Returning home, Heather felt like she was in la-la land. She let Dakota lead her along the familiar path back to their home, a quaint, two-story family home a little ways from the coffee shop, while she explored her thoughts, sorting through her mind as if it were filled with little scraps of paper, blowing around in an artificial breeze. Some part of her was having trouble with the realization that she was, indeed, going out to look at apartments with the artist-boy from the coffee shop. It was kind of like a fantasy. They'd never talked outside of the coffee shop itself, so the entire ordeal felt sort of magical.
Dakota lead her up the steps and she fumbled with the keys until she found the right one, pushing the door open and undoing the harness on the dog's back. Dakota then raced off, seeking out Max, her brother, and her father, with a loud, piercing bark. Heather smiled and made her way into the living room, tracing over steps she had walked so often before. She had memorized the route by now, although the occasional touch on the wall helped her pinpoint her position. The television was on, with some nature documentary playing, and Heather sat down in the recliner near the door, resting her head against the back of the seat with a yawn.
"Long day?" A voice that she recognized as her brother's spoke from behind her. A hand reached forward and rustled her hair before she felt his weight settle on the arm of the chair. "You seem tired."
"A little. Oh- can you get together those notes you took? The ones with the apartment searches and stuff. I'm going looking on Thursday," Heather asked, running her hands through her hair to settle it.
"Alone?" She could hear the frown, the disapproval, in Max's voice. She laughed, shaking her head.
"No. God, no. Do you think I can tell the difference between a falling apart cabin and a restyled condo? No, I'm bringing a friend with me. Or rather, he's helping me along. He'll be my eyes for the day." She explained. "And I'll have Dakota. So it'll be a-okay, big brother." She added the tease at the end, hoping it'd lighten his mood.
There was a long pause. She couldn't imagine what her brother was thinking. People always told her a person's face could be read like an open book- that said, a person's face didn't come in Braille. She had no idea how somebody's eyes and mouth moved as they thought and went through emotion. She only had the silence.
But the teasing apparently worked on her brother, who only mussed her hair again before getting up. "Cool. Now, come on. Don't make me do the laundry all on my lonesome."
---
Heather was waiting outside the coffee shop on Thursday, leash wrapped around her fingers on one hand, the other hand clutching the folder of assembled papers her brother had organized and gathered. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, trying to find something she could focus on that didn't make her look half-insane. It was probably obvious she was blind, and waiting for somebody, but she still found herself anxious for something to do. She supposed normal people would search for whomever they were waiting for, but Heather, not exactly 'normal', couldn't really do that. So instead she waited, shifting her weight as she stood next to the shop window.