Tiny snowflakes sprinkled over my curly hair. It was the first snowfall of the season, and everyone in town was certainly enjoying the scene.
For the first time in a long time, I didn't have anything to worry about—no assignment, no shift at the diner, no electricity bill to pay, nothing of the sort. Quietly sitting on a lonesome park bench, I observed the people around me for a moment. A group of children with red cheeks were making snow angels on the hill. A married couple strolled through the park with linked arms, smiling and giggling amongst one another. A father was pushing his daughter on the swing, and the daughter, no older than the age of five, was laughing and screaming at her father to push her harder.
I gave the father and daughter a bittersweet smile, as I was reminded of what could've been. It was sad to think I'd never gotten to experience that.
Just as I was getting engrossed in my thoughts, a pair of children hastily approached me. It was a little boy and a little girl. They both had dirty blond hair, and they looked quite young. I briefly wondered what they were doing all alone, without a parent or guardian with them.
"E-Excuse me miss," spoke the little girl, stammering as tears streamed down her face. "Could you help us?"
My eyes widened at the clearly distressed child. "Of course, what's wrong?"
The boy shyly tugged on the girl's jacket sleeve. "We're not supposed to talk to strangers," he whispered, peering at me with mistrusting brown eyes.
Those dark eyes of his felt oddly familiar, although I wasn't sure why.
Nonetheless, the little girl ignored the boy and spoke to me in a frantic tone. "Our brother took us to the park, but we can't find him and now we're lost!"
"Oh goodness, I'll help you guys find him," I got up at once. "What does he look like?"
"He's really tall and he has messy brown hair. Mommy always tells him to comb it, but he never listens," she innocently replied.
I chuckled. "Okay, let's go look for him."
I took both of their hands and we began to search through the park. However, our search proved futile, as we were unable to find their older brother. The children were getting scared, I was getting nervous, and we were all getting cold—especially me. I was only wearing a thin sweater, as I wasn't able to afford a proper winter jacket.
"Silly me, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Daisy. What are your names?" I asked the pair of youngsters, trying to distract them.
"I'm Alex," the girl beamed up at me, revealing a pair of missing teeth. "And this is my brother, Rocky."
"Aww, such lovely names," I smiled back at her. "Are you guys twins?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Alex gasped.
"You look nearly identical. How old are you two?"
"We're both eight years old, but Rocky's older," Alex sounded a bit sad.
"Only by eight minutes," Rocky quietly whispered. When I glanced at him, he blushed and turned away.
"That's awesome," I smiled. "I'm seventeen."
"Cool, that's the same age as our brother!" exclaimed Alex.
"Really? What's his name? Maybe I know him."
Just as Alex opened her mouth, a shout caused all three of us to turn around.
"Rocky! Alex!" a guy shouted.
My heart skipped a beat, for I could recognize that voice from a mile away.
"There you little demons are," he panted, grasping the pair in a tight hug. As the twins giggled, he gave them a scolding look. "I told you guys not to wander off."
The two murmured a sheepish apology. With a forgiving nod, he ruffled their hair before standing up straight and facing me.
"Daisy," Elias slowly spoke my name, his voice deep as always. "Why am I not surprised."
"Hey, don't act like I planned this," I defensively crossed my arms. "I only followed you one time."
"That doesn't help your case."
"Whatever," I sniffed.
His eyes slightly darkened as he surveyed my appearance. "Are you out of your mind? It's way too cold to be out here without a jacket."
How could he make an insult sound so... caring? Without hesitation, Elias peeled off the thick black puffer jacket he'd been wearing and placed it on my shoulders.
"No, I don't need your help!" I insisted. The last thing I needed was Elias pitying me.
"Your arms have goosebumps, your knees are practically shaking, and the tips of your hair are frozen. I think you need it more than me, D," he gave me an unimpressed look.
I slightly huffed, knowing that he was right. The jacket was ten times too large and encompassed my petite body whole, though it felt like a giant hug and immediately warmed me up.
Meanwhile, the twins ran off. I followed them with my eyes as they made their way over to the swing set, before facing Elias.
"So those are your little siblings?" I gently hummed.
"Yup," he answered, popping the p.
"That's so sweet of you to take them to the park."
Elias shrugged. "It's no big deal, I just try to get them out the house when my mother can't."
"What do you mean, can't?" I curiously asked.
I quickly realized I'd gone too far when he shot me a scowl.
"Are you always this nosy, or is it just for me?"
And there he is.
"Just for you," I fired back.
"Wow," a bit of a smug grin made its way over to his soft lips. "So you think I'm special."
"If special means annoying, then sure," I smiled back.
The smile fell from his face. He narrowed his eyes and gave me a wicked glare that would've caused anyone else to fall to their knees begging for mercy. However, it didn't intimidate me. In fact, my smile only widened. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, the twins came running over.
"Elias, we're hungry," Alex pouted.
"Alright, kiddo. I'll whip us up some spaghetti at home. How's that sound?" he asked.
She cheered, and Rocky smiled.
"Is Daisy coming with us?" Alex excitedly asked.
Elias coughed, meanwhile I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Oh no, I've got tons of homewo—"
"Please," Alex sang, clutching onto my legs. "For me?"
"C'mon, D. You're seriously gonna reject an eight year old?" Elias shook his head in fake disappointment, his tousled hair moving with him. "Only a monster could say no to that face."
As if on cue, Alex began to pout and widened her big brown eyes. Curse my guilty conscience.
"Alright, fine," I flailed my arms.
Alex cheered, Rocky shyly smiled, and the corners of Elias' lips upturned into a satisfied smirk, although it was gone before I knew it. Without further ado, he began to lead us over to the car.
Alex ran ahead and jumped onto Elias' back, meanwhile I glanced down at Rocky—more specifically, at his beanie which had a stitching of Spider-Man on it.
"Do you like Spider-Man?" I softly asked.
His cheeks turned pink as he looked up at me. "Y-Yes, he's my favourite superhero."
"Mine too!" I exclaimed.
"Really?" he shyly whispered. "I never get to talk about it with anyone. Elias is always too busy, and Alex thinks superheroes are for boys."
"Hmm, well I'll let you in on a little secret," I dramatically hushed. "Girls can like superheroes too!"
His eyes lit up in excitement, and the pair of us launched into animated conversation. It was strange to have so much in common with an eight year old. The twins were clearly polar opposites, though with Rocky being the shyer one out of the two, I realized that he and I were quite alike.
As we all made our way over to Elias' flashy looking car, we failed to realize that we were being watched by a certain someone.
*****
QOTD: dogs or cats?
AOTD: dogs
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and unluckily enough my manager scheduled me to work so now I have to watch all the cute little couples go on cute little dates :(
Hope you liked this chapter! Thank you so much for supporting this book, love each and every one of you!
Until next time, Emmanuela
02/13/2023