Ambiguous and bereavement(Fruk)

3

I would flip the pages I had written, and my brain was refreshed by the case. The things I had seen. Did my brain unknowingly hide these things? Was I affected that much? "Do you remember any of these things?" I asked Francis. He was sitting beside me, looking at the pages.

"Yeah, I remember you would come home really stressed out. I always tried to make it better by making dinner. It was awkward because I could tell you tried not to talk about the gross stuff, but it always managed to come up," he explained. I nodded at what he said and looked at the journal. "Have I been acting weird?" I asked.

He placed his cheek on the palm of his hand and smiled at me. "Isn't acting weird normal for you?" He spoke. I rolled my eyes at what he said and smiled. "You are annoying," I laughed. "Oh? But you love me still!" He laughed.

I continued to look at the pages, and he looked over my shoulder. "Make yourself useful and check those," I spoke. He began to pout and lean against me. He did do it lightly and gently as if he wasn't putting any weight on me. "Oh? But I can't," he complained. I lifted a brow at him, and he smiled. "Why not?" I asked. He grew silent for a second but began to nudge his head into the crook of my neck. "Can we go to bed? I'm exhausted," he spoke.

We had been in the study for a few hours. "Yeah, we can go to bed," I smiled. I closed the journal in my hand, and we both left the room. "Maybe you shouldn't dig through all this stuff," he spoke worriedly.

"What? You sound like Alfred. What if someone is targeting me? I need to protect us," I spoke. He laughed nervously and shook his head. "Well, maybe it will bring up bad memories. I'm worried you will find something you didn't want to remember. I mean, there must be a reason why you don't remember this stuff vividly. Especially since this case was not too long ago," he spoke.

He was right... I was not sure why I'd forget. Maybe this is not a good idea! Perhaps I need to stop this. Then again, what if someone is coming after me? I am a very paranoid person, so this will be on my mind constantly.

We both walked into the bedroom and began to get ready for bed. It wasn't too late, but I was getting tired too.

RING

RING

RING

"Oh? Who could that be?" I asked. I reached for my phone on the nightstand and saw it was from Lucile. "Who is it?" Francis asked. "Your sister? Why didn't she call you?" I asked, confused. Francis shrugged, and I answered the phone. "Hello?" I answered.

"Arthur! I know it is late, but how are you? I was going through my storage and found some of Francis' things," she spoke. My eyes widened, and I still felt confused about why she didn't just call him. "Ah, I am doing good, but if you had his things, you could have called him," I laughed.

Silence...

"Oh Arthur, uhh... I can bring them over tomorrow. I can make us some food if you like?" She suggested. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind that; Francis has work till five, though," I laughed. "Of course... I will be by in the morning; sleep well tonight, and stay out of trouble," she laughed. "Of course, I will see you tomorrow," I spoke.

Once we hung up, Francis looked at me, confused. "What did she need?" He asked. "She has some of your things; she will bring them over tomorrow; she said we can have lunch if that's okay," I spoke.

"Of course! She might as well be your sister-in-law anyway," he laughed. I smiled at him, nodding, and began to pull the covers up. "Dang, I will miss her! Maybe I should call in sick," he laughed. "No! Didn't you already do that today?" I laughed. "Yes! And I'd do it again!" He laughed. 

He began to wipe hair out of my face and gave me the sweetest smile. "I love you," he whispered. "I love you too!" I smiled. I scooted closer to him, and he held me gently. I breathed out, relieved, and held him tightly. He was soft as usual.

~
I woke up to the sounds of birds. Deep down, I felt this overwhelming feeling, and I didn't know what it was. I looked beside me and saw I had been holding my pillows. Francis, he probably did that not to wake me up. He must be at work by now.

That's when I suddenly heard my doorbell ringing. I jumped up from my bed and began scrambling around. "I AM COMING!" I called.

I quickly ran toward the door and opened it. Lucile was standing there with her coat on, box in hand, and she gave me the sweetest smile. "Arthur! It is noon! You aren't dressed?" She asked. I let her inside, and she walked to my kitchen. "Sorry, I must have been more tired than I realized," I explained.

She shook her head and began pushing me up the stairs. "Go shower and get dressed! Now! We are going to the market later to shop for food. And this house! It is so messy! Good thing I came!" She spoke. I looked at her, shocked, as she ordered me around. If only Francis were here to see this. He would surely make fun of me and do what his sister said. "Fine! I will be back! Just don't mess up anything!"

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! Just hurry up! I won't take you anywhere looking like that!" She spoke. She shook her head at me and started to clean stuff up. Honestly, what is her deal? She makes it seem like I am not capable of anything. I shook my head at her and began to rush up the stairs.