Please register or login to continue

Register Login

Sincerely, Vintage (Part 7)
Sincerely, Vintage (Part 7)

Sincerely, Vintage (Part 7)

lyngbakr82๐•๐•ช๐•Ÿ๐•˜๐•“๐•’๐•œ๐•ฃ๐Ÿ ๐Ÿš
3 Reviews

Derrick

Knock knock knock.

โ€œHey, Hrida? Itโ€™s Derrick.โ€

Hrida rarely missed morning coffee. Tracey came in toting a stormcloud of energy with her. Vince got so lost in his tinkering he might as well have been on another planet. The clashing tempest of moods almost made Derrick dizzy. Heโ€™d gently picked the truth out of Tracey, bought her a coffee, then made straight for Hridaโ€™s apartment. Heโ€™d stopped at a shop window on the way there to make sure he looked presentable, and now he was here, standing across from that door with sweaty hands stuck casually in his pockets.

โ€œCome in,โ€ the faint answer drifted out from inside. Derrick took a deep breath then opened the door. Immediately, he caught a pleasant whiff of some scented candle. The apartment was minimally furnished with found objects tastefully arranged on the shelves and mismatched thrift store furniture. Hrida had taken all the couch cushions and placed them in a loose square on the floor. She sat in the middle of her handmade island, hands wrapped around a mug of tea. Derrick kicked off his shoes at the door then shuffled across the floor in his socks. Hrida looked up at him and smiled softly as he sat down.

โ€œWe missed you at coffee this morning.โ€ Derrick leaned back on his arms, smiling back at her.

โ€œYeah, sorry โ€˜bout that. I slept in a bit.โ€ She took a sip of her tea.

โ€œThatโ€™s okay.โ€ The two of them sat in silence for a little bit before he could get his words together. โ€œUmโ€ฆTracey told me about what happened, yโ€™know, last night.โ€

Some of the color left Hridaโ€™s face.

โ€œOh.โ€

Derrick could feel her energy starting to shift, swirling itself into a hurricane. She gently tightened her grip on the mug and recrossed her legs.

โ€œDโ€™you wanna talk about it?โ€

Hrida set her cup down on the floor and pulled her knees up to her chest. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in.

โ€œI donโ€™t know.โ€ Her forehead scrunched up like she was wrestling with something in her head, and then she kept going. โ€œEverything was fine until it just wasnโ€™t. Tracey and I went out to dinner, and we were talking, laughing on the way home until the monster came out of nowhere. I wish Iโ€™d been able to do something, but my body froze. Locked up. I couldnโ€™t have moved even if I wanted to. And Tracey,โ€ Hrida laughed, shaking her head at the memory. โ€œYou shouldโ€™ve seen that thing, but Tracey stood right up to it like it was only some bully. She told me to go hide, so I didnโ€™t see much of the fight, but I heard it.โ€ She hugged herself tighter. โ€œI never want to hear anything like that ever again.โ€

Before Derrick knew what he was doing, he moved closer and put an arm around Hridaโ€™s shoulders. He didnโ€™t have anything to say, so he held her, his head resting on top of hers. He felt her tense up at the unexpected contact. Her energy still swirled, confused and conflicted, but after a moment, it calmed, morphing into one color.

Throughout his life, Derrick had learned which colors of energy matched up to which emotions. Yellow meant happiness, black meant anger, or red meant passion. For anything in between, the colors all swirled together, but Hridaโ€™s energy was resolutely lavender, the color of peace.

She leaned into his side, shaking slightly, and he realized she was crying. He wrapped both arms around her, bowing his head to share in her pain.

โ€œIโ€™ve got you.โ€

So quickly he thought heโ€™d imagined it, a sunburst of pink came to the surface, then vanished into the sea of purple. When Hrida finally spoke again, her voice shook.

โ€œThank you.โ€ She gently pulled away. He let her sit up and wipe the tears from her face.

โ€œWant another cup of tea? Yours has gone cold.โ€

โ€œPlease.โ€ Even though she had leftover tears on her face, Derrick still thought she looked beautiful as she smiled. He smiled back at her, picking up her mug and heading to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, he returned, carefully balancing a tray with a kettle of hot water and several packets of tea.

โ€œI didnโ€™t know which one you wanted, so I grabbed a handful.โ€ He placed the tray in front of Hrida, then sat down next to her again.

โ€œThis is perfect.โ€ She looked down at the tray, then back at him. โ€œYโ€™know, I canโ€™t remember the last time someoneโ€™s done something like this for me.โ€

โ€œWell,โ€ Derrick shrugged. โ€œIf it makes you happy, Iโ€™m glad to do it.โ€

Afterward, he couldnโ€™t remember how long the two of them sat there together, going back and forth between silence and making quiet conversation, but for once, everything felt a bit closer to okay.

Author Notes: Yay :D

Recommend Reviews (3) Write a ReviewReport

Share Tweet Pin Reddit
About The Author
lyngbakr82
๐•๐•ช๐•Ÿ๐•˜๐•“๐•’๐•œ๐•ฃ๐Ÿ ๐Ÿš
About This Story
Audience
All
Posted
7 Mar, 2022
Words
813
Read Time
4 mins
Favorites
1 (View)
Recommend's
1 (View)
Rating
5.0 (3 reviews)
Views
985

Please login or register to report this story.

More Stories

Please login or register to review this story.