"It was love at first sight, at last sight, and ever and every sight."
- Vladmir Nabokov.
PRESENT DAY.
MARK walks into the lobby of his apartment building.
"Hey Marjorie." He says with a soft smile to the elderly woman behind the check-in desk warped with the glass cover. She was slightly hunched over, busy with her knitting.
She was always knitting.
"Hello dear." She looks up to smile at him. She was quite fond of him. In fact, she had grown fond of him because of Beth. "How was your day?" she asks. Her eyes scheme his outfit.
"It was alright." He strolls to the P.O box area. "Went to see Beth today."
Marjorie nods. Her smile drops a little at the mention of Beth. She misses her.
"How's she doing?" she asks, a little smirk grows on her face.
Mark looks over at her, a small laugh escapes his lips.
Dark humor. Its' been the only way they've been able to talk about her.
"You could ask her yourself you know; she's been in the same spot for two years." He says as he opens his own box and retrieves his mail.
"Aht, I couldn't go see her if I wanted to." She faces her knitting again. She twists the strand of wool over both her pins. "I've got to finish my shift and by then, her suite might be closed.
"Then you can go see her another time. I can assure you that she isn't going anywhere. She's not gonna move a muscle." He says as he begins to head towards the elevator.
"I'd do well to go see her on my off day." She watches him walk away. "Would you mind accompanying me? You know she could use the company."
"Ahh, I think she's had enough of my company. She's probably sick of me at this point." He pressed the elevator button to go up.
"Not the Beth I know. She could never be sick of you. It's impossible, you two are inseparable."
"Yet, here we are." He whispers to himself.
"What's that?"
"I said, you should go without me. I'm sure there's a million things you both need to catch up on." He quickly recovers.
"Like how she's been spending her time?" She laughs again. It was a pleasantly slow and hearty chuckle.
"She can tell you how many grains of sand she's counted in the time being." He looks back at Marjorie and cracks another smile.
Her eyes widened. "Oh, you silly child." She laughs a little louder, but you could tell she felt a little guilty for laughing at that particular joke but found it funny nonetheless.
"What?" He says as the elevator doors open. "She would've loved that joke."
SEPTEMBER 2016.
"YOU know what keeps me up at night?" Jayce asks?
"What?" An uninterested Mark asks, immediate regret setting in.
