Hey just a quick note from me. The World Cup has presented a challenge. With England doing so poorly and the US doing so well, there are just too many reasons to go out. Either to drown my sorrows or celebrate a victory, but I shall update super soon after this. I just wanted to crank this out, and there should be another one within the next few days. Thanks for reading and thanks for the comments. I don't mean to drag it out but I feel like the chapters could be words after words after words and I need to leave some sort of cliffhanger yeah? Yeah. Anyway thanks again :) Also, P.S. any thoughts on what the song should be? I like I Need Your Love by Ellie Goulding or Sweet Nothing by Florence and Calvin Harris.
The next morning, Sophie decided that she would cut her wallowing time down to almost nothing and jumped in the shower as soon as she woke up. What she was going to do with her day she didn't know, but she wasn't going to sit around feeling sorry for herself. Had this been a year previous, she would have been beside herself with anxiety/excitement at any show of interest from Erinn. Now, today, she felt more annoyance and confusion. She had a slight hangover, which was proving to be a good distraction from her thoughts. After she got dressed, she headed to the stairs and passed Rosie's room, now occupied by her father and his son Jack. She considered knocking on the door, but knew if all was quiet behind it, both occupants were getting some much needed rest. Sophie liked babies and yes Jack was a cutie, but his very existence represented a betrayal of trust and the ultimate breakdown of her family. Sophie was the first to come around to even thinking of forgiving her dad, and knew Jack had nothing to do with any of the drama, but last night some feelings of sadness about the situation had made the feelings raw again. Sophie wanted a word with her dad but wasn't sure about what. Maybe just to check up on him or allow him to check up on her, since the day before he expressed a bit of concern over her recent party mode. She decided to just leave it for now.
Sophie knew Sally would be buzzing about within the next half hour, so she quickly scribbled a note on the kitchen counter, grabbed an apple and left the house. She was rarely out on the street at this time of day without a reason, so walking around seeing the delivery men and who was actually up at this time of day was interesting. She decided to take a page out of the Rosie handbook and do a bit of retail therapy to get her mind off of everything. She would text her mates later since she knew they wouldn't be up yet. She also wanted to text Rosie but she was so hard to get a hold of lately. As she was waiting for the bus to go to into town, she debated texting Sian too. She didn't want to over do it with the blonde but felt compelled to reach out to her, even if it was just a hello. Sophie learned a long long time ago, she was no good at being casual or playing it cool. She had the air of being cool and people were attracted to her wit and attitude, but when it came down to love or sex she was a bit of a spazz and not very casual or cool at all. Sophie shook her head to try to clear the thoughts of her mistakes with Erinn and yes even Sian. So much confusion. "Guys are a bit easier at least. You just have to tell them what to do," she joked with herself after boarding the bus. Sophie spent the morning and early afternoon perusing almost every shop at the shopping center, even stores she had no business going in, like the pet store. Anything to focus on something else for a change. "Who am I kidding though, some of these items I would look cute in for Sian," she thought to herself. She eye rolled at her own thoughts and started to think about what to have for lunch. Just then her phone buzzed.
From Mum:
"Sophie, what do you want for your tea tonight and don't forget you have work later."
Sophie sighed and texted back.
To Mum:
"Whatever for tea, and how can I forget about work? Dev would murder me."
From Mum:
"Drop the attitude young lady. See you at home"
Sophie decided to wait for lunch until she got home, and wasn't sure what came over her at that moment as she put her phone away, but she felt like she needed to be close to home. Close to Sian. She wasn't sure what came over her, if she got struck by lightning or got conked on the head or what, but she had to rush home to be on the street in hopes of being in the same vicinity as the mysterious blonde. She anxiously waited for the bus as her breath was short and her heart was pounding. She cranked up her phone's volume in her headphones to the song that reminded her most of Sian, the song she received a lap dance to, the song that made her smile goofily like a teenager in love. She did a search for it online the night before, when it came on the radio while she was cleaning the house and quickly added it to her playlist. Technology is amazing isn't it?
Sophie boarded the bus with a smile on her face so big, her cheeks started hurting. She was blushing a bit too as she started walking to an open seat, smiling at the mostly glum-looking commuters. "You're falling for her, you cow," said her inner voice. Soph started the song over and watched the landscapes going by out the bus window. "Yes, yes I am," she whispered to herself.
"Alright Sophie?" shouted a greasy Tyrone from the doorway of Webster's Garage.
"Yeah ta! Don't let me dad work you too hard," said Sophie trying not to smile herself to death. It was getting ridiculous now. She arrived just in time to see Rosie and Sally leaving the house.
"Oh has little sister been off shopping without me? You know you need help with your fashion sense. Let me see what you've bought.." said Rosie grabbing for Sophie's bags.
"Oi Rosie, it's just a few things. I wanted to get out of the house for a while is all. I'll call you next time, if you bother calling me back that is."
"Oh Em Gee, you know I've been busy with work and Jase. That house is like a hostel sometimes!" exclaimed the elder Webster sister, referring to the Grimshaw house.
"I'm sure you're not helping by being there too Rosie," butt in Sally with her usual disapproving facial expression.
"It's not like I can move back can I, as long as dad is now in my room with his devil spawn!"
"Rosie…" said Sophie quietly with a slight shake of her head. If anything can kill a good mood it's her family problems that never seem to go away. She let the two ladies bicker a bit before she snuck off inside the house and to her room. Her stomach growled as she layed out all of her new purchases on her bed. Soph had work in a few hours and decided to check her Facebook and other various social media accounts. She had a FB notification and clicked on it. Ryan had tagged her in a picture they had apparently taken the night before. Both had wide smiles, and the caption said "Bezzies". It had 5 likes so far and it was posted 2 hours ago. Sophie being the worrywort that she was immediately thought of how that must look to Sian. She knew their situation was awkward and hoped that it wouldn't mean that they too would be awkward. Sophie decided she would casually send off a casual text message later. Casually. She immediately started sweating at the thought. "What a mess."
Sophie made her way downstairs and thought she should eat something to try to calm her nerves. While she was making a sandwich, started thinking about work later. She loved working with Dev and Sunita and seeing the twins get bigger. And yeah she longed for something more satisfying, something to fulfill her but she always thought if she had someone by her side, she could accomplish so much more. It'd be like, one thing down, now on to doing what she wanted with her life. Not to change for someone necessarily but to have that support from the ground up. When she expressed this to people, they would misunderstand it. She didn't HAVE to be with someone but that to her was more stressful than money or what she did to earn money. Maybe because she never struck out on her own, and she knew that she could live at home for a while longer, she didn't worry about being thrown out on the street. And everyone is so close knit around the street, she wouldn't have to worry about a place to stay. For now she was content with her situation and wasn't looking forward to any more upheavals like the one she just went through with Erinn. Relationships were so easy and flippant for Rosie, Sophie was for sure more of a nester and wanted people to stick around instead of just hit and run. She then weighed out how often she felt that way about boys and about girls. It seemed to her she wanted the girls to stick around and the boys she could be more casual with. What that said about her sexuality, she didn't know, she never knew what it meant when she started to really think about it. All she knew in this very moment, she wanted Sian. Then the smile came back. Now all she had to do was figure out what the heck was going on with that. She needed some more one on one time with her but didn't want to be a pest. "Ah! There's the rub," Soph thought as the smile faded a little.
Sophie showed up work a little early to chat with Sunita who she hadn't talked to in a few days. It was all small talk, as Sunita knew a little of what Soph had been going through. She kept it light, but she knew Sophie had been put through the ringer emotionally even though she knew of no specifics. She was happy to see the younger Webster in a better mood and somewhat jovial. The evening and beginning of the night moved on pretty quickly for Sophie, who was still trying to compose "The Text" she would send off to Sian. "Casual!" she reminded herself.
Sophie grabbed her phone.
To Sian P:
"Hey girl hey! Can you tell me your work schedule again or when you're working next? It seems like I only got to hang out with you because you got locked out of your house, haha."
Sophie hovered her finger over the send button. "You'll never know until you try, go on." She hit the send button. All that was left now was to wait.
Sophie busied herself stocking shelves and doing inventory and decided to leave her phone be so she wouldn't check it every 10 seconds like she wanted to. Customers coming in and out of the shop forced her behind the counter where her phone lay charging. She reached for the phone, readying herself for no reply and checked her inbox. She had two messages.
From Ryan C:
"Alright Soph? Want to come by to hear some new mixes I've worked on all day?"
From Sian P:
"Hiya :) I work Saturday - Tuesday. I work tomorrow at 5 to close"
Sophie's heart raced.
To Sian P:
"Oh cool, you might see me tomorrow then!"
Sophie waited for a response. While she was okay waiting until tomorrow evening to see the blonde, she had this nagging need to know where Sian was at the moment. With someone? At home bored? About to come into the shop?
From Sian P:
"Yeah. Where are you?"
Sophie couldn't type fast enough.
To Sian P:
"At work now Finishing up! What about you?"
From Sian P:
"I'm at the bistro having a pint. How long until you're done?"
Sophie stopped breathing. Is this really happening?
To Sian P:
"Oh yeah? In like 10 mins."
From Sian P:
"Yep. Well hurry up. I won't be here all night. Lol"
To Sian P:
"Yeah riiiiight. Haha"
Sophie may have exaggerated the 10 mins but Dev was set to be here in like 15 -20 to close up. If she told Sian 10 then it wasn't that long of a time to wait and maybe she could stall her so she'd stay put at The Bistro. She started with the closing of the till as much as she could do and cleaning her area and making sure things were in order. Our Soph had never worked this fast in her life. She kept eyeballing the door, hoping Dev or Sunita would come and relieve her, and no other customers would come calling. She waited, a slight perspiration on her forehead, heart pounding, staring at the clock. Her phone buzzed.
From Sian P:
"Well pretty sure it's been longer than 10 mins."
To Sian P:
"Haha just wait a sec! Damn"
From Sian P:
"How many seconds?"
This was getting to be too much for Sophie. She was tempted to just run over right now. Just then the door to the shop opened. In strolled Dev as only Dev could do. "Alright Sophieee. Everything in order?"
Sophie grabbed her purse and coat. "Yeah Dev see you tomorrow, I gotta run, tra la!" She didn't give Dev a chance to respond and ran across the road to the Bistro. Where was this night going? Sophie couldn't wait to find out.