Intertwined souls

It was weird, the air smelled like clean fresh laundry mixed with a hint of leather; It was harsh, spreading chills all over my body. I was walking through Downtown, a town I had never been to, but nonetheless, it's the town I would be living in. I had moved to Tennessee and after my phone died I stopped at a tiny gas station and asked an older lady for directions. I was meeting with a real estate agent to sign papers for my new one-bedroom home. I still haven't seen it, but if we're being honest, moving out here altogether was a leap of faith. A really big leap. I spent over thirty hours driving across the country. I figured I could park the car and walk the rest of the way. If I was right, it should be up on the left.  The town was small, nothing like what I was used to back home, but it had a peacefulness about it. It reminded me of the hallmark movies my grandma used to watch, where everyone was happy and in love. A total joke, if you ask me.  As I found the office I was looking for, I caught a look at myself in the reflection of the window. I looked as tired as I felt, and decided to throw my hair onto a pony, trying to look more presentable. I opened the door and was hit by the cold AC in the small office. It was pretty in here, mostly white with some pictures of homes.  “ Hi, how can I help you?”  Said an older gentleman behind the front desk. He looked to be well past retirement age, but seemed happy to be there.  “Hi, My name is Octavia and I’m here to sign some paperwork”, I said, smiling at him “ I was told to be here around 1:30, sorry I’m a little late.”  “ Oh you’re fine dear, let me get you the paperwork and I’ll have someone grab your keys for you”  He slid a clipboard across the desk and handed me a pen before walking away.  I signed everything while reading everything. I had already been over this a few times with my mom back home but I wanted to make sure I at least pretended I knew what I was doing. I finished and sat on the small bench in front of the window, watching the people walking with their kids as I waited. I had always wanted kids, but a few years ago I was told I would never be able to have any. I had a condition which affected my thyroid and made it impossible for me to ever carry full term. Granted, I had not been in the situation to have kids yet, but after I told any guys I dated that I couldn't have any, they tended to disappear.   I heard the kids laughing outside, two of them were playing with a dog near what looked like a library. I was distracted by a different man walking across the office and stopping next to me. He was handsome. He was tall with dark brown colored hair, his eyes were green with a tint of what looked like gold on the insides. “ Octavia?” He asked as I stood up to greet him. “ Yes, are those my keys?” I asked as I looked at the two that he was holding. Right as he started to answer, one of the children that was outside came in and grabbed his other hand.  “ Hi, I’m Noah!” He greeted me with a huge smile on his face. Both front teeth were gone, and he had mud covering his jeans. He looked just like the tall man with dark hair and tanned skin.  “ Hi, Noah!” I reached my hand out to shake his little hand. “It is so nice to meet you!” I could feel the tall man's eyes watching me as I shook his son's hand. It felt like a heavy weight that I couldn't get away from.  “Sorry for the interruption”. He said, chuckling, “Yes, these are your keys.”   He paused before hanging them to me, his eyes watching me. His gaze was strong, it made me feel small, and I was suddenly aware of how awful I looked.  I almost didn't want to leave, but I needed to rest and unpack everything in my car. I was disrupted by my thoughts when I heard him start to speak.   “ Your paperwork said something about living out west, what made you come all the way out here?” He questioned me.  I could still feel his eyes, but this time I looked back at them. I wasn't sure how to answer him, I didn't want to get into any of that with someone that I didn't know.   “ Oh”. I took a deep breath and smiled “ I just wanted a change of scenery.”  “ Do you have any family out here or is it just you?” He questioned me again.  “ Nope, just me for now. Thank you again”. I grabbed the keys from his hand and started to turn away when I realized I had no clue where I was going. It was hard enough for me to find this place that I didn't feel like spending hours driving around trying to find my new home.  I turned back around and looked at him and his son. Both were still smiling. They felt welcoming, almost safe. I looked into the older man's eyes and decided I felt okay to ask him for help.   “ Can you actually tell me where I’m going? I got lost so many times just trying to make it here” I said, trying to sound like it was more of a laugh than a plea for help.  “ Actually, if you can give me a few minutes, it's on our way home. We can show you instead”, he said, turning around and walking back to the front desk.  He reached under and grabbed a little backpack and his keys. He handed the backpack to Noah and circled his keys in his hands. I watched him as he turned the light off, then the music that had been playing. After we walked out, he turned again to lock the door. Noah was already walking across the street and saying goodbye to the other little boy he had been playing with.  “ My name is Blake, by the way,” he said, turning back to me. He seemed to read my mind because then he said “ Noah’s my son, sometimes he is a little too friendly”. He laughed, looking over at his son as he was running back across the  street.  “He’s adorable, how old is he?” I asked as we started to walk back towards my car.  We talked while walking back, mainly about Noah. He didn't ask me any more questions about myself and why I ended up here. He seemed to understand that I didn't want to talk about it. He told me that Noah was 4, and I didn't ask, but I got the feeling that he was just the two of them. No mom was around.  He told me about how Noah stayed with him at work during the day until he started Kindergarten next fall. Occasionally, his cousins would come over during the day and his sister would play with them outside, get ice cream and take them shopping with her.  After reaching my car, I waited until I saw him waiting for me in his truck and we pulled away, on the way to where my new life would start. While following them, I realized that I hadn’t noticed before how beautiful it was here. It was all green, rolling hills and I think I spotted a lake across the town. We drove up and around the hills, the trees bended over the tops of the roads and made it feel like a cave. There were purple and yellow flowers along the sides of the road with the occasional sunflowers.  We pulled into a long driveway and then I saw my new home. It was small,but actually really pretty. The pictures I had seen from the outside really didn't do it justice. It was all white with wooden pills standing on the porch and black steps leading up to the front door.  There were two small windows with wooden trim on each side of the house. The yard was perfect. It had a white picket fence that squared off the front and back yard. I hopped out of my car and heard them get out of theirs as well. I stared at the house in awe, then I felt Blake's body heat come up behind me as I saw Blake running to the porch.  “ It’s so beautiful” I said, letting out a breath of air I didn't realize I had been holding. “It’s perfect.”  “ Thank you”. He smirked. I turned and looked at him confused. “I designed it a few years ago, we actually used to live here.” I was shocked. I mean he wasn't obligated to tell me, but I was still surprised that he didn't mention it.  Blake placed a hand on my back as he started walking forward to meet Noah at the front door. I unlocked the door, and all three of us walked inside. I normally would never let a stranger into my home but I felt calm around him and Noah, like an automatic sense of trust.  “By the looks of it, you didn't bring any furniture with you. If you’re free tomorrow, we would be happy to show you around and take you wherever is needed”. He looked at me with softer eyes than he did last time. I smiled at him and nodded.  “ That would be great” I said.  “Then it's decided,” he said, sounding excited, “We will come pick you up in the morning” He smiled one last time at me before grabbing Noah and walking out, closing the door behind him.  I took a deep breath and looked around me. The inside was just as cute as the outside was. The living room was roomy, on the far side of it was a long hallway and I assumed led to my bedroom and bathroom. The living room and kitchen were separated by half of a wall that had black trim. There was a fireplace below the black mantel.  I went out to my car and brought in all of my suitcases and bags. I had stopped at a Walmart in Arkansas and grabbed some blankets, hangers, an air mattress along with a few other things so I wouldn't be totally empty-handed when I got there. I hung up all of my clothes and put my shoes away in the walk-in closet connected to my room. I blew up the air mattress in there as well. I covered it with all my blankets and made it feel as homey as I could before getting into the rest of my bags. I pulled out the framed picture of me, my mom, and my brother and placed it on the mantel in the living room. After feeling a little more settled, I locked the front door and changed before lying in bed and drifting off to sleep.