Sunflower, Vol. 6

my sunflower

Sunflower, Vol. 6

Chapter Five: My Sunflower

Neil stared at his phone, waiting for the three dots to disappear. It had surely been a mistake, right? Why would Andrew Minyard be contacting him? They had barely interacted, and Neil assumed it had left a terrible impression. His daughter had gotten away from him, spewed nonsense about Neil and then decided that she would adopt Andrew into their family. It was a laughable thing, something that could only ever happen to Neil. His luck was getting worse as the days went on. There was a time in which he thought the worst of his luck was being caught by Lola. He was tortured by her and then Nathan came in and destroyed him, breaking him down until he wished they had just killed him.

It was a tiring, terrible thing, Neil's life. Nothing ever felt right. He never had a home, he never had anyone to rely on, he never really belonged anywhere. Until he moved to New York with Paisley, he had been on his own.

Paisley brought new wonders with her. Suddenly there were people who cared about both of them greatly. Matt Boyd, Dan Wilds, Allison Reynolds, and Renee Walker were all side effects of letting himself exist. To not push himself to the background of the scene, but instead flourish in the attention. To be alive, and not a withering plant.

Neil had to remember that he existed as his phone vibrated in his hand, sending a jolt through his arm. His heart raced as he read the text. A simple greeting followed by a question. Such a difficult thing, human interaction.

There were so many rules, so much stigma around how fast someone responded, the tone they used. It was embarrassing how easily humans were affected by such inanimate things.

Neil had been on the wrong side of knives, of guns, of murderous parents and their colleagues. He knew what it was like to be in danger, to have his life at risk.

So why was he so worried about such a small text?

Allison had given him great lessons on how to accept that he didn't fit the stereotype, but even those thoughts escaped him as he glanced back at the text Andrew sent. What was he supposed to say? What if he responded too fast and Andrew thought he was creepy? What if Andrew wasn't who he said he was, and was actually one of Nathan's men coming after him?

The timing was too coincidental to not be Nathan. Andrew had attracted his daughter, had pushed his way into their lives, and Neil hadn't bothered to try to stop it.

Neil felt childish at the vulnerability he let himself show. Paisley was safe for now, but he didn't know how long that would last.

So at 10:37 p.m., Neil exited his and Andrew's chat and entered a new one. He tapped the phone button and listened as it rang. It didn't even make it through two before the other line answered, "Hey, Neil. What's up?"

Neil swallowed, "Allison, I need help."

Allison took no time in responding, "I'll be there in twenty."

~ ~ ~

Allison knocked on the door, tapping her foot as she waited for Neil to open the door. As soon as Neil's face peered through the open crack in the door, she asked, "Is Paisley asleep?"

Neil snorted, "It's eleven and she's five. She'd better be asleep. Plus, with the day we've had..." Neil trailed off, his eyes focusing on the ground, teeth gnawing on his bottom lip.

"Alright, let's hear about him."

"What?" Neil gawked as he led the way to his bedroom. Allison stopped to look into Paisley's room before making her way to Neil's bed and sitting down.