Key Lime #14, Daiquiri Ice #16, Lemon Chiffon #10--"The Night of Stripes"
Author: leiamoody
Title: The Night of Stripes
Rating: PG
Challenge: Key Lime #14 “more fish in the sea”, Daiquiri Ice #16 “can’t handle your liquor”, Lemon Chiffon #10 “one night stand”
Story: Maybe December
Summary: Gwen remembers her first encounter with Jamie.
Word Count: 551
They met near an orange inflatable palm tree at someone’s July 4th party. She only came to the party because her damned half-sister commandeered Gwen’s apartment for private time with her latest boyfriend. Also maybe, just maybe, Gwen was bored and needed some distraction. This party gave her the ultimate excuse for pulling a dress out from the suitcase; black and neon green, made a quirky contrast to her currently artificial auburn hair. She could grab some drinks, hide in the corner, and watch other people making some attempts to look like they were having a good time.
Then some guy emerged from a crowd of unknowns and changed the outcome of her night. It was Jamie who got the dramatic halo backlight of red and gold paper lanterns which meant he stepped out of a movie and fell into the real world. He was perfect. Why did he start talking to her? She wasn’t gorgeous, especially not that evening. There were other girls walking around/falling down/being loud who could have attracted Jamie’s attention instead.
It all started with beer. He nodded at her bottle of Red Stripe, said “So you like frat boy spit?” A seriously rude question, and pretty snobby attitude, although Gwen later discovered Jamie was tossing down a verbal challenge. He realized she wasn’t going to make flirtation easy. He described Gwen’s attitude on that night: “There you were, sitting defensive and tense with your beer as your shield. The orange palm tree was your fortress. But your stripes were a pennant flying over the castle, announcing someone was available.”
“That was my little flag,” she replied (this version of reminiscing occurred four months later while sitting around in the airport waiting for a plane to England).
“I thought it was a silk banner. More inviting than fighting because I don’t remember you were ready for combat.” So many years later, Gwen realized Jamie was right; back then she could still believe in connections. Making friends was never a major pursuit; boyfriends weren’t important either. Unlike her mother, it was easier to be alone instead of trapped within the confines of a doomed relationship. She took up with a guy if he was interesting, or if she was bored. Commitment was tricky. One night stands were simple to organize then pull off with clean endings...yet Jamie stuck around for three years, and she didn’t mind for a really long while, until one morning when she felt trapped for no particular damned reason and decided to retreat without any prior notice...
During their first encounter, Jamie sat down on a terracotta planter turned upside down in front of the orange palm tree across from the chaise where Gwen sat…they gabbed for nearly an hour before adjourning to a nearby Denny’s. They went back to Jamie’s summer rental for what felt like another one night stand…When she departed from the cottage (with four bottles of Italian wine), Gwen didn’t imagine he would ever call her. But three days later, he called about the wine, asking if there was any place she might like to experience some of that Italian wine paired with some homemade Italian food. It was a date, which led to more dates, then a relationship which inevitably ended (from Gwen’s jaundiced POV) with a messy break-up.
Title: The Night of Stripes
Rating: PG
Challenge: Key Lime #14 “more fish in the sea”, Daiquiri Ice #16 “can’t handle your liquor”, Lemon Chiffon #10 “one night stand”
Story: Maybe December
Summary: Gwen remembers her first encounter with Jamie.
Word Count: 551
They met near an orange inflatable palm tree at someone’s July 4th party. She only came to the party because her damned half-sister commandeered Gwen’s apartment for private time with her latest boyfriend. Also maybe, just maybe, Gwen was bored and needed some distraction. This party gave her the ultimate excuse for pulling a dress out from the suitcase; black and neon green, made a quirky contrast to her currently artificial auburn hair. She could grab some drinks, hide in the corner, and watch other people making some attempts to look like they were having a good time.
Then some guy emerged from a crowd of unknowns and changed the outcome of her night. It was Jamie who got the dramatic halo backlight of red and gold paper lanterns which meant he stepped out of a movie and fell into the real world. He was perfect. Why did he start talking to her? She wasn’t gorgeous, especially not that evening. There were other girls walking around/falling down/being loud who could have attracted Jamie’s attention instead.
It all started with beer. He nodded at her bottle of Red Stripe, said “So you like frat boy spit?” A seriously rude question, and pretty snobby attitude, although Gwen later discovered Jamie was tossing down a verbal challenge. He realized she wasn’t going to make flirtation easy. He described Gwen’s attitude on that night: “There you were, sitting defensive and tense with your beer as your shield. The orange palm tree was your fortress. But your stripes were a pennant flying over the castle, announcing someone was available.”
“That was my little flag,” she replied (this version of reminiscing occurred four months later while sitting around in the airport waiting for a plane to England).
“I thought it was a silk banner. More inviting than fighting because I don’t remember you were ready for combat.” So many years later, Gwen realized Jamie was right; back then she could still believe in connections. Making friends was never a major pursuit; boyfriends weren’t important either. Unlike her mother, it was easier to be alone instead of trapped within the confines of a doomed relationship. She took up with a guy if he was interesting, or if she was bored. Commitment was tricky. One night stands were simple to organize then pull off with clean endings...yet Jamie stuck around for three years, and she didn’t mind for a really long while, until one morning when she felt trapped for no particular damned reason and decided to retreat without any prior notice...
During their first encounter, Jamie sat down on a terracotta planter turned upside down in front of the orange palm tree across from the chaise where Gwen sat…they gabbed for nearly an hour before adjourning to a nearby Denny’s. They went back to Jamie’s summer rental for what felt like another one night stand…When she departed from the cottage (with four bottles of Italian wine), Gwen didn’t imagine he would ever call her. But three days later, he called about the wine, asking if there was any place she might like to experience some of that Italian wine paired with some homemade Italian food. It was a date, which led to more dates, then a relationship which inevitably ended (from Gwen’s jaundiced POV) with a messy break-up.