ARAWN
Thank you for the flowers.
I laugh at my own simping as I knock on the door. “Danny, open up!”
He doesn’t respond, and I knock against it once more.
“Come on! Open this door.”
Turning at the door handle, I click my tongue. “You surely don’t want Amber to have a broken door, don’t you?”
This bait works, as I hear a low click, and can finally open the door fully.
Disclosing a teenager sulking while sitting on a small couch, I nearly have to laugh but I keep it in.
I urgently need to leave here.
“Danny! What are you doing?” I ask him as I close the door behind me.
The room is a small library mixed with an office space. It is cozy, even if it fits the sterile style of Nerthus’ taste in interior design.
Sitting down in an office chair, I roll to sit next to Danny. “Are you still feeling unwell?”
He shakes his head, still avoiding my gaze.
“How much did you drink last night?”
I get another non-verbal answer as he shrugs.
“Danny!” I lean forward, propping my elbows on my knees. “Were you partying with Marcus?”
He nods and finally looks at me, his eyes filled with tears. “He isn’t what you say. He is a good friend.”
“He isn’t, Danny. And the earlier you understand this, the better it will be.”
“He is my friend!” He whispers, and I sigh.
I look to the door, straightening my spine up as I look back at Danny. “I know that you are going through a rough time. And even if that doesn’t help you, we have all been there, but you are not alone. Promise me that you will call Amber or me the next time you plan something stupid. Someone will pick up the phone and pick you up from wherever you are. You don’t have to put yourself through dangerous situations if you don’t want to. This isn’t as cool as you guys think it is.”
“Nobody says cool anymore. It’s so millennial.” He scrunches up his nose, making me laugh.
“I don’t care, Danny. I guess I have shot enough people to be entitled to use every word I want to.” I grin at him and finally get him to chuckle. “Drugs are an evil path someone can take. And if you don’t want to talk with me about it, talk it out with her. Okay?”
He nods, wiping away one of his tears. “At least I can tell everyone how we have something in common.”
“Having an irresponsible mother is not a flex, Danny.” I watch him lower his head, sniffing. “But you can tell everyone that we have a lot in common. Not just that.”
He beams back up at me, and I ruffle his hair, making him groan.
Watching him combing his hair back as it was stubbornly, my heart breaks a little at his reddened eyes, and his sad demeanor. Thinking about the fact that I’m slowly losing my mind anyway, I can at least make him feel better about a few days in his week.
Something, unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance to have.
“What about I call Bernard to postpone my business deal, and we go to the Arcade with Amber?” I sigh, and he looks at me wide-eyed.
“Won’t they be angry?” He asks preoccupied, making me shrug.
“What are they going to do? Fire me? Come on.” Tapping his shoulder, I get him to stand up.
He gasps as we are about to leave the room, making me turn back at him. “But Amber has to work.”
“Don’t worry, Danny. I will have that covered too.” I chuckle, opening the door for him to walk past me.
We walk back to the kitchen, finding Nerthus about to dry some glasses that I suppose didn’t go into the dishwasher.
I clear my throat, as Danny is already telling her about our afternoon plans, causing her to look at me mistrustful. Even if the last days I tried to convince myself once again that it had to be some strange and surely fleeting kind of desire I had for her, I can’t get over how beautiful she is.
Danny runs back to collect his things and into the bathroom, as Nerthus steps closer to me, shaking her head. “I told you that I have to work. What are you promising him?”
“I will take care of that. Let’s cheer him up a bit.” I lean in as she lifts her finger, stopping me from coming closer.
“First, you will have to tell me how you are going to take care of that. And then, we will decide.”
I nod, my smirk stretching on my face uncontrollably.
“Sure,” I say, making her scoff. “Whatever you want.”
Never had I ever had to decide something together with someone.
“Stop grinning like that. I know that you don’t take me seriously.” She crosses her arms over her chest, pouting slightly.
Just as I’m about to retort something, Danny reappears behind me. “Oh! How about we go to Coney Island after the Arcade?”
“Coney Island? Are you serious?” I groan, but as I lay my eyes on Nerthus, my heart skips a beat.
Her face wears an expression that I have never seen before. “Coney Island?” she asks in a whisper.
“Yeah,” Danny says, throwing his bag onto the counter of the kitchen island. “Do you like it?”
Nerthus shakes her head as if to free herself from a trance and clears her voice. “I don’t know… I have never been there.”
“What do you mean? There is no way you have never been there,” Danny asks taken aback.
I laugh, now understanding why she looked like a little girl in a candy store for a moment, making her gasp. “Don’t laugh at me.”
She hits my arm with a playful slap as she turns to Danny, acting like the place is not worthy of her. “It’s something you go to with your family or your teenage boyfriend. It’s something for children.”
“Oh, we are so going to Coney Island after the Arcade,” I say between laughter, causing her to stare at me agape.
“Yes!” Danny boxes the air next to me while I watch Nerthus trying to hide the sparkling in her eyes.
“Okay, but you are going to pay for the tickets and the cotton candy.” She says as she walks past us to reach her bedroom. “Because these things are hella expensive.”
Of course, sweetheart.