Chapter 5: In Which He Is Good Company

Sora got dressed in a cute pleated tea pink skirt with a maroon sweater tucked in. Her hair naturally pin straight down her back as she put on her sandals. Her iPhone pinged indicating a text and upon opening it she saw it was from Ashton. They had exchanged numbers the day before and they had reached an agreement that he would pick her up today and drive her wherever she needed to go. Right now he had texted that he was right outside her house waiting for her to come out. She woke up late so there wasn't time to have breakfast hence, she decided to get breakfast from ihop instead. Saying her goodbyes to her grandmother she stepped out of the house with her sideways purse hanging to her side diagonally. "Good morning" she greeted with a smile as she got in the truck. "Morning" he grumbled out. He wasn't used to these morning greetings. "You've has breakfast yet?" She asked. "No" he answered, looking at her. "Well I haven't either, so how does ihop sound?" She suggested. "Sounds good" he could really do with some good bacon and eggs so he revved the engine to life and started driving to ihop. Aston parked his truck at the curb in front of ihop and the two of them got out of the truck heading for the entrance. Ashton held the door open for the dainty girl who he still couldn't believe he was gonna have breakfast with, it was so unlike him considering he was more of the lone wolf type. They both took a seat near the window booth where they could look outside at the street. "What are you gonna get?" She asked. "Bacon and eggs" he simply answered. "Cool. I think I'll go with chocolate chip pancakes with chai latte" she said. They gave their order to the cheery waitress in red who told them their order would be up in 15. "Do you have a family?" She asked, he was a little taken a back by the sudden question regarding his family background but nonetheless he answered. "No, had a father he died of a heart attack" he said nonchalantly. "Oh, I am sorry" she apologised, genuinely feeling sorry for him while he just slightly shrugged, it was old news. "Well, I only have my grandma too, my mom left when I was born and I never came back since" Sora told him. She didn't mean to let out so much but she felt like she could tell him. He was a little surprised at the revelation. Since he met her, she looked so normal, so perfect and happy that he didn't expect her to go through something so life changing. "Sorry about that" he mumbled out. Again, not used to this sort of situation. "You told me you clean up crime scenes left behind by the mafia, what's that like? Isn't it... disturbing" she asked. "After a while you get used to it" was his simple reply. "I don't understand how someone can get used to that no matter how many times they see that sort of thing or at least I can't... I have been having nightmares since that day and I haven't slept properly at all" she confessed. "Well, that's understandable, give it time, it will get better" he said sincerely. He really felt bad for her, that gory crime scene had took a toll on her and now that she mentioned it he noticed the slight weariness on her face. Soon enough their breakfast order arrived and they dug in. "Where do you wanna head now?" Ashton asked as they got buckled in his truck. "Well I don't have much on my list today, just grocery shopping" she told him. "Walmart it is then" he said pulling off the curb heading to Walmart. Sora got the wheeled grocery cart and pushed it inside as the doors opened and closed with Aston following close behind. "So I need eggs, bread, maple syrup, juice, dog food and a lot of junk food" She rambled. They headed to the bread and jam isle well, Ashton walked, she rode the cart with one foot on the space beneath and the other foot pushing on like a skateboard. A smile threatened to escape him at her antics but he concealed it with a threat clearing. Soon enough they were almost done with the groceries, only dog food left so they made their way to the very last isle. Sora saw that they had moved the treats she usually buy for mocha all the way up as she spotted the yellow bad with the orange threaded handle. She stood on her toes and tried to stretch her arm as far as possible in order to get the bag down but her efforts were in vain which didn't go unnoticed by Ashton so he stepped forward and helped her out. He was standing very close behind her as he reached out for the bag with one hand, close enough to smell her peach shampoo and he has this strong urge to take a hearty deli breath in it but he refrained. The way his body was reacting was so foreign to him. She got trapped in between him and the shelf, she could feel the warmth radiating off him and a strange sense of comfort from his impeccably much more built and tall body than hers and she could smell the mushy scent of cigarettes and aftershave and she secretly drew a breath in. She didn't know why she was feeling this way with him. He loaded the bag in the cart and she mumbled a polite thanks to him to which he responded with a guttural grunt. As they were heading to the check out counter all the way on the other side, she started peddling the cart again like a skate board when suddenly a man candy out of the idle and she was about to bump the cart into him if Ashton hadn't held onto her and swayed it sideways. "Stop riding the cart and be careful" Ashton scolded. After that she looked down with an asked look like a child, her face red in embarrassment, again a smile threaten led to escape his lips but yet again he refrained. They stopped in front of Sora's house as she got out of the truck. He himself got out and helped her to the porch of her house with the grocery bags. "Thanks for all the driving around today, you're strangely good company Ashton" She said with a simple smile. His heart slightly picked up pace hearing his name from her lips but he concealed himself. "Yea... umm bye" he awkwardly said to which she responded with a little giggle and a wave at his awkwardness. Getting back into his truck he closed the door as he saw Sora closing the front door of her house right behind her too. His phone buzzed and he took it out opening the text he got. 'Clean up, liberty street house 234' it read. He cane back to the harsh reality of his life, his world as he started the truck heading to his gory job.