Silk and Leather

Part 24: One year on.

They say it feels like only yesterday or time flies fast. Standing in front of my families grave probably six-seven months after my heart attack, it felt like I had cheated death three times because their spirits were 'shielding' me I suppose you could say. Like last year I brought Purple Tulips to set down for my twin Sisters, only I wasn't alone this time for Lysa stood at my side. It wasn't any surprise to be fair, sooner or later she'd want to 'meet' my parents and siblings even if it's just a slab of marble in the ground now.

"Mum, Dad, June, July. I'd like you to meet Lysa, my girlfriend." I muttered out with pain being easily noticeable in my voice, Lysa knew almost immediately as she took hold of my hand tightly supporting me as we went.

We kept true to our word during that day at the hospital, we took no more risks in terms of activities and didn't attend any parties for not only alcohol, but people can effect our mental states or lead us into a breakdown. The most scary thing however was ourselves, between my fragile heart and short temper. Plus Lysa's drunken mistake it was apparent the whole night-life wasn't for us, so we began opting for movie nights or romantic dinners. And er.... yeah we fooled around alot in the darkness, can you really blame us?

In terms of work, well I was struggling like most. Few odd jobs that offered payment and getting experience doing volunteer work at an old folks home kept me busy, in addition the small jobs that paid only provided below or even a hundred bucks if lucky. If me and Lysa were to get married I was gonna need something more stable, hmm now what could suit my set of skills and traits?

How do you approach this anyway, find a job suited to suit you or just take a stab at anything that is good pay, close by and such? Man I was gonna get a headache before even starting a days work, adding to my own situation Lysa also found it hard to find something able to provide a form of income. We both knew anything behind a counter wouldn't suit me and I knew that despite a few people asking if Lysa would model for something, that wasn't her at all for various reasons.

During this spare time between searches I figured on learning more about computer programming, reading a few guides and books at the local library it didn't take long to get my head around it. But is it something for me to go more into? Nah I gotta think of the foundation first compared to the long term, this'll take alot of planning that's for sure.

At this point all I can do is search and apply until I get a green to go. In the meantime I can keep doing these odd jobs for elder people, I mean someone like me who's quite strong and full of stamina can do alot more then them.

Even if the pay was small and one-off's, I felt it was rewarding enough given the exchange. Think of it like bartering, you offer something for another thing in equal values be it me repairing rooftops, cars or with the garden. Lysa also seemed to enjoy this sort of work, so perhaps a caretaker role would suit us for it had the added bonus of no one judging me accord to my scaring, that was a welcome change of pace.

By the time Lunch had rolled around, I'd spent near to an entire morning helping out the elderly. Given a person of my age it wasn't rare but at the same time not common either, like previous times we stuck to visiting a local cafe or fast food spot.

"I got a rough idea on how to handle things going forward, however I'm not entirely sure so best I say it now. I think we should do what we're doing now whilst finding a skill of interest for us both to pursue a line of work." I explained after taking a sip from my drink, Lysa was rather focused on her food but seemed to pay attention along the way and to be honest it was a little cute.

So even after my little plan was said. We weren't exactly set in stone on what we were gonna do, but least for now it was an idea. For the rest of our mid-day meal, I pondered more on it but alas nothing proved solid or logical. Heck I heard some people say I should try being a professional fighter or wrestler and whilst it was possible before, after both the accident and my heart attack that'd be a big no-go. Too much of a social thing anyway, bad enough facing a school hall of people but an arena full of 'em? That alone would give me a heart attack of fright.