Lucas

I hear the sound of what seemed like a tornado had just happened, enough to wake me up and I sigh before pushing the covers off of me and gathering as much energy as I can to get out of bed and take a look at what it was that caused such a loud sound at such an early hour of the morning.

I grabbed my phone on the way downstairs and clicked on the central button to check the time - 7:26 AM. I groaned as I quickly put my foot after the other and rushed to the ground floor.

Oh God. Not again.

"What are you doing?" I asked while I made my way to the kitchen counter and really take a look at the mess that was waiting for me.

"Oopsie..." The adorable sound of the little girl's voice was enough to make me less mad. Only a teeny tiny less mad. "I was trying to help. I wanted to make you pancakes."

"I know you wanted to help, Lexie." I said with the most compassion for the girl's intentions. I turned around to see her covered in flour and picked her up, not giving a crap about her turning my navy blue pajamas totally white as she leaned into me and wrapped her arms around my neck. "But cooking is for grown ups. And what have I told you about the kitchen? You gotta be careful so you don't get burnt, so you won't get a boo-boo." I kissed her forehead and she nodded. Her messy, blonde hair was covering her blue eyes and most of her face, but I could tell she wasn't that happy with my pep talk. 

But than again, at seven thirty in the morning, who is?

"Okay, what do you say we get cleaned up and dressed, maybe even get some more sleep before all of that, and then we'll come back downstairs and I'll let you help me with breakfast." She didn't look that amused with my suggestion and deep down, I hoped that had 90% to do with her lack of sleep (and mine for that matter) and 10% with her desire to help. "Come on, I'll even make you Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes!"

That did the trick and five minutes later, my niece was already laying on my bed, already fast asleep, her back turned to me while she held her stuffed monkey tightly against her chest. I closed my eyes and drifted off to the so needed sleep on this Sunday morning.

My younger sister - Melanie - had a date last night and asked me to take care of five year old Lexi, which started to become a habit these days. 

I didn't mind though, I loved my niece and I loved taking care of her, she was a pretty easy kid, at least compared to what your older friends tell you about their own little devils and compared to what people said on TV and movies. But on Sunday mornings, I liked to sleep in. No, liked is an understatement, I loved to sleep in. It was the only day of the week that I had to just be lazy and not get up and leave the house in a rush like I do in the other six days.

Mel was only a couple of years younger than me but she's had a pretty rough five years, and, as her older brother and best friend, I was always there to pick up the pieces and hold her when she needed to, give her a place to stay when she had nothing, and now be on babysitting duty whenever she couldn't have Lexi around.

"Uncle Luc?" I heard the innocent voice of Lexi as she cupped my face in her tiny hands, waking me up from my early morning slumber. 

That had to be a record, she lasted at least thirty whole minutes sleeping. 

I groaned and got up, knowing that I couldn't postpone our breakfast any longer and had to start our SundayFunday. 

* * *

"I'm so sorry, Luc!"  

"It's fine, really." I said while I stood still by door as I held it open.

"How was she?" She asked while she flew inside the house in a rush, dropping some of my bills on the floor as the wind shook them off the hallway table.

"She was great, we had a pretty good day today." I said as I closed the door behind me and followed my sister inside my apartment, after bending down to pick up the envelopes and put them back on the table.

Melanie tied her hazelnut hair up in a messy bun and helped herself of a glass of water, not even bothering to take her coat off or to acknowledge what she did to the bills. She chugged down the cup like she had just ran the marathon and panted heavily.

"Is she asleep?" It was nine o'clock in the night and she was supposed to pick Lexie up at lunch time today, so I could see why she was in such a tumult.

"She is. I tried to keep her up for you but she was exhausted, she fell asleep on my shoulder and then I took her to my bed." I changed the subject and decided to addressed the state my sister was in. "You know, you didn't have to run to get here."

Melanie let out a groan that seemed to be full of disappointment and failure - although she had no reason to feel that way - and made her way around the couch, taking a seat in front of the TV that she deliberately ignored. I followed her lead and sat down next to her.

"I'm such a bad mom." She took her hand to her face, the sight in front of me being the perfect recreation of the facepalming emoji. 

"Shut up! What are you even saying? You're a great mom- No! The best mom to Lexie." I put my hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.

"I leave my kid over at my brother's and let some guy take over my time and steal the one day I have to spend with her." She groaned once more as she dropped her hand down let it fall down, resting on her leg.

"Come on, Mel. You're a mom but you've got a life of your own too. How was the date, by the way?"

"It was okay, I suppose... Had a second date today at lunch that was longer than I thought, we took a walk at Hyde Park."

"See, it was good! You've got nothing to worry about Mel, trust me." I said reassuringly before dropping my back on the couch, taking her along with me, my arm never leaving her, ending up with her head resting on my shoulder. "Plus she loves spending time with uncle Luc!"

"Uncle Luc needs to have a life of his own too." She slightly leaned her head back to look at me, trying to get an answer out of me. When she didn't, she poked me with her shoulder. "I'm serious, Luc. You need to get yourself out there and live a life of your own, a life worth living and not spend your days going from this house to work and from work to this house."

"Hey, I do other things!"

"Oh yeah? What things?" She deadpanned, looking at me with a defiant look in her blue eyes that matched mine.

"I went to the park this afternoon, rode the bike with Lexi."

"Come on, Lucas! That's not doing other things, that's looking after your niece. It doesn't count."

"Melanie, I can't do this right now. I can't... think about dating or finding some girlfriend." I shrugged. "I hate to admit it but I'm too heart broken. And I don't think I'll ever love again."

"Don't say that, don't do that to yourself. You deserve better, so much better."

The conversation was becoming too deep and emotional for me, I didn't want to go down this rabbit hole. I exhaled loudly as I got up from the couch and busied myself picking up all of the little girl's toys and putting them on the backpack she brought, avoiding the talk and changing the subject.

"You can take her home now, I'll help you." I said after I zipped the bag closed and handed it to my sister, my index finger hooked on the pink strap at the top.

"Whatever." She mumbled under her breath before she too got up and grabbed the pink and purple bag before rushing up the stairs and coming back down in less than ten minutes with a sleeping Lexi on her arms, the little girl's head resting on the crook of her shoulder.

I said my goodbyes with a soft kiss on my nieces head and a kiss on my sister's cheek. I stood by the door through the cold and crisp October air and didn't get inside the house until I saw they got in the car safely and drove away to their small apartment in East Barnet, nearly twenty minutes away from my place in Hampstead Heath, in London, England.

* * *

Just like a regular Monday morning, the sound of the bell ringing echoed through the store as the door closed behind me and I waltzed my way inside Gems of The Heath in a rush as I tried to escape the rain drops that fell from the thick grey London sky.

I carried my brown, leather material laptop briefcase on my right shoulder and my dripping black umbrella on my other hand.

"Hey Luc! How was the weekend?" As I heard my colleague and good friend, Henry, greet me from across the room, I turned my head to side to look at him and share a smile as I held my hand up in a quick movement, gesturing my hello.

"Hey Henry!"

I went to the back of the store where my office was located and put down my belongings, taking my time to get settled in and turning my laptop on. Once it was all set, I made my way to the front of the shop where my friend was just ending a phone call with someone. By the sound of the conversation it was probably a client.

"I had Lexie for the weekend, it was pretty fun, how about yours?" I carried on the conversation he had previously started once I saw him put down the phone on the shinny glass counter 

It was nearly 08:45 A.M. - I've always liked to be early - and the shop doesn't open until nine o'clock so it's not like we were so busy we couldn't have a quick chat before it got too crazy like it usually does around 10:00 A.M.

It was mostly tourists who kept us busy. Hampstead wasn't exactly where the royal family spent their days or had their famous, majestic palaces and abbeys or cathedrals but the town I grew up in and still lived in at twenty eight was getting more and more recognition for our undiscovered corners, book stores and cafes, especially now during autumn. 

Everywhere you went the bright colors filled your sight, the smell of freshly brewed coffee and tea filled your nostrils and the sound of the wind wiggling the leaves on the trees before they fell down in proper autumn fashion.

"Eh, it was nice. Had a movie and dinner date with Sophie on Saturday night, on Sunday we went to her parent's for lunch." He replied me while he cleaned the glass counter with a cloth after having sprayed some cleaning product with an awfully intense smell that always got to me.

"Ah, so it's evolving fast."

"What is?"

"The relationship, I mean." I said with a light shrug of my shoulders.

"Oh." Henry said in realization. "It's going... If it's going fast or slow, I don't know. I try not to think about it, I take it day by day."

I sighed and leaned my head down a little and starred at the ground, looking at how my shoes were still wet from the rain, the brown leather turning black.

"Yeah that's the best you can do." Was all I managed to say before putting on a brave face and a matching smile.

"Ah, sorry Luc. I know it's been hard for you." Henry said apologetically as he realized that what he had said hit me harder then it probably should have. "You did what you felt was best, you followed your heart and that's how it should be. Too bad it didn't work out."

It was not my fault I was a hopeless romantic. Not too romantic, but enough for a bad relationship to wreck me inside for what felt like it was forever.

I met her - Sarah, who I thought I knew for sure was the one - at a bar a year ago. She was just a one night stand. That's all she wanted anyways and I... I wanted it to too. The sex, I mean. I wanted a good night spent with good company but a one night stand turned into a week of love making and take out food and getting to know each other, and that turned into a couple of months of dates every Saturday after work.

And then we started dating - officially dating - and God, it was amazing. I thought she was it for me. I lived some of the best days of my life with that woman, and one year and half into our relationship I decided to get down on one knee and open the blue velvet box that displayed the insanely pricey engagement ring that I bought, using some of my savings.

She said no, and my heart was shattered into a million pieces.

She said she didn't want a serious commitment, and especially not with me. Told she only saw me as someone who she dated and that was it, nothing more, "No future to see here." were her exact words. 

I had to give it to her, she was honest with me and told me the hard truth, that took a lot of balls. Too bad my heart had to be dragged across the floor and stomped on in the process. 

"Yeah... Guess you're right. Too bad it all backfired in the end." I said before sighing loudly and resuming to my choirs.

I turned the "Closed" sign around, letting the people outside know we were now open and ready to sell.

But my heart, unlike my store, was very much closed.

 * * *

Author's Note:

Here's the second chapter! And this is when you meet Lucas - what did you think of him?  😍

I know I sound like a broken record at the end of every chapter but please vote, comment - I LOVE your thoughts through the chapters -, add this book to your reading list or follow me so you won't miss any updates and share this story with your friends or anyone you think might like it! 💖💖

Xoxo, Mars