The Abnormality Of The Normality

'White chocolate hot chocolate'

A whole week passes. I haven't heard from Jack. Hayley has been distancing herself from both me and her father. Neither of us has mentioned the kiss from a week ago. After that night, Hayley had been sleeping in a spare bedroom in a separate part of the house. I notice how Hayley distances herself as we approach one another in the corridors occasionally. She will smile but refuses to say a word to me. Behind her smile there is so much pain. I can tell she is using every ounce of strength in her body to stay away. Why was she trying to avoid me? Did she somehow think she'd hurt me when she'd pushed me away? I am so confused by her sudden silence, but I can't seem to pinpoint why. One thought haunts me every time I see her; Did she regret the kiss? I didn't regret it so I hope she doesn't either.

A few more days pass and the silence is beginning to get too much. The only person I speak to in this building is Mary-Anne. I attempt to ask her what was going on with Hayley, but she just seemed to push the subject to one side. I've noticed how Mr Johnson has his own personal driver, Arthur. Arthur is slightly younger than me, 18. He is tall but lanky, with blond hair cut short. He's always wearing a suit which looks like it must be at least one size too big. He wore glasses which appeared to always be dirty. When he wasn't doing errands, I would quite often see him sat out the front with a different book in his hand. As he read about adventures and love and death, he would show so much emotion in his facial features, as if he was the various characters within the pages of the books.

It doesn't take a lot to persuade Arthur to start taking me with him when on the errands. After another week we are out on an errand run to the city. I usually refused to join Arthur on the city runs in case I end up seeing Jack. But today I'd finally had enough. Hayley has been nowhere to be seen the last fortnight and even Mary-Anne has been too absorbed in making sure Mr Johnson has everything he needs so I haven't seen much of her either.

The car journey was long. We left at 7am and didn't get into the city until about 9am. As usual, Arthur parked up and got out to do the jobs. Normally I just sat and listened to the music on the radio however for some reason I decided to have a look around. Arthur would be gone for at least an hour and a half, so I had time to explore a little. I walk down the street towards the Silent Fountain Bistro. I had forgotten how much I adored this café when I was growing up. Stood outside it didn't look like anything had changed at all in the last decade.

As I enter the small café, all eyes turn to look at me. Why was everybody staring at me? The barista welcomes me with open arms. He looks oddly familiar but I can't place his face. His face is clean shaven and looks to be in his 30's at least, 40's if I was trying to be accurate His hair up in a manbun. He is slightly shorter than me. "Is it? Can it really be you? Alexandria Miller?" Calling me by my maiden name catches me off guard a little. "Umm, that depends. Who's asking?" I reply to the young man. "It's a miracle!" He exclaims. "Why I haven't seen you in just over 10 years. You look just like your mother." Mentioning my mother feels like an iron stake slicing through my chest. I hated thinking about her because it brought back all the painful memories. I think of when I had sat next to her hospital bed. Tubes keeping her alive whilst she lay there. I remember that day. I shake my head to try and get rid of the memory. That was the one day I wish I could go back and change.

"Here take a seat, I'll get you a drink" He states offering me a seat with a table in the far back corner. As I sit down he heads over to a young lady sat on her own. "Hey Jas, Can you mind the fort for a bit, I really need to talk to Alexandria" He asks the young girl. She looks no older than myself. "Yeah sure Johnny" she replies as she gets up and puts a barista's apron on. Johnny returns to the table with two drinks. "White Chocolate hot chocolate?" I question, "How did you know?" He looks at me and just smiles "Because that's what she would've wanted." He claims, "God you look just like her." "So I've been told" I state. Over the course of an hour I find out that Johnny used to go to AA meetings with my mum. Jas was his younger sister and as he put it 'the only reason he was still here'. I explain to him how I'd found my mum with the needles laying around her whilst she lay unconscious on the floor. I fail to mention the 12 empty bottles of vodka laying with them. Johnny appeared to look up to my mother and I couldn't burden him with the same knowledge I had. When I tell him how she had passed he stood up and pulled me into a tight hug, "Alexandria, I am sorry. I wish I had of known". Hugging Johnny was the closest I had felt to my mother in almost 10 years. I glance at the clock on the wall whilst hugging him, breaking away in an instant. "Hey, you okay kid?" He asks slightly worried. "No, I mean yes. Sorry I really need to be somewhere now, it was lovely catching up with you Johnny, take care." I give him one last quick hug before heading for the door. "Alexandria," he calls as I'm about to open it, "Stay safe and don't be a stranger, yeah?" I take one last look back at him and open the door "Sure thing, see you soon, bye" and with that I leave the small café.

I have maybe 10 minutes to get back to the car. It's doable if I hurry. I quicken my pace as I walk back down the street. I'm walking up to the carpark when a hooded figure approaches me. Once he is facing me, I see who it is and my blood runs cold. This can't be happening. Every muscle in my body is screaming to run for it but my mind is stopping me. "Alex?" He questions, "Oh my god, It's actually you." He embraces me with his strong arms preventing me from escaping. He leans away from the hug and looks me dead in the eye, "I'm taking you home darling." And with that he puts his arm around my waist escorting me to his car. I glance at Arthur's car and see him walking towards it. I make eye contact with Arthur and watch him as he stops dead in his tracks. I can see the panic behind his eyes, so I give him a small smile. Was I reassuring Arthur or was I reassuring myself? In this moment it could be either.