Forelsket ~*~ [ FIVE HARGREEVES ]

Twenty-Eight

~*~

     Lucy's work wasn't all that it was shaped up to be. It was a second hand clothing store that she had to hand wash clothes since they couldn't afford a washer or dryer, and she also had to make sure there weren't any insects in pockets of jeans or in suitcases. Every so often she'd find a roach and levitate it to the trash, and other times she'd just give up and take her break. She'd been working there since she got to Dallas, seeing as she couldn't do much else stuck in her body and she didn't know how much longer she was going to be there. 

     She was having a normal work day, hanging clothes on the line out back to dry and then hang up inside. She turned and walked into to dress other mannequins, which was probably her least favorite job. She picked up a shirt for one, pulling off the mannequins arms and shoving a dress over the head. She was reattaching the arms when someone opened the door, making her look up. 

     "Oh, hey, Lucy," her manager said. "I thought you were supposed to be working on clothes, not mannequins." 

      "Yeah, they're drying right now so I figured I'd help out a little bit," she said, grabbing the legs and attaching those. She stood up the mannequin, motioning to it. "Ta-da." 

     "Amazing," her manager said. 

     "You know, I once had a friend who was obsessed with mannequins. He even thought he was dating one and named it Delores," Lucy said, placing the mannequin against the wall to be put out later. "But he is something of the past, thankfully." 

     "Great. Well, there's someone here to see you," her manager said. 

     "What?" Lucy asked. "No one see's me. Is it my sister?" 

     "Nope. Some kid. He wanted new shoes, too he's wearing bowling shoes right now," her manager said. Lucy stiffened up as her manager stared at her. 

     "What?" Lucy asked. 

     "I said there's a man looking for new shoes, could you go help him?" her manager repeated. Lucy stared at her, then nodded slightly. 

     "Yeah, sorry, I thought you said something about bowling shoes," Lucy said. She turned and walked out of the room to go help the man, shaking her body out as she didn't want to start hearing or seeing things again. She knew November around this time was weird because it's when Five left, but she figured it would go away since it hadn't happened yet. Alas, she's still hallucinating him. "Hello, sir. What can I help you with?" 

     "I'm just looking for some mens shoes about size nine," he said. 

     "Oh they'll be right over here," Lucy said, walking with him and pointing to the shoes. 

     "Great. You know Five right?" he asked. Lucy looked at him, furrowing her eyebrows. 

     "I beg your pardon?" she asked. 

    "Five Hargreeves," the man said. This sounded way too real. "He sent me to get you. He's trying to find the rest of your family." 

     "I... Have no idea who you're talking about," Lucy said, shaking her head at the man. "You've got the wrong person. I live with the Chestnuts. Excuse me." She turned and walked away from him, going to the back and then walking outside to take a deep breath. She checked the time and figured it was good to take a break right now since she was waiting for the clothes to dry anyways. 

~*~

     Lucy barely had time to go home that night to grab something to eat before heading to the Beauty Parlor. Allison had invited her for obvious reasons that she was her sister and didn't feel comfortable leaving her home alone. She knew Lucy could fend for herself, but it was also partially Ray's decision. She was walking up when she saw a white man standing in their door, foot half in with the door ajar. 

     "Did you just deliberately shut this door on my foot, boy?" the man asked. "That's assault." He shoved the door open, but Lucy grabbed his fist and twisted it around his body before kicking him towards the street. She picked his hat up from the ground, holding it out to him with a small smile. 

     "I believe you dropped this," she said, the man snatching it from her hand. 

     "I bet that felt good, didn't it?" he asked. 

     "I know something that'll make me feel even better," she said, cracking her knuckles. 

    "Lucy," Ray said, the girl turning to look at him. She sighed, looking at the man again. 

     "It's your lucky day," she said, beginning to back up towards the parlor. The man glared at her and walked away, Lucy turning and walking into the parlor. "Sorry, I just don't want you getting in trouble." 

    "It's fine. Take a seat in the back," he told her, Lucy walking through everyone and sitting in the back to read through the paper. The meeting continued on, Lucy every so often glancing up to listen after getting bored of reading. At one point she looked up, and she could swear she saw Five standing outside the windows. She sat up straight, watching as he waved. Someone crossed in front of the window and he was gone, Lucy blinking and looking down at the newspaper again.

     Once the meeting was over, Lucy stayed behind to help clean up before she, Allison, and Ray went home for the night. The car ride home was quiet, none of them really talking about Lucy's stunt from when she first arrived. She pulled up to the house, all of them going inside without a word. Lucy had completely forgotten about the man at the thrift store, and just said goodnight to Allison before going up to bed. 

     She got in her pajamas, crawling into bed and looking up at the ceiling. She rubbed her eyes and went to turn her lamp off when she saw a mirage of Five lying next to her in bed. 

     "You always were one to bottle up your emotions," the fake Five said, Lucy frowning slightly. She waved her hand and shut her door before settling into her bed. "You're really struggling right now. They can see it." 

     "You're not real," Lucy whispered, studying every feature of his face. "You're just my mind taking the form of Five to trick me into accepting my problems." 

     "Yeah, but you also miss me," the mirage said, Lucy nodding slightly. "Why did you ignore what that man said earlier at the thrift store?" Lucy glanced at the mirage, then turned on her back again. "What if he was telling the truth? What if I'm really here in 1963?" 

     "Then why wouldn't you come get me yourself?" Lucy asked, looking at the mirage. "If you really loved me, you would come get me yourself." 

     "You know how I am, Luce. I really could've been just looking for other family members," the mirage said, tilting its head at her. 

     "I wish I could believe that," Lucy said, biting down on her bottom lip. She stared at the mirage for a moment longer before it turned to look at her. "And I wish you were real." 

     "We all wish for something," the mirage responded. "Some more than others." Lucy brought up her hand, watching as it shook while she moved it towards the mirages face. "I'm not real, Lucy."

     "I know," she breathed out, her lips trembling now. Once she tried to touch it, it faded away to nothing. Lucy sighed out, her arm falling in defeat. She leaned over to the lamp and shut off the light to go to sleep.