A for Anxiety (On Hold)

9- Meeting Him

It was late when Fizz saw her mum's car pull into the driveway with her parents both inside and the voices from a loud conversation between them both. If only they had been there at the house to witness the Spanish food prize, that would have been something.

As the door opened, one of the family cats charged towards it in excitement and bounced back onto the front mat in a panic.

"Careful puss!" exclaimed her mum, "You could have got seriously injured!"

This was Fizz's cue to confront them and possibly face the music if they had heard what had happened that day at school. Making sure she looked presentable, Fizz joined them in the hallway with baited breath.

"Evening Fizz, good day at school?" asked dad as he hung his coat up on one of the hooks.

Fizz felt herself blink and blink again in disbelief. Surely school had tried to contact them about the incident, right?

"Yes dad, loud and busy as normal but all good. I've done my homework."

Fizz's dad smiled, "Good, nice to hear it Felicity."  

During the conversation, both of them could hear Fizz's mum gasp in astonishment as her eyes fixed on the box of Spanish food. Fizz's face felt hot as the sun as she approached her mum in the kitchen.

"Felicity, care to explain?" gestured her mum towards the food hamper.

Fizz released a little chuckle, "The doorbell rang about an hour ago, two ladies from the local market stood there and said you won the hamper in a draw you entered a while back."

Fizz's dad blinked at the hamper, "Look at all the Spanish food!"

"So good that we really can't have it all to ourselves," smiled Fizz's mum, "Go to your Auntie Ruby's house Fizz and see if she would like to come over for Spanish food and spice."

Fizz smiled, "Of course mum."

Leaving the kitchen with two very bemused parents behind, Fizz placed on her coat and put up the hood so that her hair wouldn't get wet in the rain. Rain was a huge bother for Fizz as it meant cold conditions and slippery streets. And besides, Ruby or Auntie Ruby wasn't even a biological member of the family, just someone who had been a close friend of her mum's for years.

"See you in three quarters of an hour Fizz since you can go to the shops for a bit as a treat." beamed her mum as she placed on her apron, "Hurry now."

Fizz left her house and started to walk in the direction of the huge estate where Auntie Ruby lived on her own in a council flat, a play park was situated just opposite from her flat block where kids from Fizz's school would go to chat and play. Even with the ugly sight of the various blocks of flats, everyone in the community were mainly friendly and welcoming. On passing the play park, she could see a couple of small kids with a young mum in their raincoats splashing around in puddles and having fun without the threat and fear of anything bad happening.

"I used to feel like that once, carefree and happy without a single fear in the world," sighed Fizz, "But not anymore."

At the tower block of flats which Auntie Ruby lived in, Fizz rang the bell of her flat and waited to hear her voice on the intercom speaker. But to her surprise, it remained silent.

"That's strange, Auntie Ruby always answers the doorbell." spoke Fizz aloud as she rang it again but to no avail.

Just by luck, the main door to the tower block opened and Auntie Ruby's neighbour Josh stood there in a checked shirt and cargo pants, "Hey Felicity, looking for Ruby?"