Questions Left Unanswered
Wilhelm had followed Aurelia up to her apartment as Evangeline went about opening the cafe. He moved cautiously into the apartment, unsure where Aurelia was at or what she was going. She had entered the café with nothing with her, no bags or personal items besides maybe her phone. He was curious to know where she had been all these weeks; people don't typically disappear without some reasoning behind the decision.
Aurelia's apartment was exactly how she left it. An unpleasant smell was wafting from the kitchen, and Wilhelm couldn't help but scrunch his nose at the foul smell. He hadn't even thought to come up to her apartment and clear out the fridge of all the spoiled food. Throw blankets and cushions had been arranged hastily on the couch. Before Wilhelm was able to venture further into the apartment - for the moment he was standing on the threshold - Aurelia appeared from the hallway, dressed in her work uniform with her apron tied around her body. As she approached Wilhelm, Aurelia was tackling her hair into a loose, messy bun.
"Can I ask you a question," Wilhelm asked, as he closed the door behind himself and moved so his back was against it.
Aurelia, still looking down as she tried to force her hair to cooperate, rolled her eyes, though Wilhelm was unsure to see her annoyed reaction. "No," She said shortly.
"Let me rephrase that," Wilhelm said, "I'm going to ask you a question, and you are going to answer me, alright?"
"No".
"Where have you been for the past few weeks? You disappeared, Aurelia. For three weeks," Wilhelm said, ignoring her protests. He crossed his arms so as to show that he wasn't moving away from the door any time soon.
"I'm aware," She said nonchalantly. He narrowed his eyes, prompting her to continue. She sighed tiredly, "I disappeared, yes. It's something I do. Evangeline was aware of it, so I'm unsure why you spent three weeks freaking out about it". She raised an eyebrow, slightly annoyed that he was picking a fight. All she wanted to do was get back to work and get on with her life.
Wilhelm's expression had turned unreadable. "Evangeline knew?" He asked, and Aurelia could hear the hurt in his voice. She sighed, hating to see him upset, and knowing that it was her fault.
"I told her before I took this job that I have a tendency to disappear. She must have forgotten or something," Aurelia explained quickly, "Will you please move out of the doorway, I have to get to work".
"You won't even tell me why you disappeared?" Wilhelm asked. Aurelia shook her head; she seriously did not want to get into it right then. Biting his lip, Wilhelm moved to the side, out of Aurelia's way.
She moved swiftly out the door, leaving Wilhelm alone with his thoughts and questions.
__________
(490 words)
when the doctor doesn't actually look at your records and just assumes you're already eighteen (which is the youngest someone can get the covid vaccine for the moment in nsw)
guess my anxiety about the needles was energy wasted - i'm not even eligible for the damn vaccine