Welcome to Gaia! ::

“Hey,” Hannah raised a hand when the entry doorbell rang and Isaac stepped inside the cafe. “I saved you a seat.”

Her cousin chuckled as he walked over and pulled the chair out from under the table before taking a seat across from her. “Sorry I’m late, I needed to go on base this morning and got caught up with talking to one of my buddies that just got back from deployment last week.”


“There’s no need to apologize, you know we could have easily just postponed this until later.” Although her schedule was typically tight, there was a bit of a wiggle room in some places.

“No, it’s fine. He was busy the rest of the day anyway so it all works out.” Isaac picked up the fork beside him and used the edge to cut off a piece of the apple pastry and took a bite.

“I wasn’t sure what coffee to get you and didn’t want it to be cold once you arrived. If you want to tell me what you like I’ll go get it for you while you eat.” Hannah took a sip of her iced caramel mocha then reached for her purse and pulled out her tan leather wallet.

“You don’t need to do that it’s fine. The apple pastry is enough, really.” He’d already had one this morning after waking up, any more than that and his stomach might get upset. “So tell me, how have things been with work and your health?”

Hannah watched him for a moment “We have a staff shortage at the hospital so we’re functioning on mandatory overtime without the option of taking a vacation day. The only way to get time off to recoup is to call out sick but even that has come to bite people in the butt. There is a policy in place that states if you are out of work for two days then you have to have a doctors note. One of my co-workers got suspended without pay because he called out twice in a row and one of his buddies posted a picture of them at a bar on their social media.”

Issac drew in a hissing breath. “Oh… ouch. That sucks.”

“Yeah, even though I’m an intern, I’ve spent a few nights sleeping in one of the spare rooms.” Well, it wasn’t really a spare room. They just had an extra gurney set up in the staff lounge where employees could take a nap. “As for my health, I’ve just been tired lately. Low on energy but I haven’t relapsed in a few years now, which I’m thankful for.” However, it was a worry that lingered in the back of her head.

“I’m glad you’re staying healthy at least,” her time in the hospital had taken its toll on the whole family. Even though he was adopted by her aunt and uncle they were as close as if they were blood-related.

“Any word from Delilah? Or I guess Vera…” A name she hadn’t spoken let alone thought about in some time.

Isaac shook his head, “No. Nothing since I got back.”

It wasn’t that she was looking to say ‘I told you so’ but she had tried to warn him that this might be the case. More than anything Hannah had hoped she’d be wrong, more for his sake rather than her own. “She’s more like a bird then you know. Very flighty and unpredictable.”


“She really hurt you before, didn’t she?” He asked after taking his final bite and washing it down with a glass of water.

“Unfortunately,” Hannah nodded. There was a deep sadness in her eyes that was hard to miss, one that reflected an amount of loneliness that not many could relate to. A hole had been left in her heart and despite her efforts to fill it with work-related tasks, that open wound would never really fill. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to spend today talking about things that will, in the end, make us sad. It’s supposed to be a good day today.”

“You’re right. We haven’t had a chance to meet up like this in quite a while.” Isaac picked up the napkin and wiped his mouth before getting up from his seat. Hannah followed suit a moment later after fishing out a few dollars from her wallet to leave as a tip for the waitress. “Where do you have in mind.”

“Well, if you’re up for a bit of a walk, there is a garden close by. From what I read on the website they decorated the area with Star Festival ornaments and lights, it should be quite beautiful come nightfall.” It was probably just as beautiful in the daylight but night time was supposed to make the area seem more magical.

“Sure, we can head that way.” He stepped aside and followed her out of the cafe, or rather was about to until Hannah came to an abrupt halt just after stepping over the threshold. “You ok?”

“Yeah, I just stepped on something like glass.” Leaning over she picked up what she thought might have been a broken bracelet or something similar; perhaps one of those Pandora jewelry pieces. But when she looked closer she noticed that the little bits of gemstones were not attached by any sort of chain or string. “Huh, interesting.”

Hannah stepped aside so that one of the other patrons looking to enter the cafe could come inside. Isaac held a hand out to inspect the little star shape objects himself. “Should hold on to them, maybe make something out of them later.”

“When have I ever been one to do crafting?” she nudged him in the side with her elbow teasingly.

Her cousin shrugged, “Never too late to pick up a new hobby.” He leaned over to pick up a few more of the pieces then put them in his pocket for the time being. “So, which way are we heading.”

“It’s this way,” she nodded with her head and together they wandered the streets towards the garden she had mentioned earlier.