In another life

3

Amelia had sobered up slightly by the time we arrived home, enough to walk herself anyway.

I drop my bag on the floor and hang my coat up on the pegs. Amelia follows me into the living room and she slumps down on the sofa,
"Pretty house"
"Thank you. Can I get you some water?" I'm going to anyway. As I make my way to the kitchen I can't hear anything from the living room. "Are you okay?" I shout. Nothing.

Walking back in with the glass of water, I see she has her eyes closed. "And she's asleep"

I put the glass of water on the table and grab a spare blanket to lay it over her. This definitely was not how I planned to spend my evening, but oh well.

...

I'm woken by the sounds of ruffles beside me. That's weird. The kids aren't here? OH MY GOD.

My heart rate calms a little when I turn over to see Amelia laying next to me.
"Sorry. I don't wanna be alone"
"It's okay" I whisper back, shuffling myself to lay on my side. She does the same so that we're facing each other.

"Thank you for bringing me here"
"I couldn't exactly leave you in that state, could I?"
"But you don't even know me"
"No. But you looked like you needed help. Have you sobered up yet?" I question,
"Definitely feeling the hangover coming on" I bet it's gonna be a rough one too.

"Tell me something about you"
"What?" What does she mean?
"Well I'm laying in bed with a stranger. All I know is that you have two kids and are... separated?"
"I am. And I do. Also you chose to get in here" she laughs a little, "I work in a nursery"
"Not surprising" what is that supposed to mean?! "I just mean you seem like a really kind hearted and gentle person" oh. I suppose so.

"What about you?" I ask,
"I kind of work for myself. Do whatever I like"
"That sounds interesting"
"It's not all fun and games. I just don't usually like to stay in one place for very long"
"So you travel a lot then? Are you not from around here?"
"I actually grew up here but I've been to many places. I returned only recently"
"Why'd you come back?"
"Because I have too" I don't really understand that but it's not my place to get into her life.

"Tell me something about you"
"I'm not a very interesting person"
"Not what it seems like to me"
"Okay. I..." she trails off like she's finding something to say, "I have a black mustang" that's a nice car. But the way she hesitated, the way she looked at me, I feel like there was something else she wanted to say. Or maybe I'm just overthinking because I am so tired.

"You're drifting. I didn't mean to wake you" she states.
"It's okay, I'm sorry. Just tired.
"Go to sleep sweetheart" her hand moves to mine as she softly caresses mine.

I can't even think about it really, it is soothing. I'm just so tired and my eyes are heavy. She smiles softly at me before I drift off.

...

*beep beep beep*
UGH. Rolling over, I drag myself out of bed. Catching a glimpse of the red hair spilling out from the covers.

In reality, inviting a stranger into my house, and sleeping in the same bed as them sounds absolutely crazy. But I like Amelia, I think we could be friends.

She's most likely very hungover so I'll let her sleep for a while. I head downstairs to make some coffee and then maybe tackle the piles of laundry on the kitchen table. Like I said, I didn't exactly expect on having guests over last night.

While folding the clean clothes, Amelia walks in looking rough as hell.
"Morning, can I get you some coffee?" I ask politely
"You're a sweetheart" she slumps down on one of the chairs.
"Sorry about the mess, I didn't exactly plan on having people over"
"Don't worry about it. My house is worst" she holds her head in her hands, resting her elbows on the table "ughhhhhh my head is throbbing" I can't help the little laugh that escapes me as I make her coffee.

"Sorry. I shouldn't laugh. Are you going to be okay?"
"It's okay. I'll be fine"
"Here" I hand her the coffee which she takes gratefully,
"Thank you. I'm sorry I ruined your night"

"I didn't have any plans anyway. Would you like me to drive you home? If you can remember where that is" I joke,
"That's okay. I should get an uber back to the bar to collect my car anyway" she replies,
"Well I can drive you back round the bar, it's on my way to work anyway"
"Thank you, I appreciate that"
"It's no problem, I'm going to get ready. Help yourself to whatever. Oh, I may have some paracetamol if you need it"
"You're an angel"

After I had gotten ready for the day I waked back downstairs and Amelia was in washing the coffee cups,
"Oh thank you" I smile,
"It's the least I could do, you look beautiful by the way"
"Aw thank you, are you ready to go?" She nods and we make our way out.

...

I dropped Amelia off at the bar so she could grab her car and then made my way to work.

As soon as I walked through the door Carly runs up to me,
"Char!"
"Hey Carly, are you alright?"
"Yeah I'm okay, and I've got gossip!" Carly is the apprentice here and loves to eavesdrop, which isn't the best thing of course. But in a place just of drama, it certainly is entertaining.

I think I'm closer with Carly than anyone else in the nursery, I get to work with her a lot and she's always so bright and bubbly. She can always lift my mood no problem.

As we're walking down the hallway to the staff room, she begins to tell me about the new manager of the sister nursery, Reece Knight.

"So I don't know a lot just yet, but Reece is actually Autumn's older brother and she hates him. Like really hates him"
"Oh wow. I wonder why"
"I'll figure it out, I was listening to her and Marjorie before winter dragged me back into the baby room" she rolls her eyes, "but I'll find out. Marjorie also sent Jodie over to the sister nursery to cover because Reece is firing like all of his staff, so I'll let you know how that goes" I wonder how Reece will cope with Jodie, "Anyways I gotta go, but I'll find you when I know more"
"Okay, thanks Carly" I say goodbye before making my own way to the preschool room.