Warm Hands

two

small eating disorder mention!!

i sit up and rub my eyes. it was monday, atticus and i both had to go back to work. i hop out of our bed and walk into our closet. atticus is pulling his warm beige sweater over his thick black hair. i walk towards him and grab his waist, "good morning, atticus," i tiredly say, managing to get a smile on my face. "oh! goodmorning, love!" atticus turns around and smiles, waking me up with a kiss. my face goes red as i walk away from him and deeper into our closet.

i pick out a red sweatshirt and brown sweatpants. i turn around and see atticus putting on a thin, white undershirt. i take my sweater off and replace it with my red sweatshirt. atticus puts on a warm shirt on over his undershirt and a jacket on over that. i grab my pair of pants and walk past atticus as i exit the closet. i walk into our cold bathroom and take off my pants. i replace them with my warmer brown sweatpants. i yawn as i walk back into our bedroom. atticus exits the closet and heads into the bathroom.

i stand up and head into our kitchen. i walk over to our cabinets and open the bottom one under the sink. there, i grab a protein bar. i close the door as i unwrap the bar's packaging. i walk to the door of our garage and wait patiently for atticus. eventually, he runs towards me. by now, i've finished my protein bar. "you ready, theo?" he asks, unlocking the door. i nod, following him to the car. i hop in the passenger seat and he hops in the drivers seat. atticus starts the car and exits the garage. the road isn't snowy at all anymore.

atticus worked as a receptionist at a daycare. he had been there for a while, and he hoped to work with the kids one day. his work environment was loud with the joy of children. it was colourful and fun to be in. mine was the opposite. i worked in a loud warehouse. loud because of the screaming of angry co-workers and out-dated machines being used. i transported parts people needed from one side of the warehouse to another. most times by hand, only on rare occasions would i need one of our old machines to carry something. i might not look it, but i was incredibly strong for my age, and my weight.

even if i was incredibly underweight. that factor, however, was more noticeable than my age. my parents would push themselves to look good so much that they started pushing me without knowing. i ended up developing an eating disorder. i was already genetically thin, but that just made it worse. i didn't even start to get better until atticus realized and made it his goal to help me. he's helped me with a lot of things. i'm not even sure he realizes some of the things he's helped me with.

"we're here, theo!" atticus smiles, stopping the car in front of door C, my start for the day. "goodbye, atticus!" i smile, kissing his heart shaped lips with my paper thin ones. i open the door and unlock door C with my badge, i wave to atticus as he drives away.

i enter the painstakingly cold building and head over to the lockers. i open my old, gray locker and grab my neon green vest. i put it over my red sweatshirt and head over to the C center kiosks. i log onto my account as joshua walks up to me. "theo!" he smiles, running up beside me. joshua was a shorter, darker guy. his hair was brown and curly, and his eyes were dark and big. his voice had a sort of unforgettable tone to it, it was confusing. "hi, joshua," i keep my eyes on the kiosk, but i still smile. joshua began to log onto the kiosk next to mine. he had worked with me since i started here, we started together. he was my closest friend. "so, are you ready for today?" i nod, looking at my starting tasks for today.

YAZMINE TRAILER (F CENTER) NEEDS SMALL PART TAKEN TO JIM ROSH (A CENTER)

i hated A center. it was so big and extremely difficult to navigate. on top of that, everyone there had the biggest ego out of anyone here. maybe it was because they had the biggest, most comfortable working environment, i had no clue. anyone who has to work in A center everyday would tell you it's easy to navigate, but that's because they don't have to ever leave their small area of the big space.