Wish I Could Catch a Breeze // Albert DaSilva

Chapter Nine

Gretchen hummed happily to herself as she walked home from the flower shop. She had been in a good mood ever since Albert asked her to be his girlfriend. She visited him every day, like normal, but it wasn't enough for either of them. She had found a way home that went close by Albert's spot. They usually talked a bit before they parted, promising to see each other tomorrow.

"Al!" Gretchen called when she spotted him walking in her direction. He turned when he heard her voice, and both of them smiled brilliantly.

"Gretchen!" He called back. When they met each other, they hugged quickly. "How was your day at work?"

Gretchen shrugged. "Boring, like normal. The best part was when I came to see you." Albert smiled wider at her words. "But the rest of it was boring, too."

"Maybe you should get a more excitin' job," Albert suggested, and Gretchen laughed softly.

"I think it's a little too late for that. But enough about me," Gretchen said with a wave of her hand. "How was your day?"

"Also boring," Albert said. "But today, I didn't hafta run from anybody. Which is rare."

"Why do you have to run from people?"

"Ya know how we kinda...expand the truth about the headlines?" In response to his question, Gretchen nodded. "Well, some people don't like that. An' they come afta us, demandin' their money back. So we run," he explained.

"Does that ever get tiring?" Gretchen questioned.

Albert nodded. "The whole job gets tirin'. Very quickly. I can't wait to get dif'rent one." With a sigh and a shrug, he continued, "But I don't really gotta 'nother option."

"Maybe you could come visit me at work sometime. That'll make your days a little less boring, I think," Gretchen offered.

"I'd love to, but I dunno if I have the time. I'll try." Albert offered her a small smile.

Gretchen returned it. "I should get going. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. See ya tomorrow." Albert kissed her cheek lightly and smiled before continuing back to the lodging house.

Gretchen kept walking, going back to her humming. Before she could open the door to the apartment building, Alida and Sarah flew out. Gretchen jumped back, startled. "You almost hit me with the door!"

"Sorry," Alida said hurriedly. "We needed to ask what happened when you went to talk to-"

"You never told us what happened with Albert!" Sarah exclaimed, interrupting Alida. "We haven't had the chance to talk about it!"
"Yeah, so what did he say?" Alida asked excitedly.

Gretchen smiled and began to recount the story. She told the girls how Albert literally ran into her, and then pulled her along with him. How they finally stopped, and he explained to her what he was running from. How he kissed her when the Delanceys ran by. Her friends squealed at that.

"That's such a cute story!" Sarah grinned, and Alida nodded in agreement.

"I'm not done yet," Gretchen said. That shut her friends up quickly, since they were eager to hear every detail. She continued her story and told them how Albert had apologized for kissing her, but then she kissed him again. And how he officially asked her to be his girl on the way home.

"He what?" Alida asked once Gretchen had finished her story. "So are you two official now?"

"Mhm," Gretchen hummed. "Yeah, we are. And I-"

"This is so exciting!" Alida shouted loudly, perhaps too loud. "Isn't it, Sarah?"

Sarah nodded, excited but considerably less expressive than Alida. "It's very exciting. But if he breaks your heart, I'll break his face." She pounded her fist into her other palm to add to her sentence.

"Yeah!" Alida chimed in, doing her best to look intimidating.

Gretchen laughed softly. "Thank you. But he won't break my heart, don't worry. We'll be just fine. Anyway, I need to get inside, my mother is probably wondering where I am." Her friends let her inside and followed her to her door, chattering happily about this new development in Gretchen's love life.

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updates will probably come sooner now that I'm home for the summer!! maybe not every day (like they were last summer), but they won't be as far in between!
thank you for reading! :)