Boy Who Has Everything

5

"Goodness, (Y/n)!" Mrs. Fletcher said with a grin, coming around the counter she once stood behind to walk to you. You walked towards her too, subconsciously mimicking her smile. "Look at how much you've grown." She cooed as she beckoned you into a warm and loving embrace.

Mrs. Fletcher sighed into the hug as you chuckled at her admiration for you. She was like a somewhat grandmother-like figure for you. Unfortunately, your own biological grandparents passed away before you were born. When you were six years old and visiting your father, he took you to the art store to get you crayons. That's when you met Mrs. Fletcher, the mother of one of your father's students, him being a violin teacher at the time. Her name was Tabitha and later went on to date your older brother. You all were family in your eyes. Mrs. Fletcher and Tabby filled the hole that was hollow for the longest time.

Pulling away from her you looked at her again, eye to eye. "I can't tell if you've gotten taller or I've just shrunken." Joked the older woman, earning a chuckle from you.

Mrs. Fletcher placed a hand on the side of your face as she grinned at you. After a moment of admiring you, she pulled away.

"Are you just here to visit me or are you here to buy something, darling?" She asked as she glanced over to the small shopping section of the store. There stood isles only around five feet tall stocked with art supplies. Some cheap like crayons, or some expensive like Copic markers or oil paints. Acrylics were all you could buy.

"A little bit of both!" You laughed. "I'll go get my things and then we can chat a bit, yeah?"

"Of course, of course!" Mrs. Fletcher said happily as she ushered you to shop. You complied, walking on the cheap green carpeted floors towards the paint section, staying far away from the oil paints. You tended to get carried away and make your father's pockets hurt. Now you're only allowed to get oil paints on your birthday.

You checked out what was in stock, looking at the colors available. All that you really needed are the primary colors and black and white. So you did so, grabbing yellow, cyan, and magenta, then black and white bottles of paint. Walking to the counter, you placed the paints on the it. The counter was made of old wood with stains of paint from over the years. As Mrs. Fletcher scanned the labels of paints for you to pay, you looked up and saw Mrs. Fletcher's own paintings she hung up.

"Have you gotten around to painting any more pieces?" You asked. Mrs. Fletcher looked up, following your gaze to see what you were looking at, then back to you.

"Not any recent paintings, no. I've got one from two-three months ago, though." She said as she scanned the last bottle of paint. "That'll be five dollars, love."

As you went digging in your pockets for the money, you continued to speak. "Do you think you could bring in your newest painting? I'd like to see it." You handed her the money as she put the bottles in a bag.

"Of course! It's a painting of Tabby." Mrs. Fletcher said, handing you the brown paper bag. "When will you be coming back so I know when to bring it."

You paused, thinking. Surely not tomorrow. You wanted to stay home with your father. You hadn't seen him in a year, of course you wanted to spend time with him!

"How about in two days? Wednesday?" You asked her as you took the bag of paints you purchased.

"That'll do well!" She replied as she walked around the counter to give you a goodbye hug.

She brought you in, tight and lovingly. It was warm like before. The smell of smoke on her clothes was grim but familiar. Father always knew when you'd been around her because she left a bit of her sent on your clothes. Sighing into the hug, you opened your eyes and saw medication in orange bottles with white lids. Prescribed pills from her doctor.

A pain stung in your chest. Was she sick? Is she okay? She surely didn't have to take pills last time you came around. You hoped she was fine, and you didn't ask as to not ruin the wholesome moment. What was worse was that they seemed untouched. Still filled to the brim with pills that should've been taken. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, you thought that she might've gotten them refilled recently. The could explain the full bottles. Still, the pit in your chest couldn't help but exist.

Pulling away you gave her a meek smile. Her eyebrows furrowed as she realized something was wrong, but she didn't comment on anything. "Alright, I've gotta go now."

"Yeah, I'll see you Wednesday." She said, mimicking your expression with the tone of her voice - meek and quiet.

"Right." You said after clearing your throat and artificially producing a good mood. However, the fake-ness of the expression was apparent to both you and Mrs. Fletcher. "Bye!" You told her.

"Bye!" She replied, mimicking your tone subconsciously again.

With a small friendly wave, you turned around and went for the door. As you opened the door, the bell above it jingled again, announcing your exit. It closed behind you and you looked around outside. You were only in there for a moment, but the people outside seemed a tad more lively than before. The sky was more blue and the sun was a little hotter.

Suddenly there was a meow and your eyes widened. Looking down you saw the same black cat looking up at you with those loving eyes. With a gasp, you laughed. You grabbed the cat off of the floor and he only meowed again.

"You waited for me!" You cooed with a smile as your heart melted. "I thought you would've ran off by now." You told the cat as you brought him closr to your chest to hold. The cat purred as you held it for a moment.