Amazon, providing us with all the entertainment.”

“You get Amazon delivered where you live?”

“Of course! The best thing about it is that since we’re in the woods, no one ever steals off of our porch. Although sometimes the guy leaves the packages by the road. Our driveway is like a hike.”

“He just leaves them at the road? That’s nuts.”

“Well, not really. It’s where the mailbox is. Otherwise, he’d have to pull off the road and drive all the way in. I don’t think they can do that,” Gillian explained.

“What happens if it’s raining?”

“My dad had originally built a little package box for that, but then the animals started nesting in there. One of the security cameras looks at the road, so we just keep an eye out. He usually comes in the early afternoon, so I just run out there and get the stuff. We have a golf cart with a little roof.”

“You have a golf cart? Just to go down your driveway?” I laughed. “That’s so weird.”

“I know, but it’s like a quarter of a mile! It’s a lot faster, especially if it’s raining and you don’t want to get wet. Usually, my dad and I will do it. I’ll drive and he holds the umbrella, then I stop. He hops out and gets the packages while I turn around. Then he jumps back on and we drive into the garage.”

“That’s a complicated way to get the mail!” I laughed.

“What’s even worse now is that Dad decided to order all our food online. We keep getting cases of soup and stuff delivered. It’s heavy! I went out there when it wasn’t raining to get a case of mandarin oranges—”

“What?” I laughed. “You’re ordering fruit in a can?”

“The produce stand is like, ten minutes away by car. No, more than that. Probably like twenty minutes. He doesn’t even want to go there. He says that people handling the fruit can infect us.”

“Jeez, does he have a bunker?”

“He priced one!” laughed Gillian. “Seriously, we have so much food stockpiled here. If the world ends, come on by. Just wave, so dad doesn’t shoot you.”

“I’ll remember. What’s it like eating out of cans?”

“Well, we’re not at that point yet,” she confessed. “Mom had her normal food run, but dad’s like, no, that’s over now.”

“Jeez.”

“Yeah, and he got a bunch of MRE’s too.”

“What’s that?”

“The ready-made Army meals. They come in these shrink-wrapped packages and everything’s in there to make a meal. It even has these like heating elements you mix together, and it heats up the food.”

“Wow, cool. Are they good?”

“They’re, like, okay. They’re heavy and shit,” Gil said. “I mean, they’re supposed to be calorie dense for soldiers in the field running around. They had this milkshake. And you know me and milkshakes, right? Well, I could barely drink a quart of this one and I was like, “No, I’m done, I’m so full!’”

“Crazy. Speaking of calories, I think I need something to eat. Let me go. I’m sure I’ll be talking to you again.”

“Yeah, check you later.”

I got myself a snack out of the pantry and headed up to my room in a towel.

I was going to need to shower off all this chlorine.

I hated the smell.

Suddenly, the bathroom door opened and Phil, buck naked, just strolled out and into his room. Holy shit! Wow.

I wasn’t turned on– or, at least, I was trying not to be— but he seemed to be in great shape. I guess if he had a different personality and was someone else… no, weird.

What was I saying?

That was too weird, even for a thought.

He had great muscles, and ripped, six pack abs.

He looked sturdy and strong, like he could pick up my curvy body and carry me up the stairs.

Stop it, now.

I told myself to pretend I hadn’t just seen what I had seen.

But it was a lot harder to do than I’d thought.

I wondered how long that image would be burnt into my mind before I’d be able to get it out!Chapter Seven - PhilWe were three days into quarantine and, for the most part, I had successfully isolated myself from the rest of the family. The comics podcast grinded on, I was keeping up with the news online and I had never gotten so far in video games in my life. I also chatted with John and Mickey daily, so I felt that I had somewhat of a social life, still.