Lovers at War - (A.R.)

Chapter 06

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Life in the South

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A FEW WEEKS following the little incident near the flower shop, I was living a relatively quiet life with Wesley. Our routine was pretty basic if I did say so myself - but nothing out of the ordinary. We wouldn't go outside unless absolutely necessary, or if I had a shift at the flower shop. And since it was still Summer break in the south, classes hadn't begun yet, so my brother resorted to boring himself out at home.

What could we have done, though? We knew absolutely nobody in this god-forsaken town, and it seemed to me that nobody really cared either. Everybody - except for my boss, bless her - looked so broken or miserable all the time. If that was the way they appeared as from the outside, I was afraid of what they'd be like from the inside.

Sighing, I let my eyes wander to the analogue clock on the wall ahead of me. It was almost closing time, and for the time I'd been here today - not a single customer stepped through that door. Seemed to me that people didn't really care for the flattery of flowers anymore, or maybe many of them weren't even aware of the small shop hidden behind all of those robust buildings.

One.

More.

Second.

Thank goodness. It was finally closing time.

Without a moment to spare, I quickly packed away my belongings and tucked my employee badge into my pocket. I made my way over to Wesley, who was quietly sitting in a corner, playing with one of his many superhero action figures.

When I was discussing work with my new boss on the day of the interview, I had sneakily requested that Wesley stay in the shop whenever I would have a shift. She'd thankfully agreed on the condition that he wasn't to be disruptive. I mean, what disruptive thing could a ten-year-old even do? And it wasn't like we had a lot of customers throughout the day.

Plus, it wasn't like my brother would have anything better to do at home alone, and his newfound friend, Stanley, wasn't necessarily around all of the time either.

"Are we finally going home?" Wesley asked, boredom evident in his voice. I nodded as I reached out and pulled him to his feet with ease.

"You better believe it, Wes," I responded, smiling at him. As we made our way over to the main door, I quickly called out a farewell to my boss, and she'd told me to switch the signs before leaving. I reached out to flip the sign, but Wesley beat me to it - changing the sign to 'CLOSED'.

In the little while that I had been living in southern Ohio, I had come to realize just how far the town was from our home. It was at least a half-hour walk on a normal day, and I couldn't really afford a car right now from my kind of salary. It wasn't the walk that I hated, far from that, but mainly because I dreaded how it would work out during the Winter season.

From what I had heard from the passerby, Ohio's cold season would always be one to remember. Was that a good thing? I guessed that I'd find out in the future.

Holding Wesley's hand, we'd begun the short distance to our house, only for something in the distance to catch my eye. Stopping in my tracks, I didn't shy away from the small smile that appeared on my lips.

I could recognize that face anywhere.