Escape Pod 735: Boris’s Bar (Summer Flashback) (https://escapepod.org/2020/06/04/escape-pod-735-boriss-bar-summer-flashback/)
Author: Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali (https://escapepod.org/people/khaalidah-muhammad-ali/)
Narrator: Kaitie Radel (https://escapepod.org/people/kaitie-radel/)
Host: Alasdair Stuart (https://escapepod.org/people/alasdair-stuart/)
Audio Producers: Adam Pracht (https://escapepod.org/people/adam-pracht/) and Mat Weller (https://escapepod.org/people/mat-weller/)
Boris’s Bar originally appeared on Escape Pod episode 483 on March 2, 2015.
---
Content Warning:
While there is no explicit sexual content, the story does deal some fairly intimate relationship matters that may be too heavy for younger audiences.
“Orani, tell Boris what is wrong.”
I told Boris about Enoch and our shared dreams, about how he abandoned me.
“He said I was frigid,” I confided, my head on Boris’s shoulder, his hand stroking my back.
Boris nodded, “What else?”
“He said that for all the credits in the system, I would never learn how to love.”
I’d been drowning in loneliness when I contracted Boris to help me recover from losing Enoch. After two years of long distance communication, Enoch had traveled from Earth to be with me, only to later decide it was a mistake. “You’re not the human being I thought you were,” he said, which was rich because he wasn’t a human being at all.
When I was spent of energy and tears, Boris lifted me into his arms, like steel support beams, and carried me to the bathroom. He undressed and washed me. He kissed my tearful eyes. He rubbed my skin with oil. With Boris I finally felt warm and safe.
“Orani, you are worthy and lovable. I want you to know this,” he murmured to me as he carried me back to bed. “I want you to feel like a little baby.”
“I don’t remember what that’s like,” I told him.
Listen to this week's EscapePod. (https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/escapepod/Escape_Pod_735_Boriss_Bar_Summer_Flashback.mp3)
Follow us on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtLeMuTcFDtF2C3MiF6GPfQ) and Spotify (https://open.postURLify.com/show/6G8vOC5f6ZuhWmeW4cmgUG?si=07jmhoKQR1CMfcfuhg24qw)!