It was a typical day for Claire Douceur, standing behind the register ringing up accessories at Penguin's Pride, a novelty shop located in the shopping vicinity of Mystic, Connecticut. This was her second year out of college and she still wasn't quite sure what she was going to do with her life. "Is there anything interesting about Mystic?", Claire asked, as she was walking toward Paige who was taking count of a certain group of items. "Mystic is not a twenty-four-hour town of excitement, " Paige responded, "but once in awhile you'll see something that will catch your eye." Paige Bastogne had lived in Mystic since she was born, so she knew the town inside and out. Just then the bells that were dangling from the door jingled and a young-looking man with a medium build walked in. Claire walked up to the man and offered him assistance in whatever he might have been looking for. The man responded with "Can you tell me where a gas station is?" Claire told him where the nearest gas station was and he thanked her and left. "Did you see him?", Claire said to Paige with a shocked yet pleased expression on her face. "Yes I did," Paige said, "and the point being?" "You were right about Mystic and seeing things that catch your eye," Claire said. "Told you so!", Paige bragged. Time went by slowly as the two ladies rung up customers, talked, counted items for inventory, and talked some more. "It's one minute till we close," Claire said. "I just want to go home and crawl into bed," Paige said. "Sounds like a good idea," Claire responded. Before they knew it, three minutes had flown by. Paige went over to the door and flipped the sign so it said 'CLOSED' from the outside and Claire took the money tray, sorted the contents and put them in the deposit bag. The two women gathered up their belongings and clocked out. "Did you ask that man you liked so much for his number?", asked Paige. "No," said Claire, "what was I supposed to do? Go up to a total stranger and ask him for his phone number?" "Relax Claire, I was just asking," Paige remarked. The two ladies double-checked the store, went outside and locked the door. "Bye,' Claire said, "see you tomorrow." "You mean Sunday," said Paige, "Morgan and Honey have the store tomorrow. Well, bye!" The two women went to their cars and drove off. As Claire was going to where she lives, she saw a familiar image in her rear view mirror. Better yet when the car that was behind her merged into the other lane and came up to where she could glance in the window, she saw that it was him. Claire acted normal and soon the two cars were separated. Claire was a little disappointed. When she arrived at her studio apartment, Claire parked and locked her car then went inside the apartment building. She unlocked her door and dropped her stuff on the couch. Claire took her clothes off and slipped on a silk nighty, then she crawled into bed and went to sleep.
Claire awoke the next morning to the sound of the trash collectors clanging cans. "Hmmm. . .8:30. . .", as she looks at the alarm clock. Claire rolls back over and continues her morning siesta. Two hours later, she drags her feet into the kitchen to make some coffee. While the coffee's brewing, she hops into the shower to freshen up. "Hmmm. . .what to do on my day off," she thinks aloud. Claire towels off, grabs a robe and some coffee, then meanders over to the window. She can see a hint of the water from her third story studio apartment. She sets up mug down and cracks the window to test the weather. "Breezy. . .but not too chilly." Claire adorns herself with cotton capris and hooded pull over. She decides to cruise down to the waterfront and check out the scene. Claire hops into her car, and stops by the drive thru window to pick up some food on her way to the waterfront. The barista hands her a complimentary newspaper along with her food. She quickly peruses the front page, and continues on her way. When she arrives at the water, she grabs a bite and peruses the newspaper more. The Fourth of July was vastly approaching, and stores were advertising like mad. Claire wondered what Mystic had up its sleeve for major holidays. She already knew that seafood was abdundant to help celebrate these major holidays. If the weather was good, the waterfront would be an awesome spot for fireworks. But little than Claire know she would be putting on her own firework show soon.