The Mayor's Little Miss Part 1
The easy confidence glided off her shoulders. She breezed into the local coffeeshop around seven am. She was a long time local, even a once daily customer at the shop, but the regulars who now frequented the mornings did not recognize her. Except one or two who had been around forever- the silent philosopher, and Craig. Craig, in his own right, was a philosopher of sorts- he studied the exual energy exerted by women and prayed accordingly, or considered the consequences of those energies and did something about that. When she was young he had lived in town- the two had often sat together, her naively listening to his every word. Now, as he watched her sidle up to the newest city mayor, he knew she was not the sweet thing she had once been. She was still young, perhaps even more naïve then before in her own right. There had been rumors about her, when he had moved away for a few years. He had remembered something about religious college, something about a failed relationship, and a period of time no one at the shop saw her- almost a year or so. Craig had on occasion googled her and seen her name connected with some interesting online health communities. Eating disorders, depression, new age churches and medicinal practices. These things were nothing like the girl he had known. Now as her small frame turned and smiled at him from beneath the mayor’s arm, he knew it was all true. She had been molested by her deepest fears, died, and been resurrected in some form. This, however, was no holy resurrection. The girl who stood in front of him was just that- still somehow a girl on the brink of discovering her purpose. She was frail but well-adjusted. Her body language suggested she knew exactly what she wanted from life, was happy and exquisite in this relatioship that had created so much scandle. But when those blue eyes flashed on him, he knew it was a bitter lie. The greatest naivete she would ever be guilty of: thinking she could make-believe away the pain she felt deep in the places of her heart no one ever goes. Her eyes, clear as the Bible when read for the first time, stifled the deep-seeded regret, pain, and bitter discovery life is not what she had hoped it would be. She was no longer a girl ready to change the world, believing it could be changed… Now she radiated the illusions she spoke of- still saying the same things, especially on the Mayor’s arm. But the truth in her heart was: life is a disappointment, love does not exist, and her dreams could not be because God was no longer on her side. Craig saw it instantly. Her eyes flitted back to the mayor as quickly as they had rested on Craig. For a brief second, her energy and firm posture slopped. With little hesitation she stood straight again, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, gently eyeing Craig. She knew she had been discovered; the mayor turned, and she turned with him without a backwards glance.