The Deep Dark Web | lrh

02

This story starts on the first Saturday of August.

I was a student. I worked in a Nursery, though I didn't get paid; it was volunteer work. I'd always loved working with kids. I was a single child myself so the unfamiliarity of the profession was nice, albeit welcoming. The job was perfect for me.

His children attended the same Nursery I worked in. Ellie loved me, in the least braggiest way possible. I never got the chance to get as close to Corey, but I liked him all the same— his lisp made it so that I was 'Missth Thophie' instead of Miss Sophie like his older sister managed to call me, but I didn't mind. It was cute.

Luke always picked them up right on time. It wasn't hard to tell that he loved those kids more than he loved life itself. It was clear that he'd do anything for them.

They would run up to him as soon as school finished, their arms outspread, their faces happy. Corey would show him a picture he painted, and Ellie would link her fingers through Luke's much larger ones and tell him all about her day.

And I'd watch them from the gates, the expression on my face soft as I waited for the other children to be picked up. I was just a nineteen year old who had nothing better to do with her time, so unsurprisingly, I began to form a crush.

Can you blame me? The man looked like a god. Not to mention, I was the sort of girl who revelled in any attention given to me by someone so long as they were putting effort in providing it.

And that was exactly what Luke was doing. Giving me attention.

He'd talk to me more, strike up conversations that I'd never once heard him talk about with my fellow co-workers. He was bright, and bubbly, and friendly- traits that made him all the more attractive.

If only I knew how things would turn out. I probably would have just gone back inside. Things probably would have turned out better that way.