The Hollows Of Hiraeth (✔️) | 'Hollows' Book I

Chapter Seventy-Five

"Pretending to hate is much easier than pretending to love, but she tried the latter anyway, knowing that it satisfied his heart more than hers."
—A Human Named Chloe, 'The Hollows Of Hiraeth'
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T h e H o l l o w s   O f
H I R A E    T    H
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"Wow." Was the only word that left my mouth as I stated in awe at the massive shop, almost how a factory would appear—just with no assembly lines. There were shelves and shelves of goods—one section of the massive shop was food, of course. There were loads of fridges and freezers all in a long line, appearing to go in order of expiration dates, as shown by the dates written on the freezers. I'm guessing this is where Jameson got his secret supply of Ben and Jerry's ice cream from.

Carter started to walk over to a desk and I followed in suite, noticing how this part was set out almost like a garage, with delivery vans and motorbikes dotted all over the place. I saw as the massive metal door was slid across and a grocery truck sped off. Then I turned to my right and watched as a pizza guy unloaded the boxes from his motorbike. This is now my favourite section of the place; it smells like heaven.

Carter gave in his name and his order, then the chipper woman behind the desk turned around, calling out his order. Few people listened, then a woman walked up to the pizza guy and began a conversation with him.

I noticed, though, none of the employees were guardian material; they weren't big built or tactful with their jobs, to be honest, the place would be in much more order if they employed guardians to work here. Also, upon spinning around in circles to watch everyone carrying out their jobs, it became noticeable how everyone here was actually enjoying themselves. I guess I would, too, if I got to work with food everyday.

The woman who was conversing with the pizza delivery boy strode over to us, flashing us a grin before handing a pizza box to the lady who was serving us at the desk. In response, the woman at the desk set the pizza box down in front of us and tapped away at the keyboard.

Then finally, she smiled up at us, "Enjoy!" She told us and I tried not to grimace at the sudden spout of joy I was being thrown. It was definitely a contrast between the feelings of the tensed and stressed out guardians.

After departing my favourite building, Carter spoke up. "Damn, now I wish I got a job there." He complained and I laughed.

"If I was you, I'd be sobbing; I'd love that job." I grinned at him and he shook his head at me as we continued down the stairs.

"Only you would want to work when you don't have to." Carter finally commented and I chuckled.

"It's pizza!" I exclaimed in defence but Carter just laughed at me. After that we walked in a comfortable silence, with just a small conversation sparking up every now and then.

We finally got back to Carter's dorm, and some part of me hoped we would run into Jameson outside ours. However, I was slightly disappointed when we didn't, and I was back to being tied down by my fake relationship. It's not fake to Carter—a nagging voice in my head reminded me.

We settled down on Carter's bed, eating the pizza and messing around. Old funny stories and inside jokes were being flung around like photo albums as we fed our hunger with a very scrumptious pizza. At one point, we even started feeding each other; cute, right?

Carter and I had just finished reminiscing about a past holiday together when I realised that we had finished all the pizza. I pouted at the empty box and watched from the corner of my eye as Carter laughed at me. I crossed my arms over my chest, my mood only becoming more sour by being laughed at. Carter pecked me on the lips where they were pouted, and the mood immediately changed.