One month to forever

Episode1

Lucy's P.O.V.

“Dust we come and dust we shall return. Today we commit this body to the ground, trusting that the Lord receives his soul into eternal rest.”

The voice of the priest echoed across the cemetery as the casket slowly descended into the open grave.

I stood motionless beside it, my fingers trembling around the white rose I was made to hold.

The cold wind tugged at my dress but I paid no attention to it.

My eyes remained fixed on the polished wooden coffin that held the only parent I had left.

The first shovel of dirt hit the coffin with a dull thud.

I watched as every handful of soil was burying another piece of my heart, but there was nothing I could do to stop this tragedy, it was already too late.

My throat tightened.

The rose trembled in my hand as tears blurred the polished surface of the coffin.

I watched strangers pass by, offering empty words of condolence.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, I already knew who it was, Daniel. His scent wrapped around me the moment he stepped closer, deep, warm, and undeniably masculine.

A mixture of cedarwood and spice, softened by subtle musk.

“You don't have to keep standing here if you don't want to, it's getting a bit cold. Let me take you home so you can have some rest”. Daniel said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder as a means of comfort.

“You don't have to worry about me, Daniel. I'll be fine.” I said as I turned to face him.

“There's no way I'm going to leave you out here when it's getting late. I'll wait for you, whenever you feel ready we'll leave”.

Daniel retorts, taking a seat on the wooden bench close to where I was standing.

I couldn't keep standing there staring at my father's grave site, I already planned not to cry today, but as it is, I can already feel my eyes tearing up.

It's not fair.

Nothing about life is fair.

Why do I get to lose my parents when I have not even gotten the chance to give them the life I wanted to give them?

My legs are already aching from my constant walking around, I guess I should take Daniel's advice and allow him to take me home.

I take one final glance at my father's grave, and turn around. “I'm ready to leave” I say as I stroll to where Daniel is seated. He immediately gets up to give me a warm embrace. I guess he can tell that I am exhausted both mentally and physically.

“Do you want me to get you something to eat on our way?” Daniel asks as we walk past the gates to the cemetery.

“No I'm fine, thanks” I reply, I just want to sleep, I've had a long day.

The place is already empty, everyone has gone home. Wow, I guess I really spent a lot of time there, it's already getting dark.

As we approach the Mercedes Benz parked across the gate, Daniel rushes over to open my door for me, I get in and he closes the door after me.

As he walks around to enter the driver's seat, I couldn't help but appreciate how much of a good person he is to me.

Daniel Reed has been my best friend since high school.

Although he was my senior at that time, he never failed to protect me from bullies and make sure that I was comfortable.

Even after he graduated, he still came back to check up on me. He is the one person I will never forget, he is like an elder brother to me, and I can't afford to lose him.

The ride back home is quiet, I prefer it to be that way. I am seated facing the window, just staring at the trees as we speed past them.

“Can you reduce the AC please? My legs are freezing” I say as I shuffle my legs due to the cold. How the hell is he not cold, it's literally freezing in here.

“Oh I'm so sorry dear. You should have said so earlier, I thought you'd be hot”, he says as he turns the knob till the AC goes off completely.

“You didn't have to turn it off completely, I don't want you to get hot” I let out a light chuckle.

“No I'm fine, besides I can already see the goosebumps on your arms”. I didn't even notice them till now. I guess I have to pay more attention to my body.

“Do you want me to play music?” Daniel asks, giving me a warm smile.

He is probably trying to lighten up the mood, but I don't think I have the mental space for that right now.

“No. I'm enjoying the quiet atmosphere”, I say, returning the smile in an attempt to make him think I'm actually fine. Which I know I failed terribly as tears begin to roll down my cheek. The more I try to hold back the tears, the more I sob uncontrollably.

Daniel parks the car by the side of the road and reaches to bring me into his embrace.

I cried for a whole minute in his chest, and he tried to comfort me by patting back, but I just needed to let it out.

Well, on the bright side, crying actually does reduce the pain by two percent because the tight knot I felt in my chest finally loosened a bit.

“Hey, it's okay to cry, just let it out” Daniel cups my face in his hands.

“I want you to know that I'll always be here for you no matter what. You can always talk to me if you need to get anything out of your chest okay?” He says, wiping my tears with his palm.

I nod.

He turns on the ignition and we continue our ride to my house. He then plays my favourite Taylor swift album and I'm not even going to lie, it made me calm down and feel better.

At some point, we even started singing along together. I've played that song so much that even Daniel knows the lyrics to the song which is cute and hilarious at the same time.

His car pulled up in front of my apartment. I'm home finally. I need to get these clothes off and take a nice shower because I'm exhausted.

As I am about to step into my apartment, I am greeted with Mr. Alfred, my landlord, who for some reason, is already seated on my couch.

“What are you doing here? And how did you even get in?” I ask as I walk in. I guess he still had a spare key from when the plumbing was repaired last month.

Daniel is still outside by his car, making a phone call.

“Good evening Ma'am, I'm here to inform you that your rent is long overdue, I'm afraid I can no longer accommodate you in my residence.

I've been waiting outside for you to return but you took forever and it was getting cold outside so I just had to come in and continue waiting”.

“Yeah maybe because I was too busy burying my dad” I say, already looking irritated.

What?!!!! How did I forget to pay the rent immediately when I got my last salary?

That should have been the first thing I should have paid for. Now the money is gone and I am not getting paid till the end of next month. What am I even going to do?

“Sir I'm so sorry, I completely forgot to pay the rent when I got my last salary, please I promise to pay it up when I receive the next one. Please I have no where else to go, my dad just passed so it's only me that is catering for all the expenses. Please give me some time”.

At this point, I'm literally on my knees, begging my landlord to pardon me and give me some more time. I don't want

Daniel to find out about the situation here because I know he will pay for it, and I don't want him to keep spending on me.

I pray Mr. Alfred leaves before Daniel is through with his phone call.

“Okay I'll pardon you for just two weeks more, I also need the money for something important but I know things are a lot more difficult for you right now so I'll just give you a little grace”.

Thank God, at least two weeks should be enough for me to raise some money from my side hustle.

“Thank you so much sir, I really appreciate your kindness” I say as I stand up from the floor and dust my knees.

“It's alright, but please don't disappoint me the next time I come,” he states.

“I won't, I promise”. Just as he leaves through the back door in the kitchen, Daniel walks in through the front door.

“Is there any problem?” He asks.

“No there isn't. Why do you ask?” I say, feeling tense inside.

“I just thought I heard someone else's voice but it's fine”, that was a close one. I don't want him to keep sacrificing things for me, it makes me feel like I'm some charity.

“It's getting a bit too late, I should get going before it's midnight” Daniel says as I lock the backdoor.

“Yeah you should. I don't want you driving at night, it's not safe”.

I looked at the clock just to find out that it was literally past 10pm. I didn't expect the time to move by so quickly.

“Thank you so much for always being there. I literally can't tha…” I'm cut short by Daniel, whose index finger is now on my lips, stopping me from continuing what I was saying.

“Please, don't ever thank me again. You're my best friend, it's my duty to protect you and be there for you. You don't need to thank me for anything” He says, his gray eyes giving me a reassuring look. When I'm with Daniel, I just feel safe and instantly at peace. I wrap my arms around his lower body, and he also does the same only that he has to bend slightly in order to get to my height. He gives me a peck on my forehead and we tell each other goodnight.

I lock the front door as I watch his car reverse and drive away from the parking lot. Now I'm all alone, sometimes I wish I had a family of my own, so I will never experience loneliness.

I go to my room to take off my clothes and have a warm shower before going to sleep for the night.

As I lay on my bed, wearing my royal blue silk night dress ready to close my eyes, I got a text from my manager at the coffee store where I work, Mrs. Rose, saying that she is unwell and wouldn't be able to work tomorrow. She wants me to take over the affairs of the shop for tomorrow. As if today wasn'

t already stressful enough, I have double the work, waiting for me tomorrow.

I set an alarm for 6:30am in the morning so I can get to work on time.