For what felt the the millionth time that day, Baker complained to himself about his current situation. He was stuck down at Rainbow river, washing his clothes along with many other residents of the city. Some he recognized from the lobby of the Victorian, but most were just faces in the crowd.
The water situation in the city had become worse over the days following the disappearance of the mayor. It was almost as if he knew the problem was unfixable, so he left while he still could. What a good leader he is, leaving us all to fend for ourselves. With the lack of water becoming more and more of a pressing issue, many of the restaurants and businesses throughout the city were closed down, waiting for water prices to fall so they could resume business. This included Empire offices, but Baker wasn't that concerned. He'd saved up a little bit of money incase of an emergency like this, and as the city's previous power outage showed, anything could happen, so it was good to be prepared.
However, with this opening in his schedule, Baker was finding it hard to keep himself occupied. Usually, he worked all day, but now without this, he didn't have anything to do, and loneliness began to mount on his shoulders. Looking around at all of the other people near him, he felt like there wasn't anything he could do to start a conversation, as the common theme was how irritating the water problem was.
Sighing as he rose with his washed clothes, Baker began to walk back towards the Victorian. Unbeknownst to him, he was dropping a few of his clothes as he went down Simone Boulevard.
"Excuse me sir!!"
Turning around, Baker saw a dog and a woman chasing after him, the dog holding his socks in its mouth and the woman holding a couple of his Shirts.
"I believe you dropped these while you were walking" the woman said.
'Oh, thank you. I didn't even realize. I'm Baker by the way"
"Rory. Nice to meet you. And this right here is Peter" she said while patting her dog on the head.
"Well, thank both of you for giving these back to me. I was just heading back to the Victorian"
"Oh really me too! Let's walk together." Rory replied.
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ReplyDeleteRory never interacted much with the other tenants. Every time she walks through the lobby of Tte Victorian she keeps her head and eyes angled toward the ground. She and Peter decided to go for a walk that morning. Rory knew about the water crisis, of course, but she wasn’t worried. She always kept cases of water stacked next to her cot as a makeshift nightstand. Even more cases were stored by the fridge.
ReplyDeleteRory and Peter walked to Howell Park. She figured since it was early in the day she wouldn’t run into many people. Especially ones from the Victorian. She knew they’d attempt to carry on a conversation. On their way home, Rory spotted a trail of clothes lining Simone Boulevard. She and Peter collected the clothing. When Rory looked up grabbing a shirt, she realized she knew the man up ahead dropping his clothes. She’d noticed him a few times in the lobby but didn’t know his name. Rory weighed the consequences of taking him his clothes. A conversation. Despite her introversion, she decided to chase down the man, Peter running alongside with a sock hanging out his mouth.
As she expected, she and the man ended up having a conversation and she even offered to walk back to the Victorian together.
“What was I thinking?” Rory whispered to Peter.
“Huh,” Baker said.
Rory was a bit startled, almost forgetting that another person had been walking with her. She just told him that she was reassuring Peter that they’d be home soon. He bought it.
“So, why don’t I see you around the building often?” Baker asked as they approached the entrance of the Victorian.
Rory hadn’t been looking at man. Eye contact freaked her out. But today was the day she actually initiated a conversation with someone and offered to walk home with them. Rory looked up and responded.
“Peter and I usually keep to ourselves. In a town like this, you never know who someone truly is.”
Rory hadn’t planned to say that last line. She only thought it until it was out of her mouth for Baker to hear. She couldn’t decide whether she meant it as not knowing the people around her or really not know herself. Baker nodded at the statement and waited to make sure Rory had finished sorting out some internal conflict. He could tell by the look on her face.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you and Peter around. Thanks again for my clothes.”
Baker patted Peter on the head and turned to the elevator. Rory knew she’d see him again, just not if she would speak. Baker, on the other hand, made it his goal to figure Rory out.