HEROES; 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐞

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

A FEW WEEKS LATER...

Marilyn's Summer Holidays had been boring to say the least; full of History homework and going on countless walks with her Grandfather and Herbert. 
And to make matters worse, she had been landed with the Saturday shift at the Post Office, which typically consisted of a queue out of the door from 8am onwards to about 2pm, the time where the 'lull' began. 

The Post Office was at the end of Victoria Avenue, directly on the corner next to the road sign. It was pretty small, with a number of stationary stacked shelves creating a pathway towards the counter where Marilyn had been situated, spinning around on her chair for the last hour or so. Herbert was sat by her feet, head on his paws, snoring quietly as Marilyn huffed, having brought him along whilst her Grandfather was out with Old Mike for the day. 

School was starting again that Monday, and she wasn't entirely dreading it- she missed the routine. Marilyn enjoyed routine, having some structure and purpose to her day; following the weekly school timetable, and spending 2 hours in the library before joining her friends for dinner. How productive those 2 hours were spent, well that was surely down to debate- but she liked having something to do. 

Her Post Office job had little to no routine. Whilst a Saturday was certainly predictable with it's business, the sheer number of packages could be so vast she'd work until 6pm, sometimes after close. She could have rude encounters with old ladies, or screaming children tugging at the hem of their mothers dresses, begging for something as insignificant as a box of paper clips to bend into funny shapes to play with. 

The bell sounded to signify someone entering the shop, and Marilyn stopped in her spinning tracks, fingertips splayed on the table and Herbert's head shooting up, his ear brushing her ankle. 
The door banged shut as none other than one of the boys who had pushed the Headmaster at Hendon and a young girl entered, the wind and rain battering down outside clear in their soggy hair and dripping clothes, despite the umbrella in the boy's hand. 

"I think you need a new umbrella, Peter," Lucy remarked, a mischievous air to her words, causing Peter to narrow his eyes at her, albeit with a certain degree of fondness that meant he never truly got cross with her.

"Thank you for that observation, Lu," Peter sighed, wiping his shoes on the matt, as Lucy took to looking over the stationary aisle on the far end of the shop. 

Marilyn hurried to make herself look busy, practically flinging herself towards the till, opening it and counting up the money inside of it, muttering lowly to herself in order to prevent her from looking up and appearing too nosy or invasive. 
She usually didn't mind when people she remotely knew came in, it meant she could try to strike up a conversation. But for whatever reason, she felt scared of Peter. Or at least, scared to interact with him.  

He approached the Post Office window, and Marilyn had to force her head upwards, only to make direct eye contact.
They both seemed to stop, startled, observing each other for a moment, something passing between them that could only be described as uncomfortable.

Peter was the one to break their ongoing glance, clearing his throat as he pulled a letter from his pocket, only now it was somewhat droopy looking from becoming slightly wet. 

"Oh dear," Peter said to himself, the address beginning to spread across the top of the envelope, splitting into small blue streaks in the paper. 

"Would you like another envelope?" Marilyn asked, turning and reaching for a new envelope on the shelf behind her. "Let me find you a pen, two moments."
She slid the fresh envelope across the desk to Peter, and quickly grabbed a set of keys, moving into another room, a dog, presumably hers, trotting along after her, it's tail wagging.