Winter (Not Edited)

Chapter 19

Emerson had continued to ignore Winter. Her innocence would be engulfed by the flames of his past if he wasn't careful.

He made his way home from work with only one thing on his mind. Three days until he relives one of the worst days of his life.

Winter had fallen into an even more depressing place. Her heart felt like it would explode from the loneliness.

Emerson arrived home and went straight to his room. He did this every night. He had to shut his mind off. He once again drowned himself in alcoholic pleasure enough to put him to sleep.

Winter sat wide awake, her body shaking from the oddly cold spring night. Even with her blankets she was cold.

Her heart clenched thinking of how distant Emerson was being. She ruined their friendship. With sleep nowhere to be found, she stumbled out of bed and to the living room.

Picking out a movie she watched it. The movie made her even sadder, maybe this wasn't a good idea.

The blanket was upstairs and she was now too tired to retrieve it. Her eyes began to close as the wind howled outside of the estate.

Maybe they would be friends again. And with that final thought Winter fell asleep.

A day had passed and no sign of Emerson.

Today was certainly the worst day. Rain poured from the clouds above. The loud noise of thunder frightened Winter a bit.

Emerson cared not of the weather, tomorrow fogged his usually clear mind. He couldn't help but worry. He would go to his parents graves tomorrow.

The day dragged out, and Winter stayed in her room. She didn't want to disturb Emerson.

Maybe this is how it would be from now on, she thought.

Emerson hated himself for pushing her away, when she obviously needed him. She needed him, even as a friend.

He continued to think about her, it distracted him from his over thinking.

Winter had exited her room, heading to clean the library. She organized the books from left to right. Her eyes scanned the shelves for anything that may not be particularly good on the eye.

Winter groaned as she grabbed the library ladder and dragged to the shelf that had a book that was pushed out.

Even with the ladder, she could just barely reach the book. On the edge of the ladder her feet shook with the force of her body weight on her tippy toes.

Within in a second she was in the air before the ladder moved from under her feet. Falling aimlessly she let out a bloody murder scream.

Luckily she fell on her bottom, unluckily her arm smacked the ladder and was burning terribly. She hissed as she pushed herself to her feet. If she wasn't in enough emotional pain, the physical pain was beginning to get overwhelming.

Winter sat down on the closed toilet as she grabbed the wound cleaning supplies. Her arm was scrapped, but was more bruised than anything.

Emerson had no clue of what his actions had done to Winter. Well, subconsciously he did, but his closest thoughts consumed anything he had previously worried about. He was selfish.

Maybe using his own problems as an escape from the only person who cared about him wasn't the right thing to do. Emerson wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her the reason for his distance. But he couldn't do that, because if he did Winter would run away faster than he could catch her.

And maybe this is how it would be from now on.

Winter had just finished cleaning the wound. The stinging of the medical alcohol brought tears to her tired eyes.

She felt empty. She felt guilty. And she wished she could go back and never tell him her pitiful life story.

Hot water on both sides of the hallway was running smoothly down the backs of the two. Winter couldn't do anything, but stand there in the heat. The water was far to hot, but she didn't care. Emerson stood crying in the shower. The guilt washing down the drain.

Tomorrow would be horrific for Emerson.

Tomorrow, Winter would apologize to him.

The two were good for each other. They fended off one another even with the short time they had been friends.

But she was his maid. And to Winter that meant she was not of the same status. To Emerson it meant nothing to him that she was his maid, she was his friend, above anything else.