Here Lies the Lives Left at the Altar (On Hold)

Chapter Five

Hello! So sorry this chapter took me a bit. I just started my last semester of college and it was a bit hectic. I hope you're all doing well and staying healthy (:

I can't believe this story is at 1k readers already! It means so much to me. Please remember to comment and vote! comments really motivate me to write more and they help me see what's working and what isn't. I hope you all
enjoy!

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Archer

I toss my keys on the kitchen counter as I walk through the doors to my apartment. I slowly remove my jacket, tossing it onto the nearest chair. I rub a rough hand over my face as I process the day I just had. I simultaneously have a million thoughts running through my head while also drawing a blank when I try to hone in on one of those thoughts.

What the hell just happened? There's no way I just spent the entire day with some batty runaway bride after ditching the funeral. I can't stop thinking about him. He's the one I would consider part of my family. With neither parent at my disposal and an older brother who had enough on his plate raising the rest of our siblings, I didn't have that person. The one who truly sat down to teach me everything from right and wrong to which shoes look best with dress pants. He raised me. He showed me how to live, and now he doesn't get to.

I mindlessly scroll through my email, scanning all the work I missed. I close my eyes and groan, despising it all. I've hated my job since the day I started. It just feels like a waste. Everyone is just pretending to enjoy what they do. They pretend and they put on an act until they can't do it anymore, so they retire. Then, they spend the rest of their lives wishing they had done what they really wanted to do. It's a drag.

I think back to the address that was left to me on a slip of paper from my coach. His husband had given it to me a few days before the funeral. He told me that Wally had given him this slip of paper and to give it to me once he had passed. There was no more information to give besides that, just said that I have to get there.

I stare at the location of the address.

New York.

What the hell was he doing in New York?

It's a plane ride away, which I don't plan on taking. I wasn't sure how I could go without flying. I've never been keen on flying. If I can avoid it, I do. My coach knew that, which is why I'm only more curious about what he could be sending me for.

Well, now I know a way to get there and an insane ex-bride who's dead set on following through with this trip.

The question is: do I really put myself in the middle of whatever is going on here?

Without a doubt, Rosie is something I haven't seen before. She's from this rich society that seems like one I could only see in some movie. I'd expect her to be high-maintenance and a snob. The smallest speck of dirt should be expected to be cleaned before she's near it. She should look at me with her nose turned up, and she shouldn't want to touch me with a ten foot pole.

Instead, she's kind. She's kind to everyone, and it doesn't even seem to occur to her to be anything but kind. She seemed to treat the bar with the same respect she would give to a five-star restaurant. She greeted the workers and customers there with a genuine smile and open arms. She was the one to pick the diner with a menu of food that didn't cost over ten dollars. She was the one to leave a tip that cost more than the meal.

Not only all of that, but she shouldn't be kind. Not because she has money, but because from what I heard, her fiancé and family have controlled what she's done all her life. She should be bitter, but she's not. She's not angry at the world, she takes its hand into her own with a smile.