Pull out some hope for me.
It’s been a long day,
Always.
-Matchbox 20, "Long Day"
Her eyes were like liquid and they flowed over him with just as much ease, looking him over carefully. When they met his own eyes they narrowed slightly, causing him to fidget. Geoff wasn’t usually so nervous under such scrutiny. Then again, it wasn’t often that he was under such scrutiny by a four year old girl, either.
" If you sign here, then you can go, Mr. Taschereau." Even though she was standing next to him, Ms. Thompson’s voice sounded distant and hazy. He was drowning in a sea of lapis; he was drowning in those eyes.
Ms. Thompson jumped a little as he suddenly gasped and turned to her, his eyes somewhat wider and his throat bobbed a few times before he took another breath, a deep breath as if gasping for air.
The proprietress of the Jacksonville Regional Orphanage blinked at him in surprise and opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off.
" I’ll sign now, thank you." He grabbed the clipboard and the pen from her hands and quickly scribbled his signature on the bottom line. There was no questioning the feelings he’d just had — he knew he had to sign the paper. Not the reasons why, he just knew he had to sign it. It was as if he was possessed by a demon and for a fraction of a second he wondered if he was being influenced by the Wyrm.
How could such a sweet, innocent looking little girl be a creature of that hideous abomination, though? No… she didn’t smell of taint. But there was something about her that didn’t set well with him, either. Still, something told him that she was destined to go with him.
Destiny? He chuckled as he handed the clipboard back to Ms. Thompson, inciting another odd look from her direction. He didn’t believe in destiny… did he? Whatever happened in this world happened because the Mother deemed it to be so. It’s what he was always taught and what he’d always believe. If that was destiny, then yes… it was his destiny to take this child away from the orphanage.
Seraphim. That’s what they’d said her name was. It was a beautiful name that rolled off the tongue. But she’d never told him that herself. In fact, the orphanage had said that she never spoken before. They had been surprised when she had singled Geoff out and approached him herself.
" She’s never taken to anyone like that," Ms. Thompson had remarked.
So Geoff decided to fill out the papers and try to adopt her. Still, even the day that she’d approached him she hadn’t scrutinized him like she did that day he came to pick her up. Maybe she’d thought he had forgotten about her?
But the adoption process was no easy task. It took weeks, months even, sometimes, to process the paperwork. And for a single 23 year old to be adopting a young girl? Well, needless to say, he doubted very seriously they were going to approve him at all. But they did.
He was ecstatic about the whole affair and had been hoping that Sera (the nickname fit her perfectly) would be too. Yet when he arrived to pick her up she seemed more solemn than ever.
Ms. Thompson was droning on about how happy she was that Sera finally found a good, stable home, that she’d been in the orphanage since she was an infant, but Geoff wasn’t listening. He was watching the blonde haired girl out the front window as she stood in front of the orphanage, her small bag on the ground by her feet. She looked like she was waiting for a bus, only she wasn’t standing at a bus stop.
Slowly, her head turned, looking around at all the parked cars. Then she reached down and took her bag in hand again. To Geoff’s disbelief she walked over and sat on the curb in front of Geoff’s BMW. He was stupefied.
" –Mr. Taschereau? Are you listening to me?"
At the sound of Ms. Thompson’s voice he jolted back to reality and turned to her, nodding. " Yes, um… thank you… thank you very much. It was a pleasure." He quickly shook the hand of the stunned woman and then hurried out of her office, tearing out the front door of the orphanage and down the front steps.
" Sera?" His voice quieted some as he approached her and the car. " Sera… how did you know this was my car?"
The girl looked up at him with her stormy blue eyes again and shrugged, not saying a word. Geoff frowned in confusion before fumbling with his keys to unlock the passenger side door for her.
She got up, bag in hand, and got in without another word. He was already on the other side of the car, unlocking his own door. When he got in and went to start the car she was seatbelted and sitting with her hands folded neatly in her lap, her bag on the floor at her feet. With no real reason at all, he reached back and pulled his own seat belt out, buckling it securely around himself. He’d never bothered with it before, but this time he did… for her sake, at least.
The ride home was quiet. She didn’t say a word and he wasn’t going to talk if the conversation was going to be one-sided. He didn’t even turn on the radio as he was oft to do if he was alone in the care. For some reason the silence was oddly comforting.
They pulled up in the driveway of his single-story house. It was painted a light tan color with white all along the eves and the window and door frames. A quaint little home in one of the better neighborhoods of Jacksonville, Florida.
Only it wasn’t so little to a single man, living on his own. The three bedroom house felt so spacious and empty. It made him feel that much more alone. He’d been hoping that a child would help fill that space in his life, in his soul, that felt hollow… like something was missing. He admitted to himself that it was a selfish reason, but he knew that he could provide for the child and, given time, come to love her like his own. So what harm would come of it?
Sera had gotten out of the car and was waiting for him at the front door when he finally joined her, keys in hand to unlock the portal to her new home. He pushed the door open and bade her enter with a sweep of his hand.
She walked inside and just stood by the doorway looking around at everything, at first.
Geoff followed after her, shutting the door behind them. " Is it up to your standards, m’lady?" He smiled and made a flourishing half-bow.
But she hadn’t noticed as she had already begun wandering through the living room, touching object after object, almost as a blind person would to familiarize themselves with their surroundings.
" I’ll be in the kitchen, cooking dinner, when you’re finished, okay?" He wasn’t sure if she’d heard him or not because she made no sign to lead him to that conclusion. He shrugged and wandered into the kitchen anyway, whether she’d heard him or not.
Eggs, bacon, toast… he pulled out all the ingredients for a complete breakfast. He didn’t feel like cooking something complicated, so he settled on making them breakfast for dinner.
Then, as he was laying four strips across the frying pan, he heard a voice behind him. As pure and clear as a crystal bell, the sort of voice he would’ve expected from an angel, should one have had the misfortune to fall to earth.
Thank you.