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“I’m not wearing them, Cadenza!”
Laurance yelled, staring daggers at the pair of glasses within his sister’s hands.
“I mean- just look at it! It’s practically a relic!”
The glasses in question were his Grandfather’s; as they were very ancient looking in appearance. A lot was simply
wrong
about these spectacles: a slight crack had formed on the left lens, along with the hinges being extremely loose, and not to mention the thing just overall looking like it was from the 1960s.
In short? They sucked.
“Look, Laurance. I wouldn’t have to force you to wear these if you simply just, oh I don’t know, went to the eye doctor?” Cadenza put her hands on her hips, raising her eyebrow at the brunette.
Laurance twitched at the thought.
The eye doctor? Like hell he was going to the Optometrist!
Ever since he got pink eye when he was younger after playing with the pigs on his farm, he had always been afraid of the optometrist.
When he went in initially for a consultation all those years ago; the tools, lenses, and prescriptions freaked him out. Of course, he only needed eyedrops, so he wasn’t in dire need for any specific treatment, but still… The very idea of it horrified the poor man.
His eyes had always been sensitive.
The smallest eyelash, a drop of water, the slightest amount of soap from the shower; any of these things would easily bring the man to his knees in defeat. Hell, even seeing blurry or smudges through glasses would make his eyes water.
He was pretty vulnerable.
That is why this man downright
refused
to get his eyes checked.
The concept of looking through a possibly blurry lens just sends chills up his spine. Even though the action was needed to help prescribe the exact lenses he needed to see better, he just couldn’t bear it.
“I just- I can’t go, alright! That place freaks me out!” Laurance crossed his arms, raising his head in defiance.
Cadenza sighed, pulling out her phone. “If you don’t come with me to get glasses… I’ll text our dads to not allow you to babysit Caleb for a month.”
Laurance gasped dramatically, bringing a hand to his chest. “You wouldn’t
dare.”
She flipped her phone over to Laurance, showing him the already typed out message she planned to send to Joh and Hayden. “Try me.”
Within the next hour, the two scheduled an appointment.
About a month later, Laurance was nervously pacing on the sidewalk outside a building named “Castor’s Eye Care”.
The brunette began to bite his nails nervously as Cadenza grabbed her purse from the car, rolling her eyes. She closed the car door behind her before walking up to her brother, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Relax, Laurance. It’ll be fine.”
“You’ll stay with me the whole time, right?”
At that, Cadenza winced. “Well… um…”
Laurance’s eyes widened before he covered his face with his hands. “Oh
Irene,
you’re leaving me.”
She released his shoulder, shaking her hands. “No, not at all! I’ll still be in the building with you, but I need to get my own reading glasses repaired.”
She started to walk towards the door, until she turned around to find Laurance standing in the same spot.
“Clock’s ticking, Laurance. Come on!” She looped her arm through his and dragged him along as he groaned.
As they stepped into the bright building, Laurance was immediately overwhelmed by just how many pairs of glasses there were across the walls.
Laurance looked around, his nerves starting to get to him, while Cadenza approached the desk to check them in. The generic pop music playing over the speakers was
not
helping in the slightest
After making sure they were ready for their appointments, Cadenza sat down on the bench by the window and patted the other side, silently asking Laurance to join her.
He sat down beside her, his leg shaking up and down as he kept his eyes focused on the door. Something in the back of his mind wished that the hinges would break, causing it to shut tight forever.
He never wanted to see beyond that very door.
Unfortunately, life seemed to always go against the poor brunette, as the door swiftly opened to reveal an older man with frizzled hair and a bandana. He looked around, almost confused, before his eyes landed on Laurance.
The man pointed at Laurance sternly, then motioned for him to come over.
Laurance nervously looked at Cadenza who nodded and pushed him out of the chair, causing Laurance to stumble forward. She smiled, speaking through her teeth, “Get your ass in there now or so help me, Laurance.”
With that, Laurance quickly made his way over to the curious looking optometrist, following him into the room.
The man motioned for him to sit on the chair, to which Laurance quietly complied; adjusting onto the leather chair with frantic nerves.
What didn’t help his anxiety were the countless pictures of chickens across the room’s walls.
Why were there so many chickens?
As the somewhat odd man began funneling through the cabinets, seeming to be looking for something, Laurance thought it best to break the tension with some small talk.
“So… how long have you been an eye doctor for?” He asked. He winced at the feedback that came from the song Toxic by Britney Spears playing obnoxiously through the telecom above.
“Ah, well, only a few weeks! Can you believe how easy it is to get a license in this sort of thing- aha found it!”
What.
As it seemed the man found the tool he was looking for, he whipped around to face Laurance with it in hand.
He was going to die here, wasn’t he?
Laurance tugged at his collar nervously, his leg continuing to bounce. “Wow that’s uh… certainly fast, Mr…?”
“Mr. Castor!”
Oh gods.
The building was named
Castor’s
Eye Care… this newly graduated doctor had finished his lessons
and
rented out a building all within the same month.
Laurance silently repeated prayers to Irene in his head as Castor approached, mysterious tool in hand. His eyes seemed to focus too bluntly on the object as Castor followed his line of sight to it. He quickly averted his eyes to one of the many pictures of chickens hanging about.
“Ah, this old thing?” He motioned at the tool. “Don’t worry, there’s nothing to fear! I’ve only been
officially
certified for a few weeks, but I’ve been doing this sort of thing in the Black Market for years!”
Black Market?! Who the hell allowed this guy to start a business?!
“Now, let’s take a look at those pretty green eyes of yours, shall we?”
His eyes were
blue.
He couldn’t even tell the color of his eyes– oh my Irene he was done for.
About an hour later, an absolutely horrified Laurance walked out of the room, his eyes blown wide in horror, red veins visible as Dr. Castor gave him a pat on the back.
“You did very well, Laurance! I can’t wait to see you back here to pick up your glasses in a few weeks!”
He has to come back?!
Laurance awkwardly laughed loudly, backing away while giving finger guns to the man. “G-Great! Can’t wait!”
The brunette quickly turned around, his eyes landing on Cadenza who was waiting by the bench, waving. She stood up and put her new glasses case in her purse before approaching Laurance.
“Ah, Laurance! You’re finally done! How was it-”
Without a second thought, Laurance pulled her by the arm and quickly raced out the store.
When the two made it to their car, Laurance had his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.
“Laurance? What’s wrong?”
“Britney Spears. Chickens. Black Market. Crazy.” He panted out the words, taking long pauses between each one. He quickly raised his head, looking Cadenza dead in the eyes.
“I’m never going back there again.”