The Grean Household

55: Mr. Marshell

Willow and Zoe expected the job to be easy, and lo and behold it was.

However, it wasn't the tasks that suddenly made it difficult, it was the name: the affiliation. 

Willow huffed and groaned at her desk when she realized what she signed herself up for. 

Marshell- God-I'm a fucking idiot! Her hands came up over her head, rubbing through her hair and massaging her scalp. 

It was summer, the weather scorching and warranting either a cold building or less clothing. To Zoe's discomfort, and Willow's too, Mr. Marshell claimed the AC unit was broken.

So fix it. Zoe grumbled, crossing her arms, wiping the sweat from her forehead. Willow softly nudged her, elbowing her stiffly. He was rather nice, but that set Willow on edge. It seemed too late to turn back.

They worked for him for the entire summer. Willow was comfortable with the amount of money she was managing to scrape up. She would hide it away in her account, hoping that the slow crawl would become easier the more time went on. However, it was the intense anxiety that was making the day go by slower.

Willow would memorize the layout of the building, memorizing codes for doors she knew she wasn't allowed into, memorizing the floor plan so she could get out the fastest in case something happen. While she sat at her desk, Willow was constantly thinking of the next coming moment- if she'd need to quickly get up and leave. Each time these small panic attacks came after her, she'd sit in the bathroom at the back, heaving. She was determined to do this strictly for the money and nothing else. Willow was prepared.

While she navigated through the awkward work space, her mind would float back to Connor. He graduated two years before and was probably going through what she was going to go through to get what she wanted. 

A homicide detective, was what flowed through her mind when she thought of him. It oddly suited Connor.

The more she thought about him, the more she thought about the confusing time between them at that moment. When he left, there was an embarrassing moment where Willow didn't know what would become of them. They never declared where their relationship would go from there, with him being in the academy and her still being in college. When she hadn't heard from him, she considered the worst and just continued on with the week. Though, those intense feelings came back and bit her and she cried silently in her room, wondering if she'd see him again.

It was the event that made her less joyful, much to Sammy's dismay. He was currently dating another guy on campus, often coming to Willow when he started to doubt his own advances. She would often encourage him to think for himself and just do what felt right. That was always the thing that made him leave again but come right back when he began to doubt again. 

Good ol' Sammy. Willow muttered when he showed up at her door for the third time in two weeks.

Every situation outside of this one seemed second priority. It was like a flimsy cage, one where she expected an unwelcome touch or a catcall from the rest of the people in there. Though, she suddenly realized that when she was walking with Zoe, most of the men wouldn't look her way. It was then that Willow realized why she liked her so much. 

Zoe had the unwelcoming stare that would dare anybody to try and fight her. It was a glare that was her entire resting face. At first, it made Willow laugh, then it made her thankful that Zoe had such a mean first glance. She was also considerably tall, almost 6 feet while Willow was also a tall 5'10. Though, Zoe was a bigger girl, her shoulders broad and natural muscle on her bones. Willow also noticed- due to the intense temperatures- that Zoe had a deep scar that was visible on her left shoulder: it looked like someone had dragged a large knife down her chest. Compared to Zoe's overall figure,  Willow was lanky, small and slim. She didn't mind it, but when she did it was when she got unnecessary glances from men.