"With a pair of new eyes comes a new beginning," -C.T
Something was different.
"Thank you, mister! I like your jacket! Where did you get it from?" I couldn't help the grin that came on my face as I bent down to the little boy's level, watching him clutch his paper bag of food.
"I got it from Arm—" I stopped myself before I could go any further. Joaquin had told me that it would be best to not show how rich I was to these people because it would be an example of me rubbing salt in their wounds without even trying. The sentiment was nice, but no one wanted to hear how better off someone else, especially in this predicament.
"Oh, this old thing? I just took it out of my closet, nothing fancy," I replied and the boy nodded, evident glee on his face. "Thank you again! Have a nice day!" He said with a smile before walking over to his mother, who was staggering on a cane, trying to keep warm with three blankets wrapped around her and all of their belongings in a mart cart.
I narrowed my eyes at the sight, frowning a bit. It was a bit perplexing, to say the least. "Joaquin, Cheyenne! Thank you for coming!" I turned on my heel to see the volunteer manager of the local shelter running towards us, a smile on his face. "No need to thank me," I put my hands up in surrender when Kevin flashed those puppy eyes at me.
"No, seriously, you're the best. Cheyenne! The people always ask about you when you're not here," He gushed and I could feel my cheeks burning intensely.
"Is that so?" I heard a raspy voice speak and all of a sudden, my back was pressed into a rigid chest and I looked over my shoulder to see Joaquin giving a death glare to Kevin. Luckily, Kevin was dense enough to not read the atmosphere. "Heh, tell them I'll come see them next weekend," I chuckled and Kevin nodded enthusiastically, practically skipping away to tend to other volunteers.
"Joaquin, what the hell is up with you?" I rolled my eyes as he stared down at me sheepishly. "Nothing, come on," He wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me along with him as if that would make my questions go away. "I promised Wyatt we'd come in for a little bit," I grimaced at the thought of seeing that man. I couldn't tell if he liked me or not, but the constant death glaring and the hissing was enough for me to assume he didn't.
Eh.
"Why?" I folded my arms with a pout as we left the shelter, heading to his pickup truck. One day, while he was sleeping, I was going to do something about this death mobile. "Because it's an honor to be able to give back to the community through things like this. Plus, you need to work on your customer service. Wyatt says you scare the customers sometimes," I rolled my eyes with an audible groan as I slid into the truck while he opened the door for me.
I waited until he closed my door to walk around to get in, ready to put my points on display. "That man hates me and he'll say anything to make you believe that I'm a criminal."
"Last week, you told a customer her hair was fake."
"..."
I turned to look out of the window, not wanting to hear any more of what this man had to say. "Seems like you're on Wyatt's side," I grumbled, listening to him chuckle as he started up the scary sound of the engine. "I'm on your side, brat," I felt a big hand ruffle my hair and I scowled, glaring at him. "But it would be nice if I could get you acclimated to something that's apart of me," He whispered, though I thought it was to himself more so than to me.
"Cuz' I want other people to see the side of you that I see," Joaquin smiled softly and I hated the way his eyes crinkled as if he was talking about something he held so dear to his heart because I knew that he was.
