Julia's POV
Marie has been acting weird lately. Ever since she came home late a few days ago. She wasn't herself. Not her usual happy self. That night when she came home late,she told me that she was fine and wasn't crying. But little did she know,I was still outside of her room,just outside of her door,hearing her cry. It broke my heart to see her so damaged. I didn't want to go in her room. I thought that I should give her more time. I couldn't think of anything that might've caused her to be this broken. The only reason that crossed my mind was Steven. Her now estranged boyfriend.
He hasn't been there for her for nearly a month. Marie has been telling everybody that he's been traveling. But why would he not contact Marie in those days? That was a shitty move of him to do. I didn't believe her when she told me that. I didn't tell her that I didn't believe her. It was just not believable that he would do that to her. I mean,what,did he just pack his bags and left London to go traveling? And not contact her?
When she dyed her hair blue,I felt a wave of confusion take over me. Don't get me wrong,she looked great with blue streaks. But,it was the fact that Steven hated blue. Marie had told me that he hated the colour blue and told her to get rid of every blue thing that she has. She hasn't had anything blue since then. Except for her blue car,she couldn't give it up just because he hated the colour. She has been following him around like a sad puppy. The fact that she took a big risk by dyeing her hair blue was out of this world. That's when I started suspecting that Steven was at fault for her sudden change in attitude.
She has been staying up later than usual. Sometimes I'd catch her drinking vodka from the bottle itself at 2 a.m. I don't remember buying vodka.
She's been calling in sick for work too. Brady doesn't know what's wrong either. Today,I was officially in charge of register duty ever since Marie called in sick. Brady leaned against the counter,his body towards me. He tossed me a pack of sour patch kids. I smiled in thanks,tearing the packet open.
"Is she getting any better?"
I shrugged,placing one of the Sour Patch Kids on my tongue. "I don't see her in broad daylight anymore," I said just before my face scrunched up because of the sourness of the candy. "Only at night. Late at night."
"Marie Anne," he stated looking off into the distance before making a joke. "A vampire?"
I laughed,rolling my eyes. "Wouldn't that be cool though if it were true?"
He laughed quietly,a long silence followed by it. He finally said something after a while. "I think Steven's done something."
"Me too,"
I got up from my seat,checking the price of a book that a customer placed on the counter with the scanner. "28 dollars,please." I grinned as I placed the book into a plastic bag,taking the money from the girl's hand and then handing her her change. Once the customer left,I remained standing up. Looking at Brady who was still there,I gave him a sad look.
"It hurts to see her so hurt."
"We still don't know if it was really him who made her like this."
"Yeah,well he's number one on my suspects list." I rolled my eyes,resting my chin on the palm of my hand on the counter,leaning forward.
"Say,be my messenger and send these flowers to her," he said handing me a small bouquet of peonies. I took them and smiled gratefully. I've noticed these flowers since morning already but didn't know whose they were.
"Sure,maybe it'll make her smile."
I asked my boss if I could take the rest of the afternoon off and told him that I wanted to see how Marie was doing. He agreed quickly,seeing as he wanted her well enough to get back to work. After work,I came home right away,wanting to talk to Marie. I took of my shoes,threw my purse on the couch and jogged quietly to Marie's bedroom. Outside,I heard nothing. It was so quiet that I worried something was wrong. I knocked softly,praying for a response from her. She didn't say anything, so I opened the door only to see her laying in her bed,staring at the wall. She looked lifeless. It pains me to see her that way. I was determined to find out what the matter was.
