After getting away from his cruel father's tyranny, Randall has to learn how to live again, and accept the person he was meant to be - with a little help of a local bartender...
*****
An empty shell is all what is left of twenty-five-yea...
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-Randall-
I guess visiting the mall was a good idea. I hadn't been outside Cole's place just for the fun of it, so being able to walk around the city without dreading my appointment with Vaughn did good for my head. And the fact that Cole was in high spirits made me feel good, too.
He talked the entire way to the mall, sometimes not stopping to even take a breath. I didn't know why or how, but that still impressed me. It also meant I didn't have to even try to say anything, not even if I wanted to, since there simply wasn't any room for me to speak.
But by the time we reached the mall, he was running out of words. Or voice. Or both.
"Should we just walk around and see if there's anything interesting?" he asked when we stepped in.
"Sure," I said as I looked around.
I'd visited the place maybe twice, even though it wasn't that far away from my block, and even then, I'd only gotten what I needed and headed out straight away. Hanging out in a mall really wasn't my thing. I mean, I was pretty sure it wasn't my thing. Maybe. How the hell I was supposed to know if it was my thing? Did it matter?
I let Cole lead the way. The place was huge and filled with so many stores I'd never even heard of. Cole, on the other hand, seemed much more familiar with the place. And definitely a lot more confident being there. Eventually, I had to force myself to pay more attention to the place instead of peering at Cole whenever he couldn't see me.
I tried to act as confidently as he did as we walked slowly past the shops. Every now and then, he slowed down to take a look at the clothing stores, and stopped in front of the fourth one we encountered.
"I kind of need new shirts for work," he told me. "Would you mind if I go take a look? There's a big sale going on."
"Sure. I guess I need new clothes too. The ones back at my place smelled like shit," I told him.
"Yeah, I noticed..." He smirked. "Come. I really like this place. They have really cool clothes."
"You... care about looking cool?" I spoke, sounding stupid even in my own ears.
"Yeah, who doesn't?" he asked as we stepped in.
"Well... Me? They're just clothes to keep you warm," I mumbled.
"Let me try to convince you otherwise," he said, stopping by a rack full of T-shirts. "You like darker colors, right?"
"I wish I knew," I muttered, already feeling like this was going to be a disaster.
"All the clothes you have are black or dark gray," he noted.
"They were cheap," I told him. "That's all that matters to me. Mattered to me..."
"Right," he said, still looking confident. "What's your size? Do you see anything interesting?"
I had to take a deep breath. I kind of wanted to walk out. Simple black clothes were good enough, but... he seemed excited about it.
