HEART UPON THE SOUTHERN GROUND chapter seven â part one
Itâs more than coincidence that Clarke pours herself into work whenever her personal life is in shambles.Â
Itâs been a coping mechanism since she moved to Chicago and had to learn how to navigate a big city after living the first decade of her life in a tiny town, where she had to adjust to having just one parent and not crying whenever she said her dad had died. Back then, it had been doing every extra homework assignment she could get her hands on and reading through her momâs books, taking notes on terms like âsphenopalatine ganglioneuralgiaâ and âsynchronous diaphragmatic flutterâ so she could look up later. It amused her to learn they meant simple things â âice cream headacheâ and âhiccupsâ, respectively.
Now, itâs getting to the clinic an hour earlier and working until Jackson knocks on her door and tells her heâs leaving. She doesnât bother with a lunch break, preferring to work through the midday slump and taking two smaller breaks â one in the morning and another in the afternoon, when she goes to the bakery for coffee and whatever pastry Costia gives her.
Clarke makes it halfway through the week before confirming her suspicions that the universe is pulling a goddamn prank on her, mocking her ill resolve.Â
