Break This Awkward Silence
Hello angel, tell me where are you
Alex sighed as she sat at her desk in the little back office of the boutique. She had been going over the takings from the weekend and entering them into her spreadsheet and was now bored out of her skull. One of the benefits of being the manager of the store was that she could choose her own hours which meant working half the week and only one weekend a month.
Stretching her arms over her head she glanced at the clock in the corner of the computer screen, Gracie needed to be picked up from day-care in a little bit. Alex shut off the computer and gathered the remaining papers she needed, figuring she could finish at home. Sliding the strap of her large tan handbag over her shoulder she closed the office door and wandered through to the front of the shop.
“I’m done for the day Marie. Call me with the final figures for today and I’ll see you Wednesday,” Alex smiled at her co-worker.
Sliding into the cool leather seat of her car Alex took a deep breath to relax herself.
She didn’t look forward to collecting Grace from day-care, she loved to see her daughter again after spending the day apart but it was the other mothers Alex had a problem with.
Or rather they had a problem with her.
As soon as they saw her she could feel their eyes on her, staring at her tattoos, her wavy black hair, the length of her dress, the neck of her shirt, her ‘flaws’. She could ignore the looks but it was the whispered comments that cut a little deeper, she was the single mother, college dropout, ex-girlfriend to that guy in that rock band. Alex had never liked labels and she especially didn’t like them when they were attached to her. Val had reasoned that the other women were jealous of her, of her freedom, of the way she didn’t put on a mask, didn't have to answer to a guy.
Stopping at a red light she watched a young family cross the street. The man and woman looked around their mid-twenties and the little girl was younger than Gracie. Alex’s heart tugged at her chest, they were the picture of perfection, the way families were supposed to be.
She often wondered if the 'family' she and Grace were part of was the best for her daughter.
A father she saw regularly when he was home but he could, and often would be, gone for months on end.
'Uncles' who loved her to bits but who were also rock stars that liked to drink, smoke and curse, a lot.
One set of grandparents that adored her and another that didn't want to know her.
Then there was Alex, what kind of example was she to Gracie? Rockers girlfriend at eighteen, college dropout by nineteen, mother by twenty-one, single working mom by twenty-three.
Not exactly everyone's idea of a role model.
comments = ♥
Stretching her arms over her head she glanced at the clock in the corner of the computer screen, Gracie needed to be picked up from day-care in a little bit. Alex shut off the computer and gathered the remaining papers she needed, figuring she could finish at home. Sliding the strap of her large tan handbag over her shoulder she closed the office door and wandered through to the front of the shop.
“I’m done for the day Marie. Call me with the final figures for today and I’ll see you Wednesday,” Alex smiled at her co-worker.
Sliding into the cool leather seat of her car Alex took a deep breath to relax herself.
She didn’t look forward to collecting Grace from day-care, she loved to see her daughter again after spending the day apart but it was the other mothers Alex had a problem with.
Or rather they had a problem with her.
As soon as they saw her she could feel their eyes on her, staring at her tattoos, her wavy black hair, the length of her dress, the neck of her shirt, her ‘flaws’. She could ignore the looks but it was the whispered comments that cut a little deeper, she was the single mother, college dropout, ex-girlfriend to that guy in that rock band. Alex had never liked labels and she especially didn’t like them when they were attached to her. Val had reasoned that the other women were jealous of her, of her freedom, of the way she didn’t put on a mask, didn't have to answer to a guy.
Stopping at a red light she watched a young family cross the street. The man and woman looked around their mid-twenties and the little girl was younger than Gracie. Alex’s heart tugged at her chest, they were the picture of perfection, the way families were supposed to be.
She often wondered if the 'family' she and Grace were part of was the best for her daughter.
A father she saw regularly when he was home but he could, and often would be, gone for months on end.
'Uncles' who loved her to bits but who were also rock stars that liked to drink, smoke and curse, a lot.
One set of grandparents that adored her and another that didn't want to know her.
Then there was Alex, what kind of example was she to Gracie? Rockers girlfriend at eighteen, college dropout by nineteen, mother by twenty-one, single working mom by twenty-three.
Not exactly everyone's idea of a role model.
comments = ♥