The first day that Cortez was gone, everything was as calm and quiet and still as usual. Sophie did as she usually did. She cooked breakfast for her grandfather, rode the bus to school, and came home the same way. She made lunch, did her homework, bathed, and went to bed. It was just as it always was despite the hint of distance Sophie felt in her heart.
The feeling didn't make much sense to Sophie. It felt as if there was a string connecting her and Cortez and as he got further away, she grew gloomier. Maybe it was just in her head. Maybe she just missed him and she wouldn't even feel this way if she hadn't known he was leaving. Like the placebo effect.
That's it, Sophie thought, you're only sad because you're convincing yourself you are.
On the second day that Cortez was gone, Sophie's morning started off the same. She made breakfast and ate with her grandfather while Daisy ran around outside. It didn't take long for her to clean up and gather her things to catch the bus. But that's when something strange happened. Strange. In this small middle-of-nowhere town, something truly strange happened.
As the bus pulled away from Sophie's house, she spotted shadows moving in the open field surrounding her house. She looked out the window to see four large wolves running adjacent to the school bus through the field. A smile instantly spread across Sophie's face as she watched the wolves slowly grow closer, their speed matching the speed of the bus.
They were usually running along the tree line but the fact that they were this close made her think they knew she was inside the bus. Sophie was amazed that the wolves could keep up for so long. They're bodies were big, legs stretched out long, and fur blowing in the wind of their speed. They weren't so scary like this. She felt like they were keeping her company. It was heartwarming, actually.
"What the hell?" A senior in one of the front rows of the bus muttered as he pulled an earbud out of his ear.
There were only four other students on the bus but at his quizzical matter, they all scooted towards the left of the bus to see what was so shocking. Sophie smiled as all the students watched the wolves run along side the bus. There was a sense of pride welling inside her do some reason. Maybe because she knew they were Cortez's wolves and she was happy to know that they knew her. She also liked having her fellow classmates marvel at the wolves like they were. They deserved it.
The wolves followed the bus all the way to the school. Of course, they still kept their distance. The bus pulled into the parking lot and Sophie hurried to get around the big vehicle to see if the wolves were still there. They were. Right across from the front of the high school, multiple soccer fields took up the empty space there. And in the middle of the closest soccer field stood four large wolves all sauntering around each other.
The four wolves had caught some of the students attention as they arrived. Sophie happily smiled at the wolves and shot her hand in the air to wave at them. Everyone watched Sophie do so and then watched the wolves sit in unison. Sophie shook her head and waved her hand in the opposite direction of the come hither motion, silently telling them to go home. The four wolves got up and trotted casually back in the direction they came.
"I didn't know Sophie was a wolf whisperer." One of her fellow juniors snorted a laugh.
"No wonder she lives in the middle of nowhere with just her grandfather. They're freaks." Another laughed.
"I bet one of her wolves bit someone and that's why they live so secluded. They legally can't be within a hundred yards of other humans." A third joked.
The first Junior gasped and nudged their friends. "I bet that's true! I can see it now!"
"Remind me to never go to Sophie's. Not like I ever intended on it. I'd probably die of boredom, just look at her personality."
All jokes, teases, and insults fell on deaf ears as Sophie walked into school. She could hear them, she just didn't care to acknowledge them. It wasn't worth her time or emotions. It wasn't like it really effected her all that much. She knew her fellow classmates were just bored and immature. If it wasn't her then it would've been the next student that they picked on so she didn't take it personally.
~
Sophie was just putting away her homework for the day when she heard a couple knocks at the door. Henry yelled to inform her, like he usually did, despite the fact that she could very well hear. She skipped out of the kitchen and into the foyer. The window panels in the door gave little away since it was fuzzy glass, not meant to be completely see through. All Sophie knew was that it wasn't Cortez.
Pulling open the front door, Sophie's green eyes met another pair of green eyes staring back at her. It was a female, maybe a couple years older than her. She was taller than Sophie but seemed just as warm and bright.
Her hair was short, an inch or so longer than Sophie's, but pitch black and her bangs were cut straight across her eyebrows. She also wore thick black rimmed glasses and red lipstick that drew Sophie's attention towards her huge grin. Her eyeliner was thick and her clothes were just as dark. She had an emo/indie feel to her.
Besides all that, Sophie's eyes were also drawn to the pie in her hands. It was an apple pie and the smell instantly filled Sophie's nose.
"Sophie?" The girl gestured an hand towards Sophie, as if to ask if the person she was looking at was the correct one.
Sophie simply nodded, prompting the stranger to jump into Sophie's arms. Sophie's stayed stiff with her eyes wide and hands hovering in the air and the strange girl squeezed her. The strangers scent caught Sophie's nose and she recognized the strong smell of wood and roses. It wasn't a perfume-like smell, just a natural scent.
"May I ask who you are?" Sophie questioned awkwardly as she patted the strangers back.
"Oh!" The stranger jumped back, her hand still on Sophie's shoulder as she held the pie in the other. "I'm so sorry. I was so excited to meet you that I forgot you have no idea who I am. The name's Delilah."
The stranger, now known as Delilah, jutted her hand out to Sophie. Sophie took Delilah's hand and gently shook it with a warm smile. Despite how strange Delilah seemed, Sophie liked her spirit. She was peppy and reckless and gave off a very bright atmosphere.
"I'm Jeremiah's m-" Delilah stopped with her red lips curled inwards. She pulled her hand away and mentally reset. "I'm Jeremiah's girlfriend. I've heard a lot about you."
"Really? You've heard a lot about me from Jeremiah?" Sophie furrowed her eyebrows. She thought she was more associated with Cortez than Jeremiah.
"Well, everyone's talking about you!" Delilah excitedly admitted.
"Everyone?" Sophie's eyebrows furrowed even tighter. This strange Delilah character was making very little sense so far.
Delilah was still for a moment, like a statue. Come on, Delilah, stay focused. Don't slip up. Cortez and Jeremiah warned you about that a million times.
"Everyone at work." Delilah corrected. "Jeremiah and the boys, when they came to visit, you were such a huge hit. They all loved you. I'm so glad I finally get to meet you."
"Oh, you work for Cortez as well?" Sophie's warm smile returned. Another employee. She liked Cortez's employees.
"Yes!" Delilah bounced as she said it, her grin wild and eyes sparkling.
"Come in, then. Come in."
Sophie sidestepped out of the way of the door and let Delilah enter. As she closed the door, she checked the driveway and the dirt road. There were no cars. That would be a bit odd if anyone associated with Cortez showed up with a car. But it did make Sophie wonder if Delilah appeared out of the woods like the others? Was there a neighborhood back there that she had never seen before?
"This is for you. I baked it myself." Delilah said.
Sophie turned to Delilah after closing the door and retrieved the apple pie. "Oh, thank you so much. That's very sweet of you."
"Is that your grandfather?" Delilah asked as she looked into the living room.
Before Sophie could answer, Delilah was already in the living room and shaking the old man's hand. Sophie stared in awe as Delilah made casual conversation about the book he was reading. The smile on her face never dimmed for even a moment.
When she was done talking to Henry, she skipped excitedly into the kitchen and hopped to a halt beside Sophie. Her sudden close proximity and jumpiness made Sophie, herself, jump in shock. She licked some pie off her finger as she looked up at the peppy stranger.
"Is it good? Shall we eat it?" Delilah nodded excitedly.
"Sure." Sophie shrugged and searched for a knife, plates, and silverware.
Delilah carefully watched Sophie maneuver around the room to collect said things and put them on the kitchen table. Delilah easily slid into one of the chairs as Sophie brought the pie from the counter to the table. Sophie could feel Delilah's eyes on her the entire time, which gave her a little shot of anxiety, but Delilah was nice so she wasn't too intimidated.
Just as Sophie went to cut the pie into slices, Delilah stopped her and cupped her hand over the handle of the knife where Sophie was holding it. "Please, let me. I don't want you to hurt yourself."
"Oh, no. You don't have to worry. I handle a knife all the time." Sophie excused and went to proceed before the knife was snatched out of her hand.
"No, really. I should do it." Delilah nodded, silently trying to convince Sophie to let her. Cortez would kill her if Sophie hurt herself over a pie she made.
Sophie retracted her hands from the pie and lowered herself into a chair. "Alright. Go ahead."
Delilah happily cut the pie into two slices and put them on each other their plates. The two began eating together, Delilah's eyes mostly glued to Sophie. The pie was delicious, Sophie had to admit. But with a mouthful, all she could do was smile and put a thumbs up. Delilah broke into an even brighter smile and continued to eat. She was happy her Luna liked her food. That meant a lot to her.
"So, can I ask?" Sophie started with her hand politely blocking her mouthful of food. "What do you do for Cortez? What's your job?"
Delilah stared off into space for a moment as she tried to translate pack language to human work environment language. "Uhm... I.. I guess I work under Jeremiah. Jeremiah is directly under Cortez and then there are a couple others down the line but then those ranks branch out. On Jeremiah's side, I would be third."
Sophie slowly nodded, trying to grasp exactly what she meant. Did they have job titles? Cortez was hardly confident in calling himself a manager and now Delilah was mixing in rankings. It was confusing but luckily, that made Sophie want to ask less questions. She knew that, if she asked one, many more would rise and she didn't feel like asking questions all day. Whatever answer she was given was fine.
"What's your reason for visiting? Don't get me wrong, you've been a delight so far. I'm just curious what suddenly brought you here." Sophie asked and shoveled another bite of her slice into her mouth.
Delilah finished chewing her bite before answering. "I wanted to meet you. I kept hearing good things and got so jealous that everyone loved you for a reason I hadn't experienced yet."
Although, all of that was true, it wasn't the full story. Delilah did want to meet her Luna but she wasn't allowed to since Cortez didn't want to expose her to too many people too quickly. But now that Cortez was out of town, he felt guilty that he couldn't visit Sophie and keep her company so he asked Delilah to do so.
Cortez thought it was a good idea since he had only introduced her to his male pack members. He figured it would be good for Sophie to meet her first in command and build a bond now so it was easier on her when she integrated herself into the pack. Besides, Jeremiah kept telling him about how much Delilah was begging to meet her Luna. There was no better time than now.
Sophie smiled as pushed gathered the messy apple pie into a scoop-able pile. "The boys loved me? That's good. I'm glad they're able to say good things about me."
"I imagine everyone that meets you can say good things about you. Look at you, you're adorable." Delilah gestured wildly with her utensil.
Sophie giggled at Delilah's compliment but still shook her head. "Not everyone. I'm not that big of a hit. But for some reason, you guys like me."
"There are a lot more of us." Delilah whispered, leaning in with a knowing cock of her eyebrow.
Sophie studied Delilah's expression. "That like me? Or that work with Cortez?"
"Both." Delilah blinked, a joyous glint in her soft green eyes. "I'm not suppose to tell you too much but I promise you, we all love you. I can't wait until everyone gets to meet you."
Sophie was incredibly flattered but also slightly confused. Was she suppose to meet everybody? Did Cortez's whole office really know and talk about her? When would she even meet all these mystery employees? Besides that, Delilah kind of made it sound like Cortez and Sophie were together already.
They all liked me? Approved of me? As his girlfriend?
Too many questions that were too far fetched.
"What else do you do, Delilah?" Sophie decided to change the subject to get her mind off all her questions.
"Oh, who cares about me. Let me learn about you. Tell me everything about yourself." Delilah ranted excitedly.
Sophie snorted a laugh and nodded as she finished chewing. "I'm seventeen, only a few weeks from graduating as a junior and then entering my senior year of high school. I usually stay home and take care of my grandfather and Daisy. I cook, I garden, I study, I read... That's about all for me."
"That not it! Tell me more." Delilah playfully pushed Sophie's knee.
"That's it!" Sophie laughed. "That's all I do. I'm not athletic so it's not like I do, or did, any sports. I don't really have a dream to be anything cool."
Delilah and Sophie went back and forth for awhile, Sophie completely losing track of time. Delilah was definitely a talker but Sophie didn't mind because she, herself, was a great listener. They mostly talked about food since it was something they had in common and the only thing Delilah didn't have to translate through understandable human terms.
It was a couple days before Delilah came back, which was honestly sooner than Sophie expected. She didn't mind though. Delilah was sweet and made easy conversation. She talked a lot about Jeremiah, which Sophie found cute. It sounded like they were really in love with each other. Sophie enjoyed Delilah's company. She was endlessly entertaining and cheerful, which easily influenced Sophie's mood.
With Delilah keeping her company, Sophie keeping her routine with her grandfather, and taking care of school work and Daisy, the moments where she suddenly missed Cortez were sparse. It was usually late at night or early in the mornings that's Sophie thought about Cortez. At night, she felt lonely since she hadn't talked to him in so long. In the morning, she felt down since she knew she couldn't talk to him.
Cortez hadn't even called like he said he would. He must be insanely busy. Or the time zones were different so he always missed his chance. Whatever it was, it didn't really matter. Sophie would continue to miss him and make up scenarios where he wanted to call her but simply couldn't. That was the least that could make her feel better and the strange, distance feeling in her chest fade a little.
{ The beautiful and talented Arryn Zech as Delilah!
Probably the only character that I've actually introduced with an actor/actress...😅 }