“So, what do you want?”
“I’m not sure. I can’t read the menu.”
“Oh right,” Alfred mumbled as he scratched the back of his neck. He glanced down at the menu before us, skimming across it.
After sorting all the files, Alfred took us to a nearby cafe. It was slotted among several others on that street. It was fairly quiet aside from the faint chatter coming from the few customers inside
His finger moved along the different menu items as he read them aloud for me. “Let’s see, they have cakes, croissants, doughnuts…”
As expected, I had no idea what any of those different items were.
“What will you be having?”
“Me? I’d usually go for a muffin or something.”
“Then I will have the muffin.”
Alfred gave me a look, staring for a few seconds before shrugging. “Well, if you say so.”
He turned around and began to walk towards the front counter. I waited as he made the order. A few minutes later, he returned with two pieces of food in his hands. I assumed those were the ‘muffins’. I didn’t expect them to be brown.
“I didn’t know which you’d like so I got blueberry and banana,” he said as he held them both out to me. My eyes flickered between the two before I decided on the one with blue spots across it.
“Thank you,” I said as I took it from him. I stared down at it, inspecting its peculiar shape. He just hummed in response before walking towards the door.
“Let’s head back now.”
He held it open for me as I stepped out of the establishment, a cool breeze hitting me in the face. He closed the door behind him and began to walk back down the street. I followed suit, walking alongside him.
It was already dark. The street lamps had already turned on and were illuminating the nearby buildings and people we passed. There again was this silence between us as we walked. I was mentally keeping track of everyone around us, dividing my attention between pedestrians and vehicles driving past. But occasionally, I’d notice his eyes glancing towards me.
I didn’t comment on that. Instead, I looked down at the muffin still in my hand. I twisted it around slightly and studied its appearance. After a moment, I eventually brought it to my mouth and took a small bite. As I chewed on it, this unfamiliar flavour reached my tongue. I’d never tasted anything similar to it in my rations. But, it wasn’t distinguishing.
“So, how is it?” he asked as he watched me swallow that bite.
“It’s sweet.”
“Yeah, muffins usually are,” he said before taking a bite out of his own. “If you don’t mind me asking, but do you even want to work at the funeral home?” he suddenly asked, eyeing me doubtfully. “Because from the looks of it, you’re only here because of the director.”
I didn’t answer for a moment as we continued to walk side-by-side.
“Not necessarily. I don’t know if I’ll stay for longer than I have to, but I don’t mind the work here.”
He hummed quietly in response as if contemplating my words. “I don’t think it’d be so bad if you continued working here.”
I glanced at him, trying to discern if he was being sarcastic or not. But, I couldn’t tell. Another wave of silence came over us. The only sound in the hair was the noise of footsteps on the pavement and cars driving past. But, this time, I decided to break the silence.
“Sir, can I ask how old you are?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“The director said you were around my age, yet you still called me a child earlier.”
“Well, you’re the one who won’t quit it with the honorifics,” he retorted before taking another bite from his muffin. “But if you really had to know, I turned twenty-one a few months ago.”
“I see,” I said, taking one last bite from the muffin before finishing it off. He was younger than I thought.
“How about you?”
“Eighteen or nineteen. I’m unsure exactly,”
“So don’t even have a birthday either?” he said, sighing loudly. “Either way, looks like I’m older so I can still call you a ‘kid”, can’t I?”
There was a glint of playfulness in his eyes and a teasing in his voice that made me narrow his eyes at him.
“I don’t believe that’s how it works,” I said bluntly, but he just scoffed at me.
“But seriously though, we should figure out a name for you soon,” he said as we finally approached the funeral home. Strangely, the door was already cracked open. Alfred reached for the door handle, about to open it fully when a voice from inside made him stop in his tracks.
“Edwin, are you sure it’s a good idea to have that girl working here?” a voice asked that made Alfred and I both grow silent.
“Look, it’s best for her to stay here with me while I sort everything out.”
“I can understand that, but the fact you’ve barely told us anything makes this suspicious enough. That's not even mentioning the fact he doesn’t even have a name. Don’t you see how strange that is to us?”
I could hear Davis let out a heavy sigh from the other side of the door. “I’m trying to help her out, Fran. And she doesn’t need her business shared with everyone here.”
“I can see that and I also want to make sure she’ll be taken care of, but something about this is just off. So please, don’t do anything that might threaten you or anyone else here.”
“What the hell are they talking about?” Alfred grumbled under his breath, his voice low. “They shouldn’t be talking about you behind your back like this.”
His fist clenched, fingers digging into his palms, as his other hand tightened around the door handle. He was about to open it and presumably barge into the pair’s conversation. But before he could. I placed my hand on his shoulder to stop me.
He froze, turning to look at me with furrowed eyebrows. “What are you doing.”
“Sir, I believe you've worked enough today.”
“What are you trying to say right now?”
“You should go home and get some rest.”
“But-“
“Please go home, Alfred.”
That was the first time I called him by just his name, and that was enough to make him hesitate. He looked as though he wanted to say something else, but he gritted his teeth and held his tongue back.
“Fine,” he said begrudgingly. He took a few steps back from the door, but his eyes lingered on me. “Are you going to be alright? I can go talk to them if you’d like.”
I shook my head. “I’ll be fine. Thank you for your work today.”
“Yeah, you too.”
I watched as he reluctantly walked away from the funeral home, occasionally turning back to look at me. With each step, he moved further away until he disappeared into the night. I turned back towards the door. Those two voices could still be heard from inside the parlour.
I’d realised that if I allowed Alfred to barge in, that would only cause more discourse among the staff here. And there was no need for that to happen because of me.
I quietly closed the door before turning around. I made my way back into the streets and began to lose myself in the sparse crowds. I wasn’t sure where I was going exactly, but I didn’t stop walking. If I walked far enough, by the time I came back, the pair would’ve finished their conversation and I’d be able to act as though it never happened.
My shoulders were tense as I weaved through an oncoming stream of people. My eyes flickered between their hands. I grew cautious each time someone reached into their pockets or coats. I avoided making eye contact, only mentally keeping track of how many were walking past.
Then, someone roughly hit their shoulder against mine. I was headed towards the ground, but I managed to catch my fall with my hands. My palms scrapped against the pavement. I reached for my holster, but it wasn’t there. I didn’t have one anymore.
“Hey, watch it!”
I didn’t bother to see the raging expression he must’ve had on his face. I just quickly stood and kept walking, putting one leg in front of the other as I faded back into the crowd. Every building and street was unfamiliar; every alleyway was approached cautiously. Only the glow of the moon and street lamps lit the path ahead of me.
Eventually, I reached an empty street. I stopped by a wall and leaned my back against it, slowly sliding down to the ground. I could smell blood again. I looked down at my hands when I noticed a cut along my palm. It was already leaking blood. It had to have been from when I fell earlier.
But, it was only a small nuisance. The scar was already beginning to stitch itself back together as the skin closed in on itself. I sighed and wrapped my arms around my legs. I pulled them closer to my chest.
There was no one else around me. The only sounds came from inside a nearby building. The muffled chatter and laughter bled into one. I glanced towards it. Though I couldn’t read the sign outside, it reeked of alcohol from the inside. It must’ve been a bar of sorts. But, I ignored all of that as I closed my eyes. The chatter, thoughts and noise all began to obscure away as I only felt the wind swaying around me.
That is until a voice decided to interrupt the peace I’d just found.
“It’s a lovely night, don’t you think?”
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