Something in the Smoothie.

“What’s the matter?  You seem awfully concerned about something,” he uttered. 

A bead of sweat rolls down Tabby’s face.  Staring into the abyss of her newly ordered strawberry milkshake, she fought to ignore the ominous feeling that something was wrong.  She refused to drink this, not until he explained everything.

Tabby had always been a paranoid young girl.  Raised in an untrustworthy household, where possessions were mysteriously “lost” and trust torn apart like paper shreds, she couldn’t help but harbor concern over her every action.  Her environment wasn’t any better.  Entering her home, the floor yelped a silent creek.  Like always, the chairs around the dining room table were strewn across the floor.  An ancient lightbulb emits a sickening yellow light, casting a grim glow into the dimly lit living area—the background noise of arguing overpowered anything else that she could’ve done.  The near-collapsing faucet dripped murky water that congregated into a small puddle of nonpotable fluid.  Walking up to her room, she passed by a basket of unwashed clothes, perhaps sitting there for days.  Tabby’s room wasn’t glamorous; it was just a bed with a wardrobe.  She ventured through a miserable life, pondering the day she moved out.  However, Tabby starts to reconsider when she encounters him.

One blazing summer afternoon, Tabby worked delivering pizzas.  Mounted on her slowly-decaying motorbike, she navigated the bustling city under the melting sun.  Cars of various shapes and sizes commuted down the packed roads to their destinations.  Buildings loomed over the civilians that gathered in every corner.   It was a busy Saturday, like always.  Just beyond her field of vision, she takes a glance at her next destination.  Standing over her was a large concrete cube.  The sun reflected off the chrome-colored doorframe.  Each brick in the wall was polished and smoothed down to the last iota.  The perfectly cut grass stretched and coated the building’s entire front yard.  Tabby stood in shock at the pure beauty of the building as she slowly stepped onto the slate steps towards the hardwood door.  Each knock resonated through her soul; she felt like she was disturbing a god.  The door creaked open, and a guy wearing a coffee-stained T-shirt and tattered jeans stood in view.  Tabby heart was set aflame.  Every vein pumped through her at double time, and her eyes widened.  

“Can I help you?” The man stated.  A look of concern streaked across his face.

“...Here…”  Tabby managed to stammer out.  Her heart rang out in panic.  “My name is Tabby.” 

“Huh.  My name is Leo.  I think this is what you’re owed.”

After receiving payment, she shuffled back to her motorbike, a smile that stretched from one side of her face to the other.  As time passed, she delivered to that house more and more until they grew extremely close.  Tabby felt like all her problems had been solved by being with Leo.  She'd travel over to his if she experienced torment at her home.  Although she enjoyed Leo’s loving embrace, she was still highly cautious.  Like always, she walked at a slow pace, careful to scrutinize her surroundings.  Tabby still suffered from severe paranoia, unwilling to trust Leo fully.  After a long month, Tabby received an unmarked letter in the mail.

Panic boiled up in her throat.  It was written in shaky writing on a wrinkled coffee paper and stated a cryptic message.  The message was a conglomerate of random etches and numbers, which made no sense to Tabby.  However, one word seemed to jump off the paper.  As she hyperventilated, she skimmed what was written on the paper once again:

“Leo…”

Several hours pass by in an instant.  Leo tried to do everything he could to reach Tabby but to no avail.  Tabby was stressing at the nearby park.  The autumn leaves scattered around her resembled a plunging fire waiting to consume her whole.  She felt her soul scatter on two sides, not knowing what to believe.  How could she prove the letter was legitimate?  How could she know if Leo was legitimate?  As she stressed about the letter, Leo appeared from behind the bench.

“Hello!!”  Leo exclaimed.  “Are you feeling all right?”

“Just a little spooked,” Tabby responded.  A worrisome expression grew across Leo’s face.

“What happened?” A worried Leo inquired. 

“Look at this…”

Tabby unwrapped the scrunched-up paper and smoothed out the wrinkles. Each action she took sent shockwaves through her body.  Beads of sweat accumulated atop her head.  Her eyes flickered between Leo, the letter, and the leaves on the ground.  The world seemed to spin, faster than she could ever perceive, until Leo broke the silence.  

“How about this?  I’ll take you to the nearby smoothie store and get you a strawberry shake.  Does that sound good to you?”  

Leo seemed to know more than he let on.  Tabby had loved strawberry shakes as far as she could remember.  Even if her gruesome parents shattered her trust on an unfathomable amount of occasions, she would still half-forgive them as long as they brought her a strawberry shake.  Leo had found the key to her heart.  Tabby slowly tilted her head upwards to face Leo, and he outstretched his hand.

“I’ll walk you to the stand; we can discuss this on the way there.”  Leo soothed.  Tabby stood up and slowly walked over to the smoothie stand, with Leo following shortly behind.  They had approached the stand and received their drinks when Tabby saw a ragged man just beyond the peripherals of her vision.  His shirt hung loosely around his shoulders, his hair unkempt.  He walked with a limp, and he held up a sign with a familiar set of scribbles.  Just as she realized what the man held up, he stared directly at her, signaling her to read the sign.  His crazed glare stabbed deep into her mind, pulling her in with all his might.  Just as it happened, he broke contact and strolled off.  As she reached up to grab her newly-ordered strawberry smoothie, panic erupted from her mind again.

“What’s the matter?  You seem awfully concerned about something,” Leo uttered.

Beads of sweat form rivers down Tabby’s face.  Her vision blurred, and it was hard to concentrate on the situation presented at the moment.  Starting with the thick concoction of what could be a strawberry smoothie, her adrenaline builds up.

Up until this point, Tabby had bottled up her emotions around Leo.  Unwilling to fully trust him, she refrains from acting out on her feelings.  However, Leo still didn't seem like the guy he thought he was.  Tabby noticed his flaws due to her immaculate ability to single out small details, a byproduct of her immense paranoia.  After about a month of observation, she saw Leo sometimes act extremely strange, especially around Tabby.  She had hoped it was a figment of her imagination, a side aspect of her stress and nervousness, but with the man and the letter, she couldn't justify such an answer.  Leo was about to poison Tabby, and Tabby knew she had to do something.  

“WHO ARE YOU?” she had exclaimed.  Nearby pigeons took flight, their feathers falling as they frantically fled the scene.  Parkgoers spun to see the commotion that had formed at the smoothie stand.  The air around the duo grew sharp and dense.  

“W-whats going on Tabby?  You can’t just erupt like that in public!”  Leo retaliated.  His face grew to a sickening red hue.  As onlookers gather to see the problem, Tabby shows Leo the letter.

She glanced at the pedestrians as she watched Leo skim through the note.  They seemed just as distressed as she was.  She knew domestic abuse was common in this neighborhood, and the looks on their face were nigh too familiar.  

"Oh, Tabby… You can't listen to a random note you found in your mailbox."  Leo said.  His tone seemed to harden, which Tabby took account of.  Leo's body language suggested something else might be at play.

"What were you going to do with me?"  Tabby replied, her voice reaching an octave higher.

"Nothing!  I swear!"

"TELL ME THE TRUTH"

The scream resonated through the entire park.  Trees shed their leaves, autumn petals falling gently to Earth.  The amount of bystanders around the two had reached extreme numbers.  The smoothie store attendant slid the metal grate shut, refusing to get involved in their heated discussion.  Leo's eyes started to water.

"What is there possibly to say?  I tried to lighten your mood by buying you your favorite drink, and you yelled at me, seemingly for no reason at all."  Leo's voice was barely a whisper.  Tabby felt broken.  Yet again, she let her self-worriedness ruin another excellent relationship.  

"I'm sorry…  Can you just explain what the letter is?  And the fact that there was a weird guy holding a sign with the same message?"

A smirk began to form at the corners of Leo's mouth.  Shortly after, he let out a bellowing laugh.  The spectators of the quarrel let out a nervous chuckle, unsure of what to do next.  Tabby's mind sank deeper into confusion.  

"What in the world are you laughing at?"  she demanded.  Tabby had long forgotten about the distress she had just experienced and nearly knocked over her shake.  

"I'm suprised the amount of times you've been at my place you've never seen him!"  Leo said.  Tabby raised an eyebrow in confusion.  What on Earth was he talking about?

"The guy with the sign, he's Niko.  He's gone off the deep end after claiming to 're-establish society from the Big Three' or whoever those guys were.  He lingers at my place since I offer his hospitality."  

Tabby was astonished.  As always, she didn't bother to consider both sides of the scenario and instead jumped to conclusions.  Embarrassed, she decided to chug down the strawberry smoothie he bought for her.  It was perfectly mixed, flowed nicely, and tasted good.  The specific amplification of strawberry against all other ingredients made her want to cheer.  After all that debate, the smoothie was just a regular smoothie.  No thought of assassinating Tabby had ever crossed Leo's mind.  

"I'm- I'm sorry…" Tabby stammered.

"It's all good.  Let's just forget about all this and head back to my place, yeah?" Leo responded, his voice softened.  

As the observers of the quarrel dispersed, Tabby followed Leo back to his complex.  However, one last question lingered in the depths of her mind.

"How did you know I liked strawberry smoothies?"