01 - What Luck!?

01 - What Luck

Sirus was on his way home after getting off from working the night shift at Walmart. He liked his job as much as anyone could, the pay was good, his bosses were nice and best of all it was within walking distance from his apartment. Shopping bags in hand, Sirus pulled up his collar to keep the cold out, he still had roughly 20 minutes to walk and didn't want to lose more heat than necessary. It was still dark out, the Sun still not deigning to rise and because it was Sunday morning there were virtually no cars on the road. Smiling to himself he looked down at the contents of his reusable shopping bag, Christmas cards and gift cards for his friends and family, close to $500 worth.

"Can't go wrong with prepaid Visa." He thought to himself as he walked down the access ramp to the highway that ran behind his store. As he began walking through the underpass of the highway a new song played on his iPod, one of his not-so-guilty pleasures 'Incomplete' by The Backstreet Boys. Generally when walking Sirus restricts himself to, at most, humming along with most songs but seeing not a soul in sight he smiled and began singing along with the song.

"...I tried to go on like I never knew you. I'm awake but my world is half asleep. I pray for this heart to be unbroken, but without you, all I'm going to be is inco-" Cut short, Sirus stumbled and almost fell when something bumped into him. He quickly grabbed the mass that collided with him seeing it was actually a person, a young woman to be precise. "Oh... sorry miss. I, uh, didn't see you there. Are you alright?" He asked, registering the person in his hands. About average for a woman of probably 23 to 26 years of age, Sirus figured she was about 5'4" give or take. He couldn't really tell her physique as she was wrapped in multiple layers of dirty, torn clothing, but behind a dirty grey scarf was an average looking face with big hazel eyes, a couple strands of dirty blonde hair escaping her wool hat.

"No, no, no, I should be the one apologizing." The woman replied in a subdued voice. She made no immediate effort to break Sirus' grip, but tensed up as if to ready herself to either be berated or physically abused. She was also shivering, but whether that was due to fear or the cold Sirus couldn't tell. "I slipped and almost fell, I swear it was an accident!"

Looking past her, Sirus could see a shopping cart from some grocery store was stuck, fallen halfway down into the ditch for the overpass runoff. Inside were a couple bags of cans, some clothes and another, non-transparent bag that had something in it.

"That yours?" Sirus asked, softening his voice as he released the girl and motioned to the cart.

Opening her eyes, the unnamed blonde nodded meekly.

"It's not like I'm in any hurry." Sirus thought to himself. He walked over to the cart and grabbed the handle and front of the cart.

As he was about to lift, the woman threw herself over the cart, clinging to it as if her life depended on it. "No, please. This is everything I own." She pleaded.

"Don't worry, I'm just getting it out of the ditch for you." Sirus said, trying to reassure the woman.

"Oh my, really?" She asked in genuine surprise. "I'm sorry, I've had people vandalize or steal my stuff before... Thank you." There was relief in her voice as she spoke, but there was something else as well, something heavy and dreary like regret.

"You must not be from around here then." Sirus commented, smiling for the blonde as he heaved the cart up to the sidewalk. "Most people would probably just ignore you, but the ones that don't wouldn't harass you."

"I had heard that Canadians were generally a nicer people, more friendly." She stated with a faint smile on her face, though she was avoiding eye contact and fidgeting with her ungloved hands.

"Oh? And where are you from then, if you don't mind me asking." He asked, reaching up pausing his playlist and pulling his earbuds out. "I'm Sirus by the way." He added, extending his hand.

Gasping, the girl quickly wiped her hands on a relatively clean spot on her coat and shook Sirus' hand. "Where are my manners? I'm Eri, from New York."

"A New Yorker? Sorry for stereo-typing but I wouldn't have peg you as one." Sirus joked.

"I get that a lot actually..." She admitted. "Um, I really appreciate your help, truly, but you wouldn't happen to have some change you could spare do you?" Eri asked, embarrassed and staring at the ground.

"I actually use a credit card for all my shopping." Sirus said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"It's a good way to build credit..." Eri replied, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

Sighing, Sirus opened his coat, removed his gloves and reached into his pockets producing some quarters, loonies and toonies. "However, a friend recently paid me back for spotting him for a movie." He said, grabbing her hand and dropping the collection of coins in her tiny palm. Sirus immediately noticed that Eri's hands were cold as ice.

"Thank you. You're so kind, Sirus." Eri said, smiling as she deposited the money in one of her pockets.

"It's close to Christmas, must be affecting me." He said, avoiding eye contact as he offered her his slightly worn gloves, if anything else they were at least in better condition than Eri's clothes. "Sorry about their condition and size but they'll be better than nothing." He explained, motioning from her to take them.

"I-I-I couldn't..." Eri said, again her tone seemed genuine but the tinge of regret was still there.

"Don't worry about, I was going to get a new pair soon anyway." He said, placing the gloves on her shoulder. "It's getting colder still, get something warm in you and bundle up Eri." He advised, turning to continue home.

"Thank you very much, Sirus, for everything." Eri said, looking around quickly then down at her feet. "I'm not sure if many people tell you this, but you have a beautiful singing voice."

Stopping in his tracks, Sirus blushed and turned back around. "You heard that did yo-!?" Before he could finish, Sirus felt something bump into his chest and he felt a cold but soft sensation touch his cheek.

Opening his eyes, Sirus saw Eri step back from him, her face smiling but also seemed sad. "Sorry."

Reaching up to his cheek, Sirus was about to ask her 'Why?' when suddenly he felt his consciousness leave him and everything fade to black.

Standing over a pile of clothes in the middle of the sidewalk, tears began to roll down Eri's faces was she crouched down, crying. "Why? Why did you have to be so nice?" She asked as she began to collect Sirus' belongings.