Painting A Lost Heart novel Chapter 5

"Wow, it's more crowded than I expected." Erin said in a matter-of-factly.

I scanned the shop and almost every seat were already occupied.

"Oh lucky! An empty seat," Erin pointed at a corner seat for two and practically dragged me there before someone else claimed it.

She instructed me to set up while she lined up for our hot drink. I took out my laptop and to my dismay; it was already down to thirty percent battery life. This crappy old laptop was fully charged two hours ago!

Note to self: save up for a new laptop.

I sighed. That'd be another five hundred dollars to save in the summer. I crouched down in search for an outlet. A minute had passed when I grunted in annoyance. It was no brainer why nobody wanted the corner seats- an outlet was nowhere to be found!

I paced forward, tilting my head down a bit to search for an available outlet. With little luck, I found a vacant one two tables away from ours. Thankfully, the cord length sufficed.

"Excuse me, could you please plug-" I froze the moment I recognized the face in front of me.

"Hey," he spoke up in the most bittersweet way. A month had passed since we had our last conversation; his presence was a living proof that I once fell in love and fell out of love. At the same time, I didn't feel any pain at all.

"Hi, can you plug this in for me?" I smiled. He was with four other friends that I never met before. It seemed like they were working on a group project since they were all sitting in a circle with a PowerPoint presentation pulled up.

"Sure. Anything for you," he grabbed the plug from my hand and did what I requested. I was about to turn around when he caught my arm.

"Hey. I-umm... I-I've been calling you since and never heard from you again. I just want to check that you're alright." He said in a sincere tone. He slid his hands in his pocket and tried his best to keep the eye contact.

"First of all, I'm not obligated to answer any more of your calls. Second, I don't need your mediocre "care" okay? Don't tell me you forgot that someone else needs your "care" more than I do. And lastly, I'm alright. I'm happy now."

Jack's mouth dropped open, unable to say a word. I smirked at him and spun around to go back to our table. I heard Jack cursed at his friends as they chortled and teased him after they witnessed my dramatic monolog.

Erin was already sitting in our table, stirring her hot chocolate while she grinned at me.

"I needed to plug in this computer and the outlet was all the way out there," I told her.

I poked Erin's shoulder to ask her to re-read the message for me. Without a doubt, even she had a hard time taking in the message.

After a brief moment, she finally snapped back to reality. "This is serious stuff!? Ten grand!?" Erin inched closer and whispered.

"Well, Miss Monte said it's ten grand, right? I guess it's serious." I replied, acting cool but deep inside, I was just as elated.

Erin paused, looking baffled. "Did I tell you that these people need Jesus?"

I brazenly rested my body flat on the faux leather couch like an aged man after a long three-hour train ride back to Abbotsford. Thank heavens Erin was with me to keep me entertained, along with the view of the icy mountains that never failed to mesmerize me. The landscape was stunning especially when seen up close.

Finally, home.

Mom and Nana never failed to go above and beyond. In order for me to live normally, they poured all their love and devotion to me.

Mom's Julliard background and talent in playing the piano was a big help in sustaining my financial needs in school. She would even drive from home-to-home to give private lessons; that way, she'd earn more money. Even though it was a rough industry, we managed.