By the time Daniel and I arrived back at the condo, he was on a high from the day's events.
"Michael's just a cool guy, you know?" He asked as he wheeled himself into the living room.
"Mhmm," I responded for the hundredth time.
"Just super chill and super down to earth. He's won three championships, Em. That's a big deal in case you didn't know."
"It's impressive," I replied sitting on the couch. "Are you ready for your date tonight?" I asked changing the subject. I didn't know how much longer I could hear about how amazing Michael was. I'm sure he was amazing, but Daniel tended to repeat the same two facts about him.
"It's the perfect way to end the day after hanging out with Michael. I can't wait to tell her about his three championships."
I laughed and stood up, "In that case, I'm going to head out, unless you need anything?" I desperately wanted to escape the condo before Lucas got home. I didn't know how to be normal around him with my constantly racing heartbeat. Even the mention of his name brought butterflies to my stomach. I needed distance to get over this.
He nodded at me waving me off, "I'm good, see you tomorrow! Don't forget we're going to Lucas's fight. Second win out of ten, woo!" He whooped, grabbing his PlayStation controller in the process and tugging out a candy bar from the pocket of his wheelchair. He looked up at me, candy bar dangling from the side of his mouth, "Don't tell Michael about the chocolate." He mumbled through a mouthful of chocolate.
I shook my head grinning at him before exiting the condo and making my way back home. I couldn't get my mind off of Lucas. His rippling abs, his mesmerizing smile, his trailing tattoos. I shook my head out of my reverie. Get a hold of yourself, Emily. He's your employer. He's being nice to you because you're doing a good job. That's it. There's nothing there.
I opened the doors to the lobby and was surprised to find it desolated. It almost felt weird not to be greeted by Ms. Smith at the door. The memory of the last time I spoke to her flitted into my mind and I felt the familiar feeling of regret wash over me.
Outside of my apartment was a basket of fruit. I grabbed it, unlocking my door in the process and depositing it on my kitchen table, walking to my bedroom to change into a t-shirt and sweatpants, brushing through my hair a few times before leaving it down.
I walked back into my kitchen and picked up the card that sat in the basket and read it.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I really messed up,
Now what can I do?
I crumpled the note aggressively between my hands and threw it into the trash with a growl before grabbing a pear and biting into it. I have to give it to him, the pear was great.
I walked to my fridge and pulled out a batch of cookies I had made a couple days ago, plating it and wrapping it up. I tossed my pear out and stepped out of my apartment and jogged up a couple flights of stairs. I knocked on the door and waited, berating myself for feeling guilty in the first place.
The door creaked open and out popped Ms. Smith's head, an expression of shock in place. "Emily?" She asked peering down at the plate of cookies I was carrying in confusion, "What are you doing here?"
Her hair was a mess and her eyes were red rimmed as though she had been crying. "I just came by to apologize. I was having a bad night and I took it out on you." I held the plate of cookies as a peace offering, "Cookies?"
She sighed opening the door the rest of the way. I had never seen her apartment and it looked exactly like I would have thought it would. She was a hoarder. It was piled to the brim with stuff. A loom, a sewing table, what looked like a circular saw. This must be what the inner corners of my brain looked like.
My eyes fell back on Ms. Smith who wore a t-shirt that drowned her figure and loose linen pants. She looked like a mess.
"Hi, Emily." I whipped my head at the voice only to see Mr. Greggs standing there looking at me sheepishly.
My mouth fell open and I pointed an accusatory finger at him, "Y-you lied," I stated in shock looking back and forth between him and Mrs. Smith who was strangely silent all of a sudden.
"It's not what you think it is," he mumbled.
"You're in here! You're wearing shorts!" I looked down at his out of the ordinary apparel - a t-shirt and shorts. What on earth was going on.
"Why don't you sit down?" Mrs. Smith gestured to her sofa which was littered with tea cups and candle sticks. I had to bite my tongue not to sarcastically ask where I could possibly sit before Mrs. Smith followed my gaze and jumped, "Oh! Sorry about that." She used her arm to swipe across the couch and dump the remnants on the already overflowing coffee table. Mr. Greggs rolled his eyes and sat down across from me, moving several books to the side.
"I can't believe you two are seeing each other," I stated with my eyes wide in shock. I knew I was right.
"We're not," Mr. Greggs asserted. There goes that theory.
"We used to be married. About twenty five years ago." Mrs. Smith stated looking at a box she held in her lap.
"I mean it's none of my business, but is it like a friends with benefits type of thing now?"
"No!" They shouted at the same time absolutely horrified.
"We had a daughter," Mr. Greggs began, sadness laced into his eyes as he stared forward into the abyss. "She passed away when she was two from leukaemia. Today would have been her twenty fifth birthday."
"I'm so sorry," I muttered, eyes wide, half with sorrow for their loss and half still in disbelief.
Mrs. Smith shrugged and wiped a tear that had leaked from the corner of her eye, "We've just been looking through this." She gestured to the box she cradled in her hands.
She opened it revealing newspaper clippings. My eyes shot to Mr. Greggs. "Your newspapers!" I gasped.
He nodded, "I cut out a special article from the paper everyday. Something that she may have liked when she was older or found interesting. Each day that she isn't here with us anymore."
I was at a loss for words. I had always thought that Mrs. Smith was an unsociable pariah, yet here she was grieving this tremendous loss. I couldn't even think of how someone moved on from a loss like that.
"I'm so sorry. I never imagined all this time that you were dealing with this," I pointed to the box.
"Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm as nosy as they come. But I do care for you." Mrs. Smith laughed gently.
"I like to think our daughter would have been friends with you had she still been living," Mr. Greggs smiled at me.
"I wish I could have known her." My phone rang at that moment and I checked the caller ID to see it was Daniel.
I frowned, "Sorry, it's work. I should take this." Mr. Greggs and Ms. Smith waved me off, continuing to burrow through their box. "Daniel? Is everything okay?"
"No! I need you to come over!" He shouted into the receiver.
"What's wrong?" I asked in panic, "Did you call your doctor? Are you at the hospital?"
"It's worse than that," he whined.
"What is it?" I frowned. He sounded fine.
"Just get over here. As soon as you can." He whispered quickly.
"Okay." I paused, "is Lucas there?"
"Is- what kind of question is that? I need you, Em!" He stated hastily.
"Okay, okay. I'm coming."
"Oh, and don't repeat this conversation to Michael. I don't want him to think less of me."
"Oh lord." I hung up the phone quickly.