Chapter 7: Tea for Two
Beginning of September, 1935 E.C.
It was a sunny morning in Fouzen, Karl awoke to see the sun shining into his room and smiled, he liked sunny days, they usually meant that the day will be pleasant. As Karl was on his way to work, he checked to see if Lynn was on her way too. She usually traveled the same path he did heading to work, and Karl enjoyed her presence. Even though they barely spoke to one another. But Karl noticed that Lynn wasn't there like she normally was.
"Hmm, she must have taken a different route today." thought Karl.
The next day, Karl proceeded as before, walking to work, only to find that Lynn still wasn't on her regular path.
"She must be having a sick day" thought Karl.
But it was not until the third day that Lynn wasn't around that Karl started to worry.
"I really hope she's alright." Karl said out loud to himself with a worried look on his face.
-
Finally, three days later, Karl decided to check up on Lynn to see if she was alright. He headed towards the darcsen district where the darcsens lived. As he walked into the district, he was stared at by darcsens, wondering what business he had doing in their turf. Karl was scared, but he did his best to keep his composure. As he walked, he noticed how most of the darcsens had lived, the houses mostly consisted of shacks. Very few of them actually lived in real houses, others don't even have homes, they instead lived in alleys scrounging around for food because they don't have enough money to actually buy themselves groceries from the stores outside the district. Karl looked on with sympathy, he felt bad for the way the darcen community had to live in Fouzen.
Finally, he got to Lynn's home, she and her mother were one of the few people who actually own a house in the darcsen district. It was mostly due to her father's influence, being one of the wealthier darcsens. He remembered playing at this house with Lynn when they were young children and how much fun they had together. They were the best of friends, and Karl believed that they would be nothing more than that, but here he was now, in love with her, and terrified to know how she would react if he told her.
He knocked on the door, while he waited he adjusted his glasses, he didn't want to look like a fool in front of Lynn. Thirty seconds have passed, Karl still waited, he waited for twenty more seconds, wondering what is taking Lynn so long, he was getting ready to leave when he heard the door unlock.
He saw the person who answered was indeed Lynn, he was glad to see she was okay, but then that feeling was gone as soon as he got a good look at her, she was red-eyed with tears rolling down her face.
"L-Lynn! What's wrong?" Karl asked with a slight panic in his voice.
He never saw her like this, normally Lynn was always confident looking and happy, rarely was she ever sad. And here she was, she almost looked like a completely different person. Lynn looked up at Karl, and almost immediately, she embraced him. Karl felt his cheeks burn as soon as she did, he felt an immense feeling of comfort and felt at ease, but then he remembered that Lynn was sad, and that comfort went away.
"Karl…" she chocked out.
"M-my mother…"
"W-what happened to her?" Karl asked still feeling a little panicked
"S-s-she's gone…"
Lynn then cried out after she got her sentence out. The sounds of her crying hurt Karl, he couldn't bare to see her like this.
"Lynn, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry" Karl whispered
Lynn then realized something, "W-wait, what are you even doing here Karl?"
"I-I was just checking to see if anything happened to you." Karl replied "I haven't seen you in days and I was worried."
Lynn's eyes widened , her mother was right, he did care about her. All this time, she was oblivious to how Karl was acting around her. She thought that was just part of his normal behavior, considering how he was when they were children.
"Karl, I…" she finally said after a long silence.
"Thank you." she said with a tiny smile.
Karl smiled back at her, he was glad to know that she will be alright now.
A long silence had passed, and then eventually, Karl asked
"Um, do you want to be alone? And, maybe, I'll come back another time, when you're better?"
"No, I want you to stay here with me. I need someone to talk to" Lynn replied
"O-okay." Karl said timidly.
-
Karl was inside Lynn's house, he had not been in her house since they were children, so he felt a sense of nostalgia while inside. Soon, he and Lynn were in the living room drinking tea. Lynn, with a melancholy voice, told her how her mother died.
"According to the doctor, she contracted a fatal disease. It causes a breaking down of the immune system and left her weakened to the elements."
Lynn sipped her tea and continued, " It started with her coughing, which started out small, but eventually became more and more violent. And, as time went by…" her lips quivered, "her skin became pale, and she had to stay in bed all the time. I stayed by her bed every day, making sure she ate plenty of food to keep her going, I could've gave her medicine to help her get better, but I didn't know what her problem was, so I didn't."
Lynn then looked down and finished, "If only I found out what was wrong with her sooner, she would still be here."
"Lynn, it wasn't your fault." Karl said
"You did the best you could Lynn. I'm sure your mother was happy knowing you were there caring for her all the way to the end."
Karl with a smile on his face finished, "You never gave up on her Lynn, she would happy knowing you care that much for her"
Lynn, looked up and smiled, "Thank you Karl, thank you so much."
She then went over to Karl and hugged him. Karl smiled, knowing he made her happy, he then looked and saw the clock behind her and had a horrifying realization.
"Oh no! I'm really late for work!" Karl yelled.
"Sorry Lynn, I have to go!" Karl said as he got up and headed towards the door.
"Karl, wait!" Lynn grabbed his shoulder.
She leaned over and whispered with a smile, "I wasn't done yet"
Karl then felt Lynn's lips pressed on his cheek, his face turned bright red.
"Okay, now go quickly!" Lynn said
-
Karl was heading towards the ironworks where he worked, he was really late. As he walked closer and closer to his station, he hoped that his boss didn't notice.
"Landzatt!! Where the hell have you been?!?" his boss yelled in his gruff voice.
"S-sorry sir! I-I-I was just taking care of p-personal matters!" Karl stuttered with fear
"Well, don't do it again! Just be glad I'm not firing you for your incompetence!"
Karl headed to his station, relieved that the ordeal was over. As he got himself ready, he thought back to that fateful moment back at Lynn's house, perhaps he did have a chance with her after all…
That's all for this chapter. Hope you liked it. And as usual, please give me any feedback on anything I could improve on even slightly.
