Stuffed

Chapter 8

He sat in his chair impatiently, the clock on his wall ticked away as a constant reminder of the slow time. It was only five minutes from closing but even then he'd have to wait for the rest of the facility to leave. In boredom he stared down at the desk which had reflected his face from its cleanliness. Maurice noticed his skin was extremely pale, and his face still thin, it bothered him being a man of perfection. Perhaps he imagined himself to be better looking, his body was too thin and he was too tall. It wasn't even that often he worried about it, why was he interested in such a trivial thing he hadn't cared too much about before?

After a few minutes passed Stacey barged into the room, a heavy scent of perfume wafted up to his nose and he gazed up at her. Regardless if whoever had walked in, he didn't want to be caught looking at himself. The expression on her face was one of false sweetness, but he couldn't tell if her smile was nervous or enraged one. Folding her arms behind her back she approached him widening her grin more, it made her seem terribly creepy and he felt the urge to scoot backwards.

"Hello there Mr. White, how are you doing?" She asked rather plainly.

Maurice lifted a brow in suspicion, "That's a rather common greeting for how you usually approach me?"

Stacey giggled with fake happiness, "Nonsense! Tonight the staff is going out for a few drinks if you want to come as well?'

"Oh, my apologies but I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on..." Mr. White lied as he scratched the back of his head.

"All your papers are in the finished box..." She retorted pointing at the box of papers he finished.

Maurice White lurked over to his briefcase, "I packed away a lot of extra stuff that needs to be done in my case, I'm taking it home."

Her grin faded away in a plain expression, "Alright then have fun doing work..."

The fake woman strutted out of the door in a cold way as if to show he was missing out. Maurice White hadn't really cared all that much, and he was glad he came up with a legitimate lie otherwise it would have been suspicious. Why was she so interested in talking to him anyway, he showed barely any concern for her? Leaning back into his chair he waited for the time to pass, there was no way he would skip out on Isabelle's birthday for just a couple of drinks. He wasn't even all that fond of alcohol, he often become extremely delirious and made horrible decisions. Although he did keep bottles of wine in his cupboard, he never happened to open them.

Shutting his eyes for a moment he put himself at peace, something he needed to do more often. He was still shaken from his nightmare with the spider, he couldn't stand how it kept popping back into his brain. Shifting through his mind he tried to focus on something that made him happy, but all he could think about Isabelle. The thought of her was making him feel sick, Maurice couldn't shake the girl from his head. Something about her attracted him to her, like a glue, and it irritated him. He could always tear himself away and move somewhere from where he lived, but he feared the stuffed creatures would find him and gut him for abandoning her.

Mr. White opened his eyes once again gazing directly at the clock on the wall, a solid twenty minutes have passed and he didn't even notice. He hoped by now the building would be cleared for the most part, if he was happy about anything here it was the lack of security and night doctors due to budget cuts. The facility itself wasn't ran liked how it was supposed to be, the greed that had gotten to the owners must have been overbearing.

Grabbing his things and throwing on his coat he strode out of the office quietly, the entire hallways were silent. Each of his steps seemed to echo throughout the hallways, it was eerie and forced his mind into a slight over awareness. He checked around briefly for other people, but there was no one to be found. Even though it was good for him, he still felt terrified wandering around by himself. With haste he punched out of the clock and head down to see Isabelle, half of himself was questioning what he was doing and the other was certain.

Opening the door he whispered, "Hey Izz, are you asleep?"

"Nope!" Her sweet voice called back at him as she approached the door.

Letting her out he spoke quietly, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, all of my friends are in my backpack. Where are we going to go?" Izzy questioned innocently.

"Wherever you want, it's your birthday" He replied leading the way.

The girl smiled widely, "Awesome!"

Walking back out through the hallway the darkness overshadowed an immense part of the facility. Isabelle grasped hard onto Maurice's arm in fear of the night, she let out a tiny squeal while digging her face underneath him. The thought of her actually being afraid of the dark baffled him, the very stuffed animals she owned loved to play games in the dark and he hated it. Regardless of his annoyance towards the little monsters he felt a warm sensation build up in his chest as she clung to him.

They approached the front doors and Maurice held the door open for her like a real gentlemen would, or so he assumed. Izzy hesitated for a moment at his kindness towards her but eventually understood and walked past him. Observing the way she acted Mr. White found himself lost in her eyes as they sparkled from her amazement at the outside world. She hadn't even been outside for five minutes and she was taking in deep breaths of fresh air and grinning ear to ear from happiness.

"When was the last time you've been outside?" Maurice wondered as he lead her forward.

Isabelle sighed in a loud relief, "It's been forever!"

Maurice's stomach boiled intensely into an illness, the idea of a sweet girl like her being locked up for so long hurt him. He thought that if only people would take the time to understand her that they'd really learn to love her like he did. Although Mr. White was far from just love, he couldn't help but be absolutely smitten with her. Every moment he realized how much he really did her scolded himself, what was wrong with him?

Stopping directly next to his beaten truck he wished he had something better, it was in fact the only time he even cared. Glancing down at her she seemed completely in bliss, he had almost forgotten that something that simple probably didn't even bother her for how much she never got to see. They hopped into the front seats together and Izzy gently placed her backpack next to her feet. Maurice nit picked at his surroundings for a good amount of time while poor Isabelle attempted to figure out what to do with the seat belt. The man wanted to laugh at her pure innocence but he rejected it knowing that the creepy creatures might attack him.

"Do you need help?" He asked her holding back a smile.

She gazed up at him nervously, "No, it's just been a very long time..."

"I can't believe they make you do school work and educate you, but don't even let you leave your room. What's the sense in that? What would they prepare you for if you were forced to stay around there your entire life?" Mr. White ranted thinking about how much he hated some people.

Isabelle ignored his statement as she clicked the seat belt in, "Okay, I got it!"

Shrugging off his stress he asked, "Alright then, what do you want to do?"

"I want to see the trees again, and the grass!" The girl answered with excitement.

Maurice White nodded at that request, it seemed pretty reasonable assuming she hasn't been out in so long. He started the truck and began to drive off, the humming of the car seemed to soothe the silence. Glancing between the road and Isabelle he watched her staring out the window like a puppy on a car ride. She certainly was excitable, she gave him a glance back with wide blue eyes and a smile. Mr. White knew exactly where to go even though it was night time, there was a small park area nearby his house he remembered. It had a medium sized field with a lot of trees planted around, he would have gave her a mountain to explore if he could but it was the best he could find.

The car halted to a stop and he got out signaling her to come as well, she grinned and hopped out onto the ground. The grass was fairly green, and the area quite wide for plenty of space. With her backpack in her arms she nearly screamed before stopping herself, the outcome was a tiny peep of excitement as she dived down onto the grass. Maurice didn't remember the last time he actually just hung out in nature, he was so consumed with work and material items that he had completely forgotten how good it felt.

"This is amazing, look at the stars!" Isabelle declared with awe.

Gazing up at the sky he saw a vast sea of stars collected above them in the blackness of the night. It was certainly a sight to behold, and before he knew it her tiny friends had come out to see it as well. They all complied with her desires and became excited by the beautiful sight. Before Maurice could even adjust he had already noticed all of them lying straight across the ground on their backs. They way that all of them seemed so loose and carefree annoyed him, he was jealous and wished he was just as free. He stood awkwardly behind them staring up at the for a small while.

Isabelle pulled at his ankles, "What's wrong with you? Come stargaze with us!"

"Yeah, loosen up grandpa!" Buster teased him.

"I am not a grandpa I am far from old I'll have you know I am only twenty four!" Maurice defended himself feeling embarrassed.

Izzy smiled up at him with her arms stretched out, "Then start acting like it, you're young and you're alive!"

Mr. White sighed grumpily and lied down on the grass next to Isabelle, the grass brushed against his sides and made him itch. The fresh air allowed him to let go for a few moments, but his muscles were tense from being full of thoughts. However the grass began to feel more comfortable in a soft way that made him feel slightly tired. With a drowsy composure he stretched his arms out across the land below him.

"I don't get it Maurice, you're so uptight and stressed out. Why are you a therapist when you have your own problems?" Izzy spoke softly turning her head to look at him.

He heaved in deeply and scrunched his face, "I want to help people, that's why I do it."

"I wish I was more like you..." She sighed to herself.

Maurice lifted himself off the ground giving her an expression of disbelief, "Are you serious, you don't want to be more like me!"

Isabelle shook her head lightly, "You're brave, you're confident, you know how to handle a bad situation, and you're a really good person."

"Oh trust me I'm far from that, I'm afraid of almost everything, I'm really not all that confident, and I'm easily panicked in bad situations..." Mr. White denied her statement.

"That's not true I've seen it first hand, if you forget that everyone is too afraid to talk to me. You're not afraid..." Isabelle claimed in a loving tone.

He messed up her hair while getting to his feet, "You need to learn to love yourself before you can love others, your differences are what makes you stronger."

As if he had said the nicest thing in the world she gazed up at him endearingly, her ice blue eyes seemed brighter than the sun. He could feel his head grower warm, blushing from the complete love in her eyes. Glancing past her to avoid her gaze he caught sight of Patchi observing him intently, standing in the distance with what appeared to be menace on his face. Was he making the stuffed animal jealous? He gulped back a burning fear into his throat, the creature gave him a snarl from the distance it would be best to be careful.

Trying to push away the creepy stuffed rabbit's pure malice he rushed them to get back into the truck, he wanted to take her to his place for cake and of course the car ride would hopefully calm the creature down. She hopped into the front with Patchi in her arms, she helped each one of them into the truck. It was both an adorable and odd sight to him, he still couldn't wrap his head around these stuffed animals. Once they were situated he quickly drove off focusing hard on the road ahead of him. If it were possible he wanted to avoid getting any closer to Isabelle or his life would be in danger.

Taking a nice scenic route home he hummed a song to himself, and the others began to hum along with him. He swallowed back his voice with a cough, he should have been more quiet. Winding down into the road to his home he glanced briefly at the stuffed rabbit to make sure it wasn't looking at him, lucky for him it was preoccupied with the sights and sounds. He pulled into his driveway with a relieved sigh, something about being home made him feel safe, even if it really wasn't.

Trotting up the side of the large house Isabelle stared at it with awe and confusion, perhaps she wondered why one man lived in such a big house. He shuffled through his keys quickly and unlocked the front door, he pushed it open and once again held it open for his guest. The girl leaped inside with her cheeks rosy and bright, he couldn't tell what she thought but he hoped it wasn't something hateful. Standing in the middle of the front hall she gazed around for awhile getting used to the surroundings.

"You're house is so huge!" Izzy laughed while letting her voice echo.

He felt a tad bit embarrassed, "Not much of a good thing when you don't have any company."

Skipping over to him she grabbed onto his arm, "Well you have me now!"

"Yes I do, I bought you a cake for your birthday. I wasn't sure what kind yo-" Mr. White began to explain before he was interrupted.

"Cake!" She screeched running into the kitchen visible from the hall.

While the stuffed animals hopped out of her pack and followed her Maurice stood for a moment attempting to register what just happened. With a light chuckle to himself he gathered with the rest of them pulling a chocolate cake out of the fridge. He wasn't sure what kind of cake she liked, but he assumed chocolate would be a safe decision. Really he wondered why he didn't just ask in the first place, but now it seemed kind of ridiculous to bother bringing it up. Placing it onto the table he cut the cake into segments for all of them unsure if the stuffed animals could eat or not. Maurice grabbed the plates and put them down serving the first slice to Isabelle.

"I didn't have any candles, to be honest I should have planned better ahead..." Maurice explained awkwardly.

She waved it off while closing her eyes, "No, it's perfect don't worry so much!"

Maurice observed her while she closed her eyes tightly, "What are you doing?"

"I'm making a wish, be quiet!" Izzy claimed wrinkling her nose.

Staying silent he observed the others patiently, Floppy was poking the cake with his tiny paw. Meanwhile Squeaker pulled at the stuffed dog's ears and Floppy seemed to get annoyed each time the squirrel pulled. They interacted like real people, children nonetheless but it was still baffling that they had this intelligence. Isabelle opened her eyes again and began to eat a piece of cake, her toys however simply just made a mess of the other pieces by rolling around in them. Maurice's clean freak attitude was kicking in as he so difficultly held back the urge to force them to sit still.

To preoccupy himself he pulled open the door to the cupboard, "Do you want something to drink Izzy?"

"What do you have?" The girl asked with a mouthful of chocolate cake.

He pushed through the contents, "I have some juice, soda pop, sparkling water..."

"What's that?" She pointed to a bottle of red wine that he hadn't opened.

"No, you aren't having that" The man rejected her question.

Isabelle rolled her eyes, "I just asked I didn't say I wanted any!"

Mr. White sighed and gazed back at her, "It's wine and it's alcoholic."

"Can I have some?" Izzy begged with puppy eyes.

"I just told you no!" He grumbled shaking his head.

Betty the bat raised her arms, "That's not fair, just let her have some!"

Soon all of them were jumping in with nods of agreement, even Patchi seemed to be okay with the idea. They really had no idea what alcohol could do to someone, he wasn't going to give up on it without a fight. Yet again though she was an adult, it was her birthday, a little bit wouldn't really hurt her. He glanced back at them again noticing Patchi's terrifying glare, as if he even had a choice in the matter. If he said no they'd just take it from him anyway.

"I guess it's your birthday, so consider it a special gift. You only get one glass and no more than that do you understand?" Maurice explained sternly to them.

Isabelle tilted her head on the side, "My parents used to drink all the time why is that such a problem?"

His skin crawled at the mention of her deceased parents, "Alcohol can make you do stupid things when you drink enough, and do you really want to end up like your parents?"

"No I guess not..." Izzy agreed with him but seemed a little disappointed.

He grabbed a wine glass from the cupboard and placed it down on the table next to her. Afterwards he snatched the wine and popped the cork out pouring in an average amount for her. In the back of his mind he didn't think this was a good idea, but he didn't desire to face the outcome if he had denied her. She took a light sip and licked her lips, she didn't scrunch her face from the flavor either so he assumed that she liked it. After a few moments she fiddled with the bridge of the glass and stared at Maurice for awhile, it made him rather uncomfortable.

"Why aren't you having any?" The girl questioned him while taking another sip.

"Because I don't do well with it, like I said you make stupid decisions and I'll end up falling over or something" The man explained.

Finishing the small glass she put her hands back down at her sides, "Why do you have it in your house then?"

Maurice White raised an eyebrow at her for he nosy nature, "I don't know sometimes I think I might use it for friends and family but that never happens."

"I'm a friend, so there. Can I have some more now? Also you have to have some!" Isabelle demanded with a loud laugh.

"No, I said just one" He denied her.

In what seemed like seconds she gave the puppy look again, while her stuffed animals played in tune with her emotion. This was not a good idea, he cursed himself for even having a bottle of wine in his house. As if a prisoner to them he grabbed a second glass and filled both of them to the brim, he was giving in his hands completely tied. In his mind he wished over and over that he hid them, but he didn't when he should have. He sighed leaning back on his chair, this was going to end in a disaster.