Chapter 46: Pick-Up

187 16 9
                                        

George POV.

There was a gentle knock on the door and my boss appeared alongside Clay. “Hey.” The blond spoke. I had been staring out the window, watching the world go by in front of me. I then looked over at him, seeing the care that was in his gaze. “Are you ready to go?” I hadn’t even realised how long I had been here,all the minutes just blurred together.

“Yeah.” My voice was uncertain, and I stood up. The blond walked over to help me as I swayed on my two legs awkwardly. “Maybe going home would be good.”
“Take all the time you need.” Alena smiled at me. “We’ll keep sending you sick pay until you are ready to come back.”

I didn’t answer, continuing to lean onto the blond. He spoke up in my place. “Thank you. George never told me he had such a kind boss. Much kinder than the bosses I’ve had.” The woman looked at Clay and smiled, letting out a sound of surprise at his compliment.

“Let’s go.” He smiled caringly. He led me through the hallway, past all of my workmates who were occasionally glancing in my direction. I lowered my head, focusing only on my feet and his as he led me out of the building, neither of us bothering to say anything until I was in the passenger seat of the car.

When we reached the car I closed my eyes, bowing my head apologetically. “Are you okay?” The blond asked, noting my appearance and my hesitance.
“I just…” For a moment I tried to think of what to say. “Well I’m sorry that you had to come and get me. You probably are sick of me.”

“Never.” He sent me a smile before looking at the road. “You are never a burden and I am never sick of you, I love you.” It made me smile subtly, the idea that I was not being seen as a problem or a burden. I could only imagine how Fundy would react under the same situation, if he would ever actually do this for me in the same way Clay does.

“Truth be told I was thankful. Sapnap had met me in town and he was completely crazy. It was kind of annoying how insistent he was.”
“Oh.” The fact he had been hanging out with my friend and he thought that he was annoying, that’s new. I didn’t say anything about it either.

“Anyway, do you want to tell me what happened? He spoke, as though he was a protective parent. “Why you were just staring out the window when I found you? Your boss said you had been doing that all day.” I nodded at the explanation, agreeing with it.

“I don’t exactly know what I have been doing.” I admitted. “I’ve just been thinking about the conversation that we had the other day. I can't get it off my mind."
"About you leaving the island?" He asked, sounding stiff. I merely nodded a yes. "You don't need to do that. I mean your life is so busy now."

"I've just been given a few days off." I reminded him, gaze slowly moving to watch him as he drove. His brows were furrowed, wrinkling his forehead beneath his curly fringe. "We'd only have to go for a few hours. I just want to see if I can do it… if I can get across the bridge." I was determined now, but he chuckled uncertainly.

"Your boss sent you home because she thought that you were sick. That's what I was told when I was called. It wouldn't be fair on her if you went running off."
"But I feel fine." I reasoned.
"You are pale, you look like you haven't slept for a week."

I huffed, leaning against the window. The blond seemed to smile at me. I was still somewhat grumpy. “Look, I understand that you think the world is fun off the island.” He stated, and I noticed that he was no longer watching me. “Truth be told, it isn’t. It’s just more and more of what you already have. There is truly nothing."

When I looked back at him I noticed he was fidgeting and rubbing at his ear and my brows furrowed. "Are you okay?" I asked, catching him off guard.
"Oh yes." He responded. "Just… head's itchy is all." For a moment he hesitated before elaborating. "The shops in town don't have the shampoo I use."

"That's another reason to leave." I pointed out. "There are a lot of places that have better shampoo don’t have the products I like.”

“Then that is another reason to leave the island.” I pointed out to him. “It means that you can go and get the shampoo that you like. Although I admittedly like the smell of your shampoo.”
“You want to leave your home for shampoo even though you like the shampoo?” He questioned, scoffing at me as he did.

‘I’m sorry.” He muttered. “I just don’t feel comfortable with you going anywhere out of town while you are clearly going through something. With today at work and the fact that you broke up with Fundy just over a week ago. Plus I couldn’t leave Niki while our grandmother is still sick.”

He didn’t say anything else, and didn’t seem to want me to say anything. It seemed as though that was the end of our conversation, and I was surprisingly fine with that. Truth be told, I was beginning to run out of things to say as well. He had no interest in going out of town and I was out of ways to try and convince him to change his mind.

Eventually the car pulled into the driveway of Niki’s house. He slowed the car to a stop before the engine went quiet. Yet the blond didn’t make any attempt to get me to leave, instead he was just patiently waiting for me to move first. “What are you wanting to do?” He asked, still sitting patiently and looking over at me.

I didn’t say anything, allowing him to just wait as long as he wanted, even though it was clear that he didn’t want it. We exchanged a look with one another before his gaze softened a lot more. “George?” He simply questioned. He then smiled. “Would a movie help cure whatever’s going on? Or ice cream? Or just sleeping?”

The smile disappeared quickly. I still didn’t answer. All that I wanted to do was have the opportunity off the island, yet I didn’t have that opportunity, at least not yet. “George?” He asked again. “What are you wanting to do?”

Without a word I slowly moved, going from my side of the car to sit on his lap. My legs bent on  either side of his and my arms wrapped around him in a hug. The blond was wordless as he went to hold me. For a few long, comforting minutes we held each other before I went to connect our lips.

“George?” He asked when I pulled my lips away from him. I went to keep kissing him but he held me back. “I don’t want you doing anything while you are not feeling right.”
“I feel fine.” I reassured him, before connecting our lips again. I didn’t put too much weight on him so he could push me away if he wanted, but he didn’t.
______________________________________
1279 words

I have gotten to see a bit of Ezra's new chapter since he's close to finishing it off. It's really surprising and I don’t think any of you can guess it.

Is This True Love? (DNF)Where stories live. Discover now