Umm. Sorry for the long wait? Your girl was busy, got distracted, and then lost motivation to write. I'm forcing myself to write this one so hopefully, it will end up all right. We shall see. I'm also trying something new. Let me know if you like this style.
Emma's POV.
While exiting the building I'm multitasking by opening my phone, drinking some water, and also paying attention to my surroundings, I wouldn't want to trip right now and embarrass myself in front of all these people.
The moment I get into my car, an order is already popping on my screen and I'm quick to accept it before I lose it and will have to wait however long for a new client.
I start the car and look at the distance shown. I'm a bit taken aback when I see that I'm really close to it. 3 minutes and I should be there.
"Beth Chase." I read the lady's name out loud before driving out of the parking lot.
In the meantime, I'm also playing some music to fill out the space. It's a random playlist I put on shuffle earlier in the day.
I make it outside a vast building where I see a lady waiting. She's dressed in normal clothes and wears a pair of sunglasses. This reminds me of my mistake this morning of forgetting my own pair of sunglasses and now I have to deal with the scorching sun in my eyes.
The moment I park she's quick to enter the backseat of the car.
"Hi." She greets me.
"Hi, Beth, right?" I ask to make sure she's the lady I'm supposed to pick up.
There's been a few instances of other people getting in and then finding out I'm not actually the driver they were assigned.
Surprising considering the car's license plate is shown in the app, but who I am to say anything?
"Yeah." She nods and I'm quick to start driving again.
It's a 15-minute drive and it's spent in comfortable silence, which I'm already very used to. A lot of people don't feel like talking with strangers, and I'm totally okay with that. I can admit that sometimes those very chatty clients are a bit too much.
While I'm following the directions from the GPS, a reminder makes itself show on my screen.
!High protein food: Steak and vegetables. No sugar or sodium!
I hit remind me later while I'm at a red light and quickly make a plan in my head about the next few minutes. I have half an hour left before going back to the building I was at earlier. It's not enough time to drive home and cook this food to then deliver it, so I'll have to buy it from somewhere, again.
I should be used to this already.
After driving for a few minutes, I pull up to a medium-sized house.
"Is here okay?" I ask the lady.
"Yeah, thank you." She responds and gives me a polite smile.
"Thank you as well, have a nice day!" I tell her.
"You too!" She says before closing the door.
I quickly finish the ride considering she paid with the card and the app was quick to show me another ride in the area. I accept it and drive in that direction.
While waiting for the light to turn green, I enter a restaurant's app and quickly order the food. By the time I'm done with this ride, the food should be prepared and ready for pick-up.
The restaurant shouldn't even be surprised when they see my order by now. I've been having this routine for months now. Sometimes I'm changing the food a bit 'cause I imagine eating the same food, even though it's one time a week, can get boring and tiring. But I always make sure is something high in protein.
I rub my tired eyes and continue to drive. The next few days will be spent at the office, staring at a screen and hoping something will work in my favor.
It's for a good cause, I repeat in my mind. Just a tad bit more.
*Next week, same day*
I rub my red eyes while exiting the building. It's supposed to get easier with time, but it doesn't. Each time I feel a part of my heart breaking. It's even worse knowing I can't do anything to change the situation.
The only thing that I can do in this situation is to keep on working 2 jobs and making as much money as I can. Hopefully, there's going to be a day when I will use it.
As soon as I get into my car and open the app, a ride is requested and I'm quick to accept it yet again.
Beth Chase. This name sounds familiar.
I turn the music a bit higher and drive toward the location.
Oh! I had the same request last week! That's why the name was familiar.
"Hi." The woman greets me quietly while entering the car.
"Hi. Beth right?" I ask yet again to make sure.
"Yeah." She responds and starts tapping on her phone again.
I drive in silence again. No other words were exchanged.
!High protein food: Steak and vegetables. No sugar or sodium!
I close the reminder and continue driving. The rest of the plan for today already forming in my mind.
It's the same one as every week, I don't know why I keep on thinking it's going to change the next day I'm in this situation.
"Have a nice day!" I tell Beth when I arrive at the destination.
"You too!" She says before closing the door.
I get another request and I accept it before driving in that direction.
This time I order some fish and baked potatoes from the restaurant.
*Next week, same day*
Same day, same schedule.
I get out of the building and hop into my car. This time an order didn't come through immediately.
Taking this as an opportunity, I drive to the nearest supermarket to buy myself some water and maybe a sandwhich to eat.
While on my way to the cash register, I notice a plushie in the discounted section. It has a few tears. I imagine someone wasn't very careful while handling it.
I walk there and pick it up, already knowing what I will do with it.
There's this Japanese technique of repairing broken items and painting the tears with gold. It's mostly used with objects such as teapots, mugs, plates, and the list goes in.
Why can't I try to sew this plushie with golden thread? Every broken object can be repaired.
There is still beauty in broken parts.
A smile appears in my mind while thinking about how much she's going to love this. Maybe she can look at this plushie and keep on pushing forward thinking that eventually, she too can be 'repaired'.
In my car, I get the same request as the last couple of weeks. Beth Chase is starting to become a usual customer.
I try to eat the sandwhich on my way to her, but I don't manage to finish it. I quickly put it away when she gets into my car.
"Hey." She says with an amused tone.
"Hi." I respond after I swallow that last bite.
No other words were exchanged during the drive.
!High protein food: Steak and vegetables. No sugar or sodium!
I close the reminder and pause at the red light.
I look for a second in the rear mirror to see if there's traffic behind me, but instead, I make eye contact with Beth. Today she decided to not wear her sunglasses and I can see her green eyes.
I break eye contact the next second focusing back on the road.
"Have a nice day!" I tell her when I park in front of the same medium-sized house.
"You too! Thanks for the drive." She says and gets out of the car.
I quickly drive away.
*Next week, same day*
I had such a busy week that only last night I managed to sit down and actually sew the plushie. It turned out better than expected. I can only hope she will like it.
I quickly pull out to the familiar house and wait for her to get into my car.
She exits the house accompanied by a man. He's quick to help her into the passager seat of my car.
"Hello." I tell them the moment the car door is opened.
"Hi, there!" The man greets me.
"Hiii." The girl responded enthusiastically.
The man quickly put her seatbelt on and then lifted his head to look at me.
"After you're finished, come inside, please." He requested.
"Yeah, sure." I agree easily.
"You got everything?" He asks the girl.
"Yep." She nods while playing with her shirt.
"I'll see you in a few hours, okay? Be careful please." He tells her softly.
"Yes."
"Love you." He looks at her before lifting his head up to make sure I know he's also addressing me.
"Love you too." The girl bounces on the seat.
"Love you too, papa." I whisper to him and watch him close the door and go to his car.
I turn around at the girl and find her already staring at me.
"You didn't hug me yet." She pouts and folds her arms.
"My bad." I apologize and quickly lean over to give her a delicate hug.
"That's better." She giggles.
I smile at her. "I have something for you." I watch her smile grow ten times at my words. Her eyes are so big and curious.
"What?" She bounces on her chair again.
I turn around and take the plushie from the backseat.
"I got this little guy last week. He was left unloved and I decided who'd be better to love him than you? I repaired him for you and now he's all yours." I give it to her.
"I love itttt." She's quick to hug it to her chest.
"This guy will protect you, so any time you're scared, just look at him and trust that you're going to be alright. This guy might be small but he's quite effective in making sure you'll be safe." I tell her and watch as some of the heaviness in her eyes lifts up.
"Thank you." She tells me while nuzzling her face into the plushie.
"No worries." I whisper and swiftly lift my left hand to wipe the lone tear that wanted to escape my eye.
I let the music play while I drive us to the building.
I hold her hand while walking the same old hallways.
"I'm not allowed to go in, but I'll come for you after you're done. You know this by now." I crouch down to her level. "The nice lady will guide you inside."
She nods her head and hugs the plushie tighter.
"Remember, he's here to protect you. Nothing bad will happened." I remind her and point at the toy in her hands. "It will be over before you know it."
I give her one last hug before I see one of the people working here, coming in our direction. I kiss her forehead before getting up.
I nod at the lady while she takes the girl into the room.
Soon. Soon this will be over. I repeat in my mind again and again while trying to keep the tears from spilling.
Too bad this soon can't come soon enough.
This time, Beth Chase's request comes sooner and I'm quick to accept it again. She's become a constant on this awful day.
When I pull up to the building, my client is followed by another woman.
"Hey." I greet them both.
"Hi." The other blonde says.
"Hello." Beth responds too.
I start driving the next moment and ignore the few conversations they have.
"Scar, no. Please, I'm not feeling it." Beth says a bit louder than she indented. "End of discussion." She put her foot down.
For the rest of the journey, I don't hear anything else between them.
!High protein food: Steak and vegetables. No sugar or sodium!
I close the reminder and continue driving.
"Have a nice day!" I tell them.
"You too!" They respond in unison while getting out of the car.
I start driving to the next customer.
I also order fish this week.
*Next week, same day*
"I don't know how much we can keep on doing this." My papa pulls me aside when I arrive there.
"What do you mean?" I manage to ask while wrapping my arms around myself in an attempt to bring myself some comfort.
"They said they don't know for how long this is going to keep on working." He mutters while putting his hands on his head.
"But they said that as long as she keeps on doing this, she's going to be fine." My voice trembles so much I can barely recognize it.
My father just shrugs in response, already defeated.
I take a look at the man that stands before me. I remember him being so full of life, so vibrant, and always with a nice attitude and a smile that could brighten up the darkest days.
Now? Now, he's only a shell of what he used to be. He has circles under his eyes from barely sleeping and stressing so much. His hair is whitening faster than he'd like. Long gone were the days when I saw a vibrant smile on his face.
This situation took a toll on both of us.
"You don't need to drive her today. I need to go and sign some papers." He tells me.
That means I can go back to my office job for today and push more hours.
"Let me know if there's any update." I say to him while going to hug her.
"Will do. Take care of yourself, okay?" He calls behind me.
"Yeah, you too!" I turn around to address him before entering her room.
She's sleeping for now, the plushie that I gave her it's in her tight hold. I give her a kiss on her head and leave the room.
"Oh, I almost forgot, remember, high protein food." I tell him before exiting the house.
"Thank you, sweetheart." He calls after me.
Back to my normal job, it is.
*Next week, same day*
"No updates?" I ask the same lady that we see every time we come here.
"No, unfortunately." She shakes her head apologetically before going to do her job.
She's just a kid, she doesn't deserve this.
When I get to the car, I get another request and let out a small smile when I see that it's Beth Chase yet again.
"Hi!" I greet her when she gets into the backseat.
"Hi!" She responds.
I start driving in silence.
"I'm sorry but I've noticed that you're always in the area when I'm ordering a ride." She starts talking.
Now that I stop to think about it, it could be seen as very stalkerish the fact that I'm always the one to take her rides. I quickly clear the air.
"Yeah. About that." I start while focusing on the road. "I'm at the hospital that is a few streets over. You place your request exactly when I get in the car, or when I start driving." I explain to her.
"Oh. Are you going there weekly?" Beth asks.
"Yeah." I nod.
"Can I ask why?" She says carefully.
Might as well get a bit of the heaviness from my heart.
"Yeah. Well, um. I drive my sister there weekly." I admit. "She's having dialysis every week."
"Oh." She reacts. "How old is she?"
"8." I answer and stop at the red light.
I hear a gasp from her.
"She's so young." Beth mutters.
"Yeah. We are waiting for a donor but it seems like she keeps on being pushed back. Even though the doctors don't know how much she's going to make it without a good kidney." I explain to her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to trauma dump on you." I tell her sheepishly.
"No, don't apologize. I want to know more." She is quick to interrupt me. "I assume the surgery will cost a lot of money too, right?"
"Yeah. My papa and I have been working multiple jobs to try and save money for it." I lift my eyes in the rear mirror and make eye contact with her before breaking it to look at the road again.
"And no one from your family is compatible for donation?" She asks.
"Sadly no. She's my half-sister. Even though we have the same father, we took most of our genes from our respective mothers. Hers is drunk in a ditch most likely, not caring about her child. While her family doesn't want anything to do with our father. So yeah. No compatibility from me or my father." I ramble.
!High protein food: Steak and vegetables. No sugar or sodium!
I close the reminder yet again.
"I assume that's for her, right?" I think she's referring to the message.
"Yeah. I need to remember to order her some food for when she is done with the appointment. She has quite an appetite." I joke.
"What's your sister's name?" Beth asks.
"Eve, short for Evelyn." I tell her and pull up at the destination.
"Well, I wish you and your family all of the health and luck in finding a donor." She says while opening the door.
"Thank you. Have a great day!" I smile at her.
"Thanks, you too!" She gives me a smile as well before closing the door.
I accept another request and start driving again.
Later in the day, I noticed that she tipped me a few hundred dollars. I think she wrote wrong so I am quick to withdraw the money from an atm so I can give it to her the next time I will see the blonde.
*Next week, same day*
There's a potential donor! I repeat. There's a potential donor!
I can't believe it.
We don't know for sure if they will even go through with it, or even be for my sister. But the fact that this is more than we got in months is a good thing. It's a step in the direction that we wanted.
I can't help but let some happy tears when I'm in my car.
A request breaks me out of my thoughts. I accept it quickly and smile when I see the name I've grown accustomed to.
"Hey!" I greet her as always.
"Hello!" She gets comfortable in my backseat.
I don't start driving yet, instead, I take an envelope from the glove compartment before handing it to her.
"What's this?" She asks confused.
"You accidentally tipped me a few hundred bucks last time. Here's the money back, I assume it was an accident." I explain to her.
"It wasn't a mistake." She gives me the envelope back. "I wanted to tip you that much. I wanted to help your sister." Beth says honestly.
"I can't accept this. I'm sorry." I shake my head.
My father always told me to not accept money that I haven't worked for. It's a thing that I still live by.
"Take it as you doing a very good job at driving me around. I really want to help you and your sister. Trust me, money is not a problem for me. Like at all. And if I've been this fortunate, why not help people that really need it?" She explains passionately.
"Thank you, Beth." I whisper very gratefully.
"Elizabeth." She corrects me.
"I'm sorry?" I ask confused.
"My full name is Elizabeth. No one really calls me Beth. Everyone calls me Lizzie." She gives me a wide smile.
"Okay then, thank you, Lizzie!" I return the smile.
"The pleasure is all mine."
I finally start driving.
"How was your day?" I ask assuming I can now have small talk with this very kind woman.
"It was very tiring." She starts and goes on a ramble about her day and how she had to deal with a few demanding people that didn't understand she was a person too.
I listen to her voice the whole ride. I even lower the music volume to make sure I don't miss a thing.
Was her voice always this enchanting?
"Oh my god, I've been rambling, haven't I?" She stops suddenly.
"Don't worry about it." I giggle. "I was actually listening." I assure her.
"Good to know." She chuckles. "Any updates with your sister?" She asks suddenly.
"They said we might have a donor. It's nothing settled yet. But it's more than we got in months so that's a good thing." I tell her with a big smile.
"I'm glad." She responds and from her tone, I assume she's also smiling.
!High protein food: Steak and vegetables. No sugar or sodium!
"Are you the one making food or ordering? I forgot if you mentioned." She asks me.
"I order it. I'm very bad in the kitchen and plus, I don't have the time to be cooking her a meal. So I order it from a local restaurant." I respond.
"Got it."
The rest of the drive is filled with small talk.
"Have a nice day! And thank you again for the tip, even though you didn't need to do it." I tell her when I wark in front of the same medium-sides house.
"Don't worry about it. It was and still is, my pleasure. And don't kick me next time we see each other when you see the tip this time." She laughs while getting out of the car.
"Lizzie!" I laugh-shout after her while she is closing the door.
She waves at me before getting in the house.
Yeah, this is definitely progress.
*Next week, same day*
"So you're telling me she can finally have the surgery?" I repeat the news that I just got.
"Yeah. It's going to be in a few days, so your sister needs to be kept in here in order to prepare her for it." The nurse smiles while telling me this important piece of information.
"Okay, yeah, sure. Of course." I ramble. "Was my father announced?" I ask, still trembling. This time is because of good emotions.
"We're just about to call him now. Since she's a minor, she can have a visitor with her at all times. He also needs to bring her stuff such as clothes and maybe a few toys to play with while staying here." She explains to me.
"Can I do anything? Do I need to do anything?" I ask.
"No, not right now. You're alright. We're going to call you or your father if we need you to do something, or bring something in particular." She responds easily.
"What about the surgery bill?" I continue to ask questions.
"We will be able to know an estimate price only next week." She says.
"Okay, thank you so much!" I feel like hugging her but I don't know how well she's going to react to it, so I keep to myself.
"We'll keep in touch." She tells me before leaving.
I feel like crying. This is the best news I could ever get.
And the first person I thought of was Lizzie. How she's going to be happy as well for me and my family. She's really the kindest person I've ever met.
She wasn't joking last week when she said she was going to tip me a lot, again. That woman has given me a lot of money by now. Money that will help me take care of my sister. So I'm very thankful for that.
Speaking about the blonde woman who seemed to plague my mind in the last few weeks, I get a request when I get in my car. It's Lizzie, who still has her name Beth in the app for some reason, but who am I to judge or question it?
I pull up to the building in a short time. She seems to smile when she recognizes my car.
She starts walking toward the back door but I quickly point at the passenger door while lowering the window.
"You know you can sit in the front, right?" I tease her.
"Yeah, I knew that." She mumbles while trying to hide her face. But it was too late, I already saw the blush on her face.
"Guess what?" I ask her the moment she sits down.
"What?" She turns to look at me.
"We finally have a donor! My sister will have the surgery in the next few days!" I exclaim happily.
"Oh my god, that's such good news!" She exclaims and quickly hugs me.
I am surprised for a moment and when I feel her wanting to break the hug, I wrap my hands around her and hold her tight.
"Thank you, honestly. For everything that you have done for me. And I'm not talking only about the money, but the fact that you were here to listen and offer your support when I felt like things won't ever get better. So thank you." I whisper to her while letting the tears stain my cheeks.
"It's my absolute pleasure." She tells me and breaks the hug. I see tears in her eyes as well.
This woman is too good for this world.
"I feel like I should also do something for you. Like, to show my gratitude." I start saying before my brain can catch up and realize it might be a dumb idea.
"You don't need to." She shakes her head softly.
"But I want to. Please." I insist.
"Okay, fine, I guess." She rolls her eyes trying to act all annoyed, but I see the blush on her face and the widening smile.
"How about dinner? Are you hungry?" I ask.
"Yeah, I could eat." She nods and buckles her seatbelt.
"Great. I know this nice restaurant." I tell her and quickly cancel the ride so she won't be charged money. "I think you will like it."
"I'll hold you to that. I'm quite the food critic, you know?" She jokes.
"If you won't like it, then I'll try to do better next time." I respond to her joke.
"The next time? That was very smooth, Bartley. You got me impressed here." Lizzie giggles.
"Only the best for you." I wink at her before focusing back on the road.
I don't know if she considers this a date, but I'm just grateful to be in her presence. Whatever she wants me to be, I'll be.
*Time skip*
"Okay, yeah. You were right. This place was incredible." Lizzie tells me when we exit the car and go to my car. I offered to take her back to her house. It seemed only fair.
"I know my stuff." I smirk and run to open the door for her.
"Oh my, thank you." She smiles at the gesture.
"No worries." I close the door and run to the driver's side of the car.
The ride back to her place was filled with conversation yet again. We seem to never run out of stuff to discuss. Whether is stuff that we did at our jobs or things about each other.
"Well, I'll say this was a great evening spent." Lizzie says the moment I park the car.
"I have to agree with you on that." I nod and turn to look at her.
She leans over to kiss my cheek.
"Next date is on me. Drive safely!" The blonde says before getting out of the car.
I'm left watching her with a dumb smile on my face.
*Ding*
*Unkown number*
I hope you don't mind, but I took your number from the app. This is Lizzie btw.
This widens my smile.
Emma
No, I don't mind it one bit. I was about to do the same thing.
Lizzie <3
Ha! I beat you to it.
Emma
That you did.
Brb, I have to drive back home.
With that, I leave the parking lot. The biggest smile is present on my face.
*Next week*
I smile when I see the request on my screen and quickly start the car.
When I get there, I see the woman with the same blonde from a few weeks ago. They both wave at me before Lizzie hugs her friend and gets into my car.
"Hi!" She greets me with a kiss on the cheek.
"Hey." I smile at her.
"You got here pretty quickly." She buckles her seat belt
"Yeah, I left as soon as I saw your message." I tell her and start driving.
"Tonight's date is on me, by the way." Lizzie tells me.
"Okay, I can live with that. As long as the next one's mine." I announce.
"Deal." She agrees.
"You look pretty today, by the way." I look at her when I get to a red light.
"But I'm all sweaty and gross." She tries to deny it.
" No you're not." I leave no room for comment.
She takes my hand and intertwines our fingers before placing it on her thigh.
"So, my house first before the restaurant. I really need to change." She informs me.
"Yeah, I was taking you there." I joke. "It's not like we talked about this every single day since last week." I wink at her.
"Don't make fun of me." She pouts.
I lift our interlocked hands and kiss the back of hers.
"How is your sister?" She asks after a few moments of silence.
"She's getting better. She's still in recovery but she has started walking again. She was really scared at first but then saw that she had nothing to be afraid of. Now she won't stay still. Like at all." I laugh at the memory of me and my father running after her in the hospital because she saw something interesting and started speed-walking there.
"Awe, she's so cute." Lizzie coos out loudly.
"She's excited to meet you. My father too." I tell her.
"I can't wait to meet them." She replies excitedly.
It's safe to say the second date went great as well.
"Good night. Please drive safely!" Lizzie tells me when I walk her to her door.
"I will. Good night to you too!" I say to her and move to kiss her cheek.
I go to leave but she stops me with a hold on my arm. She lifts the other to my face and gives me a sweet kiss.
"Now you can go." She smiles.
I can't help but steal another peck before going back to my car.
I watch her go inside her house with a big smile on my lips.
Yeah, I'm really glad to have met her.
There you have it folks. Please let me know what you think about it.
I'm sorry again for being away for those few months. I didn't intend on going this long without posting but life got in the way. I also don't know when the next post will be. I'm entering a stressful time of my life with me working on my dissertation paper. But I'll try and write every now and then.
I hope everyone's been alright. I will go back to my wife in Stardew Valley now. I will see you guys on the next one. Take care!