Dear Leo (An Area 11 FanFiction)

Chapter Seventeen-Boxes

30th January 2015

"Ugh, why am I in charge of stacking boxes?" I moan, stretching up and nudging a cardboard box into place with my finger. "I'm too bloody short!"
Alex stands off to one side, shaking with laughter. I turn to glare at him, but end up knocking the stack of boxes with my elbow and nearly tipping them all over.

"You're in charge of the boxes because it's the funniest thing I've seen in a long time!" He smirks and I flip my middle finger up at him, too concerned with trying to keep the box tower upright to decide on a decent retort. Despite my best efforts, they come crashing down, mostly on top of me.

"Crap!" Thank goodness they weren't too heavy, there were just a lot of them. "The bruises from the crash only just faded too..."

I start to re-stack the boxes, this time with Alex helping me, which is extremely helpful since he's over six foot and can actually reach the top of the pile. "Tell you what, I'll do this, you go check out front and see if there any customers we've been ignoring." I walk out but leave the door leading to the stock cupboard open so I can still talk to Alex.

"We're safe, no one's here!" I call back to him. The shop is deserted, and the street outside is pretty much the same. It's tipping it down with rain, bruised clouds hanging low in the sky and blocking out nearly all of the sunlight. It's two in the afternoon, but feels like seven. A few people wander past, looking a little bit lost and like they don't really know where they're going. It's one of those days where everyone feels a bit "eh" and doesn't know what to do with their lives. One or two people glance up at the shop window, before rushing off and carrying on with their day.

One person stops and reads something in the window, leaning against the wall of a building opposite. They're really taking their time, must be some really interesting poster. I think I put one up about a local band's gig...

Oh.

Immediately I back away from the window and hide just inside the doorway to the staff room. I clench my fists and try to slow my breathing, and calm my hammering heart. The other night wasn't a coincidence, Ethan's watching me.

Ethan's watching me.

I peek out of the window to check if he's still watching me. He's gone. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? He knows I've seen him, he knows where I work. How did he know I was in Bristol in the first place?

"Hey Grace, you ok?" Alex walks up behind me, making me jump.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine," I smile. "You finished in there?"

"Yup, now we just get the joy of waiting until someone decides to come in." He sits at the piano and starts playing some random chords to pass the time. I'm still freaking out about Ethan. He shouldn't be here, watching me. He should be in prison.

What's he going to do if he gets near me?

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Midnight