Independent Woman

Kisses, Caretaking & Conversations

Sang's POV

The rest of the week passed without much change.

My father called twice. The sounds of his voice grating against the feeling of new found freedom that I had felt as my existence started to open itself up to possibility. He'd told me he was coming to check up on me soon and I'd told him not to bother. I'd changed the locks after he left the last time anyway.

School was fine. Classes were fine. The guys were fine.

I was fine.

And now I was getting up at 5 AM to wait for Dr. Green (Sean, as he apparently preferred) to come over and help me pick up the yard in preparation for... Something.

I frowned as I sat at the kitchen counter with a mug of coffee in my hand. There was no reason for me to be changing everything around me as quickly as I was.

I'd wanted to change the house and make it cleaner and homier. I wanted to change the yard. I wanted to change... My life?

I shook my head and let my hair fall on my face for a moment, thinking about the way the soft pre-sunrise light was filtering through my hair and onto my face.

Then there was a knock on the door.

Lulu and Sarah were practically out for blood and on a mission to wake up the whole neighborhood. I pushed them back, glared for a moment, and whisper-shouted "Sit!" Before they could do any real damage. They barely listened, trembling with excitement in their seats as they waited for me to open the door.

I peeked through the window first to make sure it was who I thought it was and, lo and behold, Sean Green was standing on my little porch with a grin on his face and an oddly casual pair of jeans on his legs.

I unlocked the door and let him in, putting my hand up to the dogs in warning and whispering to Sean, "You can pet them, but please try not to wind them up right now or they'll go nuts as soon as we start working on the yard."

He nodded and gave me a hug while burying his face in my hair. He kicked off his shoes towards the pile I usually left by the door and bent over towards the dogs who greeted him happily.

"What's the plan, Pookie darling?"

I held back an eye roll and started padding towards the kitchen. The dogs were on my tail, forgetting about Sean as they saw me making a beeline towards the back door. I ushered them out for a few minutes of quiet and let them pad around through the dewy grass in the hopes that they wouldn't get too dirty.

"Well, first I have to change since you caught me in my pajamas..." I laughed at my state of dress but Sean just allowed his eyes to linger and I could feel a blush creeping up my chest as the tank top and shorts did little to hid my pale skin and soft curves.

This time I did roll my eyes, "Eyes to yourself doctor man, and maybe after you do some work we can reevaluate."

He laughed and I offered him coffee wordlessly by tilting the pot towards him. He shook his head, "I had a cup on my way over. I just finished up a shift."

"What?" I asked, shocked, "You just finished a shift?"

He nodded and my eyes widened, "But you said you were on your way to a shift after school yesterday. That means you've just gotten off a twelve-hour shift and you're now trying to help me with my yard work at 5:30 in the morning?"

He grinned at me and ran a hand through his hair. In the moment, with the soft light and messy hair I could see him as the twenty-year-old he was rather than the young professional he appeared to be so frequently. "Sang... I promise that if I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be."