i can't lose you too

Chapter 2

Sam sipped her tea as she lay on the couch in their living room. She looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows at her rich and colorful garden in the backyard. Various flowers and crops were growing along the wall of the fence and a small pond bubbled next to a garden swing a birdbath. Looked like a garden from a magazine or fancy penthouse brochure. Her light brown hair was up in a claw clip bun and her round glasses sat on the edge of her nose. The steam from the dark purple tea fogged up her glasses a little as she sipped the mug. Sam rubbed her legs together as she spaced out looking out the window. She fell victim to her overactive brain until the sound of Alyson walking down the hall snapped her back into reality.

Alyson wore a navy tee shirt and brown pants with various white paint splatter on them. She was slipping her hair up into a loose low bun as she walked into the kitchen behind the couch. Her hair was still a little damp from her morning shower and her face was still a little pink from the heat of the water.

"You gonna be okay today? I can probably cut my day in half if I go in on Sunday."

Alyson spoke as she held a brown hair tie between her teeth as she twisted her hair behind her. Her bare face and freckles were glowing under the natural light from the skylights above her. Sam smiled at her, taking a second to admire how good she looked for a second. 

"No, I'll be okay. Your boss will lose his shit if you call out again. Besides I feel better now. I was gonna trim up some of the bushes outside today anyway."

Alyson passed for a second before pulling the hair tie from her teeth and securing her hair as she checked the smartwatch on her wrist.

"I don't know babe. It's supposed to hit like 90 today. You sure you're good to be out in the heat home alone?"

Alyson had a habit of getting anxious about Sam's health and her ability to do things that exacerbate her symptoms like being in the heat. Alyson finished tying her hair up as she walked over and bent over the back of the couch, looking at Sam. 

"I do not want another call from the hospital that one of our neighbors found you passed out outside."

Sam chuckled a little and glanced away a little embarrassed as that had happened to her before. 

"I can do it I promise. This time when my vision starts to go weird I'll sit inside."

Alyson scoffed playfully at Sam as she stood back up and spun around back into the kitchen. She buzzed about grabbing a mug and swigging down the last of the coffee. She leaned against the counter as she looked over at Sam who had now turned around to look over the back of the couch to face Alyson. The two smiled at each other in silence, just enjoying the morning together before the rumbling and loud sound of a large truck driving past their house took their attention. 

Both of them looked out the front windows as a large white truck drove past their house, up the hill towards the end of their road. The truck stopped two houses down at the small brown house with the sale sign in the front yard. The sound of car doors closing and children's voices could be heard.

"New neighbors. Moving in bright and early. I bet you they'll be done by the end of the day."

Alyson said before she sipped her coffee. Sam kept her eyes out the window in the direction of the noise with a slightly concerned look on her face.

"You think they'll like- come over and say hi? We only know Delores next door because I passed out. I don't want to talk to people and have to socialize."

Sam held her green blanket a little closer to her chest as she turned her attention back to Alyson. Sam had a natural innocent and almost cute look about her and it really came out when she was anxious about something. Alyson threw back the last sip of coffee and set her mug on the counter as she walked back over to Sam. She rested her hands on her shoulder before softly and gently pushing her thumbs into Sam's back, massaging her in the hopes she'd calm down a little. 

"Then we will say hi like normal and civil neighbors because that's what neighbors do. They talk to each other."

"Well, what if they're like, really weird and like- in a cult or something?"

Alyson chuckled a little as she playfully rolled her eyes.

"Well, then we fake smile at them and leave a good impression so they don't use us as their 3 am sacrifice."

Sam sighed, picking up on Alyson's rhetorical way of telling her to shut up and calm down. She relaxed her shoulders a bit, not realizing they'd been tense. She rolled her shoulders back at Alyson's touch and set her mug on the coffee table in front of the couch. 

"Okay but if they stop by before you get home from work, I'm ignoring the door and pretending like I'm not home."

Alyson nodded as she pushed her tongue against her cheek, laughing softly at Sam's comment. She stepped back from Sam and grabbed her dusty work boots and sat on one of the kitchen island chairs to put them on. 

"I should be home around 4 if we work at a reasonable pace. Want me to make something when I get home or are we ordering in?"

Alyson tied the brown laces of her boots tight as Sam sat up a little to respond. 

"Can we just order like- a huge heaping of beef and broccoli from Panda or something?"

Alyson stood up, both work boots tied and ready to go. She walked over to Sam, her boots thudding loudly against the hardwood floor. She leaned over the couch and brought her face close to Sam's and smiled at her. 

"That sounds really good actually. I'll pick it up on my way home."

Sam smiled up at Alyson, giving her the soft and sparkling brown doe eyes she just naturally had. Her cheeks were a soft pink and her dimple popped out a little as she smiled softly at her.
Alyson leaned forward and kissed Sam softly, laughing a little as she did so. As Alyson pulled back, she kept her eyes on Sam's lips, studying them a little. 

"Your lips are chapped. Make sure to hydrate today got it?"

Sam instinctively licked her lips and giggled at Alyson's close observation. She put on a fake serious face and brought her hand up to salute Alyson and spoke with the most serious military-sounding voice she could muster. 

"Yes ma'am."

Alyson rolled her eyes and kissed Sam again quickly before turning to the door and hauling her work belt off the hooks and opening the door.

"I love you loser."

"Love you bitch."

Alyson smiled warmly at Sam before she gently closed the door between them as she headed off to work.