Page 21 of Until We Weren't

“The reason we still work on the flower beds is to see her,” Destiny said.

“She’s not wrong.”

“No, but she added that it is also our way to check on each other without the other knowing,” Destiny explained.

Faith laughed. “Of course we know. She tells us.”

Destiny laughed along with her.

“Well, do you have any other ideas?” she asked as Destiny put her phone back into her pocket.

Destiny sat down on an overturned bucket across from Faith and leaned against the wall. “Yeah, actually I do.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Tell me why you left,” Destiny said. “What did I do, Faith?”

Destiny stared at Faith and was surprised she didn’t look away. She could tell Faith was not expecting her question. She recognized that look though. Faith was weighing her options.

Destiny was trying to keep her face neutral even though her heart was pounding in her chest. It didn’t take long for the light to dim in the space since the sun had set, but she could see and feel Faith’s eyes studying her.

“You really don’t know,” Faith said.

“No!” Destiny said desperately. “I thought we were happy. I was.” She was glad shadows had begun to fill the small room and hoped Faith couldn’t see the tears that suddenly filled her eyes. Destiny blinked them away and took a shallow breath.

“I was, too,” Faith said softly. “Until…”

Destiny waited for Faith to continue, but she simply stared.

“Until what, Faith?”

“Do you remember the competitions between the teams that the Galloways used to come up with?” Faith said. “They were supposed to be in good fun, as they put it.”

“Of course I remember them,” Destiny replied. “But I didn’t think they were necessarily fun.”

“Really?”

“They were supposed to make the work crews more productive, but it didn’t always feel that way to me,” Destiny said. “You didn’t particularly like them either.”

“Not really.”

“It was fun when we were on the same team,” Destiny said, remembering how they’d work together to beat the other crews. “But not as much when we had our own teams. At least not for me.”

“Then why were we always trying to beat each other?” Faith asked.

Destiny shrugged. “I guess because when we won we could choose the jobs we wanted.”

“Do you do competitions with your work crews?”

“Nope. I try to treat everyone the same and assign jobs according to several different factors. Do you?”

“No,” Faith said. “I’ve been accused of supervising too closely because it’s hard for me to trust that the job will get done.”

“Why?” Destiny asked. “You don’t trust your employees? Surely you trust Mark.”

“I do, but the job getting done on time and done right is my responsibility.”

“I get that.”

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