Heretics And Sheep

6: From Glass, To Sand

Titus knocked on his apartment door. It was an oakwood colour; that was the only thing it had in common with the great tree. In the year he had lived behind it, the door had broken three times. Soon, it would break for the last time.

"It's open!" Betty answered from the kitchen.

As Titus opened the door, he felt a surreal fixation on his girlfriend's voice. It was soft but nervous. Easy to listen to but almost perpetually strained.

Titus wondered to himself. "I think I can hear you smiling...It's perfect."

He was snapped out of it by a familiar smell: s'mores. Betty would often cook for him after he came home from work. Today, she had a sweet treat in mind. Marshmallows and chocolate in a pan with biscuits on the side.

This little meal was a staple of their relationship. It was Betty's special interest and Titus's rock. Betty jokingly examined his face. Squinting her hazel eyes at him.

"That face of yours never does change does it?"

Titus responded with a smirk. She was gonna ask him about work, then he would feel better. She continued, grinning.

"Come on get to complaining already!"

"Well, uhh..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Betty clasped his hands in hers. Her fingers were almost as soft as her voice. They barely reached around Titus's hands. She leaned into him.

"No, no, not until you have some s'mores."

She guided him to the table and while he got comfortable in his chair, she served them.

Titus, swallowing a marshmallow whole remarked to her. "Awfully eager aren't you today? I love it when you do that."

She bit into a marshmallow and furrowed her brow at Titus.

"Leave me alone, I'm just feeling nostalgic today! I dunno why... Anyways, work?"

Titus smiled at her, trying to ignore that he had burnt himself with the s'more he'd just eaten.

"Yeah well, boss asked me to do overtime again. This week'll be busy."

"Hey, at least he's paying you for that now. I'm sure he remembers our chat."

"Betty I think he's almost as scared of you as I am. He'll remember."

Betty was by no means a physically imposing woman. At five foot five, she was smaller than Titus and hadn't been in a fight her whole life. However, she knew Titus's boss from college. She knew what buttons to press. If it would make Titus's life easier, there were no lengths she wouldn't go.

"Yous still having that after-work party thingie?"

"Yeah, I deserve it after all the shit they've put me through!"

Betty reaches over the round glass table, holding his hand. She leaned in and spoke in a serious tone.

"Y'know, I've seen the talent that you have for painting, why not pursue it? I think it shouldn't go to waste. Imagine the opportunities you could create"

Titus was shaken slightly. He was happy that Betty was as encouraging as she was. However, thinking of leaving his job and pursuing art full-time scared him. They could still live together off of Betty's part-time job. Yet to him, that was risky. Titus would abandon his dream and the chance for renown instead of living off of Betty.

Titus responded. "I...I don't think that's feasible."

Betty sighed and looked out their window. It was a little grimy, yet the scene outside was clear. Wilted trees huddled together in silence. She remembered seeing two fallen logs in that park. One sprawled before the other, wondering why they deserved to lose to the wind.