Only a Little Story
Valentine's Day Challenge 2010
She'd just arrived in town and was thankful that a shopping centre was near to the boarding house where she'd rented a room. Although the landlady offered home-made meals, she still wanted to have a little stock of food in her fridge, and some fruits wouldn't hurt as well. Since the supermarket was within walking distance, she decided to go there after dropping her luggage and quickly inspecting her small temporary home. If she was lucky, the mall would have a board where she could place a notice that said she was looking for an apartment.
He hated shopping, but sometimes even he couldn't avoid it. He always waited till the last moment before he eventually gave in. This time he'd run short of practically everything, beginning with toothpaste over bread up to tea.
Once he entered the supermarket he passed the special offers section, deigning the products on sale not one single look. Heading straight toward the shelves displaying coffee and tea he almost bumped into her. As he apologized she glanced at him, assuring somewhat absent-mindedly no harm was done. Her gaze went back to the bag of coffee in her hand right away. It seemed she'd already forgotten him. Her appearance told him that she didn't play in his league anyway so he'd rather do the same. Her image was, however, already burnt into his memory.
Still dazzled by the blue of his eyes and the deep timbre of his voice she noticed only moments later that she was still staring at the Starbuck beans she held. Simultaneously she realized that it were strange noises from the aisle next to hers that had brought her back to reality. Soft groans and sounds as if someone was jumping made her curious enough to put the coffee into her shopping cart and turn around the corner. She arrived in time to see a small fair-haired boy rising in the air again, pulling at a candy bag that lay too high for his reach. Unfortunately he grasped a bag from the bottom of the pile which caused the upper ones to fall onto the floor, making a few of them burst open in the process. Startled, the boy looked at the mess he'd created and jolted around when he heard the soft voice of a woman he hadn't seen before.
"Where is your mom, sweetheart?" she asked, making him freeze on the spot.
He gazed at her wide-eyed, not able to reply although she looked friendly enough. Scared of what might happen next, the child tightened his fist.
This movement didn't go by unnoticed, and the woman smiled in understanding. "I'm Dr. Mike. What's your name?" she gently coaxed to make him speak to her yet their conversation ended before it even had time to start.
"Miss, I hope you know that you will have to pay all the bags your son broke." An annoyed looking shop assistant hurried towards them.
Terrified, the boy looked up at the nice woman, his eyes brimming with tears by now. "Don't worry," she soothed him, smiling reassuringly, "I'll take care of it."
Somehow this angered the young shop assistant, whose tag revealed her as Summer Winter, only more. "And of course you have to clean here. Maybe you should let do that your boy; I think he's already spoiled enough."
"No need to be rude," a deep voice chimed in.
Instantly, a dark red colored the cheeks of Summer, yet before she could defend herself, the boy exclaimed with relief, "Sully!"
He, however, wasn't able to tear his eyes from the woman's. Although it was already astonishing enough that they were of different color, he was even more fascinated by their expression. She held his gaze without wavering, looking almost defiantly as if saying she would stand her ground, no matter what. He barely heard Brian's hastily spoken explanation of what had happened, and only broke the contact with the stranger when his little friend tugged at his sleeve.
"I only have enough for one bag. It's all the rest of my pocket money. Can ya help me?"
"Sure," he replied without hesitating. "How many bags?" he asked Summer.
To Michaela it was obvious that the two of them knew each other quite well. Growing uncomfortable, she muttered, "Well, I think I'm not needed anymore."
Not waiting for any response she hastily left for the vegetable and fruit section. Yet since she was too flustered after this second encounter with this Mr. Sully, she took the wrong turn and found herself in the area that offered costumes for the carnival session that was in full swing these days. Trying to get her bearings she looked around, and her gaze fell on a dummy clad as Prince Charming. Admiring the black velvet jacket and the white ruffled shirt with the sapphire sash she tried to picture Mr. Sully wearing them and had to admit that he would look very handsome. However, the instant she realized what she was doing, she shook her head chasing away the image. That was simply ridiculous; she wasn't a person who lived in dreams. Grasping the handle of the shopping cart tighter, she determinedly pushed it in front of her. She had better things to do than live in a fairy tale world. When he'd stared at her earlier she had felt like a pinned butterfly exposed to his gaze. It only hadn't unnerved her because she could tell he wasn't judging her. He'd rather looked like a moth drawn to the light.
Sully couldn't get away from Summer quick enough. Although it was against his nature, he wanted to find out more about the stranger but knew his chances were little once she left the supermarket. Thus he grew somewhat impatient when his old class mate wanted to prolong their conversation after clearing things with Brian.
Knowing she had no chance with him, actually never had, Summer eventually told him, "She went to the costumes."
Sully didn't even wonder how she knew what was on his mind but hurried straight to where he'd seen the carnival stuff earlier. Scanning the crowd for her, he couldn't avoid looking at the displayed clothes as well. His gaze shortly stopped on a hanger with a leather jacket and buckskins. If he would have a thing for carnival at all, which he didn't have, he knew he would want to wear these clothes. The dark-green dress on the next hanger looked as if it was to be worn by a sophisticated, fine lady from the nineteenth century. Grinning to himself he thought that both costumes would fit perfect to him and the stranger, and when he would greet her, he would lift her hand and kiss its back.
As someone rammed her cart into his heels, he caught himself, deciding it would be best to wait at the checkers.
Rushing through the aisles to grab the things he needed himself, he never stopped searching for her. However, he only spotted Brian as the boy paid for all the candy with the five dollar bill he'd given him.
A few times, Michaela had allowed herself to let her gaze travel over the other customers, hoping as well as fearing she would spot Mr. Sully. When she didn't, she felt an inexplicable sense of loss. As she paid for her purchase she'd already given up, concentrating already on her next task: finding a message board for her apartment search. Thus she almost missed him.
He leaned against a post, having watched her the last five minutes. As she approached him, he pushed himself away from the post, stepping into her way. He'd had enough time to think about what to say and thought that talking about Brian and the candy would be a good topic to start with. But when she stopped before him, the sparkle in her eyes distracted him. He didn't even know where the words came from when he proffered his hand, saying, "I'm Sully. My friend said the spirits told him I'd meet someone soon."
She raised an eyebrow, yet not in annoyance about this strange introduction but rather curiously. "The spirits?" she asked.
"Yeah," he replied, "my friend's Cheyenne."
She had accepted his hand and he still held hers. In some way this gesture felt more intimate as if they were kissing for they continued looking at each other, making themselves vulnerable for each could read the emotions on the other one's face.
"My name is Michaela," she at last said, and his smile broadened.
"Ya already have a date for tonight?" he asked.
"Why should I?" She didn't understand.
"It's Valentine's Day," he said.
She had completely forgotten.
She would never again after that night.