Myocardium

Part 27

Another successful Friday night is over, finally. It's a pity that the potential client I saw playing poker with Rafael left before I could reach him, since I actually did struggle to catch somebody's attention after Rafael left. In the end, I needed to pull out some crazy moves on the pole to finally make people interested. Whatever, I survived the night, that's what matters.

It's not even a few hours later that I'm woken up from my well-deserved nap. The sleep I've had was not exactly restful, but I assume I shall take it as better than nothing. Also, my siblings have decided to be kind to me today and let me rest on the sofa after having some half-heartedly prepared breakfast. The coffee I have with it does help to get me back to normal human functioning, at least.

Until Sasha gets picked up, we pretty much spend our time cooking some lunch. Instead of doing all the work by myself, as I usually would when they're busy playing, I give them little tasks, such as letting Daisy wash the vegetables and letting Sasha help me peel the potatoes. 

We spend time hanging out in the living room together, simply trash-talking, as it is expected by someone who is still hungover from the night before and two kids who are excited for the day.

After having lunch and getting Sasha ready for his excursion, we wait for his friend and her mom to arrive and lo and behold, we hear someone ring the doorbell. Internally, I am a bit nervous. I never liked doing grown-up business, like meeting other kids' parents. 

"Hey there, Sasha", a girl who is clearly ecstatic to see my brother salutes him and hugs him for a second, while her mother introduces herself to me,
"Good afternoon, my name's Mrs. Collins, but you can call me Eve. Nice to meet you."

She reaches out her hand, I grab it and speak up while shaking it,
"Nice to meet you, I'm Elijah, that's Sasha."
My brother immediately stops talking to the girl and instead confidently speaks to the mom,
"It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Collins. Thank you for bringing me along today."

Should I be worried about my little brother having more social skills than I do? Probably.
"Oh, you're welcome, sweetheart. I'm glad my daughter found such a good friend," the woman says and notices little Daisy hiding behind my legs.  Mor or less, at least. She's not exactly four years old anymore, that trick would work wonders back then. The habit stayed, but I won't complain.
"And who are you, honey?"

My sister gets a bit shy and overwhelmed by her question, so I help her out by crouching down next to her and pinching her cheek gently to make her giggle with a rosy blush on her face.
"That's Daisy. By the way, would you like some coffee or tea?", I ask out of politeness, inwardly hoping she'll say no.
"Oh, that's very kind of you, but I think the kids are too excited, I wouldn't want to keep them waiting any longer", she chuckles and looks at my brother and her daughter, who are snickering and talking to each other happily.

"That's true. So, I hope you have a nice day. Call me any time if you need something", I respond and fake a friendly chuckle too. Talking to people sure is exhausting. After the three of them have taken off, Daisy and I get ready to buy groceries. The ride to the supermarket isn't long, and the quiet music coming from the speakers in my car makes it seem even shorter. 

With her light-blue elephant-plush in one hand and holding onto my hand with the other, Daisy is hopping along next to me as I'm pushing the cart in front of me. I don't like letting her go too far away from me by herself when Sasha isn't there to keep an eye on her and realise any potential dangers.

So, instead of running off once she lets go of my hand, Daisy jumps around near the cart happily, with her little elephant Zula always keeping her company. While putting a few items we need into the cart, I make sure to keep an eye on her, as always when we're out in public.