death of a salesman ✟ abha&arwen

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Early in the morning, Abha was awake. She hadn't been sleeping well as of late, in part because of dreams she'd have when she did fall asleep, and also in part because of some recently developed insomnia that she was trying to figure out the cause of with her doctor. The main problem with that was, she couldn't afford to go to the doctor all that often anymore, ever since her family cut her off. It wasn't like she didn't have any money, as she was living with Rafe and Rohan now, but it wasn't as easy as it had been in the past.

Now, she had to actually think about where she put her money.

So, she just learned to deal with it. The lack of sleep, that is. She'd fallen asleep at two o'clock in the morning and rose from her bed around five o'clock in the morning, meaning she was running on very little sleep, but she was determined that she'd still manage to function throughout the day. When a knock came at the door around the early afternoon, Abha shouted to Rafe to get the door, as she was busy making some food for Rohan. She couldn't imagine who was coming to knock on their door unannounced.

After a moment, Rafe shouted back to her from the front door.

"Abha, someone's here to see you!" he informed her.

Perhaps, she hoped, someone was here about her photography business. She hadn't had much business this week, so it would certainly be nice if that were the case.

Or, perhaps it was one of her parents deciding to welcome her back home. That would be even better.

"Okay, but I need you to come finish making Rohan's lunch!" Abha shouted back.

She could hear Rafe tell the person at the door that she'd "be right there" before he came over to the kitchen and switched places with her.

Abha approached the door to see a boy about her age standing just outside the threshhold.

"Hey! Sorry about that," she apologized to him for what had just happened with all the shouting.

"Abha Khan," she extended a hand in greeting, assuming he was a client. "What can I do for you?"

---

The young man at the door didn't seem too bothered by the yelling back and forth that Abha and Rafe had been doing. Or, at least it seemed that way, as he didn't say anything negative about it, and told her that there was 'no need' for her apology. He takes the offer of Abha's handshake with a firm grasp, and she gives him a smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Khan," he begins. Surely this individual must be a prospective client. He was quite cordial and seemed glad to be speaking with her. She wondered what exactly he was looking for when it came to her work. Or, perhaps he just wanted to see her portfolio and she'd work on selling him on it. If only she'd been dressed in something a bit more presentable than lounge pants and an oversized t-shirt. Perhaps that would make 'selling him on it' a bit easier.

When he spoke again, though, Abha realized her mistake in her assumptions. He certainly wasn't here for anything regarding her photography. His name was Arwen, and he was with the Mortuus Health Center. Abha had a feeling she knew what this meant. This was either a) something to do with Anika, which was most likely, or b) a report from her doctor being delivered through a third party. Honestly, the latter would be quite sketchy, so she assumed it was the former.

She was correct.

"If now is a good time, I would like to sit down and discuss some final matters regarding your sister."

Abha's heart dropped, as did the smile from her face. It really wasn't a good time, but she did her best not to just tell him to leave. She truly didn't want to talk about Anika right now: especially with Rohan eating lunch in the kitchen. Him hearing stuff about what was going to happen with his mother wasn't ideal, even if he might be too young to understand. He still saw her die on television. The trauma was there. The mention of his mother probably wasn't the best for him to experience right now.

"Uhm—" she started. "Yeah, we can do that. Come on in and take a seat in the living room. I just have to talk to Rafe real quick about something and I'll be right there." Abha stepped inside so that Arwen could cross the threshold, and directed him to where he could sit inside, closing the door behind him once he entered the home.

"I'll just be a moment," she told him with a false smile.

Abha went into the kitchen for a moment to whisper to Rafe about what was going on, and ask him to take Rohan into another room for a little bit. He obliged, bringing Rohan to the playroom down the hallway and closing the door. Abha then returned to where Arwen was and took a seat in one of the half-falling-apart plush chairs in the living room.

"Alright," she started with a sigh. "What specifics do we need to talk about, then?"