Fairytale 5
The next week or so went smoothly as she fell into a routine. Her mom gave her a ride to work and dropped her off. She spent the days organizing and cataloguing antiques, looking after the cash register and making pots of tea. Tea also became an important, almost ritualistic part of the day. At eleven sharp, Ms Brown would ask for a type of tea: jasmine, oolong, saffron, chamomile and Jane would find the labelled canister. Two bags would deposited into the china pot, the kettle would be boiled, the pot filled with water and the lid placed firmly on top. The tea cozy would be securely tucked around the pot and it would be left to simmer for five to seven minutes. The amber liquid was then poured into two china cups with a lump of sugar in each. There would be no milk or cream. They did not belong in tea according to the divine Ms B. They would eat each two short bread cookies that could be delicately dipped.
“Jane?” Tillie called from the front of the shop. “Could you come out here?”
Taking off her gloves, she folded them up and placed them in the bin. With a clack of beads, she crossed from behind the curtain back into the real world. Life outside of the vault was bright and loud. It wasn’t just Chopin and china or Bach and books. There were people who were more than just slips of paper. “Yeah, Ms Brown?”
“It’s Tillie.” She corrected and smiled. “I’d like you to meet another one of us old people. This is Mr Pellam.”
Jane looked around and didn’t see anyone at first. The swatch of green showed over the counter top. Standing on her toes, she looked over. The newest ‘old person’ was an old man wearing a Gilligan style hat, a white polo and plaid shorts. He looked up at her from his wheel chair, grinning to show off his dentures. “Hello, young lady.” He took of his hat. His pink scalp was patchy and covered with spots. White hair managed to cover the back and sides of his head, poking from his ears. He was really adorable.
“Good morning, Mr Pellam.”
“Call me King, please. All my lady friends do.”
“Well then, King, would you like some tea? It’s just about time for our daily cup.” Jane wiggled her eye brows teasingly. “What kind are we having today, Tillie?”
“Today feels like a Jasmine day.”
Jasmine it was. With a smile, she left the front and went back to her hideaway. She followed the ritual of the tea ceremony and then bought out the three cups and saucers. Tillie had moved to one of the tables and he had wheeled himself over. She set the tray down and smiled. “One for you and one for you.” She picked up her own and sipped it gently. “What else do you need me to do?”
“Do you have the Wisemen order packed?”
“Yup, all done.”
“Do you have all the new items catalogued?”
“Just finished before tea.”
“Jane, what would I do without you?”
King chuckled, “Be feared and loathed as the witch of the village?”
“King!” She smacked him. “Be nice. There’s only one thing I need you to do, Jane. As you know, the window displays change on a seasonal basis. I would like you to come up with a couple of ideas for the winter window. Since you’ve been doing inventory, you’d have a better idea than I would about what we have.”
Jane almost dropped her tea cup. What village kid hadn’t imagined what they’d put in the window if they had the chance? She knew she had a million times. “Oh wow, Tillie, that’s- awesome.” She began fidgeting with excitement. “Can I start now? Not to interrupt tea of course but I’d really like to begin planning.” She finished off the drink and grabbed the cookies, darting into the back. Picking up the register, she flipped it open. What did they have in stock? Ideas began to race around her head. Should she do a Christmas window? Or something less traditional? Opening one of the drawers, she pulled out a notepad and a pen, sketching plans. She couldn’t wait to tell her mom.
A few minutes later, she went back to check on King and Tillie. He was still sitting at the table, looking out the window. Letting herself out from behind the counter, she walked over. Looking up he told her Ms Brown had stepped out for a few minutes.
“Oh that’s okay. Would you like anything else?”
“No, dear, I think I’m fine.” He looked up at her with blurry blue eyes and a smile. “Would you like to have a seat? Tell me, have you come up with any ideas for the window yet?”
*change*“I was thinking of doing like Christmas through the ages- Like one window would be a modern Christmas, nativities and Santa, presents- And the other side could be more of a pagan celebration with holy and oak, candles- I’d have to do research of course.”
“Sounds like a good idea. Now, wanna wheel me out?”
Jane paused and nodded, “Sure.”
“The chair makes you uncomfortable, right?” He chuckled, “I’m used to people giving me that look. I’ve seen it so many times. Especially from young people like you. I bet you want to know what happened.”
“I- It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.”
“No, dear, its okay. Now, there’s a bit of a back story to it.” His face lost the impish quality and suddenly just seemed very tired with its crags and crevices as he let the weight of his age settle upon his shoulders. Jane watched his hands as he gripped onto the armrests. It was clear he was thinking, debating what version of the story to tell her. “Once upon a time, there was a young man-” He began and Jane’s expression became a soft smile. “He was a great leader in his field and well loved. Then one day there was an accident- The man stumbled onto some robbers and was shot. The bullet severed his spinal column and he wasn’t able to walk any more. As much as he tried to remain happy, he just couldn’t. As he wilted away, his business began to crumble and his employees began to suffer. His Kingdom, his empire was doomed. So the man took the rest of his money and moved to Florida. He bought a boat and fished off the coast. For a while, he thought he’d be content with the idea of fishing for the rest of his life.”
“I hate to say it, King but this doesn’t look like Florida to me.”
“That’s because, my dear girl, I wasn’t done. I was only catching my breath. The youth of today has no patience. What with your interweb and your text messages- Now, the man decided that he couldn’t waste his life in paradise. So he went back home, and installed a coy pond in his backyard. Someday, he knew he would find something that would make the pain better- Something that would restore his Kingdom to how it used to be.”
Jane didn’t know what to say to that. Standing, she kissed his papery cheek. He took her hands in his. “Don’t be a fool like me, Janie. Don’t let life slip away because you’re eyes are so stuck on the fish that they don’t notice the boat is drifting away. Promise?”
“I promise, King.”
“Good. Now this old man is going to roll his lazy self home. Have a good day and wish Tillie the same for me.”
“I will, Mr Pellam. Have a nice day.”
Tillie came back soon after. She smiled and told Jane she could go home. There wasn’t much left to do and she didn’t want her to be bored. She wanted to tell her that work was her only escape from ennui but slid her coat on instead and left. The afternoon was a little chilly and felt like rain. Turning on her mp3, she began to skip literally around the corner. Maybe she’d pick up a pizza for dinner? Sticking her hand in her jacket pocket, she realized her wallet wasn’t on her.
Jane turned and ran back to the store. It must be in the back still. Opening the door, she ran into David. Whereas she was surprised, he smoothly reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist to catch her. That grin was back. “Fancy running into you.”
“I work here.”
David lifted up the stack of posters and shook them at her. “And I’ve been nominated to be the advertiser for the Autumn Festival. Of course, that decision was made by Eleanor. You want to help?”
“Nope.”
“Please? If you help me with this, I’ll… take you out for pizza. Extra toppings.”
“And bread sticks?”
“Cheesy bread sticks.”
“Deal. I just need to find my wallet.”
“You mean this?” David held up the black canvas and waved it under her nose. “I grabbed it off the counter and was just about to come over to your house and drop it off.”
She grabbed the wallet from his hand. “Have you ever heard that touching stuff that isn’t yours can be bad for your health?”
“Is that a threat, Red?”
“I don’t threaten-” She slipped it back in her pocket, “I promise.”
“Very action hero of you.”
Jane flexed a non existent muscle and grinned, taking a handful flyers. Her eyes scanned the colourful paper: goldenrod, pumpkin, crimson, milk chocolate. Colors that begged to be tasted. The design that lined the left side almost looked like a woodcut design of a scarecrow in a field. It was stark and familiar. Her finger ran across it.
“Like it?” David asked her. “Its one of my own.”
“You drew this?”
He nodded. “Yeah. When Eleanor asked me to draw something, I couldn’t say no to her. You know how your Grandmother gets. And she threw in another batch of that apple stuff.”
“Ahh, the quickest way to your heart.”
“So, are you going?”
“To the dance?” Jane shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Why not? According to Tillie and Eleanor it’s the most exciting thing that happens around here.”
“And how fun do you think that’ll be?”
David paused, chewing over his answer. “There’s going to be a costumes contest- Think of something you’ve really wanted to be, Jane and you can be for a whole night.”
“Tell me then, costume king, what are you going to be?”
“I guess you so come and see for yourself.”
“Spoilsport.”
They stopped to tape up a few posters on telephone posts. Jane ripped long strips of clear tape while David framed his masterpieces. Andy would never go- She’d been trying to convince him for the last two years with no result. They’d end up at the quarry for a bonfire with all of their friends who stayed behind. Meaning, they’d be hanging out with most of his friends.
Eighty two posters later, they slid into a plastic booth at Gino’s. A large pepperoni with extra cheese was in order. Sipping around ice cubes, she raised the red acrylic cup to her mouth. The cola was cold against her wind chapped lips. “I met a really cool old guy today.” If anyone would understand, it would be David.
“Joining the wrinkle club?”
“Ha ha, no. I just decided to take Tillie’s advice and broaden my social horizons.”
“That was my advice- but continue.”
“His name’s Mr Pellam.”
“King?”
She was slightly disappointed. “You know him?”
“I know his daughter.”
“He has a daughter?”
“Yeah, Gwen.”
“He didn’t tell me that.” She took another drink, “He did explain how he got in the chair though.”
“I never got that story.”
“Too bad, its really good- Fraught with peril and adventure. A real page turner.”
“Tell me?”
Again, she was surprised by the earnestness of his request. The story just came out naturally- Of course, with a Jane flair. David just listened. Was it sad that she ate up his attention? That she was so ravenous for any nod and sign of him actually listening to her? Besides her Mother, who else did she talk to? Heather and Katie, her best friends, had gone to college. Andy wasn’t really a talker and although Tillie seemed nice but she wasn’t sure if she could just bare her soul to her boss. Sitting back, she nibbled on the crust of her pizza and waited for his response. David did not disappoint.
“Why fishing?”
“Huh?”
“Why would he just go fishing? I mean- Aren’t there better things to do?”
“I don’t know- But I wish there was something that would make him that happy again. He just looked so defeated.”
“Let me figure something out.”
“Ooh-” Jane wiggled her fingers at him, “This sounds like a scheme.”
He twirled an invisible moustache. “Perhaps. So, what now?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well the pizza’s gone.”
Jane looked down at her plate and it was empty. The realization of how full she was hit her like, well, half of a pizza. “I think I’ll go home. I’m sure there’s something on tv.”
“Ahh, television, the great pacifier.”
“Like you never watch tv.”
“I don’t even have one.”
“You don’t have a tv?”
“Or a dvd player or a vcr. Nope- Sitting and watching other people live fake lives doesn’t do it for me.” He shrugged, “Why don’t you play it my way and next week you can show me the joys of watching garbage?”
“What would you rather do?”
“Lets go for a walk.”
A walk- That was his idea of fun? “Fine, lets go.”
“You make it sound so horrible.”
“Because it is.”
“No it isn’t. I go for walks all the time.” David stood, slipping on his jacket. “Come on.”
Jane made a face and stood up smoothly, sliding on her jacket. He laughed at her miserable expression and in retaliation she stuck out her tongue. They slipped out into the afternoon air and Jane looked both ways before following his lead. She’d lived here her whole life and she really didn’t think she’d ever just walked without a purpose. In the summer, she’d dash to the convenience store for freezies and in the winter she’d gone to Joe’s for hot chocolate. School to home was a ten minute walk and it was the same length to all of her friends’ houses. Once they hit sixteen, Katie and Andy both had cars and walking became a thing of the past.
Their footsteps fell silently on cold cement, padded only by the soggy leaves. Threads of ice were caught in the wind. Stuffing her hands in her pockets to preserve the warmth she still had, she was surprised to see David offering her a pair of leather gloves. They were caramel hued and looked so soft- but she shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” He pulled a matching pair from his other pocket. “I come prepared.”
The scent of earth filled her nose mixed with the sweetness of leather. The fingers were too long and her curled fists could fit in the palm but they were better than nothing. The material was still warm from being against his body. “Thanks.”
They walked through downtown and along the edge of the village. Like before the silence was comfortable. Humming softly, Jane’s eyes flickered up to look at the dove grey sky. Would it snow this early? She hoped not. Snow was cold. It muffled everything; blanketed it in soft, false reassurance. Underneath that lay ice that was ready to send you into a tailspin before you knew what was happening. Everything died in winter and, in her opinion, spring never came fast enough.
“I think you should go to the dance.” David told her, his thoughts waxing less philosophical than her own. “Think of it as my next tip for improving your social life.”
“We went over this already.”
“I didn’t get what I wanted.”
“Will a maybe shut you up?”
“Maybe.”
“Then you know my answer.”
“’kay.” He nudged her so she fell off the curb. Luckily her balance was alright and she didn’t end up on her butt. “Why didn’t you leave?”
“Here? I guess I haven’t figured out what I wanted to do.”
“Are you any closer to making the decision?”
“Not really, no.”
“Then why don’t you just go? Make the decisions as they come?”
“I don’t work like that.”
“Is that what it says in the Jane manual?”
“That and batteries not included.”
“Double or triple As?”
“A lady doesn’t tell what size of battery she takes.”
He chuckled, “Touche. Not that I was inquiring about the size of your… batteries.”
“Suuure you weren’t.”
David’s lips curved up into a smile. Suddenly his energy changed. He wasn’t so passive. Everything about him seemed pent up with action just waiting to be released. His soft gloved hand grabbed Jane’s. “I know what we can do!” He moved so fast that she could barely keep up. He’d slow down just as they began to lose grip, tighten his hold and then start jogging again. As they arrived at the elementary school, he let her catch her breath and look around in confusion. “Let’s play on the equipment.”
“Hold old are you, five?”
“Well I’m three in dog years.”
No one had ever used that comeback before. Before she could say ‘Lassie’ he was off across the field. The burning in his chest subsided as she kept her own leisurely pace. David had already begun to swing, making it look so easy. Jane sat on hers, barely moving.
“Put some effort into it!” David teased as he soared above her. “Don’t make me get off and push you.”
“I don’t feel like it.”
He slowed himself so he could look at her instead of down at her. His smile vanished as he saw the look of sadness in her eyes. Almost instinctively, he reached out, tucking a strand of hair away from her pink cheek behind her ear. “You always look so lost, Jane. It’s such a shame.” David kept his voice soft and it was almost lost in the wind. “When was the last time you were truly happy?”
Honestly? She couldn’t remember. There were moments that she was happy but they normally faded. “Probably last summer, right before Katie left. So we spent a couple days just doing things we liked. We spent a lot of time just talking and she made me promise that I’d come visit her.”
“Have you?”
“No.”
“Maybe you should. Get out of town for a couple of days.”
“Trying to get rid of me?”
He chuckled and began to swing again. “Nah, Jane, why would I do that? I’m just looking out for you.”
Weird. She gave him a half a smile and began to swing. This time she put some effort to it, somewhere between feeling like she was flying and falling back to the earth, Jane realized that in that moment- she was pretty happy… “Last one to the slides is a rotten egg.” Jumping off the swing, her smile grew and she took off running.
Why is it that Princesses never seem to have a lot of friends? Sure, the furry vermin of the forest cozy up to them but you can’t really have a pillow fight with a bunny. If Cinderella had been a socialite maybe her stepmother’s demands wouldn’t have gotten to her so much. Think of all the fairy godmothers would have had to go on the dole if their royal pages would have had friends to swap gowns with, do each other’s hair and carriage-pool to the ball together. Imagine if Prince Charmings actually had to work to woo their brides-to-be. Its much harder to sweep a girl off her feet if she doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
After getting home from the park, Jane had starred at her phone for almost an hour. At least, that’s how it felt. Dialling her friend’s number, she just let it ring. “Hello?”
“Hey, Katie.”
“Oh my God, Jane? It’s been like a month! Why haven’t you called me?”
“I’ve been… busy.”
“No you haven’t.”
“Yeah, I got a job.”
“Where?”
“The antique store.”
“Holy crap- Did she cast a spell on you?”
She laughed, “Clearly moving out of the village didn’t improve your sense of reality.”
“Well that’s beside the point. Any ways, I was planning on bring you up for Halloween. There’s some killer parties going on with two of the Frat houses.”
“That’s like at the end of this month.”
“Well if you would have called me sooner-”
“The phone does work both ways.”
“Well Im coming home for the dance.” She continued on like Jane hadn’t said a thing. “Jake’s entering this pumpkin contest and Mom says I should come home for support, blah, blah, blah. Are you going to the dance?”
“Andy wants to have a bonfire.”
There was silence but she could see the face her friend was making. Katie was an infamously bad liar. “Jaaaane-”
“What?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Why?”
“Its not like I don’t like Andy or his friends, its just-”
“You don’t like them.”
“Yeah, sorry.”
“Is there a reason?”
“No.”
Jane sighed and reclined into the deep couch. “Just tell me.”
“You know the bonfire we had before Heather and I left for school?”
“Mmm hmm.” She began to chew nervously on a fingernail. A lump formed in her stomach for no other reason then she was expecting the worst.
“He kissed me.”
“Who?”
“Andy.”
Jane hung up. It was a knee jerk reaction, one she couldn’t help. Her mind drifted back to the last bonfire of the season. In her memories, the night now seemed too dark; the black of the shadows had suffocated her. She hadn’t been feeling well, a combination of too much to drink and the reality her best friends were leaving the next day. While everyone sat on driftwood benches around the fire, close enough that their skin turned rosy, she’d set down a blanket in the coolness and became an observer to the party. The can of beer in her hand was warm, the aluminium shell wet with a mix of precipitation and perspiration. She watched as the faces of her friends lit up sinisterly in the orange light. It had just felt wrong.
Later on, she’d taken a walk. Stumbling over the rocky beach, she’d finally just sat down. Looking upwards, even the diamond stars looked a little less sharp then before. She blamed it on the beer and fell backwards, lying on the damp ground. She wasn’t sure how long she was there but when someone finally found her, the darkness was no longer tangible. Dawn was almost breaking. Andy wrapped his arm around her and walked her back to the truck. The ride home had been silent and, despite the fact she’d slept off her buzz, the feeling something was wrong lingered. After she’d crawled into bed, sandy clothes shed on the floor, she tried to pinpoint exactly what- And had fallen asleep wondering.
Now she knew and she wished she didn’t. The list of excuses for Andy’s behaviour had already started formulating. He’d been too drunk. He didn’t know what he was doing. Katie had always been a flirt… No, she hadn’t. Not with Andy. The lies began to unravel. Why hadn’t he told her? When she had asked him what had happened while she was gone, he had just shrugged. “Nothing much. We were just having a good time.”
“Good enough that you didn’t miss me?”
“You were being bitchy.”
That had ended the conversation.
When Amy got home, she found Jane on the couch, legs pulled up to her chest, eyes starring blankly at the infomercial on the tv. It was clear she didn’t even hear her come in. “How was your day, hun? Did you do anything fun?”
“No.”
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
The sniffle ripped through the air like a clap of thunder before a storm. Jane didn’t cry. She hated to cry. Amy could already see the glistening tears in her eyes. Dropping her bag, she sat beside her daughter and wrapped her arms around her. The action flipped an invisible switch and Jane began to fall apart.