I fell in love at Goodwill Pt. 2

Here is part two (mostly for my mom). For part one go here I won't be posting tomorrow as I am going to Pilgrim's Place! I am super excited! Hopefully I'll have a "goods" post this weekend! Have a lovely Thursday!

Three weeks. I spent every night for three weeks at that stupid thrift store. I got there at the same time and stayed until they closed. I was always the last person in the store, hoping for another glimpse of her. But she never came.

The first week had been fine. I assumed she had just had a busy week and hadn’t had time to come in. She had said she came after work, so maybe she was so busy with work that she just couldn’t come in. She would come the next week.

But she didn’t. By that Sunday night I was beginning to wonder if maybe I’d made her up. Maybe I was actually crazy and she didn’t even exist. I was convinced of it. She had been a figment of my imagination. No one could be that beautiful and be in Goodwill. She was fake. And yet I kept going back.

The third week I determined that she had been real. I’d felt her hand. Imaginary hands could not be that warm and real. Unfortuately my deciding she was real did not bring her back. So I began to panic. What if she had died? What if she had been hit by a bus and had to be hospitalized for months, and when she did finally come to, her memory would be wonky and she wouldn’t even remember me, or that she had ever been to a thrift store in her life? I needed to stop watching British Teen Dramas.

I knew I had to give up. I knew it was incredibly dumb to wait around for some girl I’d met only once. But I couldn’t. Many times I’d almost not gone, but a voice in my head pushed me in the direction of the thrift store. It told me that maybe tonight was the night, maybe she’d show up again. And with every passing night that she didn’t show up the voice would pat me on the back and tell me it was okay, maybe tomorrow.

I had found an old beaten up guitar. The neck was badly damaged and warped, and the strings were nearly untune-able, but there was something about it that made me want to buy and fix the poor thing. I strummed a chord and tweaked a string, fixated on making it sound right.

“Don’t you have some place to be?”

I jumped clashing the notes. An older African-American lady stood with her hands on her blue aproned hips. Her head was cocked to the side as she chewed blue bubble gum rather loudly. Her right foot tapped the linoleum in annoyance.

“Excuse me?” I asked annoyed with her.

“You come in here every night. Don’t you got somewhere else to be? Like with a girlfriend or somebody. You can’t keep comin’ ‘round here boy.” Her head cock had turned into a full blown head bob, which despite my annoyance with her, made me want to laugh.

“I’m sorry. I’m looking for someone who was supposed to be here.” I offered her my most charming smile which didn’t seem to do anything.

“Well I don’t know who waits for someone in a Goodwill, but you gotta stop coming here. You’re starting to creep us all out boy.” She walked away pushing her rack of clothes and shaking her head. I looked down that the guitar. She was right. I had to stop this, it was getting ridiculous. I sighed and shook my head looking down at the instrument in my hand. I walked to the register handing the frizzy haired teenager the guitar. She muttered something about my finally making a purchase. I paid the girl took my new aquisition and walked out the door.

The winter frost bit my face and I breathed it in deep. It would be okay. Maybe we weren’t meant to know one another. Maybe she was actually a nutcase and I was lucky to be rid of her. I knew these were all lies, but I let the voice in my head say them anyway. The sharp scent of cigarette smoke wafted my way as I prepared to go to my car. I heard a sudden sob coming in the direction of the cigarette. And there she was leaning against the building, legs crossed. Clothed in the same hat, coat, mittens and boots. Yellow gingham peeked from beneath the coat and her legs were now turned grey. A half burned cigarette was propped between her two fingers and she looked down at the ground, her perpetual smile softly faded. Her brow was knit and a lone tear slid down her cheek.

“Nan?” I asked in half disbelife. She looked up at me and her smile was instantly back.

“Ned! It’s good to see you.” She wiped away the tear only to let another fall. It was my turn to knit my brow. She looked at her cigarette and then to me.

“I only smoke when I’m stressed. And even then I don’t actually smoke much. I just let it burn. The smell clears my head I guess.” She said as if nothing was wrong. I looked at the open pack of cigarettes she had in her hand. There was one left in the box.

“How many have you let burn this week?” I asked.

“Four packs.”

“It’s Tuesday.” I pointed out and she grinned an embarrased grin. I couldn’t help but smile. She dropped the fag and stepped on the remaining embers.

“Let’s go.” She said walking towards me. I was shocked and stunned as she linked her arm in mine looking around the parking lot.

“Where?” I asked too dumbfounded by her proposal to appreciate it.

“I don’t care. Somewhere. Somewhere that’s not here. Somewhere with food preferably.” she continued to scan the parking lot as she spoke. A soft misting of snow began to fall on us as I stood next to the girl of my dreams. A flake fell on her nose and she crossed her eyes to see it. I laughed. And then it hit me that I had to actually take this girl somewhere. In the three weeks I’d spent planning what to say to her next I’d never planned past the confines of the thrift store. I never thought I’d get that far. But here I was with her, the girl, and she wanted me to take her somewhere. And I had no idea where to take her. I looked up at her soft features wondering where a girl like her would want to go. Her gaze was still fixed on the parking lot and she gave me no indication of where she wanted to go.

“Well what are you in the mood for?” I asked hoping she’d do my job for me. But she shrugged.

“Food in general sounds good. I’m open. Somewhere not too loud either. I can’t take much sound right now.” She began to head in the direction of my car and I followed only because we were linked. I was still too shocked to really think straight. The wind kicked up blowing the light snow around us. Her soft curls blew in my face. They smelled like raspberries. Could she really be real? Yes she could, and she was.

We arrived at my car and I opened the door for her. She smiled, seeming genuinly shocked by my act.

“Why thank you!” She said gliding into my torn up leather seat. I smiled shutting the door behind her. I put my purchase in the trunk of my car slowly, trying to buy some time and think of a place to take her. Still thinking I flopped into the seat of my car when suddenly something occured to me.

“Hey how did you know this was my car?” I asked her. She grinned and chuckled to herself.

“Only certain people driver certain types of cars. I simply looked for your type and headed towards it and you followed so I assumed I was right. It’s very simple science.” She smiled as I started the engine. I smiled back.

“You’re kind of weird, y’know. In a good way.” I said not realizing the words that were coming out of my mouth. But she just laughed, and again a million stars burst.

“I know! But I’m glad you like that. Hey let’s go to the dive-y-est place we can find!” She said quickly and emphatically. I smiled.

“You want a dive? I can give you a dive.” My heart pounded in my ears as I sat there admiring her whole demeanor, and thankful for the suggestion. She smiled back at me, and I had a feeling she was watching much closer than I knew.

“I like you Ned. You have a spark of life. Not very many people have that anymore.” She looked a little sad as she finished speaking, but continued to smile. And then suddenly she leaned up and kissed my cheek.

“Thanks for finding me.” She said softly. I temporarily lost my mind. And I knew I was in love with her.

I fell in love at Goodwill Pt. 1

I'm really struggling with my NaNoWriMo this year. It's just not meshing. So I began a short story to help get my creative juices flowing. Since I had no post set up for today I thought I'd share it with you. Realize this is a rough draft, and not meant to sound like literature. It's a comedy. What do you think? And no. I am not the girl character. any similarities is purely coincidental.

I fell in love at Goodwill.

I dropped a hanger on the floor. I sighed and rolled my eyes and bent down to pick it up. As I stood up and began hanging the threadbare plaid shirt back onto the hanger I felt the cold winter air come through the door. I turned and looked and there she was. I’d never seen her before, though I felt I should have. She looked like she didn’t belong in a second hand store, and yet she seemed to fit in here as if this was home. She was comfortable.

I watched her walk across the store towards the rack of ladies dresses. Her Irish eyes were bright from the cold, and her cheeks a healthy pink. She wore a grey hat pulled down over her ears, the bronze waves of her hair falling on her shoulders. She pulled off her green mittens and shoved them in the pocket of her brown woolen coat then took her coat off. Her dress was old, but she made it look fresh and new. Her long fingers brushed a lock of hair behind her ear revealing her face to me. It was as if God himself had carved her every feature on the porcelain of her skin. The corners of her mouth curved up making her lips in a perpetual smile. She stomped the rain off her brown boots as she readjusted her pink paisley dress. Cream coloured tights covered her legs and kept her warm. She looked warm. She looked like the kind of girl you’d never have to offer your coat to and who’s hand would always be warm in yours. She was a child of November and relished the cold and I had to talk to her. I had to know her name. She was the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen. She was Venus, she was youth, she was beauty, and she was standing right in front of me caressing the contours of a double knit polyester dress.

I tried not to stare, but it was hard not to. I noticed that everyone else who passed her did a double take. She intrigued everyone. But I wanted to watch her. She went through every dress on the rack sometimes pulling something out and looking at from several different angles. Most of the time she would put the dress back, but sometimes she would slouch it over her arm. Then she walked over to the shoes. She looked at each isle going row, by row. She would pick up a shoe, examine it, hold it up to her booted foot and put it back. Then she walked over to the home wares, looking isle by isle, row by row. I watched her moving slowly towards her trying to think of something to say to her, something that would sound intelligent and witty, something that would make her want to know me. She finally made her way back to the very back of the store and began to thumb through the records, going one by one. She took time to examine everything. I walked her way occasionally stopping to look at something I wasn’t really interested in. Finally I walked to the records. I tried to pretend I was looking as I went through them, but really I was watching her. She was nearly done and I know I had to make my move. So I laughed. I didn’t know why I was laughing but I laughed. And she looked up at me with a smile.

“I know. There’s a lot of crap in here. But sometimes you can find a gem or two.” She said. Her voice was lyrical, light, and lovely. It made me smile.

“Yeah. Sometimes I wonder if all these church choirs ever thought they’d end up in Goodwill.” I said hoping I sounded funny. She laughed, thought I wasn’t sure it was in earnest.

“Me too! Beyond that I always wonder who would buy them from Goodwill. Actually I think I have a few from my grandma. I remember her telling about her “recording” days like she’d actually been famous or something. It always made me laugh.” She’d finished her row of records, but began to thumb through it again.

“You gotta love old people.” I laughed and rather abruptly she looked up at me and extended her hand.

“I’m Nan.” I took her hand and shook it lightly. Her hand was warm.

“I’m Ned.” She grinned and laughed hysterically. Her laugh was like a million stars bursting all at once.

“That is too funny! We’re Nancy and Ned! Just like Nancy Drew! I think Nancy Drew was my best friend for most of my childhood.” She smiled with just a hint of sadness. I laughed to try and make her happy again.

“That’s weird! I guess we were meant to meet then!” I chuckled as she looked at her watch.
“I guess so. It was really nice to meet you Ned. I’ll see you around.” she smiled politely and turned to leave. I didn’t want her to go, I wanted her to stay.
“Nan! Do you come here often?” I called as she walked to the register. She smiled and nodded.
“I yeah, I’m here all the time. I come after work. So I’ll see you?” I nodded in reply and smiled. She purchased her items, smiled at me, and left. And I knew I loved her.