1970

Chapter Five: April 22nd, 1969

Elora's point of view:

About a month has passed and things had become increasingly routine. We didn't do much since the weather had been pretty breezy for the past weeks. I stayed home, doing whatever the day brought. I cooked, I listened to music, I read, I talked with my family, then I cooked again, then I went to bed. That was how most days went. However, this day was different.

We would be helping Lorelei and Mihn move into their new apartment today. All of us were going to put in some elbow grease and move a bunch of boxes into the two bedroom apartment on fifth street. It was the one that Lorelei and Mihn had debated over a few weeks ago. Now they had paid their down payment, and were free to move in. Even Flynn had volunteered to help out.

He and I had been routine as well. We didn't do much else after that night. He was busy now. He went training in the morning with my mother and sister, then he went to the army base with them. I stayed home all day and waited for him to come home at six every night. I would make dinner for everyone in the house, we would talk then, but then that would be it. It was starting to annoy me. No, he wasn't my boyfriend, but still, I thought there was something there.

I drove with my mother to the building. It was a good twenty minutes away from our house, but Lorelei and Mihn loved it and didn't let that stop them. The building was nice when I finally saw it. It was white stone, with black window frames and wired gates that matched it to complete tiny balconies. Small gargoyles sat on both end and the middle of the roof rim, matching nicely with the dark brown.

"This is nice," I said to my mother as we entered the building. She nodded in agreement and we took the old elevator up to the floor. Their apartment was on the seventh, which was the second last floor.

We went to their apartment, 7B, and my mother knocked on the door. It was Mihn who answered, with a smaller box in his hand. I heard music from Perry Como playing in the background. Yes, my sister definitely lived here. She was all about that singer. He greeted us kindly and let us inside to have the first look at their new place. It was nice, a little dark, but nice. I knew Lorelei would make it as bright and airy as possible with her decorating preferences. They already had the big furniture set up. The living room had the brown, leather couch and the small but functional television in front of it. A record player stood directly beside it, the music playing from it. The dining area which stood beside the kitchen was also ready with the table set up under the chandelier. It was mainly just smaller things that needed to be unpacked.

"Swank living quarters!" I exclaimed to Lorelei as she walked in with bottles of Coca-Cola for everyone. She handed me one and I thanked her as I gave her a hug.

"Thank you! I tell you, now that the hard work is over, this place is really starting to fill out. I'm so glad you're all here to help me finish it off," she replied. I chuckled and waved her off as she held my waist. Just then, Flynn and Jacob walked in. I cleared my throat when I saw him walk in, my eyes going to the floor as Lorelei left my side to say hello to the boys. My father couldn't make it, he was doing his physical therapy.

"Hello, Elora," Flynn said to me. I let out a smile of greeting but remained silent. I didn't want things to be thorny between us, and we had no reason to act that way, but something kept poking at me. The fact that he and I went out and had all that fun, only to find it met an untimely end, that was hard to ignore.

"Alright, should we all get started?" I heard Mihn asked as he broke the ice. I silently thanked him for intervening as we all nodded in agreement.

It took about three hours for us to get all the boxes in and unpacked. Lorelei said she would recycle the rest later on and we could all take a break. She was on the phone, ordering food as we all sat in the newly unpacked living room. It was decorated and clean, looking new and pretty. It was a comfortable setting that Lorelei and Mihn put all of themselves in.