A Town Called Friendship

People say "I'm taking it one day at a time." but you know what?

So is everybody. That's how time works.

But so was not the case with the waitress that stood in front of me. She seemed to be taking things incredibly fast and that did not help calm my nerves at all as I hesitantly took my seat.

After minutes of constant pacing, she was eventually called to the back door leaving me wondering how bad her day was going and trust me, I could totally relate with her.

Ever since my former workplace shut down due to unexplained reasons, I had been out job hunting to get some money to save up for my one year master’s degree which was in two months' time.

Stupid decision but I had no choice, I was going broke.

My thoughts were brought to a halt as a bubbly teenager came out to attend to me "Welcome to Chestnut's Place, how may I help you today?" she asked politely as I looked skeptically at her.

Damn, I hate enthusiastic people.

I've searched every nook and cranny for a part-time job but it always yielded a negative response. So, I really hoped this would work.

"Ahem," she coughed, my attention now focused on her.

"Ah yes! I saw your flyers right outside and I wanted to find out if you were hiring; temporarily of course" I outlined my lips into a thin line.

"Ooh, well my boss is supposed to interview you but he's absent and the thing is, we really need long term hands" she looked apologetically exacting a pang in my chest.

"Well, that's fine" I mumbled then walked out without thanking the girl.

Stupid habit of mine.

But that didn’t matter as I realized that, that was my last hope and it sucked pretty bad.

It had always been a dream of mine to further my education in town, to be around my parents and the rest of my family and this was primarily because I was had no friends and I equally despised the thought of making friends or meeting new people in general.

My parents always assumed it was normal for me to be that way and as a little girl I believed them mainly because dad was a doctor and was prone to know those kinds of things, or so I thought.

But growing up, it just felt weird except I didn't care.

Your first impression of me: A butter that wouldn't melt. Hence, a lot of people found it very difficult to get under my skin, but not that I was bothered about it.

It was also the same for dance school. Yeah sometimes I had to talk to them for specific things, but they weren't qualified for friendship. Heck, no one qualified for my friendship.

But four years ago, I made the decision to study far away from the town.

I applied for numerous schools and I got a scholarship from the best and the farthest college from home in Canada. It wasn't exactly far away, but it was something.

Not knowing where else to go, I sat on the bench next to the park as I watched people pass by with their children, smiles on their faces which unintentionally brought a frown to mine.

Sometimes I wondered what made them smile so much.

Shaking off the unsettling feeling in my body, I picked up my phone to call Carlton, my cousin and the only one who saw something good in me, at least that's what he said, in hopes of making me feel better.

I waited patiently as it rang, knowing that he wasn't one to answer calls on time for some reason.

He finally answered as I was about to give up "WREN! WHAT'S UP, HOW WAS THE JOB HUNTING?" he screamed due to the excessive amount of noise that came from his background.

"WHERE ARE YOU! IT'S EXTREMELY LOUD IN THERE" I shouted back because it was kind of hard not to, especially with that noise but it didn’t go without earning a few stares from passersby.

What? It's not my fault I'm related to a party animal who decided going for a party at three in the afternoon is ideal.

"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU" he screamed before I took the liberty of hanging up, the conversation was not going to get anywhere at that rate. I just texted him to have him call me whenever he had the chance to.

I continued enjoying the evening breeze before it dawned on me that I had to pick up my sister, Abby from her daycare.

I walked to my car, started up the engine and drove off.

Abby, my four-year-old sister was the only restraining force that kept me from going away as early as I could but a part of me just needed a reason to take her along with me, no matter how difficult it might be for me.

I walked up to the door then knocked on it and it was immediately opened by Mrs. Johnson, the owner of the daycare.

"Hey Mrs. J, I'm here to pick Abby" I greeted with a tight-lipped smile.

She looked at me in a confused manner "Uh, your mother didn't drop off Abby so I just assumed you were staying home today"

Almost immediately, I took a deep breath to try not to overthink things "Okay that's fine, maybe she's with my mother" I nodded in greeting then walked briskly to the car.

That woman is going to be the death of me. Why didn't she send her assistant to drop her off? I hope she took care of Abby in her workplace. I thought to myself as I drove off.

Definitely exceeding the speed limit, I got home in a solid five minutes.

I used my keys to unlock the door but to my surprise, the doors were unlocked. Strange. She always made sure that her good-for-nothing personal assistant locked up the door to keep her 'valuables' safe.

I called out for my mother. Nothing. Oh, who am I kidding, she's never back this early. I began to ascend the stairs as I hear faint shuffling sounds.

The inquisitive side of me came out as I took it as an opportunity to trace the sound, only to find it coming from my room.

I scrunch my face in question.

Without much thought, I opened the door to reveal a tear-stained Abby on the floor with empty packets of my secret stash of junk.

Great! There goes my junk.

Every feeling of panic and fear was replaced by that of confusion.

"Hey Abby it's okay it's okay, I'm here I'm here" I consoled her as she sniffled.

After cleaning her up, I went over to go close the curtains when I heard her stomach grumble.

"Have you eaten?" I wanted to ask but hesitated, seeing as she finished my stash then continued "Like real food today?" and she shook her shyly "No".

Oh God, let it not be what I'm thinking.

We got to the kitchen and I headed straight for the fridge, not before turning just in time for me to notice that Abby's bag was still in the same position I left it in the morning.

Warming some leftover lasagna for her I turned to ask her "Where's mum?"

"I don't know. Haven't seen her" was her reply.

"Um, did you go out today?" I ask her slowly, not wanting to overwhelm her and she replied "Nope".

That was when it hit me.

She left Abby in the house all day.

I swear I heard a vein pop in my head.