Hello and welcome to the rewrite of Watatsumi's Gift, Chapter 1! I hope you enjoy.
(~)
"You lost the keys AGAIN?!" Mr. Malone snarled. Annika's heart felt like it was going to leap from her chest in fear. She couldn't help that she lost things...and forgot things, frequently.
"I wouldn't say lost the keys more like...misplaced them. J-Just gimme a few minutes to find them. I'm sure they're around here somewhere." Annika hurriedly shuffled items below the counter, making a desperate attempt to find the keys to the register.
The store was closed and Mr. Malone was anything but a patient man. She could hear him taping his foot as she carried on her search, grasping for any sign as to where the keys might be. They had to be around somewhere.
"Annika," Mr. Malone sighed. "Look you're a nice kid and all but I can't keep doing this."
Annika straightened from the counter and gave the store owner her best puppy dog eyes. She had mastered this technique and she only prayed it would work.
"Please, I can find them. Really I-"
"I'm sorry, Annika but you're just not a good fit here. You're forgetful and irresponsible. I've had complaints that you doze off in the middle of conversations, your head up in the clouds." he gave Annika a sad look as if he was upset to see her go. "Please take your things and leave. We're closed."
"Please, don't do this." Annika could feel the tears well up in her eyes. "I need this job. You have no idea how bad I need this."
But she was only answered with a silent stare. Clenching her jaw, she grabbed her red jacket and walked out the door, which was slammed shut and locked behind her.
Annika let out a frustrated groan as she set out down the boardwalk. The salty sea air invaded her nose and the crashing waves invited themselves into her ears as her sandals clopped against the wood of the strand. The sky was growing dark and the air was beginning to chill, but recent events had seemed to warm her sufficiently. Lights from stores shined out to her as she passed, attempting to beckon her inside for useless trinkets. But she knew better. She had worked in most of those shops.
"I'm not a bad employee."Annika muttered to herself. "I...I just have to do better." another sigh, which felt like the millionth in those few minutes, escaped her lips. "Who am I kidding? Malone's Gift Shop. The ice cream parlor and that surfboard shack. God, why is this so hard for me?!"
Her eyes, which had drifted from the sky, came slowly back down to find many worried stares in her direction.
She had been talking to herself again, she realized. And from the look of things, rather loudly.
With a slight apology and an awkward smile, she quickly scampered away to a nearby bench. She sat down, her jacket by her side, and braced her face within her hands, her nails ever so lightly tangling themselves within her massive curls. What was she going to do? She had bills to pay, an apartment with rent coming due, health insurance as well as a car. She needed a job a.s.a.p but no establishment there on the boardwalk would hire her now. She had trouble just convincing Mr. Malone as that she was capable and that hadn't gone her way either.
-beep-beep-
Her eyes flew open as her phone began to ring. She pulled it from her pants pocket and the glimpse of caller ID left a sour taste in her mouth. Her sister Leanne was calling. Annika still felt the familial urge and answered.
"Hello." Annika breathed into the speaker as if she were holding her breath.
"Well, hey baby sis. How've you been?" came a chirpy voice.
"Fine. You?"
"I'm doing all right. Hey, you off work yet? Troy and I wanted to know if you'd like to go for dinner with us. He taking us somewhere there on the boardwalk. I think it's called Lomari's?"
"...Oh, um, yeah, I-I used to work there. I'll meet you there in a bit, alright?" Annika's heart stopped a beat at the mention of Troy. The picture of hazel eyes entered her mind and hovered there as lightly as a feather.
"Alright, see you in a bit, Anni."
As the call ended, Annika let her head roll back to take in the stars. It was only the second best sight next to the ocean.
It wasn't that she didn't love her sister. No, quite the contrary, she adored her sister more than anyone in the world. It just seemed that the feeling was not reciprocated. And once Troy had come into the picture...
Well, I was best not to think of it.
(~)
Annika had arrived at the restaurant a little late. Notably, because she dragged her feet the whole way. She didn't want to see her perfect sister and she certainly didn't want to see her perfect sister with the perfect man.
Right after she lost her job...again.
It didn't take long to find Leanne. She just had to follow the sound of the loudest laughter. The sound had once seemed to be wonderful, that Leanne was just full of laughter and joy. Now it just seemed fake and annoying.
She had followed a boisterous laugh to a little table in a secluded corner where she saw her sister and Troy sitting closely together. Too close.
Her sister was quite the beauty, she'd admit. With long flowing blonde hair, her lithe figure and her prize winning smile, she could claim the title of Aphrodite and no one could object.
Annika approached the table waited for them to see her. It was Troy who looked up from Aphrodite herself and captured her with his warm gaze.
"Oh, Anni, you're here!" Leanne squeaked with surprise as she withdrew from Annika's muse. Leanne's reaction made her feel as if she were still a child, even though they were only a year apart. "Sorry we didn't get you a chair, all the other seats were taken."
"That's alright." Annika found the strength not to sound angry as she pulled up a chair from the neighboring empty table.
"Glad you could make it." Troy poked her playfully. Annika smile in spite of the anger she was feeling.
"Me too." her response was small as she took in the sight of the man she loved most. A chiseled chin and short wavy locks of carameled colored hair made him look like the Adonis to her sister's Aphrodite. But it wasn't his looks that drew her in.
Oh no, that was just a bonus.
"So...How was work?" Leanne's voice piqued up in a rush to draw attention towards herself. Annika smoothly turned her gaze to her and put on her best smile.
"It was alright. How about you? Didn't your work just transfer you to a new patient?" She watched as her sister perked up at the mention of her job. Leanne was a private nurse and she thrived on helping people.
She was one of those people you hated to hate and it made you feel bad to hate them because they were just so...good to everyone.
"Yes! I just got to meet her today, actually. Her name is Marsha. She has a lovely home up in Glenview."
As her sister rambled on about her patient, a small sparkle caught Annika's eye. There on her sister's lovely slender hands sat a beautiful diamond ring and she knew for a fact it wasn't there for decoration. A ring like that meant something.
"Would you excuse me for a second? I don't feel so great." With that said, Annika abruptly stood up and made a dash for the bathroom.
As she made her way past the door, she clamored to the nearest sink and steadied herself on its basin. Her hands shook and her head felt like it was going to explode. She felt the hot tears slide down her face and her teeth grind against one another.
What would it take? What would it take to have one thing go right in her life? It seemed like for as long as she could remember, she had been swimming upstream like a struggling salmon.
Her sister had the looks, the brains, the heart, the man of Annika's dreams, a career that she enjoyed and enriched her life.
Annika looked up into the mirror and internally cringed. In contrast to Leanne, Annika wasn't an ethereal beauty with her tacky messy ginger hair and her speckled complexion, not that her looks honestly mattered to her that much. It seemed it was that inner glow she craved and lacked. That inner light that drew all life in with joy and wonderment. Troy had been drawn to it like many other.
Even their parents had played favorites.
"Stop it. You know better than to think like that." Annika splashed herself with some water and tried to clear evidence of tears.
Shaking herself out of her funk, Annika withdrew from the bathroom and made her way back to the table. The two of them hadn't even seen her come back as she sat back down. They were so absolutely lost in each other.
"So...when were you planning on telling me you got engaged?" Annika mumbled slowly as she unrolled and started playing with the silverware. Leanne looked up and smiled, embarrassed. Troy ,however, was the first to speak.
"Yeah, sorry about that. We wanted to tell you but we got a little sidetracked. With Leanne on call for work all the time and with my recent promotion..." Troy scratched the back of his head absentmindedly, a clear sign to Annika that he had forgotten about telling her.
"Yeah, that whole "having a life" thing, I get it." Annika retorted sourly.
"That's why we wanted to invite you for dinner." Leanne smiled, as if Annika had said nothing. "We're planning the wedding next year around this time and I wanted to know if...well if you wanted to be my maid of honor."
Leanne's smile was so big and bright it was hard for Annika not to flinch.
"Maid of Honor, huh? Oh, boy..." sarcasm dripped from every word and Annika poured the slightest bit of malice into the mixture. It was then that Leanne's smile disappeared and hurt eyes pierced her.
"I'm sorry, I just thought I'd keep you included. I understand with your 'busy' schedule if you can't make it." Leanne lashed back out.
And the floodgates rushed open.
"Keep me included?! This is the first time you've talked to me in almost a month! When was the last time you asked me how I was before today? No phone calls, no responds to my texts. I had been moved out for a year before you had even asked for my address and that was only so you could send me a postcard of you and Troy on vacation. When was the last time you had wished me a Happy Birthday?" At this point, Annika found herself raised out of her seat and her voice carrying to the rest of the restaurant. Leanne's jaw was slack and Troy's eyes were glued to the floor in shame.
Annika shrugged her jacket on in a fit of rage and stormed out of the building, paying no heed to those who watched her go.
(~)
She found herself where she always went when she was troubled. The ocean. Though many it was a terrifying form of death, Annika found it a peaceful force of nature. There was a whole other world full of life below the surface and so many of its secrets were still undiscovered.
The sea was her music and at its edge was the only place she felt content and focus. Her fingers brushed over the rough sand as she breathed in the cleansing ocean air
"I figured I'd find you here." came a rich voice. Troy took a seat beside her in the sand and remained quiet for a long time. Annika felt a smile grow on her face.
"Of course you did. I haven't changed."
"No, that you haven't." Troy let out a little laugh and smiled. They continued there in silence for a long while.
"Do you remember when we first met?" Annika asked him suddenly.
"Of course. You and your sister were new at the high school. I was there in the music room trying to teach some freshman how to put away their instrument when Mr. Brome introduced you. I thought I was going to impress you with my knowledge of music but you seemed to know everything already. Show off." Troy nudged Annika.
"Yeah, that's me." Annika laughed awkwardly.
"I bet with your job, you don't get time to play much anymore, right?"
"Well, after tonight, I have a lot more time apparently." Annika looked away ashamed. She knew he wouldn't judge her, but it was just as humiliating.
"Ah...I'm sure you'll find another one." Troy spoke softly, his eyes giving her the worse look of all who have been friend-zoned. The affectionate sibling look.
"You lost your job again?!"
Annika stood from her spot in the sand like a criminal who just got caught. Leanne marched over to her a scowl quite visible on her face.
"And what do you care, huh?"
"I care because you're my sister!" Leanne shouted at her.
"Oh bullshit! You don't care about me anymore. You looked out for me when Mom and Dad were around because it was expected of you and I was just too dumb to realize it. But once they passed away...you dropped me like a weight from your shoulders. You took the inheritance they left you ,went to college, made some friends, got a job, got engaged, went on vacation."
"You're right. It was expected of me to watch over you. Mom and Dad knew you were practically helpless, I mean look at you, you're 23 years old, and can't even hold a job. You're head has never been attached to your shoulders. It's always off in the clouds. You do it to yourself." Leanne stated harshly.
"Um, guys? I think we should take this somewhere else."
"Did you even mourn for them? Because I did. For the last two years, I've been mourning for them. I've been doing it alone, with no money, no school or future. There's no friends, no career! You've been so busy filling your life with light and love that you're forgetting the one person who needs it most of all!"
"Leanne! Annika! We gotta get out of here!"
Troy's voice drew Annika's eyes towards him only to find him pointing towards the ocean. An abnormally large wave was coming down at them all. They all began to run but the wave crashed down on them and Annika felt herself being dragged towards the open ocean. The wave rolled her and swept her around. She tried to claw her way to the surface, but the dark water only pulled her further down.
Her limbs grew tired and felt like lead. Slowly and gradually she just...gave up. Maybe death wouldn't be that bad.