Boys Like You Are a Dime a Dozen
I Confuse the Two for Love
The snow fell gently from the December sky covering everything in its reach with a thick blanket of white. Adam pulled into the small parking lot surrounding the local market of his small hometown, a town of which he had seen nothing of for a long, long time.
He pulled the keys out of the ignition of his compact Subaru, and shut the door behind him. Glancing around the market, buzzing with Christmas cheer, he pulled his jacket closer to his slender frame for warmth. Decorations and lights hung from every light post and open window, the slender white flakes that were represented in the store side paintings were gently falling from the sky.
God, it's good to be home.
A refreshingly warm burst of air greeted his red and awaiting cheeks with the opening of the small automatic doors. He smiled at the sight that awaited his eyes. The small, quaint shop was just as he had remembered it from a few years past, virtually nothing changed since the years of his youth. It was still the same old store that the town relied on for everything that they'd ever need, that always smelled like lemon ginger tea.
He began to wander aimlessly through his memories with no ulterior motive than to simply pass the time before he had to be back home. With his hands skimming the edges of the rusty shelves, and his mind in the past, Adam had no idea where he was heading until a collision knocked his from the caverns of his mind.
"Oh god, I am so sorry." He shakily helped the young woman back up to her feet before kneeling down to pick up her fallen belongings as well.
She brushed the dirt from her faded jeans and placed her groceries back in the red plastic basket hanging from the crook of her arm. "It's fine thank you." She squinted her blue-gray eyes slightly when they met the chocolate brown orbs looking back at her, taking in his soft and caring features. "Do I know you from somewhere?"
Some memory clicked deep in the back of his consciousness, something covered by the weight of time, but not time enough to be so easily forgotten.
"Alice?"
She searched his face from his shaggy chestnut hair to his full lips, but the one thing that stood apart from the man standing before her was the familiarity of the warmth in his eyes. Soft and gentle, yet inside of them they held an air of innocence, though almost deceivingly, those beautiful eyes had seen the world.
"Adam? Is that you?" She smiled when she remembered, putting together the pieces from years apart, but apart, her eyes held the sad weight of memories. "What brings you back around here?"
He motioned towards the shelves surrounding them, piled high with the season's product's ripe for the picking. "Home for the holidays. It's funny, I talked to my mom the other day, and she never mentioned that you'd be here."
She laughed, her voice warm like honey. "That would probably be because I never left."
"Really? In this old place? Why?"
She shrugged lightly. "I've always had a reason too."
Silence fell between them and it was a silence full of memories, a silence filled to the brim with the histories combined, and it knew too much. The busy world around them, though it kept moving on, seemed to quiet down outside the silence that encompassed them.
Adam was the fist to try and break it. "So…why don't you let me buy you a drink, catch up on lost time?"
She nodded. "I'd like that."
Adam helped her with her things, and they decided to meet at an old bar downtown, a place that held many stories waiting, and having been already told.
Adam sat at the smooth bar with a beer in his hand and the soft music of the jukebox floating in the air. The place was busy for such a cold winter day, with the heaters turned up high and the doors open. Adam's eyes scanned the old, lodge-like building, and he couldn't help but smile. His mind wandered back to the nights he spent in this bar with Alice, all their failed attempts to sneak inside during the earlier years of their youth, all the nights that they spent outside watching the world go by, and all the nights he wouldn't have had any other way.
Alice slide onto the stool next to him jerking him out of his thoughts. She smiled in his direction before ordering herself a light drink.
"Do you remember this place?" Adam asked with a voice thickly coated with remembrance.
She laughed. "How could I forget?"
"We really did cause our share of trouble." He took a sip of his beer and glanced over at the woman sitting beside him. She had changed so much since he had last seen her, over seven years ago. She had grown up, just as he had, but there was something else about her, something he couldn't quite place.
Contentment.
"Yeah, we did." She nodded. "So what have you been up to all these years Addie?"
He smiled. She was the only girl who ever called him that; she was the only girl who could. "I've been up in New York with a band. We've been touring around, making music like the old days."
"So I've heard." She sipped her drink lightly. "So it seems you got everything you ever wanted Addie, living the dream."
He shrugged. "More or less…but it's lonely."
"No girl waiting for you back home?"
He searched her eyes for emotion. "No, nothing serious since you."
She sighed. "Adam, we were 18 a-"
"In love." He interjected.
"We were." She sighed again, not exactly sure where their conversation was going to go. "But the day you left…You chose music over me Addie, and that day, you lost me."
Adam nodded with understanding. "I've known that since the moment I saw the ring on your finger."
She smiled, glancing down quickly at the small ring that lay on her finger. "I love him very much."
"God knows you deserve it."
"Well." She grabbed her bag, and finished off the rest of her drink. "I have to make dinner for my son and my husband can't cook a bowl of cereal."
He stood up as well. "You're husband's a lucky man."
She grinned. "It was wonderful seeing you again Addie."
"You too." He smiled again, placed a bill on the counter, and pulled her into a warm and friendly hug. "Merry Christmas Alice."
"Merry Christmas." She wrapped her small arms around his thin frame and soon they both let go. "Bye Addie, tell you family hi for me."
"Will do."
He walked her outside, and they parted ways for the last time, the snow falling all around them. With a quick glance and a short wave she disappeared from his sight, and the snow turned into rain.
He pulled the keys out of the ignition of his compact Subaru, and shut the door behind him. Glancing around the market, buzzing with Christmas cheer, he pulled his jacket closer to his slender frame for warmth. Decorations and lights hung from every light post and open window, the slender white flakes that were represented in the store side paintings were gently falling from the sky.
God, it's good to be home.
A refreshingly warm burst of air greeted his red and awaiting cheeks with the opening of the small automatic doors. He smiled at the sight that awaited his eyes. The small, quaint shop was just as he had remembered it from a few years past, virtually nothing changed since the years of his youth. It was still the same old store that the town relied on for everything that they'd ever need, that always smelled like lemon ginger tea.
He began to wander aimlessly through his memories with no ulterior motive than to simply pass the time before he had to be back home. With his hands skimming the edges of the rusty shelves, and his mind in the past, Adam had no idea where he was heading until a collision knocked his from the caverns of his mind.
"Oh god, I am so sorry." He shakily helped the young woman back up to her feet before kneeling down to pick up her fallen belongings as well.
She brushed the dirt from her faded jeans and placed her groceries back in the red plastic basket hanging from the crook of her arm. "It's fine thank you." She squinted her blue-gray eyes slightly when they met the chocolate brown orbs looking back at her, taking in his soft and caring features. "Do I know you from somewhere?"
Some memory clicked deep in the back of his consciousness, something covered by the weight of time, but not time enough to be so easily forgotten.
"Alice?"
She searched his face from his shaggy chestnut hair to his full lips, but the one thing that stood apart from the man standing before her was the familiarity of the warmth in his eyes. Soft and gentle, yet inside of them they held an air of innocence, though almost deceivingly, those beautiful eyes had seen the world.
"Adam? Is that you?" She smiled when she remembered, putting together the pieces from years apart, but apart, her eyes held the sad weight of memories. "What brings you back around here?"
He motioned towards the shelves surrounding them, piled high with the season's product's ripe for the picking. "Home for the holidays. It's funny, I talked to my mom the other day, and she never mentioned that you'd be here."
She laughed, her voice warm like honey. "That would probably be because I never left."
"Really? In this old place? Why?"
She shrugged lightly. "I've always had a reason too."
Silence fell between them and it was a silence full of memories, a silence filled to the brim with the histories combined, and it knew too much. The busy world around them, though it kept moving on, seemed to quiet down outside the silence that encompassed them.
Adam was the fist to try and break it. "So…why don't you let me buy you a drink, catch up on lost time?"
She nodded. "I'd like that."
Adam helped her with her things, and they decided to meet at an old bar downtown, a place that held many stories waiting, and having been already told.
Adam sat at the smooth bar with a beer in his hand and the soft music of the jukebox floating in the air. The place was busy for such a cold winter day, with the heaters turned up high and the doors open. Adam's eyes scanned the old, lodge-like building, and he couldn't help but smile. His mind wandered back to the nights he spent in this bar with Alice, all their failed attempts to sneak inside during the earlier years of their youth, all the nights that they spent outside watching the world go by, and all the nights he wouldn't have had any other way.
Alice slide onto the stool next to him jerking him out of his thoughts. She smiled in his direction before ordering herself a light drink.
"Do you remember this place?" Adam asked with a voice thickly coated with remembrance.
She laughed. "How could I forget?"
"We really did cause our share of trouble." He took a sip of his beer and glanced over at the woman sitting beside him. She had changed so much since he had last seen her, over seven years ago. She had grown up, just as he had, but there was something else about her, something he couldn't quite place.
Contentment.
"Yeah, we did." She nodded. "So what have you been up to all these years Addie?"
He smiled. She was the only girl who ever called him that; she was the only girl who could. "I've been up in New York with a band. We've been touring around, making music like the old days."
"So I've heard." She sipped her drink lightly. "So it seems you got everything you ever wanted Addie, living the dream."
He shrugged. "More or less…but it's lonely."
"No girl waiting for you back home?"
He searched her eyes for emotion. "No, nothing serious since you."
She sighed. "Adam, we were 18 a-"
"In love." He interjected.
"We were." She sighed again, not exactly sure where their conversation was going to go. "But the day you left…You chose music over me Addie, and that day, you lost me."
Adam nodded with understanding. "I've known that since the moment I saw the ring on your finger."
She smiled, glancing down quickly at the small ring that lay on her finger. "I love him very much."
"God knows you deserve it."
"Well." She grabbed her bag, and finished off the rest of her drink. "I have to make dinner for my son and my husband can't cook a bowl of cereal."
He stood up as well. "You're husband's a lucky man."
She grinned. "It was wonderful seeing you again Addie."
"You too." He smiled again, placed a bill on the counter, and pulled her into a warm and friendly hug. "Merry Christmas Alice."
"Merry Christmas." She wrapped her small arms around his thin frame and soon they both let go. "Bye Addie, tell you family hi for me."
"Will do."
He walked her outside, and they parted ways for the last time, the snow falling all around them. With a quick glance and a short wave she disappeared from his sight, and the snow turned into rain.
♠ ♠ ♠
My one shot.