Author's Note: Ok bear with me. I know its one of those "girl collides with Middle Earth" stories but its more like therapy to get my feelings in order about my occasionally emotionally wearing job. And I always thought Beleg was a wildly attractive character in "The Silmarillion" and "The Children of Hurin" so here is my story about him falling into our world to find his love. It gets better, I promise. I think I'm just dreading Monday at the moment. And they do get to Middle Earth eventually as well.
The clock over the neatly displayed deposit and withdrawal forms had to be incorrect. Jessica did her best to keep from collapsing onto her keyboard in front of her. She had to keep reminding herself; there is a recession on, she should be thankful to have such a good job. Jessica surmised that she was thankful… most days. However, the long hand had barely moved two minutes though it felt that a half hour had passed at least. Einstein's theory of relativity suddenly made complete and clear sense.
"Quick, it's the dragon lady." Jessica's middle aged co-worker Tinesha muttered under her breath next to her.
Jessica looked up in time to see the dreaded coordinator for their area approaching the glass front doors of their bank branch. She kicked off her moccasins that she wore underneath her window and quickly put on the painful, patent leather nude pumps stowed underneath her chair. Plastering the same goofy smile she displayed for customers, the dreaded Anne Louise Moore entered the lobby.
"Good morning." The entire teller row that wasn't otherwise occupied with customers chirped almost in unison.
Whenever Anne Louise smiled, all that went through Jessica's head was the one line from the children's song, never smile at a crocodile.
"Good morning, ladies." She chirped back, disappearing into the manager's office.
"Please tell me she isn't here all day again." Tinesha mumbled, rolling her eyes at Jessica.
"Tell me about it." Jessica answered, sitting up straighter as the early lunch crowd piled into the lobby.
It was busy for a Thursday morning in the middle of the month. Jessica was grateful to have a few fairly easy checks to cash and deposits in a row. Her cheeks hurt from the smile that she didn't mean. The faces blurred together as the customers filed in and out.
One guy, who looked to be about forty, nearly bit her head off for asking to see his ID before cashing his check.
"I'm here almost every day!" He boomed, "I've been coming to this bank longer than you have been alive!"
"I'm sorry, sir." Jessica replied, trying to keep from sighing in exasperation, "I'm just doing my job."
He tossed his driver's license roughly before her, crossing his thin arms over his chest and refusing to meet her eyes for the rest of the transaction.
"Have a good day, sir." Jessica commented, trying to keep her voice light as he tore the money from her hand and stomped from the lobby.
Jessica took a deep breath and cleared the teller program on her computer for the next transaction.
"He seems to be in an ill mood."
Jessica looked up to see the next customer occupying her window while she gathered herself.
She had seen plenty of strange looking characters working with the public for the past seven months. The stories that could be told could fill a whole book. The most important lesson she had learned so far in banking was that humankind is weird. Just plain bizarre.
However, this customer was not the traditional odd ball. Feathery, white blonde hair fell a little below his broad shoulders. He lifted a dark, expressive eyebrow that lay heavy over his clear green eyes. Apart from looking like a pathetic Kurt Cobain wannabe, facially he was very handsome. He had to be in his mid-twenties.
Too bad he's too old to rock the starving musician thing, she thought to herself, fiscally irresponsible and no health insurance is not a sexy look, dude.
"My lady?"
Jessica jolted slightly, realizing she had been staring.
"Excuse me?"
"Is there something wrong, my lady?"
Jessica fought to keep a straight face. Maybe he wasn't a failed rock singer; he was probably just one of those guys who dressed up to go to Lord of the Rings movie premiers. What on earth was he thinking 'my lady-ing' her?
"No, nothing." Jessica answered, gaining self-control and plastering her best bank teller smile on her face, "How can I help you today, sir?"
With a smirk and not taking his intense gaze from her face, he pulled a handful of bills from his jeans' pocket.
"Deposit?" She asked, trying not to show how uncomfortable she felt under his gaze.
"Deposit?"
"Yes, would you like to deposit this into your account today?" She continued.
His smirk broke into a smile and he gave a breathy laugh. Jessica laughed back awkwardly.
"Well?" She pressed, her patience wearing thin, "What will it be? Do you want these changed for larger bills?"
"Yes." He answered firmly, pushing the money in front of her, "Please."
Jessica noted uncomfortably how his fingers brushed hers slightly, lingering on her palm as he passed the money. She was used to dirty old men making passes while she tried to quickly give them their money and get them out. However, this guy was young and she had to admit, attractive. Still, she was there to do a job, not be ogled like a waitress at Hooters.
She glanced up as she counted out the mounded mass of bills, flipping the twenty dollar bills right side up. He was watching her with a quiet grin, his eyes never leaving her. Jessica looked away quickly feeling heat spreading across her face under his penetrating scrutiny.
"You want this in a fifty and a couple tens?" She asked without looking up.
"Whatever you will, my lady."
Alriggggght…..
Jessica swallowed hard wondering whether she should page the manager David if things got any weirder with this guy. She didn't know what she was going to do if he called her "my lady" again. She looked down, pulling out her drawer to get the appropriate bills and send him on his way.
Once she was situated, Jessica looked up to find the space the customer had occupied was absent. She glanced around the lobby to see if he had wandered over to pick up a brochure by the Customer Service desk.
"Tinesha?" Jessica turned to her coworker.
Tinesha looked up from her computer screen where she was no doubt checking the weather again for the tenth time that morning. She twirled one of her braids between her fingers.
"Did you see where my customer went?"
Tinesha stood, looking around the lobby, "The blonde?"
"Yeah, he disappeared." Jessica held the three bills in her hand, "I hadn't finished his transaction."
"It looks like he just left." Tinesha shrugged.
Jessica groaned, pushing out her rolling chair. There was no way she was going to come out ninety bucks out of balance at the end of the day because of some grunge rock, knight of the round table, whack job.
"I'm going to see if I can catch him." She announced, bounding out through the small, break room separating teller row from the lobby.
"You go do that." Tinesha mumbled, her eyes trained on the meteorological map on her monitor.
Jessica burst into the humid summer day, the dark clouds overhead threatening rain. She scanned the empty parking lot, stumbling out in her platform heels into the middle of it. The only cars she saw were the ones pulling in and out of the run down gas station across the street. The wind picked up and she clutched the sides of her loose, work skirt to keep it from blowing up.
"Crap." She whispered dejectedly, trying to ignore the sense of being watched from the manager's window.
She glanced back to see Anne Louise staring her down, her thin lips pursed and eyebrows arched in interest. Of all days to come out unbalanced because of some lunatic, it would be the day the dragon lady herself was in the branch. Jessica shrugged and gave a shaky smile.
Suddenly, screeching tires drew her attention away to the entrance from the street. An el camino bumping with a heavy bass ripped into the parking lot and aimed straight for her. Before Jessica could even scream, it seemed imminent that it would run her down.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure dive for her. The individual collided with her, knocking the air out of her and rolling her out of the way of the vehicle. Her head hit the pavement hard.
She blinked up into the face of her savior, her vision blurring. She touched the side of her head where blood made her straight, amber brown hair sticky.
"Be still," A gentle voice from above spoke.
Jessica's eyes widened as she realized it was the customer she had been looking for looming over her.
"You forgot your money." She croaked, vaguely hearing the clatter of footsteps as her coworkers burst out of the bank to see what happened.
"Be still, Meldamiriel." He spoke, brushing her hair from her face, "All will be well."
Jessica's eyes drifted open. She could hear the steady beep of a heart monitor near her head. As her vision steadied, she realizing she was laying in what looked to be a cold, darkened hospital room. She blinked, her eyes sore as she looked over towards the half opened door. A line of fluorescent light from the hallway spilled out onto the tiled floor. She could her mother's voice outside the door. Jessica could tell she was speaking with her dad who was away on a business trip.
She gripped her sheets between her fingers, closing her eyes once more.
"I feared the worst."
A voice broke her peace. Jessica's eyes flew open. She looked into the corner of the room and watched as a figure appeared out of the shadows. It was the customer who had saved her from the speeding car. His hands were folded behind his back as he approached the bed. His gaze was all too familiar on her, as though he knew her well. She shifted uncomfortably, looking for a button to call the nurse.
"Thank you for getting me out of the way of the car." She managed politely, her head beginning to pound.
"I thought I had lost you."
He took his place beside her bed, his gaze taking her in hungrily as though he were a starving man and she was a large meat lover's pizza. It made her skin crawl.
"Well, all is well as you can see." She looked back to the door, wishing her mother would come into the room again.
"You do not remember me do you?" He asked reaching out to take her hand.
She pulled her fingers back from his touch, looking up at him in horror.
"Look." Jessica began, "I am really grateful that you were there at the right time and everything but I had no idea who you are and you are making me very uncomfortable. If you leave now, I won't call the nurse."
His expression darkened. Turning his eyes to the floor, he took a step closer to the bed. She pulled back farther.
"You called me aratoamin." His tone was quiet, "You called me your champion."
The way he said this waved her fear briefly. His voice was so tragic, it almost made her pity him.
"Sir," She ventured, "This is a hospital, I'm sure there are plenty of people here you can talk with. But I honestly have never seen you in my life."
"In this life perhaps, melamin." He caught her gaze once more in his own.
Despite herself, she was struck once again at how handsome he was. Something sparked in her brain at how he spoke that word. Melamin. It was as though she had heard it years ago. Perhaps he was from a foreign country, eastern Europe perhaps.
"What do you mean in this life?" She pressured, "Is this some sort of creepy past life thing?"
He reached out before she could pull away and grasped her hand in his own.
"You were long in the Halls of Mandos." He continued, "I have so yearned for you since you were taken from me."
The light suddenly flickered on. The stranger loosed her hand and turned towards the door where Jessica's mother entered. Mrs. Carpenter's tentative gaze trailed from her daughter back to the blonde by the hospital bed. She snapped her cell phone shut decisively.
"Jessie," She began with a wary smile, "Who is this?"
Jessica suddenly realized she did not know his name, "This is the guy who saved me this afternoon, mom."
Mrs. Carpenter's face broke into a guarded smile, "Oh, I'm so glad I get to meet you!"
She took his hand and shook it. The stranger smiled back just as warily.
"At your service, my lady."
Jessica grimaced as she watched her mother's face fall at his strange reply. The awkwardness was nearly palpable.
"I must bid you good evening." He nodded at her mom before turning back towards Jessica, "I will return in the morrow."
With that he left the room.
"I didn't even hear him come in while I was out in the hall." Mrs. Carpenter lifted a brow at her daughter, "My lady? Really? I thought mam' was bad enough."
"I don't know, mom." Jessica groaned, "Can you get a nurse in here with some very strong sedatives please? A Vicodin? And maybe a shot of vodka?"
"Will do." Mrs. Carpenter replied seriously, brushing her daughter's hair from her face, "Try to get some sleep, sweetheart."
"At least I don't have to go to work tomorrow." Jessica murmured as she fell quickly into a light doze.
Her dreams were strange. She found herself in an ancient woodland, the trees gnarled and simmering with summer heat. A carpet of dark green leaves covered the forest floor. There was a figure moving through the shafts of light breaking through the canopy overhead. Jessica blinked. The face was immediately familiar. It was the same one that she had looked up into as she had laid on the pavement bleeding.
Meldamiriel.
A voice drifted through the air with the breeze.
Dear one.
