Aurora Hansley lived a relatively simple life. She ran a bookstore complete with a small coffee shop and a mountain view on the outskirts of Vancouver. It was a small store, family owned and she was the only employee. The owner Maggie, was a well-aged woman, with grey unruly hair and crinkles surrounding her eyes and smile. She had one too many patchwork cardigans, and Aurora was sure if she wore as many necklaces as Maggie did, her neck would be permanently weighed down.
Aurora had stumbled into the bookstore three years ago. She'd seen a help wanted flyer at a coffee shop two streets over, with the address posted and had gone into the tiny corner bookstore the next morning. Maggie was never big with social media or advertising and told Aurora that "The right person would walk through the doors the good old fashioned way." Aurora wasn't quite sure that she was 'the right person' but at that point she was desperate for work, 18 and hungry. She struggled to make ends meet in a new city.
When Theo had been drafted to the Florida Panthers, Aurora had been 14. She obviously couldn't live by herself, so when her mother and step-father made the decision to move to Fort Lauderdale to be closer to their golden child, she'd had no choice but to go with them. Four years later, she hadn't quite gotten into their good books, but the saving grace was that Theo no longer lived with them, and she was under no obligation to spend time with him more than six times a year- birthdays, holidays, and the occasional game she was forced to go to.
As soon as she graduated high school- not that anyone was there to watch her walk across the stage- and turned eighteen she moved as far away as she could possibly go. She told her parents that she had gotten into a school in Vancouver for an undeclared English undergrad (she hadn't even applied to any schools) and didn't look back.
Now, aged 21 she was living her own life. She had a job, and an apartment and friends.
Well, friend. Singular.
But Aurora never found herself caring about how many people she surrounded herself with- she was a quality over quantity type of person. And Georgia was a quality friend. They'd met on Aurora's first shift at the bookstore. It turned out that Maggie was Georgia's great-aunt, and stopped in from time to time to see if the older woman ever needed help stocking books, or grinding coffee beans. Aurora and Georgia had been inseparable ever since.
Georgia was sunshine in human form. She always wore a smile, and had some form of fun clip in her hair. She was a partner at one of the most successful law firms in the city, but she wasn't one of those stuffy, snobby, crisp pantsuit wearing lawyers.
Almost as if she knew Aurora was thinking of her, Georgia stumbled in through the door of the store, shaking her umbrella as she entered.
Letting out a big sigh, she smiled at Aurora, "Girl, you would not believe how much it is raining outside, I swear this time- it really feels like we'll never see the sun again." She was referring to the fact that this was day three of non-stop rain on the west coast. Aurora usually loved the gloomy weather, she wasn't really one for constant heat or sunshine- it reminded her of the hell that was living in Florida- but even this was getting to be a bit too much for the more reserved girl.
Aurora pushed over a mug of steaming liquid towards her blonde-haired friend as she hummed in response. "Yeah, thanks for picking me up. Again." For the past week, Georgia had conveniently arrived at the bookstore at 6:00, right at the time Aurora was heading out. She'd arrived under the pretence of seeing her Aunt, but the second day in a row that she'd arrived, Aurora knew that was a lie.
Georgia hated the fact that Aurora took transit to and from work every day. It wasn't that it was unsafe route per se, but the bus didn't exactly take Aurora through the nicest part of town. Last week there had been two unprovoked muggings two stops before where she usually got off the bus to head home, and when Georgia had seen her friend's neighbourhood on her nightly news channel, she'd shown up the next day. If she'd offered Aurora a ride, she'd just decline it and say that she was fine- she was stubborn like that.
"Whatever, you know you missed me." Georgia rolled her eyes.
"I saw you less than twenty four hours ago G." Aurora said, turning her back on the other girl to wipe down the counters and turn off the open sign.
"We should do something tonight." Georgia said, "You know, take our minds off the shitty weather outside. You know my firm has those really nice tickets at the arena," Aurora hands stilled where she was wiping the counter, "I asked, and no one's using the seats tonight." Georgia trailed off quietly.
Aurora hadn't watched a single game of hockey since she'd left Florida. It had too many reminders of her past, of people she was trying desperately to forget, and people she'd already forgotten. She recalled soft eyes, shaggy hair and skittles. She remembered some of the only feelings of comfort she could recall, and then the heartbreak of having it ripped away from her. Aurora scrubbed harder at the non-existent stains on the counter.
"Who's playing?" She tried to keep her voice steady, and when Georgia responded, Aurora could practically hear the smile in hers,
"Canucks are playing the LA Kings. It should be a good game." Aurora was practically pleading at this point.
And then as if some form of miracle happened, or maybe it was just that Aurora felt that she needed to repay Georgia's kindness of the drives across town every night, "Fine." She agreed to sit in a cold rink, with thousands of cheering fans, and reminders of her past that she most certainly did not want brought up.
YOU ARE READING
forget me not ~ q.hughes
Fanfiction"And I won't confess that I waited, but I let the lamp burn As the men masqueraded, I hoped you'd return With your feet on the ground, tell me all that you'd learned 'Cause love's never lost when perspective is earned And you said you'd come and get...
