Petal [h.s.]

Chapter 36

TW: mentions of self-harm (non-graphic)

Violet.

"Hi Alex." I smiled as I walked into the social workers office of the RSP on Tuesday. I was working afternoons and evenings again this week, with Alex as my colleague. I noticed Isaac here too, and I had to admit I wasn't too keen on working with him.

My left arm reached up to wave at the kids who were in the living room after their noon break. Ryan's eyes lit up as they saw me, wide smile as he approached the office door. "You're back!" He grinned and I nodded. His eyes instantly lingered on my bruised eye.

I had tried to cover it up with make-up to the best of my abilities, but I was nowhere near as talented as Eleanor in that department. I wore a long sleeved turtleneck to hide my throat and arm. "Look, I tied an orange band around my wrist to remind you guys to not touch this arm." I lifted my right arm as best as I could to show off the orange band I had put on.

"Is it that bad?" Nellie piped up and I shrugged. "Don't have much function of it at the moment. It should get better." I disappeared back into the office and sat down next to Isaac on the chairs in front of the computer. I quickly opened some files, using my left arm to lift the coffee mug as I read through the logbooks of the past week.

I had missed so much work lately and I hated not being up to date.

"Big week." I muttered, reading through the plans. I called Aaron to the door and he instantly appeared, looking energized and happy, and I knew why. "Final week, huh?"

He beamed and nodded. "Thank God, finally. No offense but I'm so sick of you guys."

I chuckled. "We get it. Do you have anything planned for Friday? You know you can pick the food, right?" On the last day, the residents were allowed to choose what we ate for lunch. Usually it was something greasy and fast-food like, but they always loved it. Aaron seemed to be in deep thought at my question. "I'll think about it, can I let you guys know by tomorrow?"

"Sure." I smiled and he disappeared to sit back down on the couches. I diverted my eyes back to the computer screen, reading diagonally through the daily updates from last week.

I saw that there was a big event planned for the next weekend and hastily scanned through the e-mail that Victor had send out. "Lunch on Sunday with all the families?" I asked, trying to decipher Victor's horrible grammar as I read that all the kid's families were invited for a lunch here, so they could see the building and meet with everyone. It was supposed to be great weather.

"Yes, I've read that too. Apparently you guys do that sometimes?"

I nodded slowly. "It's happened a few times in the past, yes, but usually when we have a group of kids who have been here longer." I quickly checked my phone for messages as I closed the e-mail again, and opened my agenda to see I was already on the schedule to work the weekend with Lana.

"So, you got mugged?" Isaac asked, turning in his desk chair to face me. I nodded slowly. "Yes, on the streets. I lived in a bit of a dingy neighbourhood, was never really safe to be honest."

"Lived?" He frowned and I slowly nodded. "Moved in with a friend for a bit. Better for recovery."

I flinched when his hand reached up to brush his fingers over my bruised temple and I backed away instantly. "Skin is still sensitive." I muttered as an excuse to not have him touch my face. It wasn't a complete lie, it did still really hurt for the bruises to be touched, but I also didn't really want Isaac's hands on me.

The way he reacted after I declined his date-proposal didn't sit well with me. Apparently he had asked Lana the exact same thing and she had the same answer as I had.