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She’d scarfed the food down, pocketing the rest of the money for the grocery store.
Flopping to her side and placing her phone on the charger, she sent a quick text to her sister and boss letting them know she was home and ok. Her boss told her she would cover her morning shift for a couple of hours so she could sleep in tomorrow.
Thankful for the brief reprieve, she reset her alarm to let herself get another hour of sleep, necking the vodka and closing her eyes. So grateful for a bed to sleep in.
***
Drenched, Colin went back into the two-story house on his property and made his way to the back room and typed the code in to let himself in.
He walked in, turning the lights on against the darkness.
Facing the wall of canvases he briefly perused it, this time focusing on his mother for longer than he had earlier. He closed the distance to her picture and put his fingers to her face, wishing he could just have twenty minutes to talk to her. Tell her about his life, let her know how much he missed her.
He stared at the image of her eyes, trying to remember her voice, the way she smelled. He fought against the sad feeling of grief.
“You know I’m not leaving you alone tonight.”
Colin turned his head, hearing his friend Johnathan come into the room behind him, and lean against the doorway.
“I don’t give a shit what you do,” Colin muttered. He turned away from the wall and walked to the computer behind him, seeing Johnathan staring at the wall of articles behind the desk.
The other half of the subject of his torment.
“Were you trying to kill yourself?” Johnathan asked softly as Colin typed the password into the computer. Colin stayed silent as he opened an electronic folder, dumping the picture he snuck of Olivia into it.
“Who is she?” Johnathan pressed, not leaving him alone.
Colin took a deep breath. “I don’t know yet. Will you stop fucking meddling. Jesus!” Colin put the bridge of his nose in his fingers and prayed for peace.
“Are you going to answer my question? Colin!” Johnathan walked further into the room.
“I was… thinking about it. Yes,” Colin admitted, unwilling to lie to his closest friend who was like a brother to him. He’d know if he was lying to him anyway, so he didn’t even bother.
“What triggered it?”
“I had an anxiety attack at the office. A redheaded man came in…” he trailed off. Not needing to explain himself anymore.
“She’s a redhead,” Johnathan said, leaning his hip against the desk, looking at him pointedly. “But you seem… ok. I’m still staying next to you though.”
“I don’t know Johnathan…she’s fascinating. I didn’t have the same reaction to her as I do everyone else,” Colin mused, shutting down his computer. “Let’s go to the main house. I hate it in here,” he followed his friend out.
Say Sir, I'll Pay
Friday morning Olivia woke up to a text from her boss asking her if she could cover a shift the next day, on Saturday morning.
Groaning, she realized that wouldn’t leave her much time to prepare for her new client on Saturday. She sighed and accepted it anyway, grateful for the chance to make money. One thing to understand about her is that she wouldn’t be relaxing her hustle any time soon.
Her niece couldn’t afford her to.
Olivia performed her morning routine before going into her living space and stared longingly at her worktable, where she displayed some of her architectural work she managed to complete before she was forced to quit school to help take care of her grandfather.
Giving up her full-ride scholarship destroyed a piece of her that she didn’t even know could be damaged.
She and Vanessa had dealt with their parents dying, and having to move in with their grandpa in the last four years of high school. Things seemed to be looking ok after graduation.
Vanessa had met this man, and they’d married before moving in together in the house that Vanessa lived in now.
Allison was born shortly after Olivia was accepted into an Architectural program, before their Grandpa Stephen's brain tumor came to light. Vanessa’s husband bailed after seeing the extent of Allison’s poor health, leaving her with the expense of the house and medical bills and worry. Due to not having support, Vanessa couldn’t manage all of Allison’s medical appointments on her own, the house and bills, and help take care of their grandpa.
