Following Me(10)

“I hope you’re not an English major or anything. It would be pretty bad if you never showed your professors your work,” Garrett said with a smile.

“Oh god, no! I’m a social work major.” Devon walked next to him as they left the gardens and headed toward the lakefront.

“Social work?” he asked, wrinkling his nose. “What do you want to do work with inner-city kids in gangs or handle abuse cases? Either sounds awful.”

Devon swallowed hard and bit down on her lip until it hurt. “No,” she answered sharply.

Everyone always looked down on social work as if it wasn’t a legitimate degree, but Wash U had the number one program in the country. Social work majors dealt with all sorts of issues, and were very prominent in the lobbying world. A friend of hers was currently working on protection of women’s rights in D.C., and she didn’t have any complaints about her social work background.

“Social work benefits a normal productive life span. Just because you were raised with a well-to-do family does not mean that the rest of society is so fortunate. People should receive the same care and help,” Devon answered vehemently. “Besides, social work can be used everywhere—government, counseling, nursing homes, community planning. I could go on and on.”

“I do believe you could,” Garrett said with a smile. “Didn’t mean to come off as condescending.”

“We can’t all be business majors,” Devon said curtly.

“Sounds like you really want to be, too.”

“Is that sarcasm?” she asked.

“I would never be sarcastic.”

Devon rolled her eyes as the traffic light changed. They walked across the street and down a set of stairs to the lake. The water was choppy from the wind and the boats out in the harbor. Off in the distance, the Navy Pier looked crowded, and the Ferris wheel turned slowly, stopping every few feet to let passengers on and off. Runners crisscrossed the path, and a couple was rollerblading hand-in-hand. It was a rather picturesque day.

“Stay here a minute,” Garrett said before rushing away.

Devon sighed and pulled out her notebook again. Now that he was gone, she reread what she had written by The Bean. She studied the words and the tone that they had taken. Everything seemed to drift back to the moment that had pushed her over the edge.

Thumbing back to the day after it had happened, she saw the faint bumps in the paper that signified where her teardrops had fallen onto the page. They marred half the page, and as she skimmed the words, she felt a lump form in her throat. The memories and emotions were as all too much. Why was she actively reliving it? She couldn’t seem to get away, and half the time, she didn’t think she wanted to.

She took a few minutes to compose herself before Garrett returned.

Carrying two Popsicles, he smiled brightly at her. “Hope you like strawberry because I’m taking the blueberry-lime,” he said, offering her the red Popsicle.

“My favorite,” Devon told him with a big smile. He got us popsicles? Cute. “What’s this for?”

“I thought it would be easy on your stomach,” he said, shrugging. “One of my favorite pastimes. I used to come here a lot when I was younger with my parents. We’d eat Popsicles and sit on the edge of the water. So…sit.”

Devon smiled even bigger. She was glad that Garrett was talking about himself and not her for a change. She sat next to him on the ledge and dangled her feet toward the water, enjoying the beginning of summer.

The beginning of a new life.

Chapter Four - Square

GARRETT DROPPED DEVON at Jenn’s Restaurant to wait for Hadley to get off work. He was working the night shift and needed to get ready, but he felt bad about leaving Devon alone in the apartment on such a nice day. He had given her his spare key in case she decided to go to the apartment. She didn’t intend to though. Devon figured she would wait until Hadley got off work, and then they could head back together. She didn’t feel comfortable being at their apartment all by herself. She was just a guest.

Her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she had only eaten a piece of toast and a Popsicle all day. She and Garrett had walked for hours. He was a great tour guide, giving her more information about buildings and events than she likely ever needed to know. Garrett had lived in Chicago nearly his whole life, and he had only left for the four years of college. Devon hadn’t been surprised to find out he had gone to George Washington in D.C. Although he had money written all over him, surprisingly, he seemed down-to-earth. She wished that combination happened more often.

Jenn’s wasn’t as busy as it had been the last time Devon had walked inside. Everyone must have still been working at this early hour. She suspected it would start to get crowded closer to five o’clock.

Hadley had a pretty sweet set-up at her job. She always got off work early on Fridays. Plus, she didn’t have to go in at all on the weekends. Hadley had said she would be happy to show Devon around the parts of the city that Garrett had missed during the morning shift. Devon hadn’t decided what she wanted to do, but she knew she would think of something in the meantime.

Sitting down in the same stool as she had the day before, Devon leaned her elbows heavily on the countertop and waited for someone to materialize. She noticed a waitress helping a customer in a booth against the wall. The woman looked like she had been working there since the place had opened forty years earlier. Yet, she still wore the same uniform as the younger waitresses—a short black skirt, a white top unbuttoned to reveal cle**age, white tube socks, and tennis shoes. She couldn’t be the only one working, right?