I realized I was ten minutes late as I packed my truck between two pathetically small hybrids. I killed the engine and rushed inside, the rain pounding against my coat. It was a tiny coffee shop filled with tables of geeks pouring over their computers and couples sharing books, this wasn’t a good sign. One girl sat alone at a table in the back corner, staring into space with tense, gray-blue eyes. Above her head was a teddy bear head mounted as if it were the real thing. Was it so hard to get a damn real animal?
I tapped the table twice and she nearly jumped out of her chair. Those spacey eyes grew into frying pans and then relaxed into dessert plates. She forced a nervous smile and motioned to the chair.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said in more a squeak then a voice, “I’m Alex.”
“Hi.” I answered pulling myself out of my coat. Her eyes were locked down at her cup, as if removing my jacket would suddenly make me naked.
“It’s nice weather out.” She commented, gazing with dreamy eyes out the window.
“Pretty shitty.” I said.
She looked injured. “Oh, well…not everyone likes rain!” She smiled. “I’m glad you were able to the find this place, I come here all the time.”
I looked around. The lighting was warm enough, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of it trying to be outdoorsy amongst the Wi-Fi connections and “cutesy” bear leg rests.
I could see this girl had fallen for the charm but had little to do with the actual woods. She was restrained in a dark blue turtleneck and jean vest. Her hair was shorter than most teenage boys and her head band had a little bow on it. I couldn’t figure out if she wanted to be an adult or a child. I knew this was not going to work out. I thought about getting up and leaving, but she looked like she had worked up the confidence to talk all morning. Fine, might as well make this fun for me. I already figured out the chords to hit.
“So do you hunt?” I was cutting to the chase.
Her eyes dilated again. That was a no.
“What?” It seemed like every dead animal in the world was crossing her mind. “No, I couldn’t. I’d feel so horrible killing something. I’m sorry.”
“Great,” I mumbled. I was trying to squeeze back my laughter. If she was a vegetarian I was going to flip.
“What?” her face wrinkled.
“Nothing.”
Her hers retreated into her lap. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She repeated. I didn’t even know what there was for her to apologize for. A few “Hail Mary’s” paced through her watery eyes. Was she going to cry? Why would she do that?
She waited. It seemed like she didn’t want to force conversation on me if I didn’t want it. I rolled my eyes and snickered. She noticed this and paused her thoughts. She looked directly at me. It seemed that I had hit a chord. Now her eyes took on a new emotion, she was insulted. I knew her politeness was too good to be true.
“Are you making fun of me?” She snapped.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, actually. Now tell me, how tight did you whine yourself this morning?”
“How dare you.” She whispered, her voice burning with anger. She was trying to compose herself, but was failing. “This is over,” she stood up still trying to compose herself, “Goodbye.” She flew to the door but turned around. “You’re a real jerk, you know that?”
I tried to hold my laughter in until she left, but failed miserably. I stood up and went back to my truck. I wondered if the game was on tonight.
1 comment:
This is good work with character and gender. The dialogue is painfully believable. Well done!
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