Runaway Goddess

Chapter 16- Andrew (Two years later)

     "Andrew!" Amelia yelled from the kitchen. "Get up! You're about to be late for work!"

     I groaned and forced my body out of bed. As usual, I got even less sleep than the night before. "Coming," I murmured, even though I knew she couldn't hear me. I grabbed a nearby shirt and pants and put them on. I put on my shoes and hopped my way out of the room.

     "Here's your food. Are you coming back from work to get ready for your...you know...date?" Amelia asked.

     "Yeah, I'll come straight home, don't worry," I answered her, grabbing my hat, vest, and leather bag from the coat rack "I'm not dating her. We have a mutual...relationship."

     "If you say so..."

     I grabbed my lunch and headed outside. I shut the door behind me. As I walked down the street I realized it has been officially 2 years without Iris today. She's fine. I thought. It was hard to adjust but a few months later, I was better again. Ever since she left, I've been trying to get her off my mind.

     I walked down the empty streets and the lamps on nearby buildings were my only hope of finding light in the mornings. Even though I was used to walking in complete darkness, it still felt nice to have a little bit of it covering the streets. I turned a corner and the New York Harold was only a few blocks away. I checked my watch: 5:55. I still had 5 minutes before I had to start work. I rushed down the empty streets and made it to my last stretch. Finally, I made it.

     "Hey, Andrew!" Charles shouted from behind me. Charles was above average when it came to size for newsies, but it could have been because of his age or that he was now living with Amelia and me. He had better meals now and finally looked like he wasn't dying anymore. He had long dirty blonde hair that fell down just above his eyebrows. His hair went down to the middle of his neck and he always wore a dark blue Gatsby cap that matched his blue long-sleeve and smokey gray vest. His pants wore khakis and around his chest was a big cream crossbody bag that he used to hold his newspapers. His dark brown leather boots clicked and clacked as he walked up beside me, cigarette in hand. His bright blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

     "Hey Charles! Long day ahead of us, that sounds like fun..." I said sarcastically. "We've been doing this for years!" He said smiling. "Haven't you gotten used to it?"

     Those words hit me. Haven't you gotten used to it?

     "Y-yeah...I am," I stammered. "Just another rough night."

     The gates opened.

     "Cheer up buddy. Now come on we have papes to sell!"

     "Alright," I groaned.

     I followed him inside. Newsies started running inside all around me. I looked up at the billboard for today's headline: Famous landlord Edward Thompson was found DEAD at his house brutally murdered!

     I laughed out loud. Just like me...I thought. Charles gave me a confused look, then went back to buying our papes. I looked around looking for nothing in particular when I spotted someone.

     A girl was standing at the gate staring at me. She had straight brown hair with a pink bow at the back of her hair and big brown eyes. Her white dress went to her knees and had pink flowers scattered around it. She held a wicker basket of different flowers.

     Sophia...I thought. What is she doing here? I quickly looked away and grabbed my papers from Charles. Once we both were ready, we took off, splitting up and heading to the nearest person. "Sir, you're not gonna wanna miss this," I told the guy. He looked to be a middle-class businessman. "Famous landlord got murdered!" The man's eyes widened and gave me a couple of coins and ran off with his newspaper. I grinned. If it was that easy to make one guy buy a pape, then this was going to be a piece of cake!