Cardboard Hearts

#5: part 2

Tegan sighs and shakes her head at her former self. How could she have been so stupid? To believe that Mrs. Durbin would help her, to believe that she would make it to college, to believe that she'd be okay.

She had spent an agonizing two weeks at the old lady's house, reading and eating cookies and worrying. She turned off her phone, hid in her room and didn't answer the door to anyone but Mrs. Durbin. When she finally returned to Dominic's house, it was empty. The floor was bare, there were no decorations on the walls, and all of their memories were gone.

He didn't even leave her a note.

It was my fault, she thinks to herself with a sob. If I didn't run away that night he wouldn't have left. We would still be together.

For years she'd waited for him; renting an apartment across the street from their old house, quitting her job as a waitress and getting a new one at the dentist's, texting him and calling him until one day she'd just given up.

Tegan rubs her swollen eyes and lifts her head to glances at the time. A jolt of panic shoots through her.

"I've been in here an hour!"

She frantically dries her tears and fixed her hair, hoping she looks presentable. When Carol hobbles over to her desk for her routine inspection, she is there. Waiting and ready.

"You were certainly in the bathroom a long time, Reagan," the old woman says in a snide voice.

"I was organizing files in the back room, Carol. And my name is Tegan."

Carol glares at her and shuffles away, muttering. Tegan sighs. "Just make it through the morning," she whispers to herself. "Then you can go home."

As it is New Year's Eve, office has a half day. She doesn't know why they're forced to work at all; hardly anyone made an appointment.

The hours slowly drag by. Tegan watches the clock, pretends to fill out paperwork, and studies for an online class she's planning on taking. It's biology, to make up for the years she didn't pay attention. Plus, she's always been interested in science. Maybe if she saves enough she could go to school to become a teacher.

It's not completely unreasonable, she thinks to herself. After all, I'm not going to live in this dump of a town forever.

At least she's made progress.

Her therapist told her a long time ago that it would be good for her to participate in some more community activities, maybe get a hobby or something. She'd brushed the idea off as ridiculous and too much work. She had Otis, and that was all she needed. But now look at her. She's taking online classes, she's started going to the gym regularly, and she's even meeting a woman at a coffee shop for lunch today.

Tegan smiles. What's the woman's name again? Veronica? She'd accidentally dropped a weight on the woman's foot a week ago at the gym, and the two had started a conversation as soon as Veronica stopped jumping up and down on one foot while wincing in pain. It turns out the two are very similar. Veronica has lived in this town her whole life too, and she graduated two years before Tegan did. She works at the coffee shop, and since it apparently sells the best donuts in the universe (both of their favorite food) they are meeting there for lunch.

Speaking of which.

Tegan glances at the clock to find that she has managed to waste an entire two hours, which means that she's free to go. She grabs her purse, buttons her jacket, and nods goodbye to Ann. Then she braves herself for the biting winter air and opens the door.

When she finally makes it to Park Place Coffee and Bakery, Veronica is just taking off her apron. Tegan waves and the woman grins back at her.

"Go find a table. I'll be right there!"