In case the world ends tomorrow, here's an update! Haha :P
Chapter 4:
Shopping
It was two days before Christmas Eve and I was on my way to Breckenridge to meet Rosalie for a day of shopping. I very much disliked shopping, but not this sort of shopping. I liked buying things for other people. My dad enjoyed fishing so much, and Breckenridge had the perfect fish line store for me to get him a new pole. I had already gotten my mother an antique tea set, and Rosalie a new Coach purse.
It was nice to have money. I had more than I needed because I never spent any of it. I lived alone, so my utilities were cheap, my apartment was small, and I was taught to live below my means. I pulled into the parking spot at the the front of Fish Line and saw Rosalie's purple convertible next to me. Snow lined the streets shoved over by snow plows. There was always snow in Colorado at this tome of year. I turned my Volvo SUV engine off, and went Inside.
Rose was on the back wall looking at lures. I smiled. She would not know a thing about fishing had it not been for my father dragging us with him every chance he got. She had maroon colored knee high boots on over white jeans and a black blouse. Her blonde hair had recently been cut short. She kept it curled most days. I walked up to her just as she picked up a shiny lure.
"What about this one?" She asked. I shrugged.
"You know he has one already."
"Yeah, but it's old."
"What about a new tackle box?" I suggested.
"Perfect! No more bait smell." Rose scrunched her nose in disgust. Charlie's old tackle box barely closed anymore due to so much stuff, and smelt of terrible fish bait.
We walked to the other side of the store that had a wall full of tackle boxes.
"This one!" Rose cheered. I frowned.
"Rosie, It's pink."
"So?"
"So, he's a man!"
"Yeah, but a pink one would remind him of me!" I rolled my eyes. She set the box back down and went to a shiny red one. It opened up to four layers and the interior was tan.
"Yes," I said. Rose nodded with a wide smile on her face. She would spend Christmas with us this year. It had become a tradition since we were eighteen. One year her parents flew her to Barbados for the holiday and she hated it as much as I did. My parents missed her, too. That was the last time she ever went to see them. They usually came home for a month in January.
After a lot of debating, I decided on the newest fishing pole in the store. It was shiny red to match the new tackle box, too. We left the store with our gifts, put them away in our vehicles, then walked next door to Deborah's Grill. It was another tradition that we held every time we came to Breckenridge.
"You look nice today," Rose noted. I frowned and looked down to my appearance. I wore my favorite grey sweater with light skinny jeans and converse.
"Thanks?" I asked sarcastically.
"You're seeing someone!" Rose accused. I got that girly grin back immediately. It was the one that came on anytime I thought of Tyler. The waitress came to take our orders.
"I'll just have a water," I said to her. She was an older woman with jet black hair and dark skin.
"No, she will have a Bloody Mary," Rose corrected. I looked to her in surprise. "And I'll have one, too." The waitress nodded then asked for our ID's. We groaned and showed her our driver's license's. As soon as she was out of earshot, Rose turned back to me expectantly. I sighed.
"That guy I got matched with on datematch? Well... We've been talking. His name is Tyler and he's really sweet Rosalie."
"Oh. Are you going to meet him?"
"Uh, I don't know. We haven't really discussed that yet. Right now we're just enjoying getting to know one another."
"Hmm. Have you seen a picture?" I shook my head slowly. Rose's eyes went wide.
"Bella, he could be three hundred pounds and a piece of shit!"
"Oh, please," I scoffed. "I don't care what he looks like, and he is incredibly nice and thoughtful."
"Uh-uh. Just be careful, okay? And if you decide to meet, I'm going with you."
"No you're not," I told her sternly.
"I'll tell your mom."
"You wouldn't," I replied with narrow eyes. She didn't break.
"Fine. But you'll watch from afar."
"Deal." We smiled and our drinks arrived. It tasted heavenly.
"So, how is your dating life?" I asked.
"I ran into Emmett McCarty a few days ago at tennis," She said slowly.
"Wow. And how is he?"
"Great. Single, too." I raised my eyebrows and smiled seductively. She laughed.
"You're not good at seductive, Bella baby," She informed. My face fell.
"Whatever. So, are you going to see him again?"
"It was so weird running into him. I haven't seen him since that graduation party." My stomach churned.
"How strange. I was thinking about that party last night."
"Yeah? Me too. It was fun."
"Did Emmett ever talk to you that night?" I asked easily. Rosalie's cheeks went red.
"Yeah. He was sweet." She stumbled, and I wasn't sure why she was relenting. I knew I wasn't going to get much else out of her about it. As much as she loved outing her sex life, she had become much more quiet since her break-up with Edward. I knew why, and we didn't discuss it.
We had changed the subject to other mindless things. Rose tried to get me to tell her what I got her for Christmas. She tried that every year. Finally, it was beginning to get dark so we parted ways. She would come to my parents at eight on Christmas morning. When I got into my Volvo, my eyes glanced upward. There was a shop that was dimly lit above Fish Line. On the window there was painted writing that read, "Connie's Art." I frowned in curiosity and got out of my car. On my way up the stairs, I thought back to Tyler's emails. We decided to get each other a gift, and we would mail it. I had thought endlessly of what to get him and came up short each time.
As I opened the door to Connie's, a small bell rang above the door. There was an elderly woman with grey hair at the counter who looked up to me.
"Hello, dear," She said kindly. I smiled.
"Hi."
"Is there anything I can help you with?"
"No thanks. Just looking," I replied mindlessly. The woman nodded and looked back to her paperwork. The shop was old and smelt of cinnamon. Art adored the walls of all different kinds. It was all beautiful, mostly paint work, but nothing that struck me for Tyler.
I wandered towards the back. In a small room off to the left I saw a large crystal rock light on a small round table. I went through the beads that hung above the door and my eyes widened. Among the old walls were feathers inside of frames. As I got closer, pictures could be seen painted onto the feathers. I was amazed. I came to one with a brown frame. Most of the feathers were brown, too. On a long raven feather was the painted picture of a cowboy on a horse. He stood in the middle of a stream looking ahead of him to the mountains with a storm brewing. Off to the right, was a small cabin. My heart burned in admiration. I quickly took my phone out to look at an email Tyler sent me last last night. I had asked him what one of his lifelong dreams were.
.
.
Marie,
Lifelong dream? Shit, this will be embarrassing, and something I have never told anyone.
Growing up, I always wanted to be a cowboy. Silly right? I wanted a cabin in the woods with horses and cattle.
I feel all right telling you this. I know it hasn't been long, and maybe not long enough to tell you this, but you have made my days brighter, Marie. I look forward to talking with you as the highlight of my days.
-Tyler
Sent Dec 22, 2012 at 12:04 am
.
.
It was one of my most favorite emails from him. I didn't hesitate a moment longer after putting my phone away. I took the picture off of the wall carefully and went back to the elderly woman.
"Found something?" She asked brightly. I nodded. Her voice was gravely and her eyes were bright green.
"These painted feathers are amazing," I told her.
"Thank you, dear," She said.
"You're Connie?" I asked. She nodded.
"You're very talented," I told her.
"That is kind of you." She took the frame and stepped to the cash register.
"Do you get much sale here?" I asked.
"I have had the business for a couple of years, but just now got into this shop. It seems less traffic come here than downtown." She laughed softly. "My late husband talked me into selling them. I had always wanted to, but never felt good enough to do so." I thought for a moment about her story.
"That will be eighty-five even," She announced. I dug through my wallet as she wrapped the picture in tissue paper.
"You know," I began, "My name is Bella Swan and I own an art gallery in Colorado Springs. I would be honored if you would let me show some of your work. My gallery is very centrally located. I get a lot of traffic."
"Oh, my," She said as I handed her my business card. She looked it over carefully. "I would be honored," She replied quietly.
"Great!" I announced. "Why don't you come down after the first. Any day of the week is fine, and we can get started. I have a great feeling about this." I handed her the money and smiled deeply to her. I could see her heart was good and beautiful. A woman who can make such beautiful art had a special meaning for me.
"Thank you, Bella."
"My pleasure, Connie. I'll see you soon."
"Merry Christmas," She said as I reached the door to leave.
"Merry Christmas to you," I replied smiling. I left the shop happy and excited for what was to come of my gift, and my new client.
I plan to update every to every other day until this Drabble has run it's course :) So glad you all loved Jessie's Girl! With Christmas coming, I still won't forget to update and will as soon as I am able. No worries and thank you all for the reviews, favorites and alerts! If you have read my other stuff, you may recognize the painted feather... ;) They do exist, and I have one myself!