When Hope picked up her drink from the counter, she nearly dropped the cup. The design the barista had done with the foamed milk, it was the serpent eating its tale, the symbol for the Hollow.
Hope looked at the girl carefully, wondering if she was perhaps in league with the other witch. But the girl showed no signs of recognition or of even being aware of what she did, so Hope took her drink and walked away with a smile and a wave over her shoulder.
Her plan was working. Soon, very soon, the Hollow would come for her and Hope was ready. But she couldn't tip her hand yet. The Hollow had to believe that Hope was a girl just looking for trouble, instead of a hunter, waiting for this predatory witch to dare to approach her.
As she headed down the street, she came face to chest with someone very tall and she looked up to find Ryan grinning down at her. In a light t-shirt, jeans, and brown leather jacket, his facial scruff more neatly trimmed than it had been the day before, he was the picture warmth, the kind of guy that a girl would be happy to bring home to her family.
"Ryan!" Hope smiled widely when she saw him. "You're not at work."
"I don't live there, Hope."
"I didn't think you did..I just wasn't expecting to see you around today."
"Hiding from your coworker again?"
"You'd better believe it." Hope took a sip of her coffee. "He takes the joy out of everything, including things I love doing all the time." Taking down rogue monsters was what she lived for, was all she had going for her, and yet, with Burr around, all she wanted to do was punch his face instead of doing what she was supposed to do.
"Any plans for what to do with yourself while you hide from him?"
"No, actually. I was just kind of wandering around, looking for something to do. See what kind of trouble I can get myself into."
"I can show you around town. Not that there's much to do or see in Aberdeen, Washington that'll measure up to whatever you might be interested in." He nodded down at her, indicating her spiked leather jacket, tight black jeans, and four in heeled boots. "At least not this part of it anyway."
Hope studied his face for a moment, then said, "This is going to sound so weird, but are there any good ice cream places around here?"
"You want chain store or local?"
"Um, I don't know. I haven't had ice cream that wasn't chocolate or vanilla from a box in years, so I don't know what's good."
"Do you have your heart set on ice cream? Or do you mind getting a milkshake instead? Because I know a place that makes the best milkshake I've ever had."
"I'm open to whatever you think's better around here, to be honest." Hope shrugged and laughed.
"Come with me. I know just the place." He caught her arm in his hand and guided her down the street.
"You probably think I'm really weird." Hope traced her fingertip around the rim of her paper coffee cup.
"Different, not weird. And in a town like this, different is a good thing."
"So, what do you like to do when you're not trying to keep your kid brother out of trouble?"
"Read, play music, and hike."
"Sounds kinda like me, except I paint, instead of play music."
"You're an artist?" He asked, his eyes lighting up.
"Yeah, it's something I inherited from my dad." Hope looked down at the sidewalk. "When I paint, I feel as connected to him as I can possibly be, all things considered, and it gives me hope that one day I can be with my family again."
God, damn it! Why did she keep opening up like this to him? Damn him and his warm, dark eyes and half smiles that encouraged her to reveal the parts of herself that she kept hidden from everyone else! No one knew why she painted, until now.
"As long as it's what's best for you, it's something you should work towards."
"I'll start focusing on it more once I get this whole 'coworker bonding trip that's more me hiding from the jackass than trying to get along with him'."
"Good."
"So, now that I've managed to bring down the mood, what kind of instrument do you play?"
"Guitar, mostly, and I sing."
"Country?" Hope teased, in an effort to lighten the mood.
"Uh, no. Not my style, at all." He laughed and elbowed her lightly.
"If I'm in town long enough, maybe you could play for me? At least if you're willing to. You don't have to if you don't want to."
"Maybe, but I'd have to write a song especially for you, because none of the music I have now would fit you."
"You write your songs and I'll paint and we'll just be quiet together." It was a pretty dream, but Hope knew it would only ever be that, a dream. Even if she managed to get back to her family, Ryan was human and didn't deserve to be dragged into the mess that was the supernatural.
"Sounds like a perfect way to spend time, if you ask me."
Especially if it's raining."
"I agree, that would make it even better, and very likely, considering where we are." He glanced up at the cloud covered sky, then looked down at Hope again.
"Introverts unite." Hope smiled up at him.
"Here we are," he opened the door to the shop and gestured for Hope to go on in, "and I prefer to think of it as selectively social, which seems to be what you are as well. Since we seem to get along fairly well."
"So far." Hope joked, attempting to hide the quick flash of fear.
What would he say if he knew she was a monster who hunted other monsters? Would he still look at her like that, with that soft smile and his dark eyes so warm and kind, if he knew about how many people she'd killed?
"So far," he agreed.
Hope approached the counter slowly, her eyes going to the tubs of different colored ice cream shielded by the glass. She had never seen this much ice cream at once, ever, and having this many options boggled her mind.
"So, pick your flavor and then we'll get them to mix it into a milkshake," Ryan murmured from just behind her.
"I um, I have no idea what I want. I didn't think there'd be this many flavors."
"Just point at one. They're all good, so you can't go wrong."
Inhaling, Hope caught a scent that reminded her of her mother. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut into triangles and the crusts removed while she had a tea party with her toys.
"Something with peanuts?" Hope looked at Ryan.
Ryan walked up to the girl behind the counter and said, "A peanut butter shake and a mint chocolate chip shake."
"Coming right up." The girl appeared younger than Hope, but with Hope's features skewing more towards the younger side, she couldn't say for sure.
"Could I have the whipped cream on the bottom?" Hope asked when she saw the girl pull out a can of whipped cream from the fridge.
"Sure. Do you want the cherry?"
"No. Thanks."
Ryan was staring at her with a brow raised when she looked up at him.
"What?"
"You, Hope, are a strange girl."
"Shut up." Hope elbowed him and he laughed.
"Come on. Let's get a table. They'll bring them out when they're ready." Ryan led the way to a tall, round table near the window and pulled out a chair for her.
"Thank you, kind sir." Hope put on her thickest southern belle accent and fluttered her lashes.
"My pleasure, milady." He bowed and they both started laughing again.
"I can't remember the last time I laughed this much," Hope admitted.
"Anything to be of service to the beautiful lady, hiding from her discourteous companion." He took the chair across from her and then rested his chin on his hand.
"What?"
"Nothing. I'm just wondering how much time I have left before the dream ends and you go back to your real life and I'm still here."
"You've got my number. You can text me, you know. Or we can figure out a time where we can actually talk to each other, so just because I won't be in town, we can still talk and do things together, in a way."
The waitress arrived with their shakes in tall glasses and set them on the table in front of them.
"I heard Landon is having a party this weekend," the waitress said.
"Uh, yeah. I overheard him talking to Raf about it last night."
"Will you be there?"
"Someone's gotta keep the heathens from trashing the house completely, so yeah. I will."
"Okay. See you there." The waitress glanced at Hope, her eyes curious, but she said nothing as she walked away.
Hope watched the exchange curiously.
"Girlfriend?"
"No. She's too young," Ryan laughed. "A friend of hers has a crush on me though, and since I come here often enough, she talks to me for her."
"Wow. That's kinda stalkery."
"Maybe a little bit," he agreed. "But it's harmless enough for now, so I just try to be nice about it."
"Back to what we were talking about earlier, I don't have friends, Ryan. There's no one in my life I can talk to the way I talk to you. So I would very much like it if you were to remain in contact with me after I leave town."
"So, friends?" He picked the bright red fruit off the top of the mountain of whipped cream and popped it into his mouth.
"Friends." Hope glanced at the girl behind the counter, then at Ryan. "You never asked me my age, nor do you seem concerned about me being too young."
"You're on a business trip, with a coworker, so you've gotta be at least eighteen."
"I turned eighteen this summer."
"See? So legal and with what you've told me, you've got the life experience that's aged you mentally, so I don't have anything to feel guilty about for spending time with you."
"Now I'm curious." Hope studied his face. "Anything happen between you and this girl?"
"Nothing happened because I found out how old she was and that was that. She's got the face that can lend itself for a little older than she is and I decided to believe her when she said she was in college, at least until I saw her at my brother's school."
"When did this happen?"
"About six months ago."
"And she hasn't let it go yet?"
"No, she hasn't."
"She should. I mean, you're a grown man and she's in high school. She's got a lot of growing up to do and needs to date guys closer to her age or at least closer to her life experiences." Hope took a sip of her shake and them closed her eyes, unable to stifle the moan as the flavor hit her tongue.
"Good?"
Hope nodded enthusiastically and took a deeper pull of her shake.
For a long moment, there was no talking as they enjoyed their drinks. Or at least, Hope enjoyed her shake while Ryan took sips of his and watched her, a smile on his face.
"What?" Hope asked, suddenly nervous.
"Nothing. Just thinking that you really need to get out and enjoy yourself more if a milkshake can make you this happy."
"Well, that's why I need friends, so they can take me out to places and show me things that I might like to do since the people who raised me and my coworkers don't think I need to have fun."
"So, I guess I have no choice but to be friends with you."
"None whatsoever." Hope smiled widely.
When he smiled in return, Hope's stomach did a funny little flip and she bit her lower lip. Since when did she want to kiss people? But she supposed that a human with a sad backstory and kind eyes that made her feel like she wasn't alone was as good a person as any for her to feel like that for, even if she never acted on it.
The girl from behind the counter pulled out her phone and started texting someone, staring at them in earnest.
"You wanna get out of here?" Ryan asked, glancing at the girl and then looking back at Hope.
"Let's go."
"Good. Come on. I've got more to show you."
