Loose Ends

Chapter 55

Ricky was lost in thought as he made his way to the band room the next morning. Amy was reaching up to remove her French horn case from its cubby when he entered the storage space. He noticed and walked over, removing it for her and carrying it into the band room. Amy noticed he was lost in thought but there wasn't time to ask him about it. Ricky followed her to her chair and set the case on the floor next to it, smiling at her briefly, before heading over to the drum section across the room. Mr. Sidlack was already at the front of the room arranging the music for their warm ups and he promptly tapped the stand with his baton when the bell rang, signaling it was time to begin. After class Amy waited at her cubby for Ricky and they walked out into the hallway together.

"What's going on?" she asked as they headed down the hall to the nearest staircase.

"I've decided to talk to Nora tonight," he told her quietly. Amy realized what a big step this was for him and kissed his cheek. He snapped out of his little funk to truly look at her.

"Call me if you need or want to talk after. I don't care how late," she told him. He smirked and kissed her temple. He slung his arm around her shoulder and they walked up the stairs towards their next classes.

"Thanks."

Back at the butcher shop Bunny, Nora and three other workers were opening the shop for the day.

"Hey, Nora," one of her coworkers greeted her as he carried out a box of sauces so he could restock one of the shelves.

"Hey, Pete," she replied with a smile before she made her way to the front counter to turn on the display lights and unwrap several trays of meat. Bunny walked behind her with a tray of fresh ham slices to add to the display.

"Morning, Nora," she said warmly.

"Hey, Bunny. How are you?"

"Good," Bunny replied, sliding the tray into a slot in the display case and then sliding the door closed. "And you?" Nora nodded her head.

"Pretty good. Just going one day at a time, you know?" Bunny nodded with a smile.

"I hear that's the best way to do it." The two women shared a brief smile before getting back to work. The day continued like any other. Nora and her coworkers sliced meat, wrapped cuts for customers, made small talk with the regulars, stocked shelves, and made gift baskets.

"So you got any big plans for Thanksgiving?" Pete asked Nora as they were washing up dishes in the back later that afternoon. She shook her head.

"No. Just gonna hang out at my apartment," she informed him as she removed several clean trays from the industrial dishwasher's drying belt.

"Well you're welcome to join me and my family if you'd like," he offered. Pete was the epitome of a nice guy. He was polite and courteous to everyone he encountered and was always willing to help out and put his best foot forward. Nora gave him a grateful smile and shook her head.

"While that's nice of you, Pete, I'd really rather not," she admitted. "Family's kind of a sore subject for me and I'd feel weird around a bunch of strangers, you know?" Pete nodded with a smile.

"I can understand that," he replied, loading the last of the dirty trays into the dishwasher. "But if you change your mind just let me know," he told her with a smile before heading to the hand washing station to wash his hands. Not gonna happen she said to herself ruefully as she waited for the trays to finish washing and come out the other end on the dishwasher's conveyor belt. The only family I'm still in touch with wants nothing to do with me she thought sadly as she grabbed a tray off the conveyor belt and stacked it where it was supposed to go. The only things I'm thankful for anyway are that Ricky got away, Bob's in prison and I'm still breathing she thought darkly as she smirked to herself. She finished stacking the rest of the trays and washed her hands before heading back out front. When she did she spotted Ricky and Ben getting ready to finish up the day's gift basket orders. Ricky spotted her and set down his clipboard to walk over to her.