Crowns and Chains

Chapter Twelve: Heel Straps

Drake

"You done?" I ask her a few minutes after she placed her fork and knife neatly to  the center of the plate.

Who uses a knife and fork to eat a sandwich?

Eating with her was like eating with the queen. Every minute she would dab at the corners of her mouth to wipe non-existent small bits of food. She was hungry and thirsty but her manners were still very much intact. Well, she was stuck up after all. We ate in silence, too hungry to make conversation.

"Yes, thank you for the food." She says. I was glad I took up fighting in prison, one of the reward would be money as well. Then I just kept saving it. It's not much, not even enough for me to live off of for a month. And I just spent an eighth of it for this.

"Where are you going now?" I ask. She pauses for a moment, contemplating her answer.

"To my aunt's house, I want to visit her for the weekend." 

"Where is that?" 

"It is close around here, a ten minute walk I would say." She looks outside the window, assessing the area.

"Are you ready to go?" 

"Yes, but where are you going?" She asks politely and I stay quiet.

I don't know where the fuck I'm going.

"I see, we should go, it is starting to get dark." She says, slowly getting up from her chair, used to me ignoring her.

"Can you walk?" I ask, standing beside her, offering support.

"Yes, I am fine. I just needed rest and some water. I can walk." I nod at her response and I open the door so she goes first, she flashes me a smile and a thank you.

We get out of the cafe with the sun beginning to set. I look at her features and she seems somewhat... nervous?

"Lead the way." I said and she takes a deep breath, then started walking towards the city. "Wait." I grab her arm. Taking her heels out of my bag I hand it to her. "Wear it." 

"One of the straps broke, there is no point, I can not walk with it." She hesitantly puts them on and sure enough, the strap for her right shoe was torn. It was the strap on her ankles. 

"W-what are you-" She stutter while I crouch down and roll up her handkerchief. 

"Uhm Drake-" She was flustered; I was holding her ankle at this point. I secure the handkerchief like a makeshift strap to her shoe, making a temporary strap. Tugging on the knot I give a satisfactory nod.

"There, you can't walk to the city barefoot. There's broken glass." I state, standing back up. 

"Of course, thank you." She smiles and started walking to test it out. She laughs and shakes her head. "I can not believe it works."

----

"So, any reason why you are miraculously starting to be nice to me?" She asks jokingly after a few minutes. I look at her, her deep green eyes, her hair; in a complete mess on top of her head, her clothes all dusty from her previous fall and her now ratty heels with a makeshift handkerchief strap. I stifle a laugh at her state, fortunately she doesn't notice.

She looks homeless.

"Don't get comfy, this is a one time thing." I say sternly, meaning every word. 

"Who said I was going to be?" 

Fair call.

A triumphant grin spreads across her face when I didn't reply.