Petal [h.s.]

Chapter 20

"So it's the three of us then today?" I asked. "What's this guy's name?"

"Yes, the three of us. He's staying until four instead of two, so he can see how the afternoon shift starts and how we switch shifts at two. His name is..." She rummaged through some sheets on the desk until grabbing one and squinting her eyes to read the letters, "Isaac."

"Isaac." I repeated with a nod. "Do we know anything about him?"

Lana nodded slowly. "Says here he's 27, has previous work experience in juvenile detention."

I groaned and tossed my head back against the back of the chair. We didn't work well with colleagues who had worked in juvy before. The rules there were completely different, and the RSP had much more of a holistic view on addiction and on what ways we saw fit to help the underaged. "Let's hope he's not as bad as that one guy who only worked here for a week."

"Brad?"

"That's him." I nodded, remembering his face and name now. He disagreed so badly with how we worked, and had the kids against him from day one, that he quit after a week. I glanced at the clock, seeing it was breakfast time and Lana and I got to our feet, signalling the kids to sit around the table. 

A good thing about coming back to work, is that I could enjoy the delicious food that the RSP provided us with. It was really heaven on earth to get decent meals all day without having to do anything for it, and without having to pay for it.

The two grand that Harry left me had gone straight to my bank account. We had spent his last night apart, meaning I had slipped out of bed to go lay on the couch once he had fallen asleep. I had done it all week just so I could wake up from my nightmare in piece and not disturb him. 

He had left around 10 yesterday morning after packing up all of his stuff, leaving my closet very empty all of a sudden. The goodbye was short, but it hadn't stopped him from pressing a lingering kiss on my jaw. I was slightly nervous about seeing him later today.

My rule to never date addicts wasn't technically broken, since Harry had been sober for 9 days now, but it was still such a difficult time for him. It wasn't actually the best idea to get into something right now since he was so vulnerable and truly needed to work on himself, but I was selfish and greedy and couldn't say no again. 

I was wearing a dark green T-shirt dress that reached halfway down my thighs on this spring day. It was supposed to be lovely weather today, sunny and reaching up to 18 degrees. March had been treating us like shit so far, so this was very welcome. I could tell it elevated my mood instantly.

The kids were asking me about my 'massive' hickey during breakfast, gossiping about my new rumoured boyfriend but I quickly shut them down. I could handle a few jokes, but we all had boundaries and I appreciated that they got accepted. It was a sign they respected me if they dropped it once I asked them to. 

I was making small talk with Ian while we munched on our toast, and he was chatty and talkative this morning. He seemed well, and Lana informed he had gained a bit of weight and was going through his therapy sessions with ease. Rebecca seemed pleased with his progress.

"Are you excited for your first weekend out?" I asked and Ian nodded in enthusiasm. "Yes, Louis is coming here today and we're having a chat with Rebecca. She said it might be good for you to be there too since you're my personal social worker and all."

I slowly nodded. It did seem like a good idea, and the fastest way for me to get up to date with how Ian had been doing since I had left. But I had to admit I was slightly nervous about seeing Louis in such a professional setting.