"Are we there yet?" Mulder asked Melissa after they had walked several blocks. "I think the spiciness from the veg vindaloo wore off last block."
"You know that you can overcome a feeling of cold with meditation?"
"I'm very well aware of that, but a sidewalk in D.C. isn't the best place to get in the lotus position."
"You should try it for yourself sometime. I'm sure you've been on some assignments in the cold."
"Well, once in the Arctic, but we were mainly indoors. Besides, I don't plan on going to either of the poles anytime soon."
With bemused exasperation, Melissa said, "All right. Let me help." She got close to Mulder and wrapped an arm around him.
"What are you doing?"
"Sharing some warmth." She and Mulder looked at each other for a second, he with an expression of slight surprise. "This doesn't mean we're married."
"Why are you doing it, then?"
"Remember what I said to you earlier tonight, Fox? About you being my friend?"
"Yes."
"There's your answer."
"Maybe you could just lend me your coat and imagine it isn't cold out."
"Maybe you need to quit worrying about what Dana would think."
"No. It isn't that. It's just... well, you. And me. I..."
"Look, Fox. Even if you're afraid of how you might feel, I can tell that she means a lot to you."
"We just barely know each other. That's all."
"So, why did you come along with me?"
"Well, it seemed rude to say no."
"I guess. But you also could have stayed home, watching your... movie and eating a Hungry Man meal, before dropping off to sleep."
Mulder pulled away from Melissa. He turned towards her, standing in place. "Why do you have to keep mentioning what I was watching?"
Looking up at Mulder, she replied, "I only mentioned it just now."
"Yeah, well, you made a little comment at the apartment."
"Okay, I might have done that. But I don't care what you were watching."
"Well, you must care, because you mentioned it."
"Fox," Melissa said, reaching out and touching his arm. "Dana went through a lot. In a different sense, you have, too. I'm trying to reach out to you because of what Dana has told me about you." She paused. "I'm sure you get defensive because of the kind of work you do. But you don't have to get that way with me."
Mulder looked away.
"What I am worried about is you denying and hiding your feelings. Dana has told me how you have a hard time trusting anyone."
"I trust her," Mulder turned back to Melissa. "She's the only one I trust."
"Do you trust Mom?"
"Of course, but she isn't involved..."
"Do you trust me?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Do you trust me?"
"But you're not..."
"Yes or no, Fox."
"I suppose I do." Noticing that Melissa's face had softened into a somewhat saddened expression, he quickly added, "Look, Melissa. I didn't mean it that way. I just don't know you that well."
"Do you trust Ramesh?"
"Well, from what I know about him, I trust him." Mulder paused. "I could say the same about you too, actually."
"You trust more people than you want to acknowledge, Fox."
Mulder looked away again. "I want desperately to know that I can trust people. Your sister... Dana... has shown me how, and I'm not sure she knows it."
Melissa clasped Mulder's hand. "You need more people in your circle of trust. I am willing to be a part of that, if you'll just let me in."
Nodding, Mulder turned back to Melissa. Noticing wetness forming under his eyes, she wrapped both arms around him. Burying his head in her shoulder, Mulder croaked, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Fox. This is why I came to you tonight. I knew that you needed someone to talk to about everything. And I think, somewhere deep inside, you knew it, too."
She could feel Mulder nod his head. "Thanks for coming, Melissa. It means more than I wanted to acknowledge."
Melissa tightened her arms around Mulder. They stood that way for a minute, before being passed by another couple quickly glancing at them. Softly patting Mulder's back, she said, "We should probably go, Fox. We've been standing out here in the cold, and people might think we're engaging in PDA."
"PDA?" Mulder mumbled, his voice returning to normal. "What are we, still in high school?"
"Aren't you cold?" Melissa asked as she and Mulder let go of each other.
"Somehow, I had forgotten," he replied, looking around. "Kind of like you said before with meditation, maybe all it took was thinking about something pleasant."
"Like what?"
"Like a hug from a friend."
Melissa smiled back at the slight grin that formed on Mulder's face. She took his hand, and they continued on their journey.
Besides the rattling of a small bell attached to heavy wooden door of Song of the Earth, the first thing Mulder noticed upon entering the store was the strong scent of sandalwood incense.
"Wow!" he said to Melissa as the door shut. "Reminds me of some parties I attended at college."
"Some of the more sedate ones?"
"What? Who smokes sandalwood?"
A slim, middle-aged woman with long, pulled-back graying hair and round-framed glasses approached them. "Melissa!" she said, clasping Melissa's hand. "Lovely to see you again."
"Good to see you, too, Alma."
The woman regarded Mulder. "And who is your friend here?"
"This is Fox Mulder. Friend of the family's."
Mulder extended his hand to the woman. "You know Melissa, too? She seems to have quite the fan club."
"She has a good aura." With a firm grip, cool to the touch but warm in greeting, she took Mulder's hand and looked intently at him. "You do, too, but I sense some discord."
"Thanks. Uhhhh..." Mulder started.
"So sorry. My name is Alma. Alma Shindler."
"Alma. Or is it Ms. Shindler?"
"I prefer Alma. I don't like things too formal. I had enough of that in the corporate world." She looked around. "Of course, working in that environment enabled me to buy this shop."
Mulder looked at the few customers milling about. "You do good business, Alma?"
"Not a wide profit margin, but it's respectable enough and I feel that I'm doing people some good." Turning to Melissa, Alma added, "A yoga instructor has expressed interest in the space above the shop."
"You're renting it out? I guess that's less living space for you."
"Less space to store stuff I don't need," Alma pointed out. "I'm going to have someone come by to determine how it can be reconfigured so that people aren't walking through my living space. And how have you been?"
"Well, I'm more concerned about Dana."
"Oh. Dana. Is she all right?"
Melissa turned to Mulder. "I think she'll be fine."
Surveying Mulder's face, Alma asked him, "You know Dana then?"
"I'm her partner," Mulder said. "At work."
"Really?" Alma asked. "You are very close to her."
"It's just the nature of our work," Mulder replied.
Alma nodded, and turned to Melissa. "So, what brings you here tonight?"
"Fox's apartment got broken into..."
"Oh, how awful."
"I wanted to get a few things to help with cleansing."
"I tried telling her that some rags and Clorox might do the job," Mulder interjected.
Smiling at both of them, Alma said, "I think I know what you need. If you could come with me, Melissa, I have a few things that might help."
"What about me?" Mulder asked.
"Feel free to look around," Alma replied. "We'll just be a few minutes."
Mulder's face took on a slightly puzzled expression. "Okay," he said gamely, watching as Alma and Melissa went to another area of the store.
Left to his own devices, Mulder took in the "New Age" paraphernalia available at Song of the Earth. The phrase always seemed a bit of a misnomer to Mulder, especially since it also encompassed many well-established non-Western religions, as well as home-brewed amalgamations of various pantheistic religions.
As he wandered about, Mulder encountered a regiment of small dark green and red Buddhas on a shelf. Some fat and jolly, some skinny and serene, not too far from six-armed gods and goddesses engaged in an eternally frozen dance. A much larger skinny Buddha, obviously the showpiece of the whole store, sat in a corner next to a fountain one could take home for $600. The Buddha could go home for $1,000 more. Just behind the Buddha's serenely smiling head, the terra cotta face of a Green Man seemed to laugh at Mulder. Next to that, he found a rack of books that covered a potpourri of religions that fell under the "New Age" category.
Mulder briefly flipped through an emerald green copy of a book on Wicca, but returned it when he happened to see a treatise on the Raelians. Despite his own beliefs about extraterrestrials, he read the introduction with bemusement. He had known of the Raelians already, believing that they aided in rendering ridiculous the idea of the existence of extraterrestrials.
Several minutes into Mulder's perusing, Melissa came up to him. She held a large paper sack. "Raelians?"
Somewhat startled, Mulder asked, "You done already?"
"Yes." After looking at the backside of the cover for a few moments, she added, "Worshipping aliens? Talk about 'out there.'"
Returning the book to the rack, Mulder said, "I don't think worshipping aliens is a good idea."
Melissa laughed out loud. "That conjures up some images."
As they started walking away from the book rack, Mulder said, "Speaking of which, did you know that someone went to a Raelian retreat a few years ago and taped... certain practices?"
"Worship practices?"
"You could say that."
Melissa turned to Alma as they passed the cash register. "Thanks, Alma."
"You're welcome Melissa." After a pause, Alma added, "Good to meet you, Fox."
"Same here," Mulder said as he and Melissa walked to the door.
When they opened the door, Alma added, "Enjoy the gift, too."
"Okay," Melissa said.
As they returned to the cold Washington D.C. night, with Song of the Earth's door shutting behind them, Mulder asked Melissa, "A gift?"
"Yes," Melissa replied, stopping to pull a small bottle out of a bag. "Something called Brangäne's Number Nine."
Mulder took the bottle from Melissa and examined it. "Not much to it. I guess Alma's giving out samples?"
Melissa grabbed the bottle back, returning it to the bag. "She said it's how the bottle comes packaged."
"Some kind of special brew, I guess."
"She said that we should try it, after the cleansing."
As they re-commenced walking, Mulder added, "Well, I'm game. I just hope that the residual sandalwood smell doesn't ruin my palate."
