Rise by Danielle Racey Page A

this, see.” He used his knife and fork to cut the hamburger into small, bite-sized squares, and speared a piece on the end of his fork. “Here, open your mouth.” Victoria opened her mouth obediently, and as Roman slid the fork into her mouth, she smiled.
    “ Better, right?” She nodded, and swallowed before she opened her mouth to speak, “Food is always better when you’re not choking.”
    After finishing their meals, Roman announced that he was taking her on a tour of the city. Several hours later found the two strolling leisurely down the sidewalk, heading back towards the exit of Gracelia, with dusk rapidly approaching.
    Upon Roman’s insistence, they’d visited the Gracelian river, and gone dolphin spotting. Victoria had spotted a few, but for some reason, Roman seemed to be having all the luck. When Victoria jumped for joy after spotting the tail fin of what she thought was a dolphin, Roman was already pulling her by the hand in another direction, where a herd of dolphins were jumping out of the water, making delighted clicking noises.
    Afterwards, they’d visited the city’s central park and sat on the park benches spreading feed to the pigeons. It was there that Roman felt compelled to tell her more about himself. To her surprise, she wasn’t opposed to the idea, and as scary as it was to admit it, she couldn’t help but want to know more about Roman. When they’d settled down on the bench, she fumbled around for something to say for a few moments, before Roman brought up the monastery. Victoria had always wondered if life there was similar to life in the convent, but as Roman’s description wore on, she realized, with a grimace, that life in the monastery was lavish, compared to the convent. She gasped when he told her that they didn’t eat slop on a regular basis. Instead, the monks had actual meals, and occasionally (Victoria had fumed at this), food was brought in from the city. “So, we eat well” Roman had said, and he rubbed his stomach impishly.
    “ Not really. You’re a bit thin” Victoria replied, and before she knew her hand was on his stomach. When her hand came into contact with his stomach, she almost jerked back. Roman’s stomach wasn’t rock solid, but through his shirt, she could feel his lean muscle, and the soft contours. She realized with a start that she had been unabashedly rubbing his abdomen; she drew her hand back and stuffed it in her robe pockets, and tried to will away the rising color in her cheeks. Shortly after, as the tension in the air grew to be nothing short of painful, Roman muttered “Guess I should be getting you back. I’ll show you the way.”
    Victoria had followed behind, feeling strangely unsatisfied that she would be leaving so soon. When they reached the familiar toll booth, Roman slipped in two quarters, and watched as Victoria passed through. As she was making her way down the asphalt path, she heard him calling her name. “Victoria, I almost forgot. I’ll be seeing you soon!” At his words, a strange thrill tingled up her spine. He would be seeing her soon? But why? As Victoria headed back towards the convent, she pondered this, feeling her early disappointment fade away along with the daylight.
    Upon arriving back at the convent, Victoria found that the nuns were still working tirelessly. She ambled over to Grace’s area, to find the big nun, as usual, wrapping the leg of yet another injured orphan. Grace looked unusually haggard, but her eyes still harbored the same gentleness.
    “ I’m guessing you had a good couple of days in the city.” Grace wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, and then slapped the arm of the orphan she was working on. “You’re all good to go buddy.”
    “ I really did.” Victoria said, as she settled down on the edge of one of Grace’s tables and watched Grace pack her bandages into a small box. When she finished, Grace called out to her “I’ll be wanting to hear all about your time in the city, but first, I