The sun was shining and the sky was a perfect baby blue, and as the birds chirped their beautiful spring song, I felt like singing along with them.
I had to be the luckiest girl in the world.
It was May of 2011, I was seventeen, I had received my driver's license last month, today was the last my junior year and Cassie was coming back next week. It seemed I was going to burst out of my very skin from the excitement.
Since December past, a lot of things happened.
At Books&Lattes, after a year and a half of working there non-stop I had been promoted to Assistant Manager, while sadly, Michael moved to North Carolina leaving me to assume the position he had called his own. Blanche still was faithful to that old place and continued to sort books and act as barista, even at the age of 69.
Leland was still there, though things seemed to be looking up, they soon went downhill. We were again at odd's end with one another, giving each other silent stares after an unpleasant event that happened between us, causing us to be even farther apart than before…
One Thursday afternoon back in February, I had driven into the bookstore parking lot, same as ever, grabbing that work polo and sliding it over my head, readying myself for another day at the store. I slipped out of my car, grabbing my bag and heading to the door when I heard my name waft over to my ears from a car nearby, I couldn't tell where it was coming from until I recognized the bored, blasé voice of my co-worker, Leland…
"Yeah, I know, don't you hate that?" he chuckled to the other person on the line.
There was a pause before he started again.
"Yeah, there's this girl at my job, her name's Etain… Yeah, it's weird. But anyway, I don't know, she's one of those girls…. Hahaha!" he laughed and said with a meaningful tone. Whatever he was talking about, it didn't sound nice.
I wanted to walk away, hurt by his blatant disrespect, but my feet were suddenly plastered to the ground, willing me to hear the rest.
"… Yeah, if you met her, you'd think she was bipolar, happy one day, freakin' Medusa the next… yeah, but I'd stay away from that if you want to keep your manhood," he laughed loudly.
It felt like an angry hole was ripped in my chest.
That caused the involuntary tears to blur my vision. It felt as if a fire blazed in the pit of my stomach, causing me to experience a burning hatred for the man that was sitting in that car. As I felt the anger pulse through, I felt indignant and suddenly self-conscious, wondering if this rush of emotions would be an example of what he claimed of me.
No, I thought defensively, any girl would feel hurt by what he said.
I reassured myself, trying to gather my thoughts, and tried to go into the store. But my feet wouldn't budge. I heard Leland say his last remarks as he hung up the phone and got out of his car. I heard the door slam and his footsteps draw nearer and nearer.
I was standing in a little corner that was in front of the store, hiding myself away, the anger and disappointment consuming me more with every step he took. He walked to the door, looked at me and jumped a little. He wasn't expecting this.
I looked at him with dark eyes, showing that I heard everything he said. He had a weird expression on his face, almost as if he were… scared? Nervous? I chuckled internally, satisfied with his fear.
That was the first day I hadn't come to work that year.