Autumn's Affairs

3 - Where Is She?

I force myself to go through the motions at work the next day. My head throbs from overdoing it on the ales, not to mention the devastating news Este's shared.

My heart aches for her, and I rush to the dining hall on my first break, eager to see her and hear what Henry had to say for himself. I sit down at the table where we always meet when we work the same shifts, and sip on a tea I made in the kitchen, letting it warm my bones and keep me from getting too jittery.

I jump in fright when someone who is not Este sits across from me. Felix flashes me his beautiful smile and my heart immediately calms.

"Hi," I say breathlessly.

"Hi," he says back, leaning forward and brushing his fingertips across the back of my hand. "You look tired, are you ok?" he says, concern written all over his face.

"My friend Este and I had one too many ales at old Alfred's pub last night, is all. I'm fine though, just a little sluggish," I assure him.

"Are you not eating anything?" he asks, looking at the tea in front of me.

"Oh," I clear my throat awkwardly, "no, I uh, I had a pretty big breakfast," I say, trying not to think of my pathetic breakfast of stale buttered bread. And the only way I'm eating tonight is if Lucy or my garden have been able to produce anything for me. Food scarcity seems to be getting bad again. Everything has gotten so expensive, all I can do is rely on what grows and what my poor old hen can supply me with.

Felix raises a brow at me, as if sensing my lie. "Well, that's too bad," he pulls a wrapped sandwich out of his pocket, "cause I was going to offer you half of this," he says, unwrapping the still warm food.

I look down at it; stacked between two large slices of sourdough bread sits two sausage patties, at least half a dozen slices of bacon, a fried egg, melted cheese, lettuce and tomato, all smothered in the tangy savoury sauce that I love so much. The monstrous sandwich sits in front of him, cut diagonally in half and causing my stomach to let out a loud rumble.

He picks up half of the sandwich and slides the wrapper with the other half over to me, "Don't worry, I got you," he says, flashing me his gorgeous smile.

"Thankyou," I take a bite of the sandwich and my stomach sighs in content when I swallow the first bit of filling food I've had in a while.

"No problem," he says through his own mouthful of food.

We eat in silence for a few minutes, and I almost forget about meeting Este. My head snaps up, and I gaze around the dining hall searching for her blonde hair that's always tied in a mess on top of her head.

"Looking for someone?" Felix asks curiously.

"Yes actually. My friend Este was supposed to meet me for our break... Perhaps she got held up in the gardens."

"Or perhaps she was simply too hungover to even come to work?"

I shake my head, "Definitely not. Este has never missed a shift, no matter how awful she feels."

Felix stands up, extending an arm, "shall we go find her then?"

I bite my lip, wanting very much to spend more time with him, and to find Este, but my break is over and I need to get back to work.

"Sorry," I say, placing a hand on his outstretched arm and letting him walk me to the dining hall entrance, "but I really need to get back to the kitchens, we have to start dinner prep soon."

"No worries," he looks down at me with a smile and I'm frozen in place by the stark beauty of it, "I'll see you soon, Ana," he says, bending forward and placing a soft kiss on my lips, before creating his portal that looks to have a hurricane raging inside it and walking directly through without a second of hesitation.