Chim - Mirrors

CHAPTER 36

Chapter Thirty Six

I hear the door bang open and Abbie and I both jump in our seats in shock.

Cheryl's standing in the doorway, her expression worried.

"Oh thank god!" She cries out. She runs forward, wrapping her arms around me and I pat her back awkwardly, wondering what's got her so worked up.

"What's going on?"

"I got home and you weren't there!" She exclaims, pulling back and glaring at me. 

"What time is it?" I ask, confused. I look up at the clock on the wall. It's almost eight in the evening.

"Holy crap, I've been here the whole day?" I say, shocked. Abbie smiles.

"Sorry Cheryl, we've just been talking...catching up on each other's lives." I smile at her. 

The entire day had been spent in this office, both of us telling each other everything. She told me about her life after she'd given me up. How she'd spent years on the streets, and how she'd once been hit by a car and had spent three months nursing her wounds because she couldn't go to a hospital. Her entire life had been filled with such despair, it amazes me that she's standing in front of me right now. Losing her first boyfriend to drugs, her fiancee to a drunken car accident, her baby for fear of the life it would have if it stayed with her, and then being homeless for years on end...

"Thank god that lady gave you money for a lottery ticket, huh?" I'd said. She had laughed and nodded.

"Yup! I can still remember her face,too...she was a beautiful woman..."

I'd told her everything I could remember about my life. My years in the Orphanage with Cheryl, my first home, the few homes I could remember after that, and Cindy and Robert. 

And then, we'd discussed normal things. Favorite colors, movies, sports, subjects...anything just to get to know each other more.

"I'm glad." Cheryl says, smiling. I take a proper look at her. She looks tired, and her eyes are red, either from stress...or tears.

"Cheryl, are you okay?" I ask, reaching out to grab her hand. She sighs and kicks her foot against the ground.

"I didn't get the job." She mumbles. My heart drops and I wrap my arms around her tightly.

"I'm sorry, babe..." She sighs and buries her head into my shoulder, fingers wrapping in my hair. 

"I wanted it so bad..." She whispers. I press a kiss to her temple.

"I know..." 

"Is everything okay?" Abbie asks, reaching out and touching both our shoulders. Cheryl gives her a tired smile.

"Yeah, everything's okay." 

"Come on, let's go have a glass of wine or something." Abbie says, taking Cheryl's hand. As soon as she opens the door, Kate and Sasha suddenly trip over each other and crash to the floor.

"Ow!"

"Were you two listening at the door the whole day?!" Abbie exclaims.

"No! Well...just when Cheryl came..." Kate says feebly. I sigh and shake my head, suppressing a giggle as Abbie rolls her eyes and leads Cheryl to the restaurant.

"You okay?" Sasha asks me. I smile and nod.

"I'm alright now. Sorry about today..."

"Hey, it's okay. It was a quiet day today anyway, there's some movie coming out in the cinema a few blocks from here, Kate and I saw a line that went for about five blocks!"