Found Along The Way

Chapter twenty-eight

"Lina?" The voice of doom echoed form behind her, "Honey this coffee is cold."

"You're not the one drinking it Pearl. Plus I got it ten minutes ago, how is it cold?" Lina retorted, keeping a smiling face covering her blood boiling on the inside.

Lina loved her new job, only three days a week and it gave her an empowering sense of purpose. But there was one squeaky voiced issue. This voice of doom didn't come from her boss like you'd expect, it came from a far more irritating person. Her boss, Ms. Williams, was a dream to work for, a kind and very intelligent woman and publicist. However she had a daughter, who was the secretary of the small office Lina now worked for, and she was beyond demanding. Every instruction from Ms. Williams was polite and simple, but once it went through the ears and out of the mouth of Pearl it had become a life or death task. Such as today, with the 'cold' coffee.

"Well my mother is a very busy woman, she's not going to want to waste her precious time drinking coffee that isn't even the right temperature."

Lina was a fiery girl, and normally she'd be biting this woman's head off. In her thirties and still acting like a sixteen-year-old prom queen, with the voice of a dog whistle, she made Lina furious with every word she said. But she knew that upsetting her boss's daughter was one of the worst moves she could make. Anya reminded her in every frustrated phone call about this woman to bite her tongue and smile. Giving her what she deserves would do Lina no favours in the long run.

"Fine. I will reheat it." Lina said gracefully, standing up to take the coffee from Pearls obnoxious grasp.

"No, no. The microwave will make the cardboard damp, get her a new one." She responded, looking at Lina down her nose and carelessly tossing the full coffee cup into the bin.

"Anya I HATE this woman." She growled, putting her bag down and resting her head on the table after the hell of a day she'd had. Anya was babysitting Rosie before Lina got home, as she did every Wednesday.

"Did you take my advice?" Anya asked cautiously, hoping her anger hadn't gotten the better of her that day.

"Yes, I did, and thank you." Lina sighed, giving Anya a thankful look which quickly melted back into disgust as she thought about Pearl once again.

"Well hey, at least you get to come home to this beautiful face!" Anya laughed, lifting Rosie from the ground and taking her to sit on the table in front of Lina, making her smile.

"Anya," She said averting her attention from Rosie, after talking to her for a happy moment, "How are you doing?" She asked sincerely. It had now been around six weeks since the accident, and she'd been slowly getting brighter. The nights seemed the hardest, she'd wake up from nightmares shaking, feeling like she was drowning all over again. And she would often return to the painting she did, and look at it to try and make sense of things. But outside of the night, and the looming shadows, she felt okay. Her artwork had broken away from the barrier it was trapped behind, and it didn't matter that her work wasn't the greatest she'd ever made, because she was working. She was painting, sketching, studying, and things felt normal. Socially, the looks and gossip had died down, and her words and laughter had returned again. It wasn't perfect, of course, but it was progress. She had hope, and as always she had Lucas and Lina by her side.

"I'm okay. Nights are still tough, but other than that I'm fine."

"Remember I'm here if you need anything girl." Lina reminded her sweetly, taking her hand.

A lot had happened in the long months that had passed, a lot that meant Lina and Anya weren't together as often as they used to be. A baby, new job, school, big accident, can really take up your time. But the one thing that never faded was that Lina and Anya still promised to face everything together.