Chapter 5
It seemed as though I had just fallen asleep when I woke up. Daylight peaked through the curtains in my room. Seven in the morning. I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. Sleep was to be denied to me though.
Jackie burst through the door to my room. “Where were you?” she demanded. “You weren’t here when I got home. And then you didn’t come crawling in until two in the morning.”
I just glowered at her. “What are you my mother?”
“I was worried about you. It’s not like you to go off like that.”
“I just needed to go out for a bit,” I said. My explanation did little to assuage Jackie. I didn’t know my going to the bar with Rachel would alarm her.
“Right,” said Jackie, “Well, get up. I’ll make breakfast. We can go to work together.”
I crawled out of bed wishing I could go back to sleep. Drowsily, I went to the bathroom.
“Hey.” Once again Rachel popped in expecting me to drop everything as though I had nothing better to do.
“Rachel,” I yawned. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to shower in peace.”
“I realize that,” said Rachel, “But I might have remembered something.”
I ran my fingers through my hair not paying any attention to what she said. “That’s great.” I stifled another yawn. I glanced toward the end of the hallway. Jackie stood there gaping at me.
“Are you OK?” she asked.
Instead of answering, I slammed the door to the bathroom.
“We’ll talk later,” Rachel shouted through the door.
Work was unusually busy when Jackie and I arrived. I went to the cashier station and placed my stuff behind the counter. The line of people making purchases slowly grew smaller. I glanced around as I rung up people’s things. Jackie was involved with a difficult lady who insisted that the sage incense did not smell like sage.
Only one other person wandered the floor. Charlie. The man was useless. He loved the paycheck, but did everything he could to keep from working. True to his past, Charlie disappeared as more people walked through the door.
I don’t know why Mr. Stilton hired him. Maybe it was because the two were a lot alike. Mr. Stilton spent most of his time in his office with the door closed. I sighed. It looked like Jackie and I would be running the place again.
“$13.65,” I said to the man in front of me. He paid his bill quickly and walked out the door without so much as a smile. People are so rude sometimes. “Next,” I called.
Before I could even greet the elderly lady in front of me Jackie grabbed my arm and pulled me to the floor behind the counter. “Jackie,” I began.
She shushed me. “Don’t move,” she whispered, “There’s this guy that keeps coming in here asking for you. I think he might be a stalker. Look.”
She pointed the man out to whom she referred. I peeked around the corner of the counter. I’m sure that the people waiting to pay for their stuff thought we were nuts. I clapped my hand over my mouth stifling a laugh when I noticed who it was.
“That’s Greg,” I told Jackie. “The guy I have been dating.”
“That’s him?” She peered at him taking in all of his features. “He’s cute. I approve.” Jackie jumped to her feet, “Greg,” she yelled across the store, “Your girlfriend’s over here.”
Humiliated, I gradually rose to my feet. “Greg,” I said trying to sound like everything was normal. I didn’t want to know what he was thinking.
“You always hide behind the counter?” he asked.
“Hide,” I stammered, “I wasn’t hiding, I was—uh—looking for something.”
Greg gave me one of those “I don’t believe you” looks. He must think I’m crazy. “There is a performance at the theater tonight. I have tickets and wanted to know if you were up for it.”
“Oh? What’s playing?”
“Hamlet.”
I almost dropped my jaw. A guy who was into Shakespeare? I couldn’t believe it. Either that or he somehow found out that I loved Shakespeare. “I’d love to go.”
“Perfect,” said Greg, “I’ll pick you up when you get off work.”
Jackie and I watched him leave. She smiled broadly shaking my shoulder in excitement that I finally got a boyfriend. Then, I remembered the giant line of people at the counter staring at me. My face flushed red from embarrassment. Great, now the world knows about my love life.
“He’s hot.”
I turned toward the voice. It belonged to the old lady that was next in line.
“If I were you,” she began, “I would hold onto him tightly. In fact, if I were sixty years younger I’d squeeze his butt cheeks tight.”
I gawked at her in disbelief. Jackie stood next to me trying not to burst out laughing. So was everyone else in line. I could just imagine what my face looked like. I rung up her items quickly. “Fourteen dollars even.”
She handed me exact change and left. At the door, the woman turned and waved at me with a huge grin and left.
“So are you going to squeeze his butt cheeks?” asked Rachel standing by the shelves behind me.
Without thinking, I grabbed a small candle and chucked it at her. Of course it did no good. It passed right through her, and to everyone else, it looked as though I had thrown it at thin air.
I smiled sheepishly at those watching me. “Uh, I saw a bug,” I said in an effort to explain my actions.
They just grinned in that way people do when they think you’re off your rocker, but they don’t want to say anything.
Someone placed more things on the counter. They landed with a soft thump. Automatically, I typed in their prices. Black votive candles, incense, and aromatherapy oils. “$25.69,” I said. That’s when I saw who it was that was in front of me. Professor Vincent. Though he wasn’t the first guy to buy things like this, I thought it odd that he would.
“Mellow, right,” he said.
“It’s Mel,” I replied.
The man handed me thirty dollars and I gave him his change.
“I would never peg you as someone who was into all this aromatherapy stuff,” I said. I don’t know why I did. I guess my natural curiosity took over.
“I suffer from migraines,” he said, “And this stuff seems to help.”
I gave him my clerk smile in response. In the back of my mind, his explanation sounded like a lie. But, why would he lie? Even if he was, what business was it of mine anyway?
“You’re in my video editing class,” said Professor Vincent.
I thought it odd that he’d ask such a question. He knew I was in his class. I sat right in front of him. “Yes,” I replied.
“I thought so,” he said, “I liked that last assignment you handed in. You have an artistic eye for things. I think you ought to consider signing up for my advanced filmmaking class next semester.”
His statement sounded reasonable, but I started to feel uncomfortable around him. Especially since his eyes darted down my blouse.
“I’ll think about it,” I replied.
“Do that.” Professor Vincent left. He gave me a lustful look but did a good job at concealing it.
“Creepy bastard,” said Jackie. She had observed that entire proceeding. “I’d drop his class.”
“Except I need the credits,” I said.
“I guess the world is full of creeps like him,” she said.
“I’ll make certain to sit in the back of the class from now on,” I told her.
“Do that.”
Luckily, the rest of the day at work passed without incident. Things had quieted down considerably. Seven pm rolled around and Jackie and I had the honor of locking up. One of the things I liked about the Candle Shoppe was that is closed early.
Greg arrived right on time with flowers. Jackie beamed and nudged me when she saw him. “Flowers. How nice,” she said. “Have fun.” She greeted Greg and ran off.
Greg handed me the flowers and I accepted them graciously. He took me to an Italian restaurant for dinner. As I ate the delicious food, I knew it headed straight to my thighs. All that creamy, buttery pasta was too good to resist. We chit chatted at dinner, but I was so hungry that I stuffed my face more than talk. Greg chuckled. At least my tendency to eat didn’t scare him away.
The play started at nine and we had seats in the front. It gave us a perfect view of the stage. The moment the curtain went up, the actors and story enthralled me. Like I said, I love Shakespeare. Hamlet had always been one of my favorites. I don’t know why. But who wouldn’t like a story about a guy who seeks revenge for his father’s death and pretends to go crazy while he’s at it. Though you could argue that Hamlet really was nuts. I understood how he felt. Ever since I met Rachel, I felt a little nutty myself. Hopefully, no one tried to put me in a padded cell.
The play ended at midnight and a giant yawn gave away my tiredness. It had been a long day and I looked forward to actually getting a good night’s sleep. “Thanks for a wonderful night,” I said to Greg.
He opened the door to his car for me. What a gentleman. I’ll admit, that meant bonus points in my book. He drove me home. We didn’t say much during the car ride. My eyelids kept drooping and he must have noticed. Afterward, he walked around the car to open my door for me. More bonus points. Some girls didn’t like it when guys opened doors for them. But I didn’t mind it once in a while.
“You make sure to go to bed,” he said dropping me off at my door.
“Don’t worry,” I said.
Then, he did it. Kissed me goodnight. It was one of those foot popping kisses that gave me butterflies. The kiss ended too quickly for me. I had to hide my girlish giggles as butterflies swirled in my stomach.
“Night,” I said as I closed the door.
I dumped my things on a nearby chair.
“How was your date?” asked Jackie. She sat cross legged on the couch with a book in her hands. The eagerness in her voice tipped me off that she had been spying. That, and the fact that the book in her hands was upside down.
“You were watching through the peephole weren’t you,” I said.
“No. Me?” I didn’t buy the forced innocence of her voice.
“I’ve never known anyone who could read upside down,” I said.
Jackie slammed the book shut and hopped off the couch. “OK, so maybe I was being a little nosy.”
“You’re worse than my mother.”
“Am not. So you kissed. Good news. You like him?”
“Of course I like him,” I said, “He’s a bit of a gentleman. He doesn’t like to party or smoke. And that cake he gave us was delicious.”
“So he can cook. If he does his own laundry and starches his clothes I’d say he’s a keeper.”
“I’m sure he’s house trained,” I said. “Now, I have an early class tomorrow, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to bed.”