"There's only so many times I can put my heart back together"
"Why are you so sure I'll break it again?"
🖤🤍🖤
Andrew had a perfect life. Or so others would think.
Living under his father's control was a nightmare. Having his dreams ignored and bei...
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Andrew had been sitting on The Bookmark's sofa for a couple hours. The environment was much more interesting in the winter, and he loved spending his afternoons there. He'd been teaching Liz how to play chess, making the usual cheeky comments at Nicole, and drinking his coffee.
"You can't do that," he said for the umpteenth time and put her king back in place.
She groaned and held her head in her tiny fists. That game was not as fun as she had expected. Nicole hadn't let her draw on the floor with chalk to play hopscotch and she had to settle for the games the shop had.
"I'm done with this." She sat back, holding her banana milkshake tight and sipping on it with a scowl.
Andrew smiled at her reaction and leaned back, too. He loved being with Liz and doing those child things she did like colouring books and whatnot. It was late for him, but it was nice to know what kids did that he never got the chance to do. It wasn't as frustrating as he thought it would be.
"We could use my sharpies to make the lines of the squares for hopscotch," she said.
"No!" a voice said from the counter before Andrew could open his mouth.
They both looked up at Nicole and her sharp gaze on them. She was putting a fresh load of muffins in the vitrine, but stopped to scold them. In most days, she trusted Andrew with the kid, but she also knew he didn't think ahead like she did.
"Why not?" Liz whined.
It was Andrew who replied in a quiet tone. "Because if you step on one, you'll fall and hit your head on the floor."
She stared at him in betrayal, her eyes shining with revolt. Nicole was always warning her, but Andrew played with her. He wasn't supposed to be screw her over like that.
"I won't!"
"You don't know that," Nicole said.
Andrew kept quiet, annoyed at himself for not noticing the problem before Nicole spoke up. If they had done as Eliza was suggesting, it was possible she would've got hurt and it would all be his fault.
"You're such a killjoy!" she yelled, turning to Andrew. "Can we play that game on your computer?"
He nodded and pulled it out of his bag. Liz sat on the floor on his right. They were both facing Nicole, who continued her task in silence..
"I'll be Fire boy," she told him, and he nodded as the game loaded.
Andrew was staring at Nicole, balancing his half-full mug of now cold coffee between his hands. He drank it all and got up while Liz was still complaining about the cafe's Wi-Fi.
He leaned against the counter with the mug hanging between his fingers. Nicole didn't stop what she was doing, glancing at him only once.
