I wasn't sure if she'd welcome me back. I paced back and forth in the back alley of the store, hyping myself up. What was I thinking running out like that? I need the money.

   "Who told you to fucking drive all night?" I shouted at myself. "Gas is expensive. Shit."

   "It sure is," a girl stood at the back door. "You coming in?"

   She was smiling.

   "Who's at the door, babe?"

   "I'm not answering if you keep calling me that," she grumbled.

   The guy didn't say anything, most likely cause he hadn't heard her.

   "How did you get inside?" I asked as I had never met them before.

   She stared for a while before responding. "You must be August. Come in and I'll explain."

   She quietly told me how Vera had left the keys with them and how she never came back for them. As they didn't have her phone, they decided to wait at the store.

   "August?"

   "I prefer Aust."

   "That's too bad," the girl pressed her lips to one side. "August is such a beautiful name. It's like when you butcher your name." She was staring at her boyfriend.

   "It's not as bad as you butchering yours."

   "I think either way is beautiful."

   "So, Seb isn't?"

   "Well, I guess, Aust is also beautiful."

   "What about mine?"

   They went on to flirt a little longer far from me, thankfully. It gave me time to wonder where Vera ended up going. The girl didn't tell me much.

   

   The hours passed and the strange couple handed me the keys they'd been given.

   "We have to go get ready for the gala. We'll leave the store in your care in the meantime. Close it if you want, so you can prepare too."

   Ah... I forgot my costume at home.

   "Oof!"

   "You okay, Ver?" Seb grabbed the woman he'd crashed into by the shoulders.

   Vera's voice answered. "I'm alright."

   "Are we going to have to wear masks?"

   My ears perked. "Al?"

   "Uh..." Seb looked from me to Vera and then to my brother. "Come one kiddos. Let's go see the fun display over there!"

   The girl held out her hand for Aria.

   "We'll take care of them while you talk."

   Vera seemed to trust them a lot. She didn't hesitate to thank and hug them.

   "I know we just met," she started to say, "but it feels like I've known you for a long time."

   The girl laughed. "I get that a lot."

   "Talk for as long as you need, Vera."

   "Thank you, Seb. I'll visit your mom over the holidays."

   Seb laughed. "Sure thing."

   "You Daniels really are too rich," I heard the girl exclaim.

   Wasn't she the same?

   "Anything that looks fancy to you is too rich."

   "Well, excuse me. My middle-class self is just in awe."

   "Middle-class?" Al asked. "You're not rich?"

   "I was in debt not long ago," the girl laughed.

   "Isn't that bad?"

   "Oh yeah. It was-" I couldn't hear more as they disappeared to the greenhouse.

   Vera just stared at me. I could see the bags under her eyes.

   "Did you get enough sleep?" She broke the silence first.

   "You?"

   "I just want to know, did I do something to make you mad?"

   I flinched back and shook my head a lot. "No. The problem is me."

   "What exactly... if you don't mind me asking."