Samuel Oak was in his natural habitat, yes. He was in his lab immersed in mountains of knowledge and piles of books as tall as trees. That had been his life for the last two years: attending to Pokemon and when not, doing research. He'd published more papers in that time that the rest of his years all put together. That had been his way to deal with grief whenever his grandkids weren't around to keep him cheerful.
A knock on his door startled him, returning him from the little world he'd been immersed in. 'What was that about?' he thought, until he looked at the time.
-Oh, lunch. - He muttered to himself as he rose from his chair.
As expected, there was a familiar face waiting for him.
-Mrs. Ketchum- he greeted- it's good to see you-
-Hello, professor. I've brought you today's special menu, as usual. - she smiled.
-Please, come in. I'll search for my wallet.-
Mrs. Ketchum was a nice woman. She ran one of the best homey restaurants in Pallet Town that had received his daily call for meal ever since Rose's passing and his consequent disregard for executing any culinary labors. Since he'd found he quite liked the tasty, well balanced food from Mrs. Ketchum's restaurant, he had made a permanent subscription. Usually, her son acted as a delivery boy, but he'd now gone back to school.
-Here it is- he said smiling.
-Great! I actually expected a bit more of a wait- she received the payment somewhat sheepishly. He didn't seem to mind.
-It doesn't seem like it, but I know where everything is. It's an order only I seem to understand, maybe for being a scientist and all that- Samuel answered, chuckling softly and a bit self-conscious, attempting to clean his desk. But then he caught sight of his wife's photograph and remembered why he left a bit of a mess around. It was just so hard to see Rose without her being there… he kept the photo in sight and at the same time half covered.
A hand in his shoulder startled him, he'd forgotten about Mrs. Ketchum being there.
-It's hard, isn't? - she said with a half smile. – I've been through it, I know it hurts. Just know that there will come the time, professor, when you'll be able to think of her without the pain crushing your heart.-
Samuel felt a knot in his throat and settled by nodding once. He avoided the subject as the plague, he just couldn't handle it, but Mrs Ketchum had just managed to be understanding without sounding pitying and making the pain worse. No one else had done that before.
He felt a wave of gratitude towards her.
-Thank you, and… and not just for the food. - Mrs. Ketchum smiled once again.
-My pleasure. It's pasta, I think you once said it was your favorite. – She said, preparing to leave, and then continued lightheartedly- Hopefully, tomorrow will be even better.
Watching her walk down the lab's path, he thought about her words. Maybe, tomorrow will indeed be better… maybe, he'd even be able to look at Rose's photo without stuff blocking the view.
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