Melancholia
Light cascaded down the stairs and through the door's small window. The bar lights flickered faintly as if it knew the hearts of its inhabitants. The clink of cutlery cut the silence to pieces. The tempting scent of freshly cooked breakfast wafted throughout the building.
Cloud glanced up. His eyes sparkled with amusement. Marlene, sitting opposite him, was shovelling food into her unclosing mouth. Her eyes flew around the room. Her left elbow held the strap of her bag to the back of the seat as her free hand rummaged restlessly. The deep crease between her brows was growing deeper though it was hard to see for her fringe which kept falling into her eyes.
He almost sighed. She had come to gain a strange independence recently. She insisted on doing things on her own. The days where he'd sneak up behind her and clasp her hair back, settling down to assist had gone. He missed them more than he let on.
The old stairs creaked noisily. Tifa descended, quite frazzled herself, taking two steps at a time. Her eyes were fixed on a list she had in her hands.
"Right," she called breathlessly. "Marlene, do you have everything? Barret's going to be here in… five minutes. You have five minutes Marlene."
An aggravated grunt was almost inaudible. "I know! I'm going as fast as I can!"
She tore out a few belongings, throwing them carelessly to the floor and missing the glower from Tifa. Then she snatched two back up, grabbing a handful of strange objects from the table. She rammed them into her bag, slung it over her shoulder and leapt up – only to catch her ankle on the table leg.
She flailed wildly for a blind moment of panic. Her balance quickly corrected itself and she sprinted away without a backwards glance. The door was thrown open wildly where she stopped face to face with Barret. A smile lit up her face. She took his arm and tore away down the street. A final, "I'll be back" was shouted.
The door smashed violently against its doorframe. The hinges whined in their shrill, grating voices. Cloud glanced at Tifa and they shared a silent amusement. However, she quickly recalled the vow of silence she had made towards him. Her back was promptly turned. The leaky faucet was turned on as she scoured for glasses and plates to clean.
"You should calm down," Cloud advised. "You might break the tap or some plates."
She glowered at the unwashed dishes and replied sharply. "I can't. I have dishes to wash, lunch to cook, breakfast to clear, glasses to clean, glasses to polish, stock to check, orders to clarify, a house to clean, a bar to clean, dinner to make and customers to serve. This should have been done last night,"
The frantic and frenzied scrubbing grew louder. He saw her shoulders hunch. She would work herself ill. She always did after Denzel visited. That, he thought, is some kind of self-punishment for being unable to give him a warm welcome. She wouldn't forgive herself if she continued treating Denzel that way. She couldn't bring herself to so easily welcome him back into their lives. It was too great a risk for her: much like the risk of instantly welcoming back Cloud had been.
"Tifa," he frowns. "You-"
"I'm sorry…" a whisper of a voice mumbles.
The little boy on the stairs in his pyjamas rubbed his red rimmed eyes. He sniffled, whining softly with a sore throat. Tifa and Cloud raced to his side at once, fussing and fretting. The boy's bronze speckled azure eyes glanced up at an old photograph. He wasn't in it. He hadn't existed then, but the other boy had. The picture boy stood, smiling, wide eyed and happy in a tight, familial embrace.
"I'll start the work. I can take the day off. The deliveries aren't due to reach their destinations for a few days yet," he saw the instant relief in her eyes.
She kissed his cheek. "Thank you,"
She ushered their son back up the stairs slowly. As she did a faint grimace took to her features. She understood why Denzel might have taken things the wrong way. However, she couldn't forgive how much he doubted her love for him or his belief that she had - so easily - replaced him.
"Mummy…"
She pulled him up into her arms. "What's wrong?"
He nuzzled into her neck. "Why does the picture hate me?"
She patted his back. "No, the picture doesn't hate you. No one hates you. Denzel is just a big boy and big boys are very, very grumpy,"
"Do you mean it mummy?"
She smiled. "Yes, just ask your dad,"
A stone ricocheted with a sharp stony cry off of one the boulders that spotted the land. A shard chipped off. Another stone was thrown, this time with more force. The same sound echoed. He threw a third. Then, he threw a fourth, followed shortly by a fifth. A handful lay at his feet. One was in his hand. He prepared to throw another. That was struck the hardest of them all. The stone clipped the summit and vanished over the edge. Denzel glanced at the ones by his feet. For a moment he simply watched them.
"You're easy to replace too,"
He picked a handful. They were rough and scratched his calloused palms. It took a moments deliberation before he chose which one he wanted.
"You know which is right,"
It fractured into a million pieces. He watched it solemnly. His heart pounded. Its shrieking beats were warning. He felt the anger rise in him. He wanted nothing to do them. He didn't want to go back. He didn't want to see them.
His phone rang. He ignored it for the first five rings. After that the phone tried to vibrate out of his bag. He picked it up, flicked it on and put it to his ear.
He said simply. "I don't want to talk,"
"That's too bad, Denzel. I want to talk to you," he heard. "My deliveries start in a few days. You know you can't escape me then."
Author's Note: I'm really sorry. I've been trying to fix it but I just can't… So, go on, you can say it, but I already know there's too much alliteration. I just can't help it! It's the only good grammar that I really know. No worries though. I've got my Grammar book now and I'm set to improve!
This chapter was really all about the day to day life. It's set up a kind of routine for them and it's rather a good routine, I think. The boy hasn't got a name yet. I'm very tempted to go down the all too common path, but I'd never forgive myself if I did.
Also, I apologise for the late upload. I had to come off and I wasn't getting into my account. I don't what it was but it was extremely slow. On the bright side I've corrected a few errors and I learned something really interesting. 'He' can be gender neutral. I have got to use that sometime! No more clumsy 'they', 'them' or 'their' for me!
Thank you for reading. I do hope that you have enjoyed this chapter. I apologise if I have disappointed you.
Thank you for the fantastic response! I'm delighted that so many of you enjoyed chapter 1!
