Lauren burst into the house. Trembling, she threw all her belongings into a suitcase she found under the bed. Tears fell from her eyes as she opened the wardrobe and took one of Jack's shirts. She inhaled his scent from the fabric and tossed that, too, into the suitcase.
She left nothing behind except the one person she loved the most.
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She waited days, at first. Pottering around a little apartment rented far away from where Jack lived. She stayed up nights, unable to sleep, watching television with the sound turned off, her eyes glazing over more and more as the hours swept by.
When a month was up she had to return home. Her parents were worried but she assured them, in a tone that they found strangely void of emotion, that she had to leave and "find herself". They let her go, with assurances that they'd send money wherever she was. She left to a small quiet town, where the people knew each other by name, and nobody minded a single silent girl moving into the apartment at the edge of town and buying a store to sell flowers.
She dreamed of him, at first. His eyes, his smile. She lay awake at night, night sounds a gentle murmur outside. Her arm over her eyes, staring at the ceiling and wondering if he would ever come for her. Sometimes when she felt a smidgen of emotion return to her she'd weep into her pillows. On days when she found herself close to breaking down she'd open the closet doors and pull out the single shirt she brought that belonged to Jack. She'd bury her face in it and for a moment remember everything.
Months passed and there was no scent remaining in his shirt. Lauren kept it in a tiny chest by the side of her bed. She began talking again. When customers came into her store she actually smiled at them, although her smile didn't touch her eyes or her heart. She found herself able to get by without using the money her parents sent her, and she allowed herself little luxuries that she'd always wanted. A cat named Sapphire, a Tonkinese with blue eyes and a testy temperament. A large flatscreen TV for her nights alone. Sparse but beautiful furniture to fill her empty apartment. She thought about Jack less and less. His eyes no longer sparkled in her dreams. And one day when a tall man walked into her shop, his eyes startlingly blue like Jack's, his hair cut short (unlike Jack's) and stole glances at her from where he stood near the petunias, she found herself looking back.
That day she took Jack's shirt from the chest and threw it into the trash.
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Jack looked up. The girl in the other corner of the warehouse squirmed on the floor. He drew a heavy sigh.
"I've told you over and over just be still and follow orders and you'll be fine." He eyed her skimpy top. Why did women dress so provocatively to bed? He shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her. The girl strained against her bonds and the tape over her mouth. She pleaded with him with her eyes.
Jack looked at her. "No, I'm not going there again," he said, almost as if to himself. He turned and sat back down against the wall.
Wayne came sauntering in, a broad grin on his face.
"Hey Jackie you'll never guess who I chanced upon the other day when I was visiting my sister," he removed his cap and laid it on the table. Jack looked up with wary eyes.
"Who," he murmured, sharpening his knife on the sole of his boots.
"Your little Lauren!" Wayne laughed.
Jack started.
"She was in some shop selling flowers and there was a man by her side! Guess she didn't take long to move on," Wayne guffawed. He plopped down beside Jack, whose eyes were hooded. Jack eyed the glint on his knife. The ache that had been in his chest ever since she'd left grew deeper.
"Well, you didn't exactly go after her as you promised so I guess it's not really her fault," Wayne went on, studying the grit on his nails. Jack narrowed his eyes. He said in a low voice, "It's not that I didn't go after her. You know well enough I've not been allowed anywhere."
Wayne pursed his lips. "Well I know you Jack. If you'd wanted to you would have. Maybe you just don't want her anymore, huh?"
Jack leaned in close to Wayne. He held his knife close to his neck.
"I want her more than you could ever want anything. Shut your filthy mouth if you don't know anything." His words left his dry lips in a hiss, and Wayne kept still even as he leaned back.
"Where is she, anyway."
"A little town. Y'know. Where my sister lives. Has a shop selling flowers called Ambrosia." Wayne muttered, easing the skin on his neck.
Jack studied the floor before him.
"You know Jack. It really is best to leave her alone. There's no way Chuck will let you have her, and you know that," Wayne said quietly.
The girl fidgeted in the corner. She took in every word they said. Her eyes flashed brightly in the dim light.
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"So I've never been a fan of vanilla. It's just so common, so.. so unexciting. You know?"
Lauren smiled at the man who spoke. His name was Leonard and he was the tall man in her shop, the one with blue eyes. He'd asked her out and she'd agreed. They went out a few times and it had been a few weeks but she found herself smiling a lot more. She wasn't happy, but she wasn't sad anymore, and that was something.
"Yes, I know. Which is why I prefer chocolate. Although there are people who say that chocolate is boring." Lauren answered, dipping a spoon in her ice cream. Jack's face flashed before her eyes.
"Chocolate? Chocolate is so boring," he scrunched up his nose.
"Who would say something like that?" Leonard raised an eyebrow and took a scoop of his own ice cream. Sapphire climbed on his lap and nuzzled her head against his free hand.
