John was utterly miserable, wishing he could invent a time machine on the spot and take back the misguided words. He hated his two extremes, not talking or saying rubbish, because both of them hurt the people around him. He cringed at the other’s words. But he deserved them. All of them. His heart sank to the bottom of the pit. He didn’t want to spill his guts out on the airplane, but saying nothing would prove to be wrong too. Ugh, he felt like he was part of some sick twisted soap opera on a public channel, although there was no Maria.
He even winced at Sullivan’s hard clutch. The mind didn’t produce anything worth voicing. He was lost and angry and a bit in a daze. John was afraid to catch Sullivan’s gaze, afraid to be scolded so for his damn impudence. He reached for his cup of water, drinking to buy himself time, to hide the jitteriness of his jaw at the thought of talking back, trying to find a proper excuse, to alleviate the situation.
Holding the water in a deathly grip, John focused on the floor as finally words began to leave his lips. “It sounded horrible, but I can’t shake off the feeling that I’ll wake up and this is just a dream. Maybe it’s not even you lying exactly, but this whole fucking universe. Maybe I’m just going crazy because in this world no one is supposed to be truly happy. There’s always a catch.” He sighed, glancing up for the first time, cautious and meek in his manner. “No, you didn’t lie about them,” said John quietly. It was absolutely the worst for him when someone was this disappointed in him.