A Little Bit Of Joy | ✔

Chapter Fifty Four : The Girl With Blue Eyes

Third Person's POV [Logan's POV]

"Logan you have shown a remarkable improvement this summer," his counselor, David praised as he flipped through his reports. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm good." Logan fought the urge to smile as he thought about how the summer had changed him. "I'm feeling hopeful."

"That's great, is there any particular reason for it?"

"I reconnected with my old friends and made some new friends too. You remember the girl I told you about." Logan gazed at David expectantly and the older man smiled.

"Yes I remember her. What was her name again-ah, Joy Jones." He adjusted his glasses and looked up from the papers. "How are things going on with you two?"

"We're dating," Logan blurted out purposely to analyse his counselor's reaction. However, David's face was passive. "We don't have much time though. She has cancer, I had told you earlier and . . . " Logan tugged at his sleeves as David simply observed him. "I wanted to know if-if we're making a mistake."

The counselor waited for Logan to get comfortable and after Logan gulped down a glass of water, he said in a soothing tone, "What do you think about your new relationship?"

"I . . . I think it's alright. I mean I know we don't have much time like others do and I know what we both have been through, but it's alright. I think we-we can fall in love just like others do." Logan's cheeks began to feel warm.

David listened intently and after a few seconds, he asked, "What does Joy Jones feel about this relationship?"

"She feels the same I think," Logan murmured dubiously. What did Joy feel? She did believe in him and them- she had said so herself or else she wouldn't have confessed. He added confidently, "She thinks it's okay too."

"That's good then Logan," David said with an assuring smile. "You don't have to worry, keep going like you're doing now."

Relief flooded through him, he wasn't seeking for his counselor's approval or advice, he knew better after many sessions that they weren't there to solve his problems. They were there to listen and help him solve his own problems. Half of the problems got solved with love and support from close friends. Still he was delighted that David had no objection- that Logan and Joy weren't totally crazy. It was okay for them to be in love, it was okay for them to be happy together. Time and illness could go and fuck itself.

* * *

Logan strode to the flowershop feeling elated. He was going to see Joy, the girl he loved, the girl who loved him back. He couldn't smother the excitement bubbling inside him as he saw her through the glass sheathed walls. She was beaming at a customer- her usual bright, cheery self and Logan thought she looked sort of hot in a striped orange crop top and high-waisted jeans.

He pushed through the glass door, the bells chiming and Joy's face lit up as their eyes met each other's. There were a few customers crowding near the counter as Joy's attention went back to them. Logan picked up a yellow rose and joined the queue to pay. As he reached the counter, Joy smiled in amusement.

"What are you doing Logan?" Joy asked as she bit back her smile. Logan wanted to take her in his arms right then and kiss her, but he restrained himself. There were still customers around and Joy's grandpa was talking to a supplier near the storage unit.

Logan simply retrieved the exact change from his pocket and placed it on the counter. "This will do for the rose?"

"You know that Logan," Joy said playfully before reluctantly sliding the money in the drawer. "Now drop the act and tell me who you're buying the special rose for?"

Logan leaned forward and down- so he could look right into Joy's wide blue eyes. "Are you jealous?"

"W-What? No!" Joy stammered, the wildness in her eyes unleashing. "I'm just asking . . . "

"It's for you Joy." Logan smiled slightly, tapping the rose against Joy's nose and watched her confusion evaporating. "There's no one else but you Joy."

"You don't have to buy me flowers . . . Oh God, I love you Logan!" she said gleefully and swung her arms around his neck, giving him a quick hug.

He chuckled and broke the thorny part of the stem, then reaching towards Joy, he fixed the rose in the crook of her ear- in her hair. The yellow petals brushed against the corner of her eye, her hair a little paler than the rose. Her vivid blue eyes gleamed and the pink tinge in her cheeks made her look lively.

"So beautiful," Logan murmured almost to himself and absently kissed her forehead. Her skin was hot under his lips and his eyebrows furrowed. "Do you have fever?"

"Kellerman, behind the counter now," grandpa said gruffly, suddenly appearing in front of him. "Customers are waiting, there's no time to waste. On your scrawny ass right now."

"Yes sir." Logan joined Joy behind the counter. As he wrapped a bunch of purple coneflowers in brown paper and handed it to a customer, he asked again, "Do you have fever Joy?"

Joy was busy sorting a bouquet and not looking up, she said dismissively, "It's the old symptoms coming and going- fever, nausea, nosebleeds. Quite common. I should be thankful that I'm not developing more additional symptoms- but I can sense another infection coming up. My skin is getting rather itchy these days."

"You have lost some weight too."

"Yeah and that, we can be skinny together Logan," she joked, but Logan didn't feel like laughing. Sighing audibly, she placed the bouquet away and turned to him. "The medication gradually will stop working and that would be my cue to move into the hospice care centre. It'll be sooner, sooner than we thought."

"Okay." Logan took a deep breath, he could handle this. "Are you okay Joy?"

"I always was Logan." She smiled ruefully and her fingers subconsciously touched the yellow rose.

Logan noticed a bandage on her index finger and impulsively grabbed her hand. "How did this happen?"

"Relax, I pricked myself on the cactus there," she said calmly. "The blood won't stop oozing out, so the nurse tied this."

Logan felt ashamed. "I have spent months with you and I still can't get used to this."

"That's okay, nobody can ever get used to cancer. Each day is tiring and unpredictable. One can get used to the routine, not the disease." She watched him as he lightly kissed her fingertips. Their eyes were locked into each other's. Logan felt something stir in him just by the way she was looking at him- thoughtful, intense and placid.

Just then, grandpa cleared his throat loudly and Logan let Joy's hand drop. They quickly moved away like they had touched fire and fiddled with the first thing they came across. Under grandpa's scrutiny, they secretly exchanged a smile which made the old man roar again.