Come to me, Sweet Child

Chapter 6: Grand Opening

The soft sound of birds chirping coaxes Michael out of his peaceful sleep. The room was dark, due to the curtains being drawn, yet there was a calming aura that seemed to coat the place.

Michael stretches lightly as he sits up, hands gliding through his hair, before falling back onto the sheets. He rolls his head from side to side, letting it fall back as he stares at the ceiling.

"Today's the day," He hums.

Michael's eyes gloss over as the sound of the world outside fades into the background, as if Michael was getting further and further away from it. He quickly comes back to reality, shaking his head as he smiles.

"Michael, Michael, Michael, how in the world did you get here?"

He makes his way to the bathroom, doing his everyday routine: checking for loose stitches, making bodily repairs, and maintaining hair. He pauses to stare at his hair, smiling softly. It was like he got to be himself again, thanks to Henry. That man was always there for him ever since long ago, back when things were....different.

A shadow appears in the mirror, hand resting on Michael's shoulder.

"Michael."

Michael cringes, a cold shiver prickling his spine.

"Mmm no, I don't need this right now."

Michael makes his way out of the bathroom and back to his room to get dressed, completely forgetting about his hair. Today, he had to make great, no, amazing first impressions. Henry did say the business was his now and that it was mainly Michael's job to set everything into stone. No use relying on that man for much.

Michael glances off to the side as he buttons up his shirt, he thinks about Henry, and their few tense meetings. Honestly, it wasn't something Michael felt he should be worried about too much; the man had disappeared for the latter half of his childhood after Emily died anyway. Maybe he was still dealing with some emotions and memories from the past. Michael was no stranger to that.

.....

"But..why take it out on me?"

A honk outside startles Michael out of his thoughts. He slides his belt through the loop holes on his pants as he peeks outside the curtains. A car sits in his usually empty driveway, then, a familiar ginger haired man gets out of the car and looks up to where Michael is.

He motions to his watch.

Michael glances at the clock on his dresser. It's 9:30am.

"Why's he here? I've got time, plenty of it too since it's a week day...actually..what day is it?"

Michael grabs his phone and turns it on.

It's Saturday.

"Bloody hell- how'd I even...argh! The place is supposed to open at 10 on weekends!"

Michael rushes downstairs, shoving his feet into his only pair of dress shoes, throwing on a nice jacket after. He grabs his house keys and a face mask, not even bothering to stop and check how he looked before leaving.

"Late on the first day? Really Michael?"

"I thought it was a week day!"

"Uh huh, right- you're already making a great first impression." Michael shrugs defensively. "Okay, get in the car, I'll drive you."

He frowns at Henry, to which Henry raises his eyebrows.

"Don't tell me you want to walk all the way there?"

"What-no, I just-"

"Argue with me in the car, we're gonna be late." Henry says as he gets in and buckles up. Michael hesitates for a second before he too gets in the car.