Francisco stared at the two lovebirds awkwardly, increasingly feeling like he was a third wheel interrupting their moment. Nevertheless, he could go nowhere without alerting the two of his presence, so he sat there and tried to distract himself.

The two interlocked their hands as they stared at each other lovingly. As time passed, their faces got closer before Francisco finally stepped in. After all, he could not just stand by and watch them make love to each other.

With a light cough, the two awoke, noticing Francisco’s presence. Marcia, especially, was embarrassed as she reprimanded Francisco.

“I forgot you were here; make yourself more noticeable!”

“??”

Matthew coughed as he put his hand to his face, trying to hide his deep blush before putting the car in reverse and changing the subject. Discreetly, he asked. So, should I take you two home? I gotta head and open the shop today.

Marcia looked back at Matthew before calming down and responding.

“I was thinking you could show Francisco your shop. Just so he can get familiar with where it is.”

Francisco pulled his head back, thinking he must have misheard. He was not a child who needed to know where the closest adult was! For any other person, they would not think of it. However, Francisco knew she was doing this because of his addiction, treating him as a child. And although he was offended because of it, he did not talk back to her. It was true that it would be great to know where Matthew’s shop was in case of any problems. One could never know what could happen after all.

Matthew thought about it for a second before responding to her.

“Sure, why not? Francisco, you ready?"

“I guess.”

Matthew smiled, looking back at him through the rearview mirror before driving out of the school’s parking lot.

In general, their house, the school, and Matthew’s shop weren’t too far from each other. It was within walking distance for anyone determined enough. And by car, each drive was about five to ten minutes. From the house, it would be ten minutes. From the school, it would be five minutes. In between these three locations, mostly forests and other neighborhoods inhabited everything. So walking was not a challenging task; rather, it was a tedious task that would take roughly thirty minutes.

On the road, the three passed by more neighborhoods surrounded by tall pine trees. In the background, tall mountains made themselves present, slightly visible from the gaps between the trees.

They passed by farms with laid-out fields growing different types of crops. Because it was early August, multiple rows of corn could be seen going as far as the eye could sense. While on other fields, cows ate piles of hay and horses ran along the entire length of their owner’s property.

Opening the window, the strong smell of manure would infiltrate the senses and make it seem as though you were in the countryside. Which, in reality, was not too far from the truth.

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After passing by multiple farms and large properties, the three arrived in the city, which was not much of a surprise to Francisco. If not in the city, where would he have his shop? Everywhere else was a rural area where not many shopped or passed by at all. At least in the city, he’d have a better chance at getting customers.

They traveled through the peak of the city with the largest number of people before heading towards a somewhat secluded portion of it. Here, their SUV pulled into a parking lot that could hold up to seven cars.

Matthew parked the car before turning it off and stepping out. The rough engine stopped roaring as Francisco placed his foot down on the asphalt. Immediately, he noticed the many cracks that ran through the parking lot, with patches of grass sticking out. He turned to see the well-made, one-story building. It was painted white with a sign that stated:

Francisco looked at it for only a moment before following the two toward the entrance of the store. Matthew fumbled through multiple keys before stopping at a specific one. Then he lifted it and unlocked the glass door, revealing the inside. Although much could already be seen from the large glass windows wrapping around the front of the store.

The three entered as a strong new scent flooded their senses, although Marcia and Matthew were used to it.

Six aisles occupied the store, all with varying carpets. Whether by design or length, not one was the same. On the back wall of the store, various marble tiles were hung from baskets nailed to the wall.

Through the middle aisle, all three of them walked toward the back end of the store, where the cash register was.

Next to it, a door stating sat, leading to the back end of the store.

Matthew went behind the register, sorting through many things before speaking to Francisco.

“What do you think?”

Francisco took one last look around the store before responding to him.

“It’s a nice store.”

Matthew smiled lightly before also looking around with heavy emotion in his eyes.

“I’d hope so. It was one hell of a journey to get here, right, Marcia?”

Marcia also smiled before locking arms with Matthew.

“You’re right, it’s incredible what you made.”

She looked at the store with great pride before Francisco asked them a question.

“Actually, I’ve been curious.”

They looked away from the store and gave their attention to Francisco.

“How did you two meet?”

They looked at him blankly before Matthew responded.

“That’s the type of question Elena would ask!”

He laughed lightly before questioning Francisco’s intentions.

“Why do you want to know, Francisco?”

Francisco stared at him briefly before revealing his full intentions.

“It’s simple curiosity. I think you know this, but it’s been eight years since I’ve last seen or spoken to Marcia.”

“Yeah, she told me a little about it.”

Matthew was also curious as to why they had been separated for years, so he seized the moment to satisfy it.

“However, what exactly happened between the two of ya.”

Francisco opened his mouth slightly, ready to respond, before Marcia spoke first.

“I told you, didn’t I? It was a big argument we had.”

Matthew looked down at Marcia before Francisco assured him.

“I had told her some things she didn’t really like, so we stopped talking to each other.”

Matthew put his hand on his forehead as he tried to process their dialogue.

“Really, all over an argument.”

“Mmhm. If you’d like, we can go into the specifics?”

“Nah, it’s all right. Wait, so you wanted to know how we met?”

Francisco pulled his head down and tried to look at himself, well, as much as he could. He pulled his hands in the same way he had that day. There, on his palm, multiple old calluses were present. It gave him a stark reminder of what he had done and what he had not done.

"I was just curious. I mean, I’ve just been thinking… About how much of our lives we don’t know about. For eight years, I haven’t been in her life, helping her in any way I could. So, I wanted to ask you about both of your pasts. And thank you properly for all that you helped her with.”