"Who is it?" Lucy swung the door open and she is greeted by an apathetic face she expected.
"Hi Owen, come in." She smiled weakly but sincerely, greeting Owen like a friendly neighbor after a long day. Lucy still hasn't fully recovered from the night's events but she owed a lot to this person he deserves this kind of treatment at the very least.
"Thanks for yesterday." She whispered as Owen passed her, tiptoeing slightly to make it as near as she could get to his ears.
Owen simply nodded in response. Typical of the stoic man. Lucy caught a slight red on the tips of Owen's ears but decided it must have been because of the coldness outside.
"How are you, grandma?" He proceeds to talk to Grandma while standing awkwardly at her bedside. Lucy noted how his usual confident demeanor was missing today.
The greeting was short and the the tone might seem stiff but in the few weeks of seeing the interaction between them, Lucy knows that Owen is sincerely concerned about Nana's well-being while saying it.
"Good… good. They say I'll be having an operation soon. You can visit me at the snack shop later."
Lucy felt a pang at Nana's impromptu invitation. Can they really come back the the way they were before? She remembered the events of last night and immediately felt down. She loves their neighborhood, Nana's spot at the market, their friends, but there's no way she will let Nana go back, not now.
"No hurry. Think about getting better first." Owen's voice was the one to pick her up inches away from spiraling down her own thoughts.
"Yes Nana, you have to get better first." She was comforted by the man's words and telling it again from her own mouth reestablished the anchor that she was supposed to keep. She almost forgot she was supposed to keep Nana's spirit up and be the pillar she can lean on right now. She can't see her granddaughter depressed.
Half an hour has passed with them exchanging light conversations. Mostly Lucy and Nana, and Owen just nodding along, adding very little but well-placed remarks on each topic.
The young pair said their goodbye to Nana with the excuse of work.
Lucy felt a little pressure on their hallway walk. Owen was a few steps ahead of her and she was contemplating whether she should say something first or just follow where the man leads her.
They are almost outside the building and still no words were exchanged. The woman is starting to think that maybe the man forgot their agreement yesterday.
The thought of him forgetting made Lucy's mood somewhat sultry. Her feelings do not make sense. It's unwarranted and she knows. She is just too aware of the feeling, making her more uncomfortable than it should have.
Lucy is injecting consolation thoughts in between the internal tension. Owen already helped them enough, no need to get him involved any further.
When she composed herself enough and her mood almost neutral, she spoke first but cautiously "Are you going to the gym?"
Owen turned around, almost comically and visibly confused. "We will talk." and turned around again walking.
Lucy is confused as well, but surely for a different reason. She decides she should follow the man. After a few more minutes of walking, she realized where they were heading. The cafe where she pitched her contract proposal.
Owen pushed the door, holding it till Lucy was right behind him and stretching his arms while stepping forward, letting the girl in without the need to hold the door herself. The movement didn't allow Owen to look directly at Lucy but it was so fluid the girl didn't realize he was opening the door for her.
He looked around and found an empty booth. No eye contact was made but Lucy followed him towards the obviously selected seats.
They sat and Owen clasped his hands on top of the table as if waiting for a confession from Lucy.
The young woman mirrored the clasped hands and is now directly looking at the man in front of him. "What do you want to know?"
"Everything." Everything is a vague word for Lucy at the moment but instead of feeling frustrated, she thought hard where to start.
Owen spoke again before she can decide. "Is it a normal occurrence for you?"
Lucy tried to answer to the best without asking exactly what Owen was referring to. "Yesterday? No. It was my first time being brought to the hospital that way."
"I mean the panic attacks."
"No." Lucy untangled her hands and held her knees under the table instead. So he was referring to that. She is aware what a panic attack is and she was sure she did have one yesterday. "It was the first time as well."
What happened before that?" The girl sensed how eager Owen was to get answers. Too eager, even. His face looks the same but there's something about his hurried words that give the questions a sense of urgency.
"There's something, but I'm not sure if I should tell you. I'm supposed to report it to the police today, so you don't have to worry." Lucy tried playing it off cooly but her wavering eyes must have given her away.
"Tell me." These two words made so much impact on Lucy that the tears started to well up in her eyes and she had to close them to stop herself from making a scene. She's feeling overwhelmed again.
"You need a safe place." With this Owen stood up, held her hand to Lucy, fully expecting her to take it, and the young woman did.
They walked hand in hand to the parking lot. She can tell Owen is purposely trying to match her pace of how she tried to match his earlier. His strides are much shorter now and she doesn't feel hurried. They arrived at a black sedan, probably the one from last night but Lucy was too out of it that she couldn't tell for sure. Owen opened the passenger door, gesturing for Lucy to get in.
If they were under normal circumstances Lucy would think twice before getting in a man's car but somehow the trust she has in this person is enough to follow his lead without question.
Owen got in on the other side and started the engine, making sure the temperature was set to accommodate the both of them.
"This is a safe place. Talk to me."