Lovely Hues | Fillie AU

Chapter Ten

Walking into his room at the motel, Finn was greeted by the dingy smell of his used laundry in a sprawling pile by the door. Old sweat and dirt mixed into an unpleasant aroma that he wrinkled his nose at. He hoisted the pile of dirty clothes onto his bed and began emptying the pockets like his mother always reminded him to, and set the bits of change and trash on the side table.

He wasn't sure how to feel about. . .well about anything right now and the mindless sorting was supposed to help. Ever since he ran into Millie in the street yesterday, he'd felt like his mind was a well of discombobulation. His chest was overflowing with a blending of emotions; confusion, hope, fear and anger and an uncomfortable sensation of wanting something he couldn't have. It felt like his life had turned into a string of events that was coiling into knots and scrunching together into one big tangle, blurring the lines of what he needed to do and what he wanted to do.

What he had set out to do on January first was a clear need, though. And while his resolve on that had been refreshed, thanks to his brother's well timed note, he still somehow felt himself being thrown off-course whenever Millie's face entered his mind.

Her smooth skin. Her bright brown eyes that beamed at him with every smile. The way her face lit up when she looked at her three children that Finn thought all bore a striking resemblance to their mother. Her long, wavy, brunette hair that shone with red, coppery hues when the sun hit it just right. And when a breeze swept past, it made her hair billow like beautiful ribbons and sent floral essences careening into his nostrils that awoke a part of his mind he didn't know was still there. A part that he thought his ex-wife Olivia had extinguished like a flame. He never thought it could be lit again.

But apparently that wasn't true. His heart was capable of beating for someone besides himself. But for God's sake, why did it have to be someone that was already married with children?

He finished sorting through his laundry then threw it all into a burlap sack and began making his way to the shop downtown where he could pay someone to wash his clothes. If he was going to be stuck here for who knows how much longer, he was going to need clean clothes.

At least he had next weekend to look forward to. Although if he was being honest with himself, he was also dreading it. He knew how he was starting to think about Millie and he knew she was married to Charlie, yet for some reason, he kept trying to think up ways to see her. And that spur of the moment invite for ice cream next week was one of them.

Millie told him that there was a chance Charlie would have work and Finn was more than hoping that would be the case. It felt wrong to hope that though. What exactly was he trying to accomplish?

After dropping off his clothes with the launderer, he hoofed it back to the motel, straight into the main office because that's where the closest phone was that was free for him to use and he needed to call his brother to address the letter.

He nodded to the red-headed Sadie behind the front desk and proceeded to the small office that had a placard on the door declaring it the Telephone Room.

It was a small, narrow, slightly stuffy space with a large rectangular window cracked ajar for air flow in from outside where it was still a comfortable seventy degrees on this late September afternoon. A small oak desk and chair were at the end of the room, and the black rotary phone rested on top next to a pad of yellow paper and a number two pencil.

Finn sat in the light wood chair and tapped his foot a few times, getting up the nerve to dial the phone. The call was free to him, but not to the motel who offered phone services sans charges to any customer staying longer than one week. This deal probably worked out well for the small business most of the time but this call was long-distance and so Finn was feeling the pressure to make sure it was worth it.