Be Your Everything

I roll over in bed and open my eyes to the bright sunlight coming in through the window. It was so bright practically blinding me. I let out a tired groan as I pull the dark duvet covers to shield to block the protruding sunlight. What time is it anyway? I think to myself as I lie there in my super comfortable bed.

I slowly sit up and reach over to the bedside table to grab my phone. After a few minutes of roaming my hand around the table, I decide to get up and check my bag. I was sure it was in there since I didn’t bother to check it after I arrived because I didn’t feel like I had to. I’m sure I only had a message or two. After I get hold of my phone, I checked the time to find it was early, about eight-thirty in the morning. That is when I noticed I barely had a signal–it kept going up to four bars then I would be back at one. I go to my messages to see if I had received any. There was a message from my mom who was asking how my flight went.

I send her a reply telling her it went fine. She knew about my wanting to come here for quite a while. Ever since I can remember, I’ve always wanted to travel here to England, well London, but ended up here in Wolverhampton. It seemed like a nice little town. Today, I was actually going to go explore a bit and see what this town had to offer.

I set my phone down on the counter so I could look for my charger. After I pull my charger from the bag, I plug it in the wall before I plug the other part into the port on my iPhone that was close to dying at 5%. I set my phone down on the counter before I decide to go and get myself ready to go out. I head back into my room and walk straight over to the closet so I could find something suitable to wear for the day.

I decide on some skinny jeans and a black v-neck t-shirt to wear along with my favorite pair of Vans sneakers. I gather up my clothes before heading off to the bathroom so I could freshen up and take a shower since it’s been a few days since I could bathe under hot water. I finish up in the shower a good twenty minutes later. My hair smelled a mix of strawberries and peaches, which smelled great. I felt clean and refreshed, especially after yesterday since I had to spend practically all day in the airport and another 9 or 10 hours on an airplane to here.

I manage to get my hair as dry as I could with my blow-dryer, which was barely working at all – the diffuser wasn’t even working properly – and stopped working half way through. Time to get a new one… I think to myself as I pull it up into a bun to keep it out of my face after I towel dried it. My teeth were brushed and clean. I smelled good, a mixture of strawberries, peaches and Secret deodorant that smelled like berries.

I slip on some socks before I put on my Vans. I grab my Vera Bradley over the shoulder bag and put it over my head so it was resting across my chest on my shoulder. I was finally ready and felt good to be going out to see what there was to do here. I head out of my room and make my way in the front room where I was charging my phone.

I pull it off the charger and drop it into my bag. Once I put my phone in the front pocket of my purse, I grab my keys off the counter and loop my finger through the key ring before I head to the door. I pull the door open before I step out and close it once I walk out. After I lock the door, I begin to walk down the small pathway that led to the front of the house.

As I stand there, looking to the left or right of me contemplating on which way to go, I am soon pulled from my thoughts hearing a voice.

“Hi there, love,” I turn to my left to find a blonde woman standing there. She looked around my mom’s age. I mutter back a “hello” to be nice. I slowly move a bit closer to where she stood in the driveway beside mine. She seemed like a nice happy older woman.

“Welcome to the neighborhood, I’m Karen,” she says with a kind smile.

“Thanks,” I reply with a small smile. “I’m Delaney,” I tell her. She nods and returns a smile.

“Do you, um, happen to know the closest way to town so I can get a few things to fix up my new place?” I ask, looking at her.

She gives me a slight nod as she looks back at me. “I was actually heading that way, I could give you a lift if you’d like, it’s not very far from here, actually,” she replies pointing to the white car she was standing beside. I give her a slight nod in response.

“Thank you,” I tell her as i pull open the passenger side door and she gets into the driver’s side. I was still getting used to the fact that here in England; the steering wheel is on the opposite side than how it is back in the States. That sure is one thing I’ll definitely have to get used to. I shut the door and buckle my seat belt.

“No need to keep thanking me, it’s no problem at all, love,” she tells me as she pulls out of the driveway. We are soon on our way. She begins to ask me some questions as we drive, like why I chose here and things. To be polite, I simply told her I wanted a change of where I was before, which was the truth. She replies telling me that it sure is and that there are hardly ever new residents.

In return for her asking some questions about me and where I was from, I asked some about her. She told me about her family and her husband. A few times, actually, she mentioned some kid named Liam, who I was sure had to be her son. I didn’t want to sound too nosy like I was prying her with questions. She said he was really busy and is coming home pretty soon, whatever she meant by that. As she talked about him, she laughed about some fond memories of him including a few sad ones in which she got teary eyed.

As she spoke about Liam, her son, whoever he was, I couldn’t help but think of what he looked like. My mind began to drift off with many thoughts of what he looked like, whoever he was. Did he have blond hair like her and dark eyes and a light complexion? Dark hair with dark eyes and a tan complexion? Liam, I liked that name. It was cute. I wondered if I’ll ever get to meet him. He sounded cute by the way Karen talked about him.

I glance up to see we were just pulling into town. There were some businesses like a few stores, a grocery store, and restaurants, even a coffee shop with a Help Wanted sign in the window. It had a cute name to it, Java Jacks Café, which had a nice ring to it. I wondered if I could go get an application and see what that would do. I hope Karen wouldn’t mind me going to get one once we’re done. We soon pull into a spot in the lot of the grocery store.

After parking, we head inside. We talk about a bunch of things as I get things for my new humble aboad, like food and some other things. Somehow, I had managed to fill the cart with a bunch of things, all kinds of foods from Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese to Chicken tenders. I even got some necessities like soap and toiletries I needed that were very essential.

By the time I got to the cash register, I had paid for my items, which I surprisingly had enough British Pounds for I exchanged back at the Airport yesterday after I had arrived. All of my things were now in bags in the cart, while I wait for Karen to finish paying for her items she needed to get.

“Nice to see you again, Mrs. Payne, send Liam a hello for me,” the guy behind the counter, John, told Karen with a smile that graced his lips. She tells him she gladly will. I smile a bit. I wondered where he was exactly, off at school, most likely since it’s the most logical explanation, especially since he’s supposedly been gone for a while, and is coming home for a break soon.

It takes us a good twenty minutes or so, to place everything into the car from the cart. I look over at her.

“You wouldn’t mind if on the way back, we stopped at that little coffee shop over there, would you? I want to get an application, because I saw the help wanted sign,” I ask, looking at her and point to the coffee shop across the way. She shakes her head.

“Not at all, dear, not at all,” she tells me with a kind smile. I nod and thank her.

“Get in, I’ll drive you over there,” she says and shuts the trunk of her car. I climb in the passenger seat while she gets in on the driver’s side. After she starts up the car, we are soon on our way to the little coffee shop. I nod my head and smile.

“They sell great tea here, Liam comes here all of the time when he’s home,” she replies with a small smile.

“Now, you go in and get you your application,” she says staring at me. I just nod and climb out of the front seat. I put my bag over my shoulder as I head up to the door of the place. I pull the door open and step inside, the bell chiming as I walk in. The place was somewhat busy with a few people sitting at the tables. There wasn’t anyone in line so I went straight up to the front.

“Hey there, welcome to Java Jacks! What can I get for you today, love?” a dark haired girl with green eyes asks smiling at me. I read her nametag, which read Piper, which was a cute name. I nod my head. She looks at me, an eyebrow cocked a bit and her head tilted in confusion.

“Are you guys hiring? I saw a Help Wanted sign outside, I could really use it, I’m new here,” I tell her. She gives me a nod and holds up her forefinger telling me to wait one moment. I just nod and drum my fingers lightly on the counter while I wait.

“Here you go, just fill that out and bring it back whenever you finish, ask for the manager, Wendy Thurgood,” she replies with a smile and hands me the application. I take it from her hands and thank her before going back out to where Karen was waiting for me. I hold onto the packet I had to fill out. It seemed like a study guide for college or something.

On the drive back, we talk amongst ourselves. Next thing I know, we are back home, in her driveway of course. I undo my seatbelt and slip out of the car, my bag on my shoulder. I kept the application as nice as I could without getting it dirty or bent.

“You need help with these, sweetie? This is quite a lot, I’d be more than honored to help you,” Karen tells me, her voice persistent on helping.

“Sure, I don’t think there’s a way I could get this all on my own, thank you, by the way, it means a lot,” I thank her. All she does is nod and helps me take my bags over to my house. Thankfully I lived right next door so it wasn’t too big of a hassle. It takes both of us a good twenty to twenty-five minutes to get all of my bags situated in my place.

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Payne,” I tell her again with a smile as I stood by the door. She stood on my porch.

“It’s no problem, Delaney, and its Karen, call me Karen, love,” she tells me with a smile.

She even asks me if I’d like to come over for dinner some time. I tell her I would love to. I was glad I met her, my neighbor, who was kind enough, more than kind to drive me into town so I could get things for my new place. I had no idea British people were this generous and kind. I tell her I’d see her soon and wave before I shut the door locking it tight and putting all of my things away I had bought from the store. It took me a while, but I managed to put it all in the places they belonged.

Later that night, I passed out tired from the long day I had. I haven’t had a day like this in quite a while. I even managed to fill out the application for Java Jacks Café, which I could hopefully turn in the next day.