The Fall - Chapter 1 (Patreon)

#This story will be a bit more of a slower burn, that's why I decided to post it alongside The Helpful Son which jumps straight into the action, Chapter 2 will be posted tomorrow.#

‘Opportunity awaits for those that are willing to seize it.’

It seemed like a pretty cliché corporate slogan, fancy lingo for anyone willing to fall for whatever they had to offer. But for Lucas it was intriguing enough that it somehow peaked his curiosity, so when the opportunity to attend fell in his lap he decided to do as the slogan said and seize it.

“So is that a yes then?” Zoe asked.

It wasn’t just down to pure luck that had thrown itself at Lucas, his best friend Zoe had scored herself a pass and insisted that he attend as her plus one.

“It’s just some kind of freaky virtual reality experience; I have my own already.” Lucas said, gesturing briefly at the dusty headset on the shelf, looking like it hadn’t been picked up in sometime.

“It isn’t though.” Zoe corrected him. “This is something else, ‘your fantasy awaits,’ you’ve seen the advertisements.

“Mhmmmm.” Lucas grunted.

It was true, he had seen the advertisements across town but it didn’t allude too much. It was all rather secretive and didn’t even explain how one would gain entry to this place; it gave off a very elitist vibe. Lucas assumed it was just some rich person show-boating some event that regular people couldn’t attend, that was until his phone starting buzzing with the fifty messages Zoe sent him that she was coming over. He had barely a chance to notice them after stepping out of the shower when she already had appeared at the doorstep of his apartment. With a towel wrapped around his waist he peaked out the keyhole and let her inside with a confused look over his face.

After practically shouting at him and with Lucas unable to get a word in edgewise he finally realised what she was talking about when he picked up the brochure she had thrown at him.

“Doesn’t something about it feel off to you though?” Lucas admitted.

“What are you talking about; it’s just all marketing, keep people out to make people want to come more.”

“Then why would you have gotten tickets?” He asked suspiciously.

“I dunno.” Zoe shrugged. “Guess we got lucky, they just turned up in my letterbox today addressed to me.”

Lucas toyed with the pamphlet. “It just seems too good to be true, doesn’t it?”

Zoe groaned. “Lucas, you’re always such a glass half empty kind of guy, good things can happen to regular people too.”

She approached him with a kind hand over his shoulder.

“You’ll be safe I promise.”

Lucas let his hands rest on hers for a moment.

“I’ll protect the wittle baby.” Zoe finished in a sickly sweet voice; one might use when talking with actual infants.

Lucas quickly swatted her hand away and threw her an annoyed look as she stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

“Knock it off.” He groaned.

Zoe laughed manically, it was obviously satirical but it still bugged him whenever she teased him, even if it wasn’t meant to be malicious. They first met at high school and instantly grew close; ignoring the stereotype that boys and girls can’t be best friends without dating, they quickly became inseparable. They even ended up at college together, constantly friends on both sides and in their own clique would suggest they started dating but neither harboured those sorts of feelings for the other.

It had long grown passed the point where it could be a possibility that they might one day eventually end up together. It would be a lie to say that they both hadn’t at one point or another considered it, especially as they grew older it felt safe and comfortable. But they both knew that if they pushed that boundary and things didn’t work out, then they wouldn’t be able to go back to the way things were. Even their parents both thought nothing of the other spending the night when they were younger. All things considered they were like a brother and sister separated at birth and reunited in their early teens.

There was no issue in that, especially not for Lucas, his only gripe was that everyone including Zoe saw her as the ‘alpha.’ It hadn’t always been that way; Lucas was always quite assertive and confident in his youth. But after he grew close to Zoe without even noticing his demeanour slowly began to change. It wasn’t something that happened over night with a snap of the fingers, his self-proclaimed ego and ‘tough guy’ persona slipped out for something more tender and passive. Zoe always liked to decide what they did or where they went; when he was younger he simply enjoyed the company of hanging out with this cool chick.

As they grew older he didn’t care that she was the one who took charge, he liked sitting back and having the decisions made for him. They shared a lot of the same interests, so what did it matter whose idea it was to pick the restaurant that night. His eyes weren’t even open to the fact until one day when they were having dinner at his place back when he was still living at home.

Lucas was paying more attention to his phone at the dinner table then he was to the food at the end of his fork. So unsurprisingly a large glob of sauce splatters across his face and without missing a beat Zoe takes it upon herself to clean it up with her napkin.

“Nghhhh.” Lucas groaned, his annoyance quickly turning to embarrassment upon hearing his parents laughter.

“You’re so good with him Zoe; perhaps we should get you a bib Lucas?” His mother jested.

“He could definitely use one, couldn’t he?” She said piling in.

It was small things like this that finally brought it to his attention that Zoe was treating him like a little brother. He didn’t have feelings for her so it wasn’t like he was forcibly being friend zoned, but it was rather emasculating. Suddenly he felt slightly unsure of himself and when he finally brought up with her that she was treating him like a little kid, she laughed and didn’t take it seriously. There was no point bringing it up with her again after that, he assumed it would just fall on deaf ears. He still loved her company, but after college was over and he was finally ready to get a job and move out of home he decided to get his own small one bedroom apartment.

Zoe was clearly sad by his snap decision; she assumed they would get a place together to save money. But Lucas insisted that he wanted his independence, even away from her, he travelled from home to college so he never experienced staying in a dorm, and this would be his escape. Lucas’s mother was quite frantic when she heard her son wouldn’t be living with Zoe, it was hard enough to imagine him leaving the nest, now he was going to be doing it alone. At least with Zoe she knew that he would be kept safe and in line, she would take care of her baby boy.

Her pleas fell on deaf ears; Lucas insisted that he was going to be getting his own place, what could she really do to stop him. At least he still came over for dinner every other weekend, it was bittersweet at best, but he was still making an effort.

Lucas considered visiting more often, owning mostly to the fact that he was a horrible cook and lived off of readymade microwavable meals and takeaway. It was a nice change having a familiar home cooked meal. His mother was an exceptional cook, Lucas wished he had paid more attention when he was still living at home, she had even offered to teach him but he ignored it. Nearly a year had passed since he had moved into his own place; to say it was tough was an understatement. Cooking was part of a long list of stuff he should have paid more attention too, he had to teach himself to get into the habit of doing the dishes, laundry and all general housekeeping by himself. They weren’t the most difficult jobs but after working retail on his feet all day and coming back to an empty place after a long shift the last thing he wanted to do was spend his time cleaning.

Even on his days off he just wanted to spend them relaxing, but Zoe would always use the opportunity to come visit him. That meant he had to force himself to keep his place clean, he couldn’t let her come over and see that he was struggling. So he regularly planned his cleaning session’s right before she was due to visit in order to keep up the façade. Today’s visit while it came as a surprise at least it wasn’t long since the last time she came over so the place was still in decent shape.

Lucas had spent enough time dwelling on the idea of this strange invitation, he knew what his answer would be regardless of the eerie feeling he felt at the deepest pits of his stomach. Something was off, but maybe Zoe was right and he was just being paranoid.

“Alright, fine.” He finally agreed. “I’ll come.”