Mind the Gap | ✔️

September 20 @ 10:14 A.M.: Iris

"It's bloody ten-fifteen, Iris!" Rena accosted me at the front door of Million Year Picnic, tapping her Spiderman wristwatch. "The kids have been waiting f... Oh my gosh!" She clasped my chin with her thumb and forefinger, seeking out my eyes. "Are you okay? You look awful! Have you gotten any rest over the weekend?" Her nose scrunched. "Have you even showered? And are those... White chocolate stains?" Rena gestured towards my mouth. "I don't understand why you just don't come and live with m—"

"I'm fine. It's fine." I heard myself say as I interrupted my best friend and weaseled out of her pro-wrestler embrace.

I just wasn't ready at all for Rena-firing-squad to accost me. Not right now, when I was in such a foul mood. 

"Sorry. Traffic. Just... Bathroom!" I blurted it all out in a single breath, pushing Rena off of me.

I whooshed up the rickety stairs and barged straight into the first bathroom for customers.

Ceramic urinals and ghastly pee stench informed me it was, in fact, the men's toilet.

Eww!

At least temporarily, it was empty.

No Man's Land.

All I needed was a moment alone with my thoughts.

A moment away from the people and all that crowd that waited for me.

The aimless ten-minute stroll I had taken after surfacing from the underground abyss had not helped.

Wandering the streets, being surrounded by unknown passers-by had forced me to compose myself, instead of letting it all out.

Bad day?

Stop, take a deep breath!

Scream at the top of your lungs until everyone thinks you're bat shit crazy?

I wanted to do it so much.

But I couldn't.

Today wasn't about me.

Today was about the shop.

Even though things were improving, slowly, we needed more storytelling sessions to pay off all of our debts.

This was for Rena. For us both.

"Story... telling?" I almost heard Rena's sobs subside as tiny cogs of the past turned in my head.

"Yes! Why not? We could set it all up right here! On the first floor!" I danced up the rickety wooden stairs. "I mean, don't you just see it? We would place the little multicolored cushions for our tiny customers to sit here." I pointed at the bare parquet. "I could read them stories, from either children's books or even better, from our comics! And the entry fee would be something symbolic! Plus, usually, when the kids come to the store with the parents they will not leave without buying something."

It had all been my idea.

It was a really good idea, too, born from the accidental encounter with the Raining Man way back in late March.

There must be so many cute little bums adorning those multicolored cushions at this moment.

All of them waiting for me to come and tell them a story. 

The soft, droning voices are probably whispering from behind the door: "Where is the storybook lady? Are we at the right time?"

Their sweet tiny hearts ready to smile upon hearing my words.

The corners of my mouth lifted up almost against my own volition.

Grinning Iris looked back at me from the mirror.