A Lumen Ripple | An Elemental Story

Chapter 20 - Pebblebrook Shine

Just as fast as he began, Wade raced along as he arrived in the streets of Pebblebrook. He arrived at the op shop from yesterday, panting like an Olympic athlete who'd just trained for 8 hours straight. As he caught his breath nearly a minute later, he grabbed his phone from his satchel and looked at the time...

10:11 am

A wave of relief crashed over him, and he exhaled, wiping his sweat up with an arm.

He took out the apology letter from his satchel, holding it at his side and taking a breath. He rebuilt his confidence bit by bit as he put a hand on the door to open it.

He swung it open with most of his body weight, standing at the doorway heroically. Suddenly, a crowd of older water and earth folk gasbagging at the front desk looked his way grumpily. Realizing he was the one who threatened to shut the place down, they all turned toward him with arms folded and frowns abroad.

Feeling unwelcomed from moment one, he slowly walked through the aisles to the desk with a sweat; the apology letter pressed against his chest.

He arrived at the desk, making his way through the crowd of grumpy old ladies.

"Excuse me-- hehe-- please excuse me." he excused himself as he made his way through.

He placed the letter face down on the desk, looking slowly from side to side in discomfort. The customer got too close for comfort, becoming nosey and leaning over his shoulder to take a look. Channelling his inner Ember, he shot them a passive-aggressive stare, holding the letter against his chest.

"Down here again, deary." a recognisable voice said.

Wade sharply turned around and looked over the desk; helmed by the same old lady that served him the day prior.

"Ah-- it's you again." the old lady flatly realized.

"Here to give the shop another warning, I see." one of the customers perked up.

A chorus of scoffing erupted from the older customers, along with a wave of folding arms.

Wade tugged at his collar in dread of this becoming another Ashenwood case.

"N-- no actually. I'm here to fix that," he admitted.

He took the letter from his chest and gently placed it down on the counter in front of the short little clerk. She struggled to reach up, barely managing to grasp it and take a look. She read it through, blankly looking up at Wade.

"We-- I sincerely apologize for the mistake made yesterday." he apologized.

The clerk - unable to believe what was happening - looked it over again. Wade stood in his spot in wait, a bit uncomfortable. The eyes of old weren't helping his discomfort very much, causing him to sweat some more.

The clerk finished looking over the paper and looked up at Wade.

"Why thank you, deary." she calmly thanked.

Still not fully convinced, the customer's gazes only grew more prodding. Wade scratched his neck, looking at the stares from the corner of his eyes.

"Heh-- you're welcome," Wade said.

Unable to bring herself to believe a thing he was doing, one of the customers sternly stood in front of him like a bossy parent, leaning forward and sizing Wade up. He leaned back as she did, stepping a foot back.

"I'm not sure what your deal is, son, but I don't think a mistake like this can be shrugged off." the customer scowled.

Wade let out a cool-keeping chuckle, averting his gaze.