Chapter One: The One that Got Away
Ronald sluggishly entered the Grim Reaper Dispatch early. As he walked through the heavy wooden doors, he was greeted by the sound of shuffling papers and the rapid quickening of clicking heels.
"Ronnie!" The redheaded reaper runs into him, pulling him into a tight hug. "Will is being so mean to me this morning." he pouts childishly. "First, he makes me come into work before the sun was up. I didn't even get my proper amount of beauty sleep! Then, he hands me a huge stack of boring old paperwork." Grell continues on meaninglessly about how horrible his morning has already been as Ronald wonders why he is always the one Grell runs to about the smallest thing.
He loves his senior a great deal but is it really necessary for him to always complain about something so unimportant? He is so lost in his train of thought that he doesn't recognize that Grell has stopped talking and is now focusing intently on his face.
"Ronnie? Is everything alright?" he questions curiously. "Am I boring you?" The blonde reaper snaps out of his trance and looks at the flamboyant man staring back at him.
"Oh, no." he shakes his head, clearing the possibly hurtful thoughts away. "I was just thinking"
"What about, Ron?" He gently rests his hand on the younger reaper's shoulder, trying to provide any level of comfort he can.
"Oh, uh, it's nothing." Grell's smile falls away as he slowly takes his dainty hand from Ron's thick shoulder.
"Okay. Well, I'm here if you need to talk."
Ron looks to his deflated friend. "Ey, I didn't mean to-" He trails off, in thought, not really knowing where he was going with his statement. Grell looks up at Ron in understanding and smiles.
"I understand Ronnie boy. We all need time to think." He flashes a sharp-toothed smile as he walks towards the small office they share.
"Oh, by the way," Grell calls over his small shoulder, wagging a finger authoritatively in the air. "William wants to see you in his office, pronto. Sounds important. Don't keep him waiting. He has already shown me his wrath this morning." Grell remarks warningly while rubbing a swelling bump on his head.
The blonde quickly advances down the hall towards his supervisor's office, taking the short amount of time to smooth out some annoying little wrinkles in his shirt. He pauses in front of the door to take a calming deep breath. As he slowly raises his fist to knock, the door creaks open. Just inside, William is impatiently waiting for him to enter.
"It is 8:02 Ronald. You are late." Ronald slides in the room, his eyes never leaving William's death glare.
"I'm sorry sir. I got held up by my senior." He says defensively. William pinches the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"Honestly." He mumbles, almost inaudibly, to himself before crossing the room and sitting in a dramatically oversized office chair behind his dark-stained desk.
"Please, take a seat." He gestures kindly with his hand for Ronald to sit in one of the overstuffed chocolate colored chairs. He awkwardly sits and folds his hands in his lap. William scribbles something down, shuffles some paperwork, sets it to the side and directs his attention toward the young reaper.
"We have been getting fewer and fewer cases these days. Do you know what this means for our association?" Ronald racks his brain for an appropriate answer, but none come to mind.
"With the diminishing number of deaths as of late, we aren't in need of as many reapers on duty." He tenses up anxiously at the supervisor's words. He can't possibly get rid of reapers, can he?
"What does this mean?" He questions, concern leaking into the boy's words. A smile plays mincingly on William's lips that make Ronald's stomach do a flip.
"It simply means that some reapers aren't needed right now. That being said, you have the next week off." Ronald's eyes widen in surprise.
"You mean-I'm not fired? Just- on vacation." William slightly adjusts his glasses with his scythe and sighs.
"Precisely. Now you may leave your scythe here for now. You won't need it while you are off." Ronald nods his head in understanding and stands.
"Ey, Thank you Mr. Spears." The boy quickly retreats out of the bland room. Once the door is comfortably closed behind him, he lets out a long sigh of relief. The redhead rushes up to him with a worried look on his face.
"What the bloody hell was that about?" He presses, antsy to have an answer. The older reaper grips Ronald's hand firmly and pulls him into their nearby cubical.
"He just said that I have the next week off, starting today." He nervously runs a hand through his thick blonde hair and gives a forced nonchalant smile. Grell leans against his desk sensually, contemplating why William would do something so out of character as to give someone time off. And a week too! A frown slowly forms on Grell's lips as he opens his mouth to speak.
"What the devil is he up to? I give him all the love a woman can give and he gives time off to a younger man!?" Grell angrily pouts. His gaze shoots towards Ron, realizing his statement could have hurt the boy.
"Not that I am not happy to see you finally have a break. I think you mentioned something a bit ago about needing some time to think." His face softens and he smiles affectionately at Ron.
"Eh, yeah. Hey, thanks Grell. You have been a major help to me." Ronald reveals, giving a genuine smile.
The flamboyant reaper rises from the desk and launches himself haphazardly at his junior. He wraps his small arms around the kid and squeezes him playfully. The air rushes out of Ronald's lungs at the impact. He gasps for air as he fights himself to push his senior off so that he may breathe. Once the red head finally lets go of his solid frame, it takes all Ronald has in him not to pass out from asphyxiation.
"I have to drop my scythe off at Repair & Maintenance. I don't think ole Will trusts me alone with a deadly lawnmower." He cracks a smile.
"Have a good time on vacation Ronnie. We must have lunch together soon. Don't think you can go all week without checking up with your senior." He wags his hips playfully and gives his junior a knowing wink.
"Sounds good." Ronald turns and leaves the cubical, letting his mind wander as he makes the long trip to drop off his scythe.
He could always phase. Make the trip shorter and just appear there, but he wanted to wander the halls of Dispatch. When he finally arrived at his destination, he summoned the legally enhanced scythe and signed some paperwork. As he hesitantly left the reaper realm, he couldn't help but think of how he would spend an entire week off. He hasn't had a day off since he started decades ago. His stomach was reminding him that he still hadn't eaten anything that morning so he decided to head to town in search of food. He stops at a small cafe on the edge of town to grab a bite to eat. As he walks up to the counter to order, a short girl with long black hair turns around and bumps right into him.
"Oh, I'm sorry." She slowly lifts her head to reveal electric blue eyes and a kind face. The girl catches Ronald off guard, leaving him dazed. Her pale skin stands out against her black, punk rock style clothing.
"Excuse me." She says, looking up at him with a questioning stare. Ronald towers over her like a giant. Being three inches taller than the girl and with all the combat training he has to go through, the girl looks minute in comparison. He finally snaps out of his gaze of staring at the beautiful girl before him.
"Oh, uh, I'm so sorry. Let me help you with that." He extends a hand to help her carry the two trays full of food.
"I've got it, thanks." She says nonchalantly, shrugging off his attempts to be polite.
She scoots around him and takes the food to a table near the back. Ronald stands there in a daze from meeting someone so attractive. He tried to help her and she quickly shot him down. Why? He orders his food thoughtlessly and takes a seat just in sight of her. After a lot of thinking and many awkward glances at her table, he finally decides to get up to talk to her.
Just as he stands to throw away his trash and say something to her, she rises, collects her things, and heads for the door. He is stunned for a second. How can someone be that graceful? He quickly gathers his thoughts and rushes toward her. When he reaches her, he remembers he still has the trash in his hands. He tosses it into the bin and dusts himself off in preparation to talk to the stunning beauty.
The mysterious girl slips out the door, leaving the restaurant and him behind. He bolts after her but he realizes it is too late. She has blended in with the crowd and is lost forever.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this! It is a little idea I have been brewing up for some time. Please review and PM! The name of the story came from the lovely zgirl16 and the name of the chapter comes from my friend Becca! Thanks guys! I blanked on names!