Hello there! This is going to be my first fic ever, so try to remember that English is not my native language and i would appreciate if you notice something weird in my grammar to let me know. Soon after this, the fic is going to develop the growing friendship between Lou and Will. You could give me some ideas to where they can go in the countryside of England. Thank you all for reading, hope you like this!
Characters belong to Jojo Moyes.
It was hard to have your family depending on your income, especially working as a waitress in The Buttered Bun, a coffee shop that has very few clients every day, who tend to ask the same questions every time they enter, even if they know that the calories of the buns are the same as yesterday s bun, the tea is served at the same temperature each time, and yes, we can put all in a bag for latter. But if you think about it, it was even harder to have your family depending on your income when you stop having one. All the pressure i ve been feeling the past couple of days is exhausting. I can hardly breath when i step foot in my home after every failed attempt to get a job, my father sinks even more in his restrained depression, my mother manage a smile but we all can see the deception in her eyes, my sister pretends to be supportive but all she wants is to alleviate her own shoulders and be confortable again working the minimum time possible.
It has been a fortnight when a opportunity came in the form of a long time sitting in front of a job centre s worker. A cry for help from a family that tried out too many caregivers within a month s time. It was simple, go to the interview, demonstrate that i am capable of taking care of a disable man, and take the job. How many complications can present in an strict plan like this one?
In the end, i was terrible wrong. An awful lot of things could go wrong in the short period of time of an interview. The first would be to be dressed like a 1980s secretary, and if that wasn't uncomfortable enough, hearing the material torn apart leaving a revealing sight of my tight for everyone to admire , or that i couldn't form a coherent sentence to justify why i m here in the first place, or that ..
"So would you like the job?" Camilla Traynor said.
"Sorry?" i feel like this was a big joke. But eventually i managed to making work my brain cells and listen to all the names and things i would have to do, starting tomorrow morning.
The annex was at least two times my house. Seeing all adapted for the easy living of someone in a wheelchair was strange, but then i couldn't help but think that is not easy living being in a wheelchair, least of all if you aren t able to move anything apart from your head. Leaving aside my thoughts started to pay attention to Camilla, who was knocking in a door, out of which a kind of music i ve never heard before was playing at a "numb my eardrums" volume.
A broad New Zealand accent was heard. 'He s decent, Mrs T.'
The doors opened and there was a solidly built man in white collarless scrubs that i assumed was Nathan the male nurse. And at exactly 3 seconds after fixing my sight in the man sitting in the wheelchair my face crumbled. In front of me there is a man having a kind of epileptic attack combined with exaggerated face spasms and noises i only heard in bad zombie movies.
Oh god, this is going to be tougher than i thought.
I was gobsmacked when Will, after his show of welcome, proceed to stare at me like if i was the dumbest creature in the planet. Being honest, i look the part, with my mouth hanging open and wide eyes, trying to contain...what was it? Laughter? Angry tears? Both?
All i could do was say my name stupidly with a smile plastered on my face, but apparently i already did that.
Nathan talked me through the basic chores of the day and left the annex, leaving me with a sense of dread, thinking that somehow by the end of the day i likely find out that i have poisoned my boss.
Rather quickly i discovered that having a heavily depressed man sitting in a chair looking the wind, makes a thick layer of sadness descend over every single thing. And thats how it has been for a couple of weeks in the Traynor´s household.
One day something in the routine has changed, after the unexpected visit from some of Will's "friends", i did no longer dread the idea of being all waking hours with him. I was able to understand a little more how some dumb accident can demolish your entire form of living, your entire circle of people, the ones you believed to be your closest friends turn to be strangers, you're not part of the common people society anymore, not until you find someone who doesn't see your chair but you as you. And nothing more. Why is so different to be confined to a wheelchair? If our mind don't change, why are people looking to the disabled like if they were some kind of alien?
I realise something that day. I'm exactly the same as those people. And in that moment i didn't want to be Will's carer anymore, i only want to be his friend.
My plan was, basically, try to remain the biggest amount of time in the same space as him. I would clean his living room while he was listening music, or tidy his bedroom after giving him the medication until Nathan arrive, or making the time between spoonfuls stretch for as long as i could without seeming that i forget about him, or try to chit-chat while i was putting another movie. He stop complaining after a few days, and by the fifth day he start talking.
'Clark. Are you in any kind of pain?' When i turn around he was watching me with a malicious smirk.
'Wh...Why would i?'
'I could see you were having spasms as bad as i have them.' His smirk starting to expand all over his face, eyes shining with humor.'That or you like my music but have absolutely no idea how to follow the beat.'
My cheeks flush a bright red and i try to look like i didn't care being observed, and took on a defensive response. 'I bet you couldn't beat me in a dance competence.' My eyes widen and i await to be yell about my insubordination. When suddenly an abrupt laugh irrumpts in the living. I look perplexed to the person emiting that sound.
Finally i start to see the crack in the hard shell surrounding Will Traynor.