Status: Hiatus
Veni, Vidi, Vici
Sixteen
7:15
It was only a minute ago Grace had told herself to not look at the clock until approximately fifteen minutes had passed, sadly her perception of time in a monotonous situation was just a bit off. Grace sighed in frustration and smoothed down the front of her blinding lime green and purple polo shirt, the mandatory work uniform for ‘Mr Lumbly’s Chemist”. The palm of her hands lingered against the rough contrasting texture of the cheap fabric, slightly tickling her fingers as she utilized her hands as a substitute for an iron, pressing out the crumpling wrinkles that just bounced back right into place afterwards.
7:15
What? Time really had stood still then. Grace lowered her head, and reached out for the hundredth time to parallel the display of dentally beneficial mints on display at the counter. Maybe somebody would come in and admire her nifty work of placing the mints in a rainbow gradient formation, or somebody could come in to just save her from slipping into the hands of insanity. Grace looked up again, an instinctive tilt of the head towards the ancient timepiece hanging on the wall to her left.
7:15
“Grace?”
Grace’s head snapped towards the voice, her hair whipping around from the speed of her turn. The moment her eyes met their destination, regret consumed her, a large wave of it rushing through her chest and crashing down into her stomach. Maybe she could just turn around and childishly pretend that he wasn’t there. if I can’t see you then you can’t see me . But it was inevitable, those five day of safety, of fear, had been meagre, those days of not hearing that deep voice always laced with humor, of not seeing those green eyes that seemed to become brighter the closer you got to them. Grace had been close, so close she’d seen the flecks of brown drifting amidst the radiant bottle green, so close she’d even seen her own reflection in them. Too close.
“Grace... um, hi?”
Gosh, that voice. Grace had told herself repeatedly after the ‘Sam incident’ that she was over him, utterly, totally, completely, that she couldn’t trust him, and that he was too unpredictable. Yet whenever they were together, she would feel it, the catch in her breath whenever she first caught a glimpse of him, the way her heart sped up whenever his skin brushed against hers and most of all, the pure joy of just laughing and being with him. She’d stubbornly stamped down those feelings and had even half fooled herself into think those reactions were normal. Yet after the kiss, the darn kiss, Grace just couldn’t lie to herself anymore, and that was what had frightened her the most, her uncontrollable pull towards him.
“Grace, I know. Look, I know that you’re mad at me, but let’s talk about it first ok? Please?”
I’m not mad Marc, I’m not, I’m not mad at you, I swear! Grace wanted to yell it out at him, she wanted to take him into her arms and wipe that silly heartbreaking frown of his away
from his face and reassure him. But she only nibbled at her bottom lip and focused her entire attention to the rainbow of mints on the table, not daring to meet his eye for fear of bursting into a helpless confession of her endless love of him or something equally ridiculous.
“Did you do that rainbow thing to the mints? It looks pretty sweet.”
It was that one sentence. That one line so casually delivered. It was like turning on a tap, switching on a light, and it tore her heart apart. She almost climbed over the counter to reach him, but instead used what little rationality she had left in her mind to clamber around the irritating block between them, knocking over a tower of ibuprofen bottles in her trail.
“Grace?” He sounded confused now but his arms had extended forward towards her.
She didn’t reply but only launched herself into his body. The moment they made contact, the tears began to fall. They dripped down her reddening cheeks, flooding her eyes and vision as she pressed her face into the warm, safe crook of his neck. She sobbed, uncontrollable sounds emitting from her throat and wild shudders racking her slight, frail frame, ricocheting down her spine and punching at her lungs. His arms moved slowly, unsure, but strong around her waist and her back, holding ever so gently which only made Grace cry even harder. He held her closer, if that was even possible, squeezing her body into his, letting his warmth slowly wash over her.
Marc was so fucking confused, but nothing really mattered right now, nothing but the girl in his arms, the girl that had his heart wrapped around in her long delicate fingers. He sighed and rested his chin on the top of her head savouring the feeling of her soft hair brushing tenderly against his cheek. His eyes drifted close as he relished the moment, it just might have been his last with her.
So they stood, for what really seemed like forever, alone, slightly swaying, like a lost leaf in the wind, in a different world, basking in the soft flickering incandescent glow of Mr Lumby’s environmentally friendly light globes. Scattered bottles were laid upon their feet, the hushed hum of the heat generator and Grace’s loud sobs as their soundtrack. The air smelt slightly damp, but cool, a mixture of clean soap and grass. And like Grace’s tears, the rain began to fall.
7:16
It was only a minute ago Grace had told herself to not look at the clock until approximately fifteen minutes had passed, sadly her perception of time in a monotonous situation was just a bit off. Grace sighed in frustration and smoothed down the front of her blinding lime green and purple polo shirt, the mandatory work uniform for ‘Mr Lumbly’s Chemist”. The palm of her hands lingered against the rough contrasting texture of the cheap fabric, slightly tickling her fingers as she utilized her hands as a substitute for an iron, pressing out the crumpling wrinkles that just bounced back right into place afterwards.
7:15
What? Time really had stood still then. Grace lowered her head, and reached out for the hundredth time to parallel the display of dentally beneficial mints on display at the counter. Maybe somebody would come in and admire her nifty work of placing the mints in a rainbow gradient formation, or somebody could come in to just save her from slipping into the hands of insanity. Grace looked up again, an instinctive tilt of the head towards the ancient timepiece hanging on the wall to her left.
7:15
“Grace?”
Grace’s head snapped towards the voice, her hair whipping around from the speed of her turn. The moment her eyes met their destination, regret consumed her, a large wave of it rushing through her chest and crashing down into her stomach. Maybe she could just turn around and childishly pretend that he wasn’t there. if I can’t see you then you can’t see me . But it was inevitable, those five day of safety, of fear, had been meagre, those days of not hearing that deep voice always laced with humor, of not seeing those green eyes that seemed to become brighter the closer you got to them. Grace had been close, so close she’d seen the flecks of brown drifting amidst the radiant bottle green, so close she’d even seen her own reflection in them. Too close.
“Grace... um, hi?”
Gosh, that voice. Grace had told herself repeatedly after the ‘Sam incident’ that she was over him, utterly, totally, completely, that she couldn’t trust him, and that he was too unpredictable. Yet whenever they were together, she would feel it, the catch in her breath whenever she first caught a glimpse of him, the way her heart sped up whenever his skin brushed against hers and most of all, the pure joy of just laughing and being with him. She’d stubbornly stamped down those feelings and had even half fooled herself into think those reactions were normal. Yet after the kiss, the darn kiss, Grace just couldn’t lie to herself anymore, and that was what had frightened her the most, her uncontrollable pull towards him.
“Grace, I know. Look, I know that you’re mad at me, but let’s talk about it first ok? Please?”
I’m not mad Marc, I’m not, I’m not mad at you, I swear! Grace wanted to yell it out at him, she wanted to take him into her arms and wipe that silly heartbreaking frown of his away
from his face and reassure him. But she only nibbled at her bottom lip and focused her entire attention to the rainbow of mints on the table, not daring to meet his eye for fear of bursting into a helpless confession of her endless love of him or something equally ridiculous.
“Did you do that rainbow thing to the mints? It looks pretty sweet.”
It was that one sentence. That one line so casually delivered. It was like turning on a tap, switching on a light, and it tore her heart apart. She almost climbed over the counter to reach him, but instead used what little rationality she had left in her mind to clamber around the irritating block between them, knocking over a tower of ibuprofen bottles in her trail.
“Grace?” He sounded confused now but his arms had extended forward towards her.
She didn’t reply but only launched herself into his body. The moment they made contact, the tears began to fall. They dripped down her reddening cheeks, flooding her eyes and vision as she pressed her face into the warm, safe crook of his neck. She sobbed, uncontrollable sounds emitting from her throat and wild shudders racking her slight, frail frame, ricocheting down her spine and punching at her lungs. His arms moved slowly, unsure, but strong around her waist and her back, holding ever so gently which only made Grace cry even harder. He held her closer, if that was even possible, squeezing her body into his, letting his warmth slowly wash over her.
Marc was so fucking confused, but nothing really mattered right now, nothing but the girl in his arms, the girl that had his heart wrapped around in her long delicate fingers. He sighed and rested his chin on the top of her head savouring the feeling of her soft hair brushing tenderly against his cheek. His eyes drifted close as he relished the moment, it just might have been his last with her.
So they stood, for what really seemed like forever, alone, slightly swaying, like a lost leaf in the wind, in a different world, basking in the soft flickering incandescent glow of Mr Lumby’s environmentally friendly light globes. Scattered bottles were laid upon their feet, the hushed hum of the heat generator and Grace’s loud sobs as their soundtrack. The air smelt slightly damp, but cool, a mixture of clean soap and grass. And like Grace’s tears, the rain began to fall.
7:16
♠ ♠ ♠
Hi there :)I really liked this chapter at first but now I'm starting to think its a little to sweet and sickly, maybe something bad should happen in the next chapter?
I'd previously thought that like any other teen romance heroine, Grace was going to work at a cafe. but then I though she should be different and work at a chemist like a really good friend of mine :)
Does anybody else watch community channel? ie. hand iron reference :)
thank you guys all for subscribing and commenting i really appreciate it :)