Mr. Pick-Me-Upper (REWRITE)

(35) Formulate Your Priorities

Scene Seven

The Beach Shack could not have been anymore quiet and Owen was starting to fall asleep. This wasn't a good thing. Especially since Owen hasn't had a complete day at work in a while.

He has been too busy with Cassidy and the rumors, but to be honest, he didn't really care. It was just a chance to talk to her. If anybody asks, Owen says that like he rarely talks to her, which is so untrue. Without a doubt, Owen spends at least eight hours a day on average just talking to Cassidy.

And he doesn't mind one bit. Instead, he looks forward to it every day. No matter what they talk about or whatever happens.

Talking to Cassidy and working are the only things Owen has been doing lately. These things have crossed over, meaning whenever there is a slow moment at work, he pulls out his phone and starts talking to Cassidy.

His boss doesn't seem to care. He spends all of his time in his office, barely ever coming out and checking on things. He doesn't even come out to check on his employees or make sure they are doing everything okay. Owen cannot even count how many times he wasn't able to get his breaks in because they have been so busy.

Way too busy for one person. That has been his boss's favorite thing. Only scheduling one person. Although technically he schedules two people, he just calls the other person right before their shift and lets them know they do not need to come in that day.

Unfortunately, that person has not been Owen. He has had to work every day he was scheduled. If Owen didn't know any better, he'd say his boss hates him.

Even though Owen would love to have a day off - and it is really needed - he knows it's better to work. He needs the money.

The thing Owen said to Cassidy, the one about a family having to stick together, really means nothing to him. He knows he shouldn't have said that. Especially because he can understand what she is going through.

Owen's parents are also not together. But unlike Cassidy's, it wasn't by choice. Owen's mother had passed away when he was younger. Owen doesn't really remember what it was like when his mom was alive. It was that long ago and Owen was so young.

He absolutely hates that he cannot remember his mom.

She would have such a major help for all of this. Mothers are amazing at making sure everything in your life is going smoothly. They are there for checking in and assisting with every life problem without them seeming like big deals. Nothing ever seems like a big deal for mothers. They just breeze past all life's problems, issues with a smile on their face.

Happy moments are even better. Seeing a mother happy and grinning, is the best thing in the world. Their happiness is contagious, smiles are infectious. It is hard not to smile in a presence of a happy person, regardless.

At least this is all that Owen imagines. He has no idea how this is actually in real life. As he said, he can barely remember his mother.

Phil, Owen's brother is not much help either. He was about seven years old when their mother died, a lot older than Owen, who was only a year. Phil never shared any information about their mother. But seven years is pretty old, people have memories at that time.

Heck, Owen can remember things before he was seven. He remembers learning how to ride a bike without his training wheels for the first time, he was five. And not to mention when he and his brother turned the living room into a giant fort, pissing off their dad, who had spent an entire day at work and just wanted to rest; not find his house in a giant mess.

That is one of the few good memories he has with his brother. The two of them never got along very well. Owen has one idea why; his brother was practically forced to raise Owen all on his own, not a normal thing to do. Because of that, he missed out on a lot of a normal childhood and whatever that consists of.

Their dad was always busy working, trying to have enough money for the boys. Living with two growing boys is difficult, there is so much that needs to be bought. Though their dad never showed his stress or unhappiness.

But it is obvious that there would be some. With all of Phil's sports and activities, the prices stack up and some sacrifices have to be made. That is probably why they rarely went out to eat, just on birthdays and holidays. Or why they never had extravagant presents, though they are boys and barely have an interest in gifts, Owen doesn't anyway.

It's not like Phil was directly mean to Owen or vice versus. They just never got along with each other very well. He supposes that is a normal sibling and brother relationship.

But with his childhood, and their somewhat money issues, it has encouraged Owen to work, make sure he is well off and in perfect health condition, happy and stable before doing any major life changes.

Though, he decided to change a few things up. The majority of it all is the same.

Right now he is happy, happy that he is talking to Cassidy. He thinks that he is stable, mentally, he seems okay, physically is another thing. Owen cannot take more than five steps without almost tripping over nothing.

As far as he knows, he is in perfect health. He feels fine, nothing out of the ordinary.

The only thing he does not have is money. That has been slacking. He is not happy with his money situation.

That is why he is trying so hard to keep himself awake at work, he desperately needs the money.

Owen's boss is normally pretty strict and weird about payment and paychecks. He has a weird rule: if somebody does not stay for a full shift, he or she does not get paid. At all, no matter how much he or she works. Instead, the money gets donated to a charity of the boss's choice as a punishment.

More often than not, the charity is the boss's pocket. He takes the money home with him.

So when all those times he thought his boss was being nice letting him go early, he most likely was just trying to save himself money by not paying one of his employees. It wouldn't be a big deal if he had a lot of employees. Owen is one of the three employees at the Beach Shack.

And since he hasn't had a full shift in a long time, that means he hasn't been paid in a long time.

Owen could feel his eyes starting to droop and his head was starting to fall down; he was desperate for a nap. One he will not be able to take.

Even though he is tired and all he wants to do is take a nap, all he can think about is how he was such a hypocrite to Cassidy.

He doesn't know squat about family is an important thing, nor about them being close together. That all means nothing to him. Friends are the most important thing in his life. He cherishes his friendship with Ross. He is the one person who has kept Owen stable for so long, the one person to stick around with him.

Everybody leaves Owen, eventually. He doesn't hold anything against them, that is part of life. People's paths change over time, ideas change and friends change. Nothing is wrong with that.

He just wishes family was always there. At his current place in life, they are not. He hopes that in the future, that changes. He wants his family to be the most important thing.

And he hopes and wishes Cassidy will be there in the future. Being the most important thing in his life.