The Sergeant and the Shopkeeper
Part 1:
When Gale opens the door to Meadow Toys, a bell rings and a familiar musical voice calls, "Let me know if you need anything! I will be upfront in a moment!" Gale smiles because he never thought he would hear that voice again in person. He imagines her with her blonde hair casually wrapped in a messy bun the way she always did when she was trying to focus on something. He imagines the girl, woman now, in a pretty light blue dress running around the back trying to make it more orderly. It is strange how he could still read her by her voice, he did not need to see her face to know she was determined, and possibly slightly frustrated. She would probably become more frustrated when she realized who walked into her shop.
Gale walks around the store, waiting for the shopkeeper to make her promised appearance. He is fascinated by the shop. The store is full of toys, most of which seemed homemade and completely original. Gale would have bet that most toys in the store did not have many that looked exactly the same. Gale picks up a doll, and he recognizes the fabric the doll is created from. It was the dress Madge had worn to the reaping when Katniss was called to the stage, and everything had changed. Gale thought of that day as the day when the world flipped upside down and everything that was supposed to be, changed. He was no longer meant for Katniss after that day. Her heart would belong to another, and he did not know it until it was almost too late, but his heart belonged to another. The doll's body was sewn and stuffed and the doll appeared to have a floral complexion because her body was made of a pretty dress instead of a simple white or black fabric. The doll is wearing a black dress and Gale lifts the doll's arm, and discovers that lace was sewn along the arm and attached to the doll's back. The lace resembles black wings and with the dark hair, and grey button eyes, Gale knows immediately who the doll is modelled after.
"That's a popular one." The voice calls, and Gale can tell that she has moved closer. "Too many girls aspire to be the girl on fire. Do you have a daughter?"
Gale turns around and meets her blue eyes, the same ones that have haunted him for months in his nightmares.
Madge gasps, and she drops the yo-yo car that she was holding. It drops to the floor and rolls towards Gale. He bends down and picks up the car, studies it then looks back at Madge with a crooked smile. It takes Madge a moment to recover from her shock. Gale watches her transition from pure shock to cold, and standoffish. It amazes Gale that he can still read her so well, even after all of this time.
"Sergeant Hawthorne," Madge finally greets him coldly with a nod.
Gale winces at her coldness. He expected this, she was rightfully mad at him. He left her in Twelve, before the firebombs. He left her behind, and she could have died. He had thought she did, until recently. "I prefer Gale or Hawthorne." Gale states and reaches his hand out with the car for her to take.
"I heard you were going by that these days." Madge says and her hand brushes his for a second as she takes the car and Gale wishes she had let it linger for a moment. She turns around and heads back to her counter. She sets the car down and keeps herself busy so that she does not have to look at him. "What brings you into a toy shop? Do… Do you have children?" She hesitates only a moment but she forces the second question out.
"No. No kids." Gale answers and he walks over to the counter. He dings the bell on the counter and Madge jumps at the sound because she was not expecting it. "Madge…" Gale pleads for her to turn around and to meet his eyes again. He probably did not deserve it but he still wanted it. Madge slowly turns around after hearing his plea, and her blue eyes meet his grey ones once again. "I came to see you." He says to her and he wants to reach out and touch her but he knows that will probably result in her slapping him or at the very least sending a death-glare his way. He thinks that he sees her give in, and that she is starting to warm up to him, and that she is fighting a smile. Maybe he is simply hopeful though. The bell that hangs above the door jingles again, and Gale sighs because he cannot seem to catch a break.
"Madge, dear!" A cheerful familiar voice calls. Gale turns around to see a blonde woman, in a plain pale green dress. "Oh, Sergeant Hawthorne. How wonderful to see you again!" She smiles as she moves closer to him. She glances at Madge with a concerned look and then plasters the smile back onto her face. "I was certainly not expecting to see you here."
Gale scrunches up his face as he tries to recognize the woman. Madge says, "We are all surprised by the sergeant's appearance in Twelve today. What do you have there, Eff?" Eff? Eff as in Effie? This woman is Effie Trinket. Gale imagines the woman with a painted face, a bright pink wig and a fancier dress and he finally sees it. Effie Trinket has changed so much since she has seen him last.
"Oh, I was picking up some bread at the bakery for dinner tonight and Peeta asked if I could stop by Meadow's to give you these strawberry sensation cookies he made this morning. Katniss found some strawberries in the woods this morning. He wanted you to be the first to taste the new recipe before he starts selling them. I needed to stop by to make sure our plans were still secured for this evening." She says and drops the basket of cookies on the counter. She then turns her attention to Gale. "You must come by tonight! Haymitch and I always have everyone over for dinner on every other Saturday. We would love to have you and to catch up."
"Thank you Effie. I'm not sure I will be able to make it. I have a lot of things I need to sort out." Gale says politely and Effie nods as if she understands. Maybe she does.
"Well if you are able to find some free time, we have hors de oeuvres at 5 and dinner at 6. It is a wonderful occasion and it would be great if you could make it." She smiles to him and actually seems genuine.
"I'll see if I can make it." Gale says.
"Great! Well, I better get going! I need to start cooking for tonight. I will see you then Madge! If I do not see you Gale, it was lovely seeing you again."
"It was good seeing you too." Gale says politely because he remembers Katniss complaining about how much Effie pushed her to be polite. He did not want to burn another bridge while he was trying to fix all of the ones he has previously burned.
As soon as Effie leaves, Madge says, "I'm not sure why you came by Gale, but I am trying to work here."
Gale turns his attention back to her and nods. "I know. I just needed to see you, and to see the shop, to know that everything I had heard was true."
"Well, you saw it. I'm alive, no thanks to you. I'm doing quite well thank you." Madge says and raises her chin. Back to the freeze out he was hoping they were getting passed before Effie entered the shop.
Gale runs his hand through his hair. This is not exactly how he hoped this would go. He knew she would be mad, but he hoped she would at least show him that she was feeling something. She is completely shutting him out and it is as if she is numb to everything from the past. "Look, I know you owe me nothing. I screwed up. Repeatedly. I know the timing sucks, we've never been good with timing but I needed to see you. I wanted to talk to you. I don't deserve that, I know, but I thought maybe you would want to talk to me too. I know you are busy, but I didn't know where else I would be able to find you." Gale looks to his hands and he nervously cracks a few knuckles. His heart is pounding. He's lost her before, he's not sure he can do it again. "I'll be at our meadow around four. If you do want to talk to me, you can come by after you close. If not, I understand."
Gale cannot read her face, but she gives a curt nod that does not tell him anything he is hoping to see. "Bye, Gale." She says softly and avoids his eyes.
Gale nods and turns away. When he reaches the door, he pulls it open and the bell jingles. He turns back to Madge, and she is watching him leave. "This place is beautiful, Madge," he says and leaves everything else unsaid. On his way out of the door Gale sighs because old habits die hard, and he still can't tell this girl how he feels.