Accidents Happen
Shane slapped the screen to silence the screaming alarm on his phone. The man shifted his weight in an attempt to have gravity assist his efforts to get out of bed, but instead of landing on his feet, the disheveled man got tangled up in his sheets and fell onto his side with a hard thud.
A muffled groan of pain escaped his open mouth before he extracted himself from the material and rolled away to safety. As Shane pulled a pair of dark cargo shorts and a wrinkled work shirt out of his laundry basket overflowing with clothes he never bothered to fold or put away, he rubbed the prickly stubble on his face. He zoned out, trying to remember why he set his alarm so early today...
After some time, there was a light tap on the door. Marnie's voice whispered from beyond the other side of the entrance to his room. "Shane, are you awake?
Shane approached the door and opened it slowly so not to startle Marnie. "Yeah, I'm up," he grumbled, squinting at the light pouring in from the kitchen before stepping out of his bedroom.
Marnie adjusted her bathrobe around her body. "Don't forget to leave work a little early today for Jas' party," his aunt reminded him. "Emily said she would bring the cake, but we'll need more candles."
Her nephew nodded, realizing that this was the reason for his unusually early alarm. "I worked it out with Cheryl to duck out a bit early, but that means I have to get there before my shift normally starts." He glanced at the clock on the wall of the kitchen. "Which means I should have left five minutes ago," Shane realized in terror. He grabbed his Joja Mart jacket and rushed out the door without another word.
Surprisingly, Maru did not bat an eye when Sebastian revealed his secret the night before. She simply asked for a demonstration, which he obliged if only so she would finally let him leave without further questions. So Maru handed him a pencil and he quickly froze it just as he had done to the branch on Violet's fruit tree, before tossing it to his sister and exiting the room. "Don't tell anyone else," he ordered Maru before he shut the door behind him.
After that, Sebastian immediately went outside to leave another note to Krobus. The new sorcerer waited a few hours for the shadow creature, but unfortunately his patience had been in vain. Krobus had either not seen the note or was busy with other things. Sebastian supposed he could not assume that his old friend would be at his beck and call, but it was frustrating not to have the answers he wanted right away. If Krobus knew anything to help him discern the source of his power, Sebastian wanted to know as soon as possible. So, eventually the dark-haired man fell asleep, his dreams filled with cold and shadow.
Sebastian stared at the ceiling of his bedroom the next morning, generally regretting his life decisions. He could not believe let Maru know about his magic, but it was better than talking to her about the real reason he lied to Violet. He drew the line about talking to his sister about how he got ridiculously turned on by his crush and had to leave before she noticed the physical signs. Sebastian would have died of embarrassment. So instead, he had opted to distract his annoyingly persistent sister with the other object of her curiosity.
Was that the right choice, though? And really, what made her entitled to know all his secrets? Sebastian never dragged Maru aside to confront her like that. The more he thought about it, the angrier the young man became. Sebastian threw his sheets aside and swung his feet out of bed. Quickly heading up the stairs, he burst in the door of his sister's room to confront her.
Maru, who sat at her desk taking notes, turned to face him. "Good morning, Sebastian," she greeted him as if nothing were wrong. "What brings you here so early in the morning?"
Sebastian scowled at his sister. "You need to mind your own fucking business more often, Maru," he growled. "You had no right to interrogate me like you did last night. Just who do you think you are?"
The bespectacled woman blinked in surprise. "Interrogate?" she repeated in confusion. "I wasn't interrogating you, I just wanted to know what was going on!"
"Bullshit!" Sebastian shot back angrily. "If that were true, you would have left it alone when you found out that both of us lied about it," he reasoned. "Did you stop to consider that maybe one of us was trying to keep a secret for the other person for a good fucking reason?"
Maru sighed, "Well now that I know that you froze the branch with magical means, yes…" Her warm brown eyes glanced up at her brother guiltily. "I apologize for probing too much. Quite frankly, I did not expect our conversation to go the way it did," Maru confessed. "I was hoping… you would open up to me more," she told her brother. "I thought we've been getting closer lately..."
The look on Maru's face threw cold water on his fury. "So, you were just being a nosy little sister," he scoffed.
The young woman shrugged. "Honesty, I thought it was going to be related to your relationship with Violet," Maru replied with a smile. "It's cute how much you two try to hide it."
Sebastian flushed, this time with embarrassment. "I don't know what you're talking about. We're not in that kind of relationship."
His sister rose to her feet and leaned closer to her brother. "I know all about the soft spot you have for farmer Violet," she smirked, poking his chest gently over his heart. When she saw Sebastian's mouth open to protest, Maru sat on her bed and quickly changed the subject. "Besides, if it makes you feel any better, Violet already told me about the magic she's experienced in town." She flipped through the pages on her clipboard and glanced through her notes, "The Junimos that live in the old Community Center, for instance."
Okay, so maybe that made him feel a little bit better if he was not the first to spill the beans about magic overall. "That's something, I guess," Sebastian admitted. "Just… don't tell anyone else," he reiterated. "Especially to mom and Demetrius."
Maru furrowed her brow, "Why not? Isn't this exciting news? You have an ability unexplained by science! Think of all the potential research -"
Sebastian's rebuttal interrupted her. "That's exactly my point, I don't want to be researched like some lab animal, especially by Demetrius." He sighed heavily, staring down at his open palms. "Not to mention…" he balled up his fists as he felt a chill run through them. "I want to know where this came from first."
His sister remembered their conversation earlier that week. "Is that why you've been thinking more about your biological dad lately?" Maru asked gently.
Her brother nodded, confirming Maru's suspicions. "Yeah…" He released the tension in his hands along with the last of his pent-up frustration. "I have to know if he's the missing piece to all of this."
For a while, silence lingered in the air as the two siblings contemplated the situation. "Maybe… I could help," Maru offered. "I don't know if we'll get anywhere, but I could try to help you discover the source. Or help you find your dad."
Sebastian's dark orbs focused on his sister. "How?" he queried, wondering how in the world Maru could offer such assistance.
Maru pinched the bridge of her nose. "Well, it would take some adjustments, for sure, but I think I could find a way to repurpose my drone to detect energy readings. I would just need you to provide a base for what we're looking to match once it's ready." Her deep brown eyes looked up at her brother. "As for your dad… I'll see what I can find out," Maru stood back up and walked over to her closet to retrieve her work uniform. "Any extra details to help you find him could be helpful and I am a thorough researcher if nothing else."
Sebastian felt grateful to Maru for her willingness to help him despite his outburst that started the whole conversation. "You mean it?" the young man asked hopefully.
Maru draped the nurse uniform over her arm and brought it over to her desk to stuff inside her bag. "Of course I do, silly," the brunette insisted. "You're my brother." Maru said it for matter-of-factly that it took Sebastian aback. As much as he hated to admit it, he was starting to believe that Maru meant it when she told him she wanted to become closer. His sister shouldered her bag and scanned the room to make sure she was not forgetting anything. "Well, unless you have anything else you would like to share, I need to get to work," Maru informed Sebastian, heading for the door.
"Not unless you have any news on your front with Alex," Sebastian laughed teasingly, ribbing his little sister as she passed him.
"Oh, you want to know about his progress?" Maru sounded genuinely surprised that Sebastian took any interest in her side projects. "I could catch you up on that later, if you're interested."
Sebastian shook his head, "No, I mean you two are hanging out a lot lately. I thought maybe you were into him or something…" he clarified.
Maru froze, as if she were a robot whose processing power suddenly plummeted. "Into him… how?" she finally questioned her older brother.
"I mean, I don't wanna hear about my little sister's sexual fantasies or anything - that's gross," Sebastian clarified, putting down some ground rules. "But if you've gotta thing for the meathead and want to talk about it, that's fine."
While the scientist knew that Sebastian was trying to extend an olive branch by offering to talk about crushes, there was one part she could not let slide. "Alex isn't an idiot," Maru defended the jock. "I think… he just knows that people expect that of him and whenever he tries to leave that little box everyone puts him in, someone shoves him back in," she thought aloud.
Sebastian shrugged, "Whatever you say, Maru." He waved his sister on, "I'll see you later." The hoodie-clad man watched Maru go with a chuckle. Her face was priceless. Did she not know her own feelings?
Maru nodded, still contemplating her brother's original question as she left the house and walked toward the clinic. Wait, did Sebastian think she liked Alex romantically? She paused. Did she like Alex that way?
Violet tended to her crops first thing that morning, as dictated by her daily routine. The strange hops and blueberries seemed to be growing at the same rate as their normal counterparts, but the farmer could not help but feel that their differences were more than a simple change in color. Regardless, Violet continued her care for the odd crops in the hope that they would still produce something edible for the town. The plants did not seem wilted or sickly, she noticed, so better to put in the effort now and have it wasted than let them wither away to nothing.
When she finished, Violet filled Bruno's water bowl and decided to head down to the beach to check on her new crab pots. While the young woman hoped to get some of the shellfish that the Junimos requested for their crab pot, she hoped for an extra crab or lobster to make some culinary extravagance for herself. The farmer deserved to treat herself.
"Aunt Marnie, Aunt Marnie!" Jas shouted as she hopped up and down toward the kitchen, her dark pigtails trailing behind. "It's my birthday!" the little girl sang with a cheerful tune.
The rancher beamed at her niece and gestured toward the table. "Which is why I made your favorite breakfast to celebrate!"
Jas' grey eyes sparkled at the sight of the mound of cinnamon rolls on her plate. She squealed in delight, hopping up onto her chair and tearing into the first icing-covered sweet roll. "They're delicious!" Jas cried, singing praises for her guardian's thoughtfulness as she took another bite. "Thank you, Aunt Marnie!"
Marnie tugged at her braid, adjusting its position along her shoulder to keep it away from the icing of the cinnamon roll she reserved for herself. She turned to smile at her favorite child in the world, "It's only right to spoil a girl on her birthday."
Already on her second sweet treat, Jas asked a question. "Can we go visit Shane at work today?"
The older woman's gaze softened. "I don't think that's a good idea, sweetheart. We don't want to distract Shane while he's working."
Jas frowned, displeased by the denial of her request. "Then can we go play dolls in my room?"
"Of course, Jas!" Marnie agreed, hoping that the playtime together would make up for being unable to visit Shane. Luckily, Emily had already volunteered to do most of the set-up for the party, so all Marnie had to do was keep her niece occupied until it started.
After entering the pink and purple room, Marnie sat down beside her niece, her knees cracking like a glow stick as she settled down on the plush carpet. Jas reached for her dolls, which Marnie noticed were all seated around the dinner table. From their appearance, there was a doll for her, Jas, Shane, and… was that blue-haired doll supposed to be Emily?
Marnie smirked to herself. It seemed her niece was more astute in her observations than she thought. The woman scanned the dollhouse and found one other doll wedged under the bed in one of the bedrooms. "Jas, why is that man under the bed?" Marnie asked in alarm.
Jas shrugged, "He always hides under the bed when anyone but the grandma is around."
The rancher thought it was best to get more information. "Why does he do that?" she wondered aloud.
Jas giggled, "I think he's scared of them!" she told her aunt, handing her the doll. Sure enough, Jas had drawn a grey mustache on his with a washable marker. The facial features looked eerily like those of the Mayor. Marnie sighed heavily. So even the children in town knew something was going on between her and Lewis, yet he refused to acknowledge their relationship for fear that it would tarnish his respectability as an elected official.
If it was because he was not ready to be a guardian for a small child, Marnie could understand that on some level. But Lewis never cited that as a reason for secrecy. She had hardly spoken to him since their fight at the Flower Dance. He refused to apologize for his disrespectful language toward Shane. The old prune… Marnie gripped the doll tightly around the middle, as if it would somehow its human equivalent physical discomfort.
"Aunt Marnie," Jas' innocent voice rang out. "Are you okay?" the little girl asked, her eyebrows high with concern.
"Of course, Jas," her aunt assured her with a wide grin, setting down the doll for a moment. "So, what game are we playing?"
Violet arrived at the beach and immediately went to the pier to check her crab pots. While she did not catch as many crustaceans as she hoped, there was one crab among her catches. The other two pots supplied a clam and a broken CD. The farmer immediately tossed the broken CD in the appropriate trash receptacle, irked that her efforts were wasted. Perhaps if she scoured the shoreline, she would find something else worthwhile.
While combing the beach, Violet found a mussel and several cockles before she crossed the bridge to the eastern side of the beach. There, she found some coral and a sea urchin, neither of which were suitable for the crab pot supplies, but good for making some quick cash at Willy's.
Violet decided it was best to go to the Community Center right away to drop off the fresh seafood so it would not spoil in her bag. No one would want to be around someone who smelled of rotting sea creatures, after all. On her way north off the beach, the farmer spied Haley sunbathing on a beach towel off to her left. The pastel-haired woman decided to be a friendly neighbor and chat. "Hey, Haley! How's it going?"
"You're in the way, farmer," Haley complained, propping herself up on her elbow and sliding her over-sized sunglasses off of her face. "I don't want weird tan lines like you."
"Sorry," the newcomer apologized, though she did not think it would make a significant difference if she stood in the sun for a few minutes. She stepped out of Haley's sunbeam and the woman settled back down on the sand.
"Do you have something to say to me?" the blonde asked, slipping her sunglasses back into place, and flipping her hair so that it lay flat on the ground above her head.
Violet cleared her throat nervously. Why did it always feel like Haley did not want other people around? "I just thought I'd say 'hi,' that's all..." the young woman confessed. "Though I guess I'm not nearly as interesting as Bex to you, so… I'll get going."
The sunbathing woman sighed in exasperation. "I tried being nice lately and it didn't get me anywhere. I can't help that most people don't speak the same language when it comes to personal interests," Haley explained, sitting up again. "Don't get me wrong, it was a breath of fresh air to have someone to talk to about hair and makeup, but those aren't the only things I care about." The blonde seemed annoyed by Violet's comment more than angry, the farmer noticed. "I clearly don't know how to talk to people without sounding like a total snob."
"Just because you feel awkward doesn't mean you have to insult me," Violet grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest, and avoiding Haley's eyes. "We're in the same boat, but at least I give it a shot."
Haley's blue orbs stared at the hot pink beach towel beneath her. "Well, you made the assumption that I only want to talk to people like your cosmetologist friend is kind of insulting, too, you know," she said, trying to hide her sulking. "I'm not just a pretty face."
"And I'm more than a farmer's tan, right?" Violet replied, making her point.
The blonde sighed. "Fine, I get it," she admitted, leaning back to rest on her outstretched hands behind her. "I guess all the friends I had before moving back to the Valley did was insult each other. It's just how I talk now."
Violet shrugged. "I mean, teasing is fine, but if all you do is insult each other, is it really a friendship or do you all secretly hate each other?"
Haley's lips twisted into a frown. She had been the most popular girl in school and hanging out with Alex all the time did not help in terms of making genuine friends. The other girls just wanted to be around her to get closer to Alex, even if the rest of the school assumed Haley and Alex were "Barbie and Ken." Those fake bitches. Then again, had she been any different back then? Haley still could not believe that Alex never asked her out.
The former head cheerleader ran her fingers through her curls, and looked up at Violet, her sunglasses blocking half her face. "That's probably why I don't have any friends other than Alex, huh?"
Violet flushed, embarrassed that Haley caught on to her implication, and tucked a stray strand of pastel hair behind her ear. "I… can't say for sure, but I think there are plenty of people in this town who would want to be your friend." The farmer thought specifically of how Haley and Leah spent most of the evening chatting before the Flower Dance. "Maybe just give us all a shot?"
"I'll think about it," Haley relented, lying back down on the warm beach towel. "In the meantime, I'm going to work on my tan while the weather's nice. Care to join?"
The farmer shook her head, "I've got other things to do, but thanks." So perhaps making friends with everyone in town was going to be more difficult with some people than others. Violet could live with that. As long as she did not make any new enemies, right?
Sebastian strolled down the mountainside at a leisurely pace toward the clinic. He racked his brain, trying to figure out the least humiliating way to phrase his questions. The young man knew that his progress regarding his smoking cessation would likely be their first topic.
Despite the cravings he experienced, Sebastian had only a moment of weakness. When Violet had canceled their weekly pool match, he decided to clean his room as a distraction. That was when he found an old carton with one crushed cigarette still inside. He smoked about a third before he became so frustrated with himself, he threw it in the damp grass and stomped it out with the heel of his boot.
But that had been almost a week ago and the very next day, Sebastian ran out of Step 2 patches and graduated to Step 3. Part of him was disappointed that he marred his progress with a step backward, but he was trying not to focus on it. Dwelling on it was only going to cause more problems. His anxiety was the reason he kept smoking for so long anyway, well after its appeal wore away.
Entering town, Sebastian turned the corner and made his way to the clinic. Really it was just an additional Pierre's General Store with eggshell blue exterior and teal trimmings, but it served well enough for a small-town doctor's office.
The leaf pattern on the wallpaper covering the waiting room seemed to be an attempt to tie into the natural beauty of the town, in addition to the large potted plants scattered around the room. Bright blue chairs accented the lavender tiles on the floor and Sebastian took a seat. Usually, he came before lunch and waited almost two hours until Dr. Harvey came to retrieve him from the waiting room. But this year, Sebastian had been smart and arrived closer to the actual appointment time.
Sebastian thought he would chat with Maru while she worked, but his sister was nowhere to be seen. Probably working in the back somewhere if he had to guess. Either way, not ten minutes had passed before the mustached brunet appeared in the waiting room, his starch-white lab coat bright against the colors of the room.
"Good afternoon, Sebastian," Doctor Harvey greeted his patient. "I'm glad you could make it today. Come on back and we'll get started." The bespectacled medical professional waved the younger man over and Sebastian followed Harvey through the door and to the left into the exam room.
As always, Sebastian immediately shed his hoodie and hopped up onto the exam table, the thin white paper covering it crinkling beneath his weight. Doctor Harvey donned his stethoscope and indicated that he was about to check the patient's vital signs. "Breathe deeply for me, please," the physician requested, pressing the cold metal against Sebastian's chest.
The dark-haired man obeyed, taking a calming breath, and releasing it slowly. Harvey switched to the back and held the stethoscope in place before repeating the request. The brunet grinned at his patient, and removed the stethoscope from his ears, letting fall to rest around his neck. "Well, Sebastian," he began. "I'm impressed. I can already tell from the way you're breathing that your lungs are starting to recover nicely." The doctor pulled a clipboard from the small maple desk and jotted down a few notes on a sheet of paper. "The human body is remarkable that way."
"That's… good to hear," Sebastian thought aloud. He half expected the doctor to press him into quitting sooner. The programmer sighed heavily. "I… did mess up last week, though. I smoked," he confessed. "I'm not proud of it, but I just happened to find a cigarette in my room that didn't get tossed and-"
Harvey cut him off with a raise of his hand. "You're doing well, Sebastian," the doctor assured him. "No one's perfect and progress isn't always linear. Sometimes we have to take a step back to realize how far we've come." The doctor dropped his pen in the front pocket of his lab coat. "Is there anything you want to discuss today?"
Sebastian cleared his throat nervously. "Ugh… yeah, actually." He tried not to let himself be thrown off by Harvey's raised eyebrows. He did not normally ask questions, so of course the guy would be surprised.
"Uh, first… my arm has been really itchy near the patch." He lifted his elbow toward the ceiling to show the doctor the back of his arm properly, but his sleeve covered more than he anticipated. "Hold on," Sebastian excused himself, wiggling out of his ebony t-shirt.
Harvey came closer to inspect the rash. "Ah, you need to move where you put the patch daily," the doctor said. "Your skin is most sensitive where the overlap from day-to-day occurs. I'll get a mirror to show you." Opening a drawer in the cabinet beside the sink, the mustached man produced a small hand mirror. "See? You'll need to try putting it on other parts of your body, like your chest or even switching to your other arm. That should reduce the irritation."
Sebastian nodded thoughtfully, looking at the reflection in the mirror of his arm. Holding his shirt and hoodie in his lap, the patient's dark orbs avoiding the practitioner's gaze as he asked his final question.
"Is it… normal to get random boners?" Sebastian panicked as soon as he heard his own words. "I mean, like I know it is, but how often? And like, can you stop them before they happen?"
Harvey suppressed his chuckles behind his hand. "It is completely normal for a healthy young man to get an erection several times a day," the doctor assured his red-faced patient. "To get rid of any 'unwanted friend,' you can try waiting it out and covering it with something - like how you're laying that sweatshirt in your lap. Then there is distracting yourself, repositioning, or taking a cold shower." The doctor paused, "But that last one is not always an option, obviously."
The doctor set down his clipboard and sat on the stool in front of the desk. "Is there a particular reason you asked today?"
"I just… happen to be getting them more often now," Sebastian replied hesitantly. "I don't want people to think I'm some perv who can't control himself." The young man wanted nothing more than to escape the room right now, but he froze.
Doctor Harvey pondered a moment, "Are you sexually active?"
Sebastian coughed, while it was typical for a medical professional to ask that question, it caught him completely off-guard. "N-no! I j-just find someone attractive and I don't want her getting the wrong idea about me!"
A smile appeared behind the doctor's mustache. Judging from the rumors around town, Harvey had an idea of what was going on. He opened the top drawer of his medical supply cabinet. "Well, in case you decide you're ready in the next year before you come in for your next appointment," he began, handing Sebastian a small box. "You might want to take these just in case. Even if you don't use them, they're always good to have around just in case. And if you need more, you can always buy more if you need them."
Sebastian's ink-black gazed fixated downward to the box in his hand. "C-condoms?!" Doctor Harvey thought he had never seen a man's face so red, and he had even witnessed a man's cardiac arrest. That was, at least, until the exam room door burst open and there stood a breathless and wide-eyed Violet.
Violet presented the Junimos with her crab pot catches for the day. Sadly, it was not enough to complete the bundle she wanted, but any progress was still progress. She squatted down to the little apple creatures' level and tried to talk to them as best she could. "Hi, everyone!" she greeted the Junimos in a friendly manner. "As you probably know, I'm Violet. What are your names?"
Some of them responded to her question by listing off their color, which was simple enough. But not all the Junimos had such simple names and Violet had difficulty telling two Junimos of the same color apart at first. After some time and dedication, the farmer noticed the subtle difference between these forest spirits. The smaller ones frequently still had leaves on their stems and the larger apples tended to have longer stick limbs to match them proportionally. One poor Junimo had a worm of some sort gnawing on its skin and Violet quickly remedied the situation by snatching up the wiggly monstrosity and chucking it far away from the weepy green apple.
"It's okay, Pippin," she assured the Junimo, stroking where there was now a small bit in its smooth green flesh. Strangely enough, Violet noticed the hole getting smaller and smaller until it vanished completely. If the farmer had not seen the bite mark before, she would never have been able to tell it ever existed.
The little Junimo's mouth curved upward at Violet and wrapped its twig arms around her leg. "Tank yoo, Lay-dee," it sang appreciatively in a high voice.
"I don't think I did anything…" the pastel-haired woman admitted. "You little guys are way more magical than I am."
Before she could realize what was going on, the Junimo was rummaging through her bag, tossing out items onto the floor. "Hey!" the farmer protested. "I already gave you all what I had today. Put that stuff back!" she ordered.
Pippin ignored Violet, however, until a small piece of paper fell to the floor. Then, the mischievous little apple and all of its companions disappeared in a flash, leaving a confused Violet sitting there alone in the old, abandoned Community Center. "What was that about?" she muttered to herself, slightly annoyed that she was left a mess.
Gathering her things off the ground, Violet picked up the piece of paper that the Junimos dropped, wondering if something caused the Junimos to flee. Before the farmer flipped it over, she could tell what it was from the water-damaged texture of the paper. It was her doctor appointment reminder. Her cobalt eyes scanned the writing. "Oh, shit! That was today!" she realized, scooping up her items haphazardly and throwing them into her backpack. "Doctor Harvey told me to come early and it's already past lunch!"
She sprinted as fast as she could toward the clinic, her tools jingling in her pack as she ran. The last thing she wanted was for someone to hate her in this town and being hours late for an appointment might just get her there. As she entered town, Violet dodged a collision with Penny, who was walking the opposite way on the same path. "Sorry, Penny!" she apologized to the brunette, not slowing down. "I'm late, but I'll talk to you later if I see you!"
Violet took the turn around the General Store a bit wide to avoid impact with any other villagers and threw the door of the clinic open. Maru stood behind the counter, dealing with some paperwork. The farmer almost did not recognize her at first in the nurse uniform. "Oh! Hi, Maru," Violet panted, out of breath from her mad dash from the Community Center. "I'm late…" she gasped for air before continuing, "for my appointment."
"I see." Maru nodded in understanding and checked the clock for the time. "Harvey usually has appointments set up for 1:30 PM," she informed her friend. "I haven't seen him lately, but just go through that door and make a left. When the hall dead-ends, take the door on your right. I'll go find Harvey and let him know you're here," the scientist informed the young woman, as she stacked her papers neatly and tucked them away in a filing cabinet.
Violet did as instructed and entered the exam room, only to find a shirtless, red-faced Sebastian with Doctor Harvey. Her eyes widened as she realized she had walked in on a second appointment this week, only this time it was not a house call. "I-I'm so sorry!" Violet could feel the heat in her face as rising. She covered her face with her hands, and tried to back out of the room, only to trip and fall backward, smacking herself against the door. "Ow…"
"A-are you okay, Violet?" the farmer could tell the source of the sound was closer than before. Sebastian must have left the exam table. She felt a hand touch her shoulder, "I'll help you up…"
He took her hand and pulled so Violet could stand. The momentum from Sebastian's pull kept her moving forward so that she fell forward into his chest. Her hand braced for impact and pressed against warm, bare skin. Even with her eyelids shut and face covered with her right hand, the mere touch of her fingers against his chest made her blush. "T-thanks…"
Backing away slowly from Sebastian, Violet groped the air behind her until she found the door handle. Turning it, she opened the door and excused herself. "I'll be going now. Ugh… yeah. Bye!" Violet turned and made a mad dash back out of the building, her face about as crimson as Sebastian's.
Author note 1: I have been setting up the scene when Violet walks in on Sebastian's appointment since "Moms and Cherry Bombs" of In Search of a Soul and we finally made it!
Author note 2: To the kind stranger who reviewed Chapter 5 yesterday - Thank you so much! I had a terrible day yesterday and it really bolstered my spirits. J