AN: I have moved the setting to my own hometown because I have been missing home lately. I have been really debating posting this, but here I am. I hope this is worth the read. Thank you.
The city was lined with lights, each lamp post garnished with a snowflake or red holly. Therese dragged her feet through the powdered snow on the ground. Her company, Danny, peered into shop windows while he chatted casually. Christmas music was faint beneath the layered tones of cars driving past and people talking. The ginger tapping of heels on the slick ground wafted by Therese every so often as brave women filtered past her. Their pink cheeks and heavy coats held onto Therese's gaze.
The General Store on the corner had three Christmas trees that year, each decorated in reds and golds, sparkling romantically under in the dim shop. Therese tugged on Danny's arm and they crept up the steps.
"Wow," said Therese. "These trees are beautiful."
A woman at the cash register, a big old brass 19th century hunk of metal, smiled fondly and waved. "Hi-ya Therese, Danny!" Dimpled cheeks met the woman's equally happy look as Therese approached her and Danny followed.
"You like what we've done this year?" The woman was in her seventies at the least, with bright hazel eyes and coifed silver hair.
"Oh, very much, Ms. Jane," Therese replied.
"Really great," Danny said.
Ms. Jane had been there since Therese and Danny were kids. They used to come in for the penny candy, having to stand on the little wooden stool to peer over the glass. Ms. Jane would always slip them an extra piece of candy, a small token from a widowed woman who never had any grandchildren. Half of their candy would make it down to the beach, where they would sit and make trades, fending off the seagulls and watched Lake Huron lap at the shore.
The lake was frozen now for miles, and in place of the candy, Ms. Jane confidently handed them each a glass of wine.
"To keep you warm," she offered. "Just act like you're 21 and bring back my glasses when shops start shutting down the walk." She winked.
Therese and Danny promised, winking back. Every Christmas, main street was alive for one night in December. Alongside the bars, all the shops stayed open late into the evening handing out hot chocolate and wine. People laughed and danced down the street, carrying around roasted chestnuts under their arms.
"Oh," Ms. Jane continued, "be sure to go down to the SmoothWater's Gallery and Cafe. They've got a new curator and she's made it beautiful this year."
Therese and Danny headed back down the steps and turned to go down toward the gallery. SmoothWaters had gone through more owners than Therese could count, always losing out in the small town. It was almost too classy for the small corner of Michigan it was placed in, but it brought an element of culture that kept new owners coming in and out, trying to make it worth something.
The fairy lights were mellow and twinkled across the warmed red brick walkway, weaving through the black wrought-iron that made up the low fence, separating the outdoor cafe lounge from the sidewalk. The entrance to the gallery was tucked away, beyond a fountain that was wrapped in lights for the holiday season. The building itself was interconnected to the cafe, a small alley tunnel nestled between the two with multiple doorways and multiple entrances. In the distance down the street, the lake was a mild blue.
Clutching their wines and giggling, Therese and Danny headed toward the gallery. The place was flooded with people, the silent 'oohs' and 'ahhs' on their faces giving away their liquored demeaners. Therese sidled up to Danny, slinking her arm through his as they fell into a comfortable pace.
"So," Therese began, "how is it going being home? I know you said it had been alright but…"
"Oh I don't know," Danny started. "Mom enjoys me being home. She's got me picking out her tree skirt and baking cookies. I guess that's her way of letting me know she knows."
"What about your father?" Therese treaded carefully.
Danny took a deep inhale, stopping to view a huge floor to ceiling canvas. It was an oil painting, Therese thought, looking at the way colors were layered to create a forest of bright green and white birch trees. It looked a lot like her backyard at home.
"He's okay," Danny finally said. "I think… I don't know what to think. I think I am just sick of the silence, if anything. He treats Angelo really well though."
Therese leaned her head on his shoulder. "That's great, Danny… it's the little things, I guess." She gave him a smile and pulled him over to the next painting, encouraging him to sample his wine again. "How is Angelo?"
"He's great." Therese loved the way Danny smiled when he said his name. "He's working back at the Crow and his grandparents are helping him buy a car."
The Crow was a cafe at the city over, a quiet little place that doubled as a library and sandwich shop. It was everything that Angelo loved in one place, and also some of the things that Danny loved most about him.
"I'm proud of you, Danny," said Therese.
Danny chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Hey, bringing home anyone to meet the family is tough business, just you wait. You're next."
Therese lifted her glass to her lips again, red wine sliding past her lips. She turned from Danny's embrace to see what the commotion was behind them.
Therese saw the woman before the woman saw her. Therese observed her, unable to look away. The large warm gallery now seemed suffocating. Leaning on a counter, a tall woman with grey eyes was watching people converse around her. A small smile lifted at the corner of her mouth, the same way a blond eyebrow lifted in intrigue. Sweeping across her body, Therese followed the soft hem of the sweetheart neckline that scooped tastefully into her chest. The fitted garment fell to the woman's calves, creamy skin appearing and then disappearing into suede black shoe boots.
Therese knew immediately that she was the new curator of the place. The angled features of her face and her lanky body had not come from the midwest where Therese had lived most of her life.
When their eyes met, the woman didn't blink, but smiled politely and straightened out her posture. Therese could hear herself counting in her head; One. An appropriate length. Two. You're lingering. Three. She's lingering look away. Four. You have to look away. Five.
Danny said something to her and she didn't register, but it pulled Therese out of her reverie. The gray eyes, the color of the frozen lake, were burned into her occipital lobe and she couldn't differentiate between the dizziness from the wine and the fuzzy feeling of prolonged exposure to the woman.
"Therese?"
She heard him this time. "Sorry, Danny."
"It's not like you to not hold your alcohol."
Therese said nothing and Danny was too caught up in the next painting.
"Hey, you ok here by yourself? I need to run to the bathroom," Danny said.
Therese nodded. "Cool as a cucumber." She turned back towards the painting, admiring the smaller piece in watercolor, a clear adaptation of the street the gallery was on. Her eyes glazed over, seeing the mystery woman's eyes in every shade of blue hued gray.
"I like this one, too."
Therese felt the heat of someone standing near her and almost didn't look up. She knew, without a doubt that the soft deep voice was her.
Their eyes met again.
"Don't you?"
"Yes, very much." Therese bobbed her head. "I'm quite fond of watercolor."
"You should see this woman's other works, then. She's a local here and her work is exquisite."
"So you're the new curator then." Therese's eyes wandered to the woman's silver earrings.
"I am," she said. "Carol." She held out her hand for Therese to shake, and she did so.
Carol's hands were warm and soft, lanky but elegant as the rest of her body.
"And your name?"
"Oh sorry, Therese Belivet." She stood up straight.
Carol's eyes pulled at the corners, looking at Therese amusingly. "Therese Belivet." The name rolled out of her mouth like the tumble of a gentle wave on the shore. "You sound ready for an interview."
It was a joke, of course, but Therese's cheeks began to burn.
"I've been interviewing in the city for an internship all semester. It's made me more formal, sorry." Therese let her shoulders fall as Carol leaned all of her weight onto one leg.
"An internship? And what for, Therese Belivet," she teased.
"Well, photography, mostly, but I am trying to work in newspapers, before they go completely out of business."
Carol sighed. "That's refreshing."
They stood in silence for a moment and Therese could feel the heat of Carol's body radiating to her shoulder as they stood arm to arm. After a moment of silence Carol leaned in.
"Well, looks like your friend is coming back. I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening. Come back sometime."
Therese said thank you, watching Carol walk away, saying her name under her breath. She saw Danny from the corner of her eye.
"Hey, is she the curator?"
"Yeah. Carol." She lingered on her name.
They sat outside on the edge of the fountain, finishing off their wine and laughing under the moonlight. Therese's pounding heart had calmed once she left the gallery. The night was starting to slip away, and soon all the shops would be closing up. They had been watching people leave the until just a small group remained inside.
Danny and Therese were about to get up when Carol and her entourage breezed out of the gallery and started down the street, completely unaware of their bystanders. Danny was busy wrapping his scarf around his neck to notice Therese. She was staring as Carol walked away, her long taupe coat embellished with a fur hood seemed to trail behind her as she walked down the brick road, heels echoing in hollow clacks.
"We should get these glasses back to Ms. Jane," Therese offered, and they started down the same sidewalk again, walking away from the gallery and away from the water. Therese stared at her feet while they walked, counting her steps and avoiding cracks.
"Hey, what's this?" Danny stopped to bed down and picked something shiny up from the walkway. He held it out in his hand. "It's an earring."
Therese looked at it. It was a a light chandelier, silver earring with intricate embellishments pounded in. It was Carol's. She studied it a minute longer, feeling the need to protect herself.
"That's Carol's, I think. She had earrings like that on."
Danny dropped it into her hand. "Well, you'll be down here more than I will. Return it to her." He shrugged.
Therese slipped her hand in her pocket, fondling the delicate piece in her hand the rest of the walk. She moved in closer to Danny.
"You cold, Therese?"
"Yeah, so cold I can't think straight."