Duskwood: And Beyond

27. The Bouquet

Anabelle

Jake was finally back. I could see how happy Oryn was. Jake became an important part of our life during our investigation. I was so happy to see them smiling. I wanted to catch up with Jake so I asked him to sit next to me. Oryn didn't seem to care. We started to drive. While I was picking them up, Lilly was preparing dinner. She decorated the house to 'make it more welcoming'. She wanted it to be a surprise so I didn't see the result. We decided to do a movie night. Oryn and I used to watch cheesy slashers every week. But after our life turned into one, we stopped. Now that everyone was back, we decided that it would be a nice change to return to old habits.

A couple of minutes into our ride Jake broke the silence.

"So... You and Dan?"

I couldn't tell if he was worried or surprised.

"It's not like that. We do spend a lot of time and I do like him as a person. But it's not like that."

Everyone kept asking me if I was romantically involved with Dan. And I did understand where that was coming from. But there was nothing romantic between us.

Dan left the hospital in a very bad situation. He had to go through a lot of physical therapy. During that time, Oryn was busy with the new office and the hotel. Lilly was trying to manage her family and her job without losing her mind. And Jessy was out of town. So I was the only support he had.

One night, after his exercise, he told me that he wanted to join the police force. After everything that happened with Richy, he not only felt completely useless but also realized that he had to pull his life back together.

Now, I was not the most knowledgeable person about this but he asked me to help him due to my journalist background. He also asked me to not tell anyone until he applied. So most of the time, Dan and I studied for what could potentially be his interview questions. I also assisted him with his workout since he recently recovered from a terrible injury.

But because we spent a lot of time together, everyone believed we were dating. In reality, Dan still had feelings for Jessy. And I was warming up to Phil. That was one of the reasons why I didn't enjoy working at the bar. He was trying to be better and that was making the whole platonic thing hard.

I was deep into my thoughts when I heard Oryn asking me to stop. Reflexively, I stopped the car. We were now right in front of the hotel.

Oryn quickly ran out of the car and grabbed a bouquet. She returned to the car without an explanation. Jake and I were confused but we decided not to push it just yet. She quickly took a picture of the thing and sent it to someone.

After that little incident, we continued our way in silence.

Right as we parked the car Lilly rushed out of the house and hugged Jake so hard that I thought I heard his bones crack.

"Welcome home big brother."

After all the trouble she was going through, this was probably the first time Lilly was authentically happy.

We entered the house and Oh! My! God!

The entire living room was filled with neon lights. There was a banner that looked like keyboard keys that said "Welcome". Our TV was in a box that made it look like a computer. And the dinner plates looked like the Nymos symbol.

Jake looked very impressed and Lilly jumped up and down like a little girl. Oryn and I giggled. I was genuinely happy but Oryn seemed off.

While Jake was catching up with Lilly, I pulled Oryn to a corner.