Eleanor and Park, Continued

Park

Just another basic summer day. Got up, had breakfast, drove the Impala to work. 

Oh, the memories in this car.  I hadn't exactly stopped trying to bring her back, I'll never stop. 

Every day on my way to work, I used to drive by Eleanor's old house. Hoping, that I would see a little red-headed child at the very least. 

God, was that a dumb idea. 

It just made me miss her that much more. I stopped doing it about a month ago, because I could no longer stand it.  Remembering her. Her red hair, her curls, her freckles, Her. 

I pulled the Impala up in front of Drastic Plastic, just in time for work to start.

I waltzed into my dream job with confidence,  just like every other morning.

 "Hey Park," came a voice from the back.

"Yes?" He answered, walking through the "EMPLOYEES ONLY" door. 

 Cat stood in the middle of the crowded room, with a large stack of records in her arms. 

"Could you help me with this?" She giggled.

Cat is my sorta girlfriend. No one really knows we're dating, except the other store employees.  And we never really made it official, none of that corny "Please be my girlfriend Cat" stuff.

 "Yea, yea of course!" I rushed over to her, taking half the stack of tattered records out of her arms.

 "Where do these go?" I inquired. 

"Oh, you can just put them on the ground." She replied with a smile on her face. I carefully put the records down on the floor, admiring her perfect features.

"So," Cat said, "Hows my park?" she questioned. Cat is the same exact height as Eleanor, and sometimes I like to pretend I'm kissing Eleanor when I kiss her.  I stood up and cupped her face, kissing her. 

"Good, Good," I replied, trying to shake the thought of Eleanor from my head. 

What made me think of her today in specific? 

My day at the shop came and went, all of our regulars stopped in, and we had the same amount of customers as we did every other day.  

On my way home, I got a bit more comfortable with the image of Eleanor. Maybe it doesn't have to be so terrible that she's gone.  

And, to convince myself that everything is okay, I made a stop at Eleanor's old house. 

As I drove past, I saw something unusual.  Not only were there little red-headed kids in the yard, but a blonde girl with her back turned to me was with them, and to top it all off, the lawn had been landscaped quite nicely.  I didn't remember Eleanor having any siblings her age. And with blonde hair. Ew. 

As I drove off,  I couldn't help but imagine what all that might mean. Could Eleanor be coming home? Did she get a step sister or something? Who did the lawn? Is Richie gone?

Huh.