"Sinead?"
It was Saoirse. She and I had not been alone, nor talked directly to each other since she gave me the draft with the poppy syrup.
"Saoirse.", I said, just as she walked into view.
She looked at me with mixed emotion. She looked guilty and sheepish. Sneaking glances at my face from her down-turned eyes, the pupils held a deep sadness I could clearly see even through her dark lashes.
I didn't bother to take off my shoes. I just let my bag fall softly to the ground and started towards her.
"Saoirse. It's okay. I forgive you."
By now she looked me in the eyes with some surprise on her face as I put my arms around her and pulled her into a hug.
"I know what you did and why you did it. It doesn't change our friendship at all."
Saoirse leaned into my hug then. Her body released its tension and she hugged me back.
"I was worried you wouldn't understand. Or that you wouldn't forgive me, even though She said you would."
I chuckled softly and gave her a light squeeze.
"Even if She hadn't told me, I would have figured it out. Or, at least, I'd like to think so."
Saoirse chuckled at that. I pushed her away from me gently, but firmly and smiled at her.
"I am sorry that I've been so busy lately. I should have told you earlier. That's my fault. I guess I put my own worries and problems before those of my family."
"No.", Saoirse said abruptly, "You don't have to apologize."
"Well then, you might want to let go of me, cause I stink.", I laughed.
Saoirse let go and inquired about my morning at the same time.
I told her of my initial surprize when David joined me in my morning routine almost daily.
"Is that why you stink so bad?", she teased me. "Because you've been training and rolling around in the dirt and grass with some Alpha werewolf?"
I blushed with surprise at her remark and Saoirse noticed and giggled.
"That's what I thought.", she remarked coyly.
"It is not what you think!", I exclaimed (a bit loudly) and shooed a hand at her.
"Alright.", she said apologetically, "You go get showered and ready for the day. Today is my turn to make you some breakfast for a change."
So, I turned my back on her and went upstairs. It wasn't until I was in my room, I noticed I still had my running shoes on.
I shook my head at myself. 'What on earth is going on with me today?', I wondered as I grabbed what I needed and made for the direction of the bathroom.
After my shower, I got some comfy clothes on and joined Saoirse for a nice home-cooked vegetarian breakfast. She'd done an amazing job.
As we sat down at the table, I asked her if Amanda wasn't going to join us. Saoirse told me she was out, and that she had spent the past few days out as groups of young ladies were requesting her services to do make up for a local music festival. There was still two days left of the festival after today.
While we ate, I informed her of my poor luck (some of which was my own doing), in the job search. I also told her about how the options I had left were slim- to-none, and that I planned to go to the Lunar Eclipse Club.
Saoirse thought it was a good idea to try and get a job there. She even offered to help me with choosing clothes and doing hair and make-up.
While Saoirse wasn't a make-up artist like Amanda, she was still skilled. And although I wouldn't admit it out loud, she did better hair styles than Amanda.
We treated the whole affair like a proper event. We put on our favourite songs, laughed, and chatted while we got me all ready. In the end, since clothes, shoes and hangers ended up all over the place, we made sure to be finished in enough time to tag-team our mess.
When the time came for me to leave, Saoirse wouldn't let me leave the house until she double-checked that I looked perfect. With a warm and happy smile at all her efforts, she said: "Goodbye, and Good Luck!"
I laughed. "I'll break a leg!", I joked.
Once on the bus, I found the journey to be much longer than I thought it would be. I not only felt like people were looking at me, but I also actually caught a few in the act. It made me uneasy when things like this happened.
It was not the fact that they were looking at me that I got uneasy, but the fact that I didn't know why they were looking at me.
'Did they find me attractive? Did they think badly of me? Was any of them an actual threat?', these were the sort of thoughts that went through my brain.
Eventually, it became too much for me. So, I used an anti-anxiety exercise and focused my eyes on one spot on the floor, trusting in The Great Goddess to keep me safe.
After I got off the bus, I checked my phone. It looked like I had to walk down the street, make a right-hand turn, and then continue down the road into an area consisting of industrial buildings.
It seemed odd to me, I thought as I walked, that there should be some swanky club inside of some cold, barren industrial building.
I double checked the address before I left the house, so that despite outward appearances, if I went to the correct address, I should be fine.
Once my phone told me I was at the right place, I glanced up at it. The outside looked dingy to me and there were two men standing outside what seemed to be the main door.
If I didn't know any better, I would have said this was some mafia building guarding ill-gotten gains.
After staring in their general direction for a few seconds, one of the men caught my eye.