Chapter 30

His call was several hours of meaningless engineering jargon. He seemed to have memorized the stress tolerances of nearly one hundred types of metal screws. Evie was utterly bored. No chance of putting the radio on or watching videos. Her mind was still burning with questions as she watched the clock pass from hour to hour. Until he eventually started saying his goodbyes.

Evie tapped the clock, it was way past lunchtime, when he hung up.

"So. Maybe we can talk again?" she suggested.

Without looking at her, he raised his finger at her and spoke into his headset. "Hi so, I was talking to the manufacturer, looks like we can go ahead with fifteen B in the next six weeks. Did you hear from Scott about the permissions?"

Evie slumped down in the seat, back to attacking monsters and talking with her alliance in the mobile game.

Two more hours passed. She glanced at his screen. He was describing red lines on a map. Bored and hungry, she started rolling in her seat. Drake successfully managed to ignore her.

She lifted her t-shirt and dramatically rubbed her hungry stomach to get his attention. Still no reaction.

Another hour later she had stripped down to her knickers in a vain attempt to distract him from work. The man was indefatigable.

Six O'clock came and went. This was maybe meeting number four now. She writhed in her seat until eventually She heard Drake say. "No problem. It's getting a bit late, I'll email you in the morning." and hung up.

"Feed me, you bastard!" She growled, lunging onto him and snatching the microphone off his head.

Drake mumbled into her pair of floppy bare breasts and pushed her away. "You should have ordered something."

She stared at him, bewildered. "You never told me your address."

"That's a good point." He paused. "And you're naked?"

She bit her lip. "Oh. I just felt like it."

"It's a good look, but I hope you're not cold." He opened a food delivery app on his phone. "Here, pick something, we can drive to the front door to get it."

"Well I'd better stock up, in case you try to starve me again. I haven't eaten those breakfast muffins yesterday."

"You had chocolate yesterday too."

She huffed and started looking through the few options they had for their area.

"We can do home delivery from one of the supermarkets, get a microwave and you can just help yourself."

She chose a few options from a Turkish takeaway and passed the phone to Drake. "You really think its safe to leave the car in here?"

"Yes. Come on, try it before the food gets here. There's enough room for two cars here, so we can do it up a little." He placed his order and paid. "Now come on."

Drake left the car again with no problems, opened the door for Evie and offered her his hand. She closed her eyes and held on. "Sorry, I'm scared."

"Just take it slow. You haven't stood up in about six months now."

She shuffled towards the open door and stretched her legs out. She felt no resistance. She whimpered.

"You're doing really well. Now put your feet on the floor."

She nodded with her eyes still scrunched tight and let her feet touch the concrete.

"Okay. I'm going to pull you up now. Just count back from three."

"Three, two," She stuttered. "One."

Drake pulled her up as hard as he could and caught his hands around her waist as she stood up. She leaned heavily against him and he staggered backwards a few steps to lean his back against the workbench. "Excellent."

Evie opened her eyes and saw him smile reassuringly. She began to laugh. "No way."

He nodded. "Yes. I suppose this must feel strange to you."

She yelped with excitement and started to try and slip away.

Drake loosened his grip a little bit. "Careful now. You aren't used to standing up anymore."

Her legs started shaking as she allowed them to take some of her weight. "What's wrong with them?"

"It's not the curse, they're just not as strong as they were." He kept his grip on her and started to turn her around. "I'm going to let you hold onto the workbench. Just hold onto it."

She flopped forwards onto the bench, Drake stood back and loosely held his arms around her. She nodded and tried to push herself up.

"Very slowly start to let go."

She stood up, her legs wobbled as they suddenly supported all her weight. "Oh this doesn't feel right."

He nodded. "It might take a while, but it's a good start. You're standing on your own."

"But I did all the yoga you told me to do." She flopped back over the bench, panting. "Are you sure this is normal?"

He looked at her trembling legs. "Yes. I think your legs are carrying a bit more weight than they used too."

She whimpered. "I'm too fat to stand up?"

Drake paused. "Well, you would have struggled if you didn't put on a bit of weight. But yes."

Her eyes widened.

"Don't panic. You'll be fine in a week or two i'm sure. You're not too heavy that I can't hold you up."

She looked down. Her belly and side rolls were bulging into a little overhang at her waistline.

"Just push yourself a bit, I'll make you a walking stick or something for when I'm working.

She nodded. "Okay."

Food arrived shortly after.