The Hand of Destiny

I squeezed my eyes shut tight before opening them fully, where the hell was I?

Then it came back in a rush, it was not pleasant. I remembered the events of last night, the fire, the cold night, Andy.

Andy!

I slowly rolled over under the warm black sheets, limbs tired and still waking up.

As my eyes focused on the other side of the double bed though, I realised I was alone.

Of course, he helped me last night, now he wants me to leave…

I sighed and shifted my legs off the side of the bed, trying to adjust my crumpled clothes the best I could considering I would be walking home because of my money problem - the problem being I had none. Normally I don’t care about neatness, but the guy had helped me last night (even if he did leave me this morning :/) so I decided to at least make a half assed attempt at making the bed. I pulled the Batman sheets into roughly where they should be and started moving towards the bedroom door, patting my pockets to check my phone was still there as I walked. I walked into the living room/ kitchen, quickly looking around to see if there was a note anywhere. Notes hurt but it’s not as bad as being left with nothing but a feeling that they came and left without a trace so quick it’s hard to tell if they were even there.

Nothing that I can see…

Ouch.

I made my way to the door which I remember lead to a bathroom, trying to shake some feeling back into my arms as I walked.

Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible but I really needed the toilet and to try and at least do something with my hair.

I pushed the door that was already slightly ajar open fully and stepped inside, kicking the door closed again with my heel as soon as I was inside. I stepped in front of the large mirror behind the sink and leant forward, placing my hands on either sides of the basin and looking down into it as I let out a breath.

I ran my right hand through my long hair, trying to pull out as many knots as I could and failing quite a bit due to my distinct lack of a brush or comb.

I looked up into the mirror and jumped when I saw someone standing behind me.

“HOLY FUCK!” I screamed, jumping about a foot while Andy stood there holding in a giggle.

Oh, so he hadn’t left… he’d just gone to…

I looked around for some clue as to why he was in here; the shower wasn’t running and he wouldn’t have still been in there and on the other side of the bathroom if he was using the loo. My eyes fell to the straighteners he held in his hand and then up to his half straightened hair.

There’s the reason.

“Seriously, don’t scare me like that Andy!” I was pretty sure my heart beat just reached dangerous levels.

He chuckled, “Sorry Ash”

He called me Ash again!

“S’okay”

He continued to straighten his hair as he talked to me.

“So, what do you want for breakfast?” he asked.

“Huh?” I asked, now leaning back against the cream sink.

“You know, breakfast. The first out of the three daily meals commonly eaten?” He teased me lightly.

“I know what breakfast is smartass, I’m just not used to people making it for me…” I said moodily.

We stood in silence for about twenty seconds before I eventually looked up.

“Do you have waffles?”

*****

Saying Andy makes good waffles is an understatement. The man makes amazing waffles. They’re golden and slightly crispy and yum!

I was interrupted out of my little waffle reverie but my phone ringing.

“Excuse me” I said to Andy as I walked away from the kitchen area and into the lounge, he just nodded.

“Mr. Purdy?”

“Yes, speaking.”

“This is Mrs. Mallory from the California fire department, we understand that you’re a resident of Mirragate Apartments?”

“Yes.”

“Well I have some information for you. The department has declared that there are no immediate safety risks for the first 3 floors of the building, though no apartments in the building are currently suitable for living in until they have been refurbished and fully safety checked. However, this does mean you can come and collect your personal belongings today if you wish between the designated hours of eleven am - one pm, when residents will be permitted on site of the accident.”

“Really? Um, that’s great thanks, I’ll be there.”

“Thank you, have a nice day.” The woman hung up swiftly, obviously the task of having to call all the apartment owners was dragging on a bit.

At least she has a home that is livable…

*****

I told Andy what she'd said when I sat back down at the breakfast counter and he immediately offered to take me there since it was quite a walk. He waited patiently for me downstairs while I collected my essentials from my ruined apartment in the bags that I'd been given on my way in.

Hair straighteners.

Clean clothes.

Toiletries.

My bass.

My make-up.

My phone charger.

And various other things which I may need until I could come back there.

The building was worse than I remembered, it’s a big place and took a long time to put out after the fire spread. The walls of the hallway my apartment was in are all streaked with black and charred, the carpets were ruined and most of the lights were shattered. Just the broken remains of what was.

I didn’t realise I was leaning sideways against one of the damaged walls in the hallway until I felt someone tap my shoulder.

“Hey, are you okay?” Andy whispered into my ear as he wrapped his long arms around me.

“I’m fine” I whispered into his collarbone, I'd never realised quite how tall he is compared to me before.

He leaned away from me, put his hands on my upper arms and looked at me.

“Ashley, you know you can stay with us as long as you need okay? I’m here for you, okay?”

“Okay, thanks Andy”

I lent in to wrap my arms around him again, already missing the contact.

Wait, did he say ‘us’? Does he have a roommate? Eh, I’ll ask him later, it’s not important right now, he probably just misspoke anyway.

At that moment, all I wanted to focus on was Andy’s arms around me.