A gentleman and a lady

Unraveling

I woke with a start to a massive thunderclap. I sat up in bed, heart pounding, before I realized that it was just the weather outside. I looked at the clock, seeing 12:00 blinking rapidly. Ah, there must've been a power outage.

I picked up my watch on the bedside table to set my clock to the correct time - 9:15AM - before leaving to the kitchen. I poured myself my daily cup of coffee, dropping in two spoonfuls of sugar, and then returning to my bedroom window.

The rain had poured so hard for so long that there was about an inch of standing water all around. The small green buds underneath my window sill had bent slightly, but still stood strong and resilient against the environment. I thought of those flowers as part of myself. They're getting better, and so am I.

A sudden urge took over, and before I knew it I was in the living room donning a rain poncho and boots. I walked outside, immediately feeling the chill of the rain all the way to my soul, and jumped in a puddle.

I had gone to therapy for a while before taking over Cavill Properties and I remembered telling the therapist about my fathers death. It was so sudden, he never even knew he was sick. No one knew he was sick. I remembered the therapist asking me why I seemed more upset about inheriting the company than I did about my father passing. I wasn't really allowed to do anything. I didn't even want the company to begin with. I just wanted to be a normal person with a normal life - I could never do that around my father. He expected me to be more - to do more. I reckon I was always stressed out. I sighed, realizing that I was healing from that more than anything else. He told me that I needed to "heal my inner child" to come to terms with myself. And here I was, doing just that, finally.

Finally.

The chill in the air finally reached my bones, and I immediately went inside, kicking off the boots, throwing the poncho on the kitchen floor, hurrying to the bathtub to submerge myself in warmth.

I lit the cherry blossom candle, sinking into the bathtub for what seemed like ages. I should swim more often, I told myself. I moved my arms gently under the water, allowing it to move around me as well as through me. Eventually, I got out of the tub and realized it was already 3PM.

After a quick lunch of peanut butter and jelly, I sat in front of the tv and decided I would watch some old cartoons. I laughed at all the dirty jokes they had hidden in child-friendly dialogue. I felt alive. I feel alive.

I started sinking into the couch, watching television and letting time slip away. It had been the laziest Saturday of my entire life. I didn't spare a single thought to any of my problems.

Finally, I picked up my phone at 7PM and sent a text to Arnold.

Hey Arnold! I'm feeling much better than I have in a long time - I look forward to seeing you at work on Monday morning!

I set my phone back down without waiting for his response. I went to the kitchen and decided to try my hand at cooking, but remembered fairly quickly why I didn't cook much. My pasta water bubbled over, spilling all over the stove, and I burned my sauce while cleaning up the boiled water. I sighed, still feeling content but also slightly annoyed, before throwing a cup of noodles into the microwave. Maybe I'll take a cooking lesson next weekend.

Just then, there was a pounding on my door. I jumped, thinking it might have been the thunder, but it came again. I slowly walked towards the door, not daring to look through the eye hole, when the knock came again, this time louder and more persistent than ever. I opened the door and felt my stomach drop.

There on my door step, drenched head to toe with rain, was Evelyn.

"Henry," she cried. I immediately grabbed her and pulled her inside.