Locked Out of Love || [Genelous]
Para 700 words. Lou helps someone out with an apartment problem
Most of Lou’s days were slow and boring. He barely had any commissions to work on. There was never enough to do. He had even taken to cleaning the apartment when he was bored enough, which was abhorrent but which he couldn’t stop doing anyway. Despite not caring about this apartment at all, he did take pride in having a tidy space. And having a teenager who tended to throw her things wherever she wanted meant that there was always something to clean. He had begun to understand how Nounou felt—though, he still couldn’t imagine the tedium of simply doing this every day, day in and day out.
He felt restless but he wasn’t about to complain. There were plenty of people in his life who would be entirely too smug about the results of his latest manic episode. And he did not so easily admit defeat to anyone, especially not his family. Besides, he could convince himself that it was nice. Relaxing leisurely with no responsibilities and, of course, being with Opal.
Though, even that had started to strain. They’d had their first fight after dinner at the Lyons’ cabin. Lou had demanded that Opal start acting more like an adult instead of an immature child and she had spat all sorts of horrible things at him, just like she’d done her parents. The only difference had been that she had felt some semblance of regret around the matter. Of course, she had not apologized, he hadn’t expected her to. But, she had curled up close to him the next day, resting her head on his shoulder in what he assumed was the closest thing he was going to get.
Which was fine with him. He didn’t need an apology. He had never grown up with them. Moving on was just as well. In his opinion, it made things much easier. Discussing mistakes, admitting wrongdoing. These things did not come naturally to him. Simply moving on? Now that came naturally indeed.
Still--he wondered, sometimes, now when he watched Opal reading her books or painting or singing around the house...what had gone so wrong and could he help fix it? It was a surprisingly selfless thought for someone who was rather selfish but...he didn’t believe that Belle and Hades deserved the kind of pain that Opal was trying to cause them.
He’d convinced Hades to let him take Opal to Paris, just overnight, to try and soften her up somewhat. If Hades said no, it would only make things worse, he had reasoned. And he was quite sure he was right.
So, here they were: packing for Paris, when there was a knock at the door. The music had muffled any sounds outside the apartment, so Lou had no idea who it could possibly be. He was not used to strange knocks that came with living in an apartment complex. It was still strange to him and he wasn’t sleeping well. He could hear everything on the hall. The people above him. Sometimes even those below him. It gave him headaches and he often found himself retreating to the bedroom in the dark to escape a migraine. The whole thing was almost a repeat of Paris and he regretted giving his cottage to Sophie. However, the money that he got from that arrangement was steady and necessary. Besides, the cottage was too close to other things he would rather avoid. A migraine was preferable.
“I’ll get it!” Opal chirped, turning the music off from her phone.
“I will get it,” Lou cut across her, heading down the hallway. She pouted her lip at him but went back to folding the shirt that was in her hands.
Crossing to the door, Lou opened it to reveal Genevieve. His neighbor from down the hall. He had seen her a few times since their first meeting. They’d exchanged the sort of pleasantries that neighbors were supposed to exchange, but it had not moved passed that.
At first, he was surprised to see her at the door. It took him a moment to remember that he had offered to help her if she ever needed anything.
“Bon soir, Genevieve. May I help you?”
