Category Archives: short story

#BlogBattle: Reach – Week 30 – Better Than Brownies

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🙂 Tuesday is upon us once again!! Let the #Blogbattle begin!!

#BlogBattle is a weekly short story challenge using a single word for inspiration.  Hosted by the talented Rachael Ritchey.  Feel free to join in, or click here to read the current week’s stories and vote for your favorites.

This week’s word:  Reach

Genre:  Romance ❤

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Better Than Brownies

Eden finds herself standing alone in the kitchen, it’s much quieter in here.  Thinking to herself, I still don’t know why I am here.  I am too old for this crap.  No…that’s a lie, I’m not that old, and I am here because it’s my younger sister’s housewarming party.  Our 9 year age difference usually isn’t so noticeable, and it’s not, when it’s just her and I.  But being surrounded by her 30-ish friends, is making me feel my 40-ish years.  I think I’m going to call it a night, but not before I make my way over to the food table, hoping to get one of her famous double chocolate brownies.  She assures me that even though she did not use the “secret” ingredient she used to use in high school, they will taste the same.  Kelly makes the best brownies.

As I walk into the other room, I can see there is one left, I lock my sights on it as I approach the table weaving in and out of the horde of people talking, dancing, and taking group selfies.  Just as I am about to reach for it, some guy accidentally bumps into me on my right.  He apologizes profusely, and I just smile and say, “It’s OK.”

I turn back to grab the brownie and it’s gone.  I look to my left and there he is, with half of the brownie in his mouth and the other half in his hand.  I look from his hand to his mouth and back to his hand.  He mumbles with his mouth full, “These are really good,” as he enthusiastically points to the half-eaten brownie with his other hand, not sure he can be understood over the music.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t know.” Eden replies flatly, but loudly to be heard over the music.  Arms crossed.

He has swallowed it by now, and the music quiets so he says.  “I’m sorry, I took the last one.”  It then dawns on him and he starts to ramble, “I just…were you…” as he gestures to himself, to the brownie, then to the table not sure what to say, or how to make this right.

I hold up my hand, and shake my head assuring him with a smile,  “It’s fine.”  I’m actually enjoying myself watching him grovel.  Wondering who he is, he looks about as out of place in this crowd as I feel.  He must be close to my age.

He holds up the half eaten bit, “There’s still some left, I’ll share.”

This is getting ridiculous now, “No, really…you enjoy it.  I was actually on my way out.”  I twist my body as I point towards the door.

“Let me make it up to you.  Are you walking?”  He inquires, I nod my head yes.

“Then let me walk you home.  There’s a nice little 24 hour joint not far from here, we can stop and have some coffee, and dessert.”  He says with those gorgeous blue eyes pleading.

“Sure…let me just say good night to my sister.  By the way, I’m Eden.”  She holds out her hand.

With one hand splayed against his broad chest, and the other reaching for hers in a handshake, he says, “Declan.  Nice to meet you Eden.  I work with Kelly’s boyfriend, Miles.”

With a nod and a smile, “It’s nice to meet you, Declan.  I’ll be right back.  I’ll meet you at the door.” I leave to say goodbye to my sister.

We meet back up at the door and walk out into the cool crisp night.

True to his word, the 24-hour joint is nice and is little.  It’s not hard to find a table, being the only ones there.  We order coffee and slices of chocolate cream pie.

Now that we are in the brighter light, I realize that Declan is probably close to my age, wearing a plain white button down oxford shirt, and some jeans, which is probably why he looked out of place back at my sister’s party.  But by far was the best looking guy there.

I take a bite of the pie and am surprised at how good it is and comment as such, “Mmmm…this is actually pretty good…that is, for pie.  I mean it’s not a deliciously decadent double chocolate brownie…but it’s good.”

“You’re not going to let that go are you?”

I rest my chin in my hand like I’m deep in thought for a brief moment, and then reply, “Nope…absolutely not.” I lift my cup of coffee and take a sip eyeing him playfully over the rim of the mug.

“Well, what can I say, other than it was worth it,” he says with a smug grin.

We talk some more, then realize that it has gotten late.  We continue talking as he walks me home.  Somewhere along the way he reaches for my hand to entwine our fingers as if it’s what we always do.

He walks me all the way to my front door, and as we stand on the porch I say, “Thanks for the coffee and the pie.  I would have never guessed consorting with a brownie thief would be so enjoyable.  You know…you still owe me a brownie.”

He drops his head in mock defeat, then looks up directly into my eyes and says, “Next time, but until then maybe this will help.”  He steps in front of me sliding one hand in my hair at the nape of my neck and reaches his other arm around my waist to pull me close, he gently presses his lips to mine.  For a moment we are lost sharing new feelings in a way that words cannot express.  Reluctantly Declan pulls away.  Pleasantly shocked and a little breathless, I say, “yeah…that was sooo much better than a brownie.”

With a mischievous grin and a quiet laugh, Declan says, “Good night Eden, sweet dreams,” as he turns and walks away.

 

© 2015 Carrie Ann

This is my Hail Mary pass for this week.  Was having a hard time with the prompt, but this finally came to me 😐
And I’m under 1000 words….YES!!  Two of my favorite things…romance and chocolate 🙂

photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/87363185@N00/2977887792″>Chocolate beetroot brownies</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a&gt; <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/”>(license)</a&gt;

 

#BlogBattle: Ride – Week 29 – Some Kind of Ride

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Tuesday = #Blogbattle

#BlogBattle is a weekly short story challenge using a single word for inspiration.  Hosted by the talented Rachael Ritchey.  Feel free to join in, or click here to read the current week’s stories and vote for your favorites.

This week’s word:  Ride

FYI:  bruh is the new slang for bro, used frequently with the young people 🙂

Some Kind of Ride

Lucas pulls up in his vintage 1987 Nissan Pulsar just as Ryder is coming out of the house.

“Dude!! Sweet ride…you finished the Nissan!!”

“Yeah, my brother was home for the weekend, I needed his expertise to get it functional.  You wanna take a trip?” Lucas inquires

“Bruh….you know it.”

With that Ryder hops in, and lets out a slow whistle.  “I know this wasn’t in the original design, he points at the contraption that sits in between the two front seats.  Does it work?”

“I guess we’ll find out.” Lucas replies in his normal monotone.

“What fuels it?” Ryder asks with pure excitement.

“Red Bull, Mountain Dew Voltage and Power Bars.”  Lucas says as he holds each one up then dumps them into the contraption.

“You’re kidding right?”

“Negative.” Still no emotion.

“So where are we going?”

“Don’t you mean when?”  Lucas says with an eyebrow raised.  “I’m not sure we should go too far into the future, I don’t think I’m ready to see myself old.  How about just five years, that way we’ll know where we went to college, and will have graduated by then.” Now he’s excited.

“Dude…all you do is stress about college.” Exasperated he leans his head back against the headrest with a thud.

“I’m still waiting to see if I got into MIT…it’s killing me…this way I’ll know.”  Lucas  argues.

“You’re the captain, I’m just here for the ride…you know you’re a total geek right?”

“Yes…a geek with a time machine bruh.”  Emphasizing the last word to poke fun at his best friend.

“So how does it work?” Ryder not bothered by the jab.

“We need a good sized road with no obstructions, we’re going to head over to Stuenkel Road.  I record the date, and then fire ‘er up.  Once we hit a speed of 110 mph, we’ll be history…or…uh…destiny…uh…whatever, you know what I mean.” Lucas says with frustration as he waves his hand.  “Buckle up.”

The actual trip was a bit of a blur, but once they reach the future, the car hits the pavement and starts to slow down, on the same road they left on.  Lucas expertly brings it to a stop, and they look at each other with wide eyes, and just burst out laughing.  Ryder spoke first and eloquently says, “No. Way.”

Lucas gets out of the car and says “Let’s go check things out.”

They hide the car behind some bushes and start walking towards their neighborhood.  Being only five years into the future not much has changed.  It has gotten dark by know, and they continue to walk.  On the other side of the road, Lucas notices what looks like a makeshift memorial, with flowers, teddy bears, and a wooden cross.  Lucas says, “Huh…that’s new,” as he points over to it.

Ryder doesn’t pay it much attention, and continues to walk.  They reach his house first.  They quietly walk in, it’s pretty dark, either no one is home, or everyone is asleep.  Their phones aren’t working so they aren’t exactly sure what time it is.

Everything looks the same, but Ryder says, “Something feels different doesn’t it?”

Lucas shrugs and says, “I don’t know…feels the same to me.”

Ryder walks over to the mantle, and looks at the pictures, he stares at his senior picture, the one he just took over the summer.  “Lucas, what year did you punch in again?”

Lucas walks over pushing up his glasses he replies, “2021 why?  What’s wrong.”

Ryder points to the picture, “This.  Where’s my high school graduation picture?  Or college?  You know my mom always keeps up with those things.”

He begins to look around for the photo albums that his mom has kept for him.  She just started a new one for his senior year.  He finds it and when he opens it, a newspaper clipping falls out, and the album is nearly empty.  He scans over the article, then drops everything, rushing out of the house, saying with urgency “Lucas, we gotta go.”

Looking back and forth to the album, and his retreating friend, Lucas stops for a moment to pick up the newspaper article.  His eyes are wide, and after holding it between his fingers for a few seconds, he drops it as if the act of holding it caused great pain.  He rushes after Ryder.

Ryder is on the back deck bent over resting his hands on his knees gulping in deep breaths.  Shaking his head he says, “We have to go back, I have to get back.”

Without a word they take off at a sprint back to the car.  Lucas fires it up, and the trip back is just the same.  The car hits the pavement and starts to slow down.  Lucas continues to drive.  When they get to the same spot in the road, Lucas slows down and says, “Ryder look, it’s not there.”

Ryder lifts his head and looks out the window, and lets out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding, and quietly says, “Just take me home bruh.”

When they pull up to the house, Lucas looks over at Ryder and asks, “You gonna be OK?  I am so sorry, I’m going to destroy the time machine.”

“Dude, I’ll be fine, you love this car, don’t destroy the whole thing…How will we pick up chicks?”  He says with a smile.  “Maybe this was the wake up call I needed.  There are things I need to change, and get serious about.  Maybe that won’t be my fate after all.”

Lucas closes his eyes, nods his head once to concur and extends his hand and says, “We don’t breathe a word of this to anyone.”  With that they execute their secret handshake, to seal the agreement.

Ryder walks in the house and finds his mom in the kitchen, she asks, “Hey was that the car Lucas has been working on?  It looks great, you guys take a ride?”

“Yeah…yeah we did.”  Ryder says looking down at his feet.

“You want a snack honey?” Mom’s answer for everything.

“No, I’m good, I’m just gonna go upstairs.  Good night.”  As he passes his mom he grabs her in a big bear hug, and whispers, “Love you mom.”

“Love you too hon,” she hugs him back cherishing this brief moment of affection.  As she lets him go to leave, she says to herself, “that must have been some kind of ride.”

© 2015 Carrie Ann

 

Rachael posted some cool trivia that Blogbattle Week 29 falls on the 29th day of the 9th month.  Also, the last time I did a time travel story was during Mercury Retrograde….we are in it again until October 9.  Things that make you go hmmmm….. 🙂

#BlogBattle: Orchid – Week 28 – New Beginnings

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🙂 Tuesday is upon us once again!! Let the #Blogbattle begin!!

#BlogBattle is a weekly short story challenge using a single word for inspiration.  Hosted by the talented Rachael Ritchey.  Feel free to join in, or click here to read the current week’s stories and vote for your favorites.

This week’s word:  Orchid

Genre:  Romance ❤

orchids

New Beginnings

Finn steps into the house that is so familiar.  It’s just as his Aunt Lainey had always kept it.  It had been a couple months since her passing, a friend of hers took care of the house until he could move in. As he walks into the dining room, he stops, and looks around.  The orchids.  Aunt Lainey loved her orchids, and she has not just a few of them, they are everywhere.  He smiles as he hears her voice echo through his brain “Please Finn…don’t kill my beloved Orchids.  When the time comes, you’ll know exactly what to do with them.”

Before he can start any work, he needs to eat.  With no food in the house, he needs to go out.  When he steps out of the house and heads towards his car, he notices someone next door, he hadn’t realized that the house had been sold.  It was empty for many years after old man Stone died.  When she glances his way, they both stop, staring at each other as recognition dawns.  “Claire?” Finn asks.

“Finn?” she mimics.

They walk towards each other, their elation palpable.  When they are close enough he pulls her in a friendly hug and says, “Claire, you look great!!”

After hugging him back she says, “You do too Finn, what are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”  He points over to the house then says, “My Aunt Lainey left me the house, I just got here today to start cleaning it out.”  Suddenly his memory darkens, he says quietly, “Hey…I heard about Danny…I am so sorry Claire.” He rubs his hands up and down her arms.

She softly replies, “Thanks Finn, I knew when I married him there was always that possibility” she shrugs, “He died doing what he loved, defending our country…not that it makes it any easier.”  Smiling and needing to change the subject she spreads her arms out towards the house and says, “But look…I bought a house!!  It needs a lot of work…but it’s mine!!”

“Congratulations!! Hey, I was just going to get something to eat, would you like to join me?”

“You know, I think I will.” She says with a nod.

They continue talking on the drive to the restaurant, as comfortable as the two old friends that they are.  Being back in the town they both grew up in stirred up a lot of old memories.

As they wait for their food to arrive, they compare to-do lists for their houses.  Finn hates the thought of Claire doing all that work by herself, but knows deep down she needs to do it herself, and probably will enjoy it, but still.  He can’t help but offer, “Claire, please do not hesitate to call me if you need any help, I’d be happy to help.”

“Thanks Finn, but I know you have a lot of things you need to get done as well, I’d hate to bother you, I’ll get everything done…eventually.  Hey, the way I look at it I have 30 years to get it just right.”  She says with a smile full of pride and accomplishment.

As they eat, talk and laugh, Finn sees Claire with new eyes.  In high school she was always Danny’s girl, so he never thought of her as anything but a friend.  But now, after knowing what she’s been through losing her husband too soon, yet ready to tackle a new life, alone, he is in awe at how strong and beautiful she is.

As they linger over dessert and coffee, Claire excuses herself to use the ladies room.  She has enjoyed Finn’s company more than she expected to.  Sure they were old friends, but in high school, she never looked at anyone else, for her it was always just Danny.  As she washes her hands and looks at herself in the mirror, this is the first time in five years that she doesn’t see the young widow of Staff Sergeant Parsons.  Who she sees is the woman she truly is.  Oh, she will always love Danny, but with the new house, it’s time for new beginnings.

She steps out of the ladies room, and catches a glimpse of Finn sitting there waiting for her.  Yeah…Finn is definitely easy on the eyes, she grins at the thought of having him as her neighbor.

When they pull up to the house, Finn jumps out and quickly jogs around the front of the car to open her door.  It’s been a long time since a man did that for her, the sweet gesture warms her heart.  He takes her hand in his to help her out of the car.  She says, “Thanks for dinner Finn, it was nice catching up.”

With a slight bow he says, “You are very welcome Claire, I enjoyed it too.  Claire…don’t forget…you call me if you need anything.”  He says pointing a finger at her.

“Yeah, OK…Thanks again Finn…Good night.” Claire turns and walks away.

“’Night Claire…dream sweet.”

~ ♥ ❤ ♥ ~

Finn wakes up early the next morning ready to start his day.  As he walks through the dining room, the sun shining through the window catches his eye.  There standing proudly among the purple flowers is one lone yellow orchid, illuminated by the sun’s rays.  He wasn’t by any means an expert on orchids, but in all these years, he has never seen a yellow one before.

He enters the kitchen to get some coffee, as he looks out the window, he sees Claire up on a ladder.  “What the…oh no. That’s not happening.” He murmurs to himself.

He walks out the back door allowing the screen door to slam behind him.  He marches right up to the ladder and says, “What do you think you are doing?  Claire, I told you to call me.”

“It’s so early I didn’t want to wake you.” She argues.

“Come down from there…carefully, please.” He coaxes her.

He holds on the ladder as she descends it slowly.  She makes it all the way down safely, but slips on the last rung causing her to almost fall, but Finn grabs hold of her.  As she tries to stand on her own, he notices that her loose fitting shirt fell from her shoulder revealing a beautiful tattoo on her back.  First he asks, “Are you OK?” Then, “Is that a tattoo?”

She nods her head, and shyly says, “Yes.” Trying to cover it back up.  He stops her and says, “May I?” as he moves the shirt back to reveal the whole design.

She explains, “It’s an orchid, my favorite flower.”

“Yes, I know it’s an orchid, it’s beautiful…but why a yellow one?” Admiring it, he inquires.

“A yellow orchid symbolizes new beginnings…how do you know it’s an orchid?” she questions.

He says with a smile and a shrug…”I’ve seen a few.  New beginnings huh?”  Just then he takes her by the hand and says, “Come on…you have to see this!!”

© 2015 Carrie Ann

Monday’s Muse: Writing Prompt for 09/14

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Monday’s Muse: Writing Prompt for September 14

I am joining in with the super-creative Candice Coates for her Monday’s Muse.  She provides a photo and an opening line on Monday, then posts her results on her blog on Thursday.  Guidelines on how to join in are at the bottom.  (The opening line provided is in bold).

The pictures were old, foreign and yet somehow familiar even though he couldn’t quite place them. Somewhere hidden within his spirit he knew he had taken them.

It wasn’t just deja vu, it felt much stronger than that, but yet the mental image was foggy.  My grandfather left me a huge box full of stuff, and the pictures were right on the top.  How could I not look in the box, when scribbled on its lid in his chicken scratch it read, ‘the truth lies within.’

My grandfather always told stories, he had such an imagination, we always thought his stories were just to entertain us, never knowing if they were true or not, or if it was the mutterings of too much vodka and longing for home.  But now as I looked as these photographs bits and pieces of those stories warred with hazy images, and I’m not so sure what is actually real.

I remember Him and his brother would spend hours playing cards, with a bottle of vodka perched in the middle of the table to be shared between them.  They basically grew up on the stuff, so I doubt it did anything to their senses, as it would to a person not accustomed to such hard drink.  Once the bottle was empty they would sit and quietly talk between them, speaking only in Polish so no one would understand them.  I rarely heard the foreign language, it was just how it was, once your feet grazed the shores of American soil, you left your old life behind, and painstakingly learned the English language, never indulging in your foreign tongue…unless your soul held secrets.

As I sifted through the box, the last thing I found was some sort of journal, in my grandfather’s handwriting.  When I opened it, a newspaper article fell from within the pages.  It was in Polish, so I could not understand what it was about.  But the journal read:

My dear grandson, you must have many questions.  I do not know if the photographs are familiar to you, but they are the reason we are in America.  As a young man, you had no fear, and you took these photographs in secret.  You did not think anyone would ever find out about them, but certain people did.

I did not have to read any further, because the images and the memories all came flooding back.  The two men that came and found me, and demanded I give them the photographs, I refused.  That’s when I could feel the pain from each blow that I took from these men, and the final jolt of pain in my head when it struck the concrete once I fell to the ground.  At that point I was fading in and out of consciousness.  I saw another large figure come upon one of the men, I’m not sure what happened, but he dropped to the ground lifeless, the other man ran away as fast as he could.  I could hear voices, but couldn’t understand what they were saying.

I continued reading in the journal.  Your head injuries were severe, the doctor said that you would not remember anything.  My father told me to take you to America, where my brother already was.  When we entered at Ellis Island, it was as if we were given a new identity.  When we gave them our names, the person recording our names in the manifest spelled it the way they thought it would sound in English, they were known to sometimes even add a few extra letters for good measure.  The Polish language has it’s own alphabet, so the American translation did not resemble the way it was spelled in Poland.  It was the perfect opportunity for you and I to start a new life, and never be found.

I stopped reading, even though there was more.  I wasn’t sure I wanted to know more at this moment.  My head hurt, and this was a lot of information to process.  Because of me, my grandfather killed a man.  The only thing running through my head at the moment was why hadn’t the truth died along with him?

© 2015 Carrie Ann

 ______________

Join Monday’s Muse:

• Using the opening line and the picture provided, (Or one of your own choosing) create a story (or even a poem) within 15 to 20 minutes.

• Once you have finished your super awesome masterpiece, add your story’s link in the comments section here, for others to read.

• Also include a link on your page back to this original post for others to follow along and write with as well. In your “tags” section, add the tag “Monday’s Muse.”

 

#BlogBattle: Distance – Week 27 – Close the Distance

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Tuesday = #Blogbattle

#BlogBattle is a weekly short story challenge using a single word for inspiration.  Hosted by the talented Rachael Ritchey.  Feel free to join in, or click here to read the current week’s stories and vote for your favorites.

This week’s word:  Distance

Genre:  Romance

Close the Distance

Evelyn boards the plane hoping she won’t end up sitting next to some older woman who wants to chat incessantly about her grand kids.  She finds her seat with out any trouble, and is relieved when she notices the person in the next seat, Oh good a sleeping man. Just then the flight attendant appears behind her and asks if she needs any assistance.  Evelyn puts her finger to her lips and says in a whisper, “I’m fine thank you, I don’t want to wake him…I don’t want to have to talk to him during the flight.”

“That wouldn’t be so terrible,” The man says with a mischievous grin, without opening his eyes.

Evelyn chokes back an expletive as she stores her carry on bag.

The flight attendant smiles and says, “Have a nice flight.”

“Oh…she will,” He is now fully awake and looking right at her.  She has a difficult time not getting lost in his blue eyes.

Evelyn takes her seat.  With a hand to her chest she pleads her case for forgiveness, “I am sorry, I hate to fly…I’m just a little anxious.”

He holds up a hand, with a sincere smile, he says, “It’s fine, we don’t have to talk.”

“Well that would be just awkward now.  Let’s start over…Hello, my name is Evelyn Rhodes,” she extends her hand.

“Hello Evelyn, I’m Jack McAllister, nice to meet you.”  He gives her hand a somewhat firm shake.

“So Evelyn, are you traveling for business or pleasure?” he inquires.

Trying to ignore the effect the smoothness of his voice has on her, she stammers, “Uh….both.  Whenever my company sends me somewhere, I like to tack on a few extra days to take in the sights, and get a break. What about you?”

“Friends wedding…at the Grand Hotel.” He says with little emotion.

She didn’t want to mention to this stranger, albeit a very handsome stranger, that she was also staying at the Grand Hotel.

As the plane prepares to take off, he notices that she is visibly uptight.  Her hand is gripping the armrest so tightly, her knuckles have turned white. She leans her head back against the seat and closes her eyes.  Her lips are frantically moving, and he thought she was praying until he heard the whispered affirmation repeated over and over, “I am a calm airplane passenger” which totally belies her posture.

Trying not to laugh, Jack gently takes her hand in his, and calmly says, “Evelyn, look at me…relax, and just breathe. Tell me about your job, but no matter what, don’t take your eyes off me.”  His uses his other hand to rub a tiny rhythmic circle on the top of her hand, which pleasantly calms her down.

As the flight continues, they talk about where they currently live, and are both surprised to find that they only live blocks away from each other.  Jack keeps the conversation going and asks if that is where she is originally from.  When she explains that she is from a small town he probably never even heard of, but yet he has, he let’s go of her hand, and says, “Just stop,” He turns in his seat to angle his body so that he is almost facing her.

Evelyn looked nonplussed, “What? Stop What?”

With an eyebrow raised he suspiciously asks, “What street did you live on?”

She cautiously responds. “I lived on Willow Street…Why?”

“Seriously Evelyn?  I lived on Birch.” Jack continues to look at her until his words sink in.

As understanding dawns on her face she says incredulously, “Jack, no way…that’s well within walking distance from each other…like where we live now.”

“We have probably been passing each other on the streets our whole lives, what are the chances that we end up meeting on a plane taking us to another state?” asking the rhetorical question.

“Jack, this actually wasn’t my original destination.  I only found out yesterday of the change in plans, which rarely happens.  My boss knows how I am about sticking to a plan, but it couldn’t be helped.”

He quietly laughs, and takes her hand in his again, and says “Evelyn, be my plus-one for my friend’s wedding.”

“Gee…so charming, how can I resist an invitation like that?  Where is your original plus-one?”

“I found out yesterday that all her late nights at work had nothing to do with her job.” He replied flatly.

“Oh…I’m sorry Jack.”

“Eh…it happens.  I’m serious Evelyn, this has to be fate, destiny….kismet, serendipity….or whatever word they use in romantic movies to get the girl to say yes.” He says while waving his hand back and forth to punctuate each word.

“Since you put it that way” she smiles and then murmurs, “and I happen to be staying at the Grand Hotel.”

He let’s out a triumphant “Yes,” with a single fist pump, and says, “You see Evelyn, I’m telling you…it’s fate.”  He wiggles his eyebrows up and down.

“Is it too late to get a refund from the Charm School you attended?”  She teases, shaking her head this is definitely not what I had planned.

~ ❤ ~

Later that evening, Evelyn exits the elevator and begins to walk through the lobby.  When Jack turns around wearing a gorgeous black suit, the sight of him stops her in her tracks.  He sees her and quickly closes the distance between them.  When he is right in front of her, he takes her hand and steps back so he can admire her.

She looks back at him and declares, “Oh my, Jack McAllister, don’t you clean up nicely?”

He kisses her hand and says, “I’d say the same to you, but my charm must accommodate my attire.  Besides, mere words cannot express how stunningly beautiful you are.  Thank you for being here with me.  Shall we?”  He places her hand in the crook of his arm and leads her into the ballroom.

With a nod and an alluring smile, Evelyn says, “I guess charm school paid off after all.”

“You don’t even know,” his words are flirtatious but filled with promise.

Later when he leads her to the dance floor, she places one hand on his shoulder, and the other in his hand, leaving enough space in between them so their bodies do not touch.  When he places his hand on the small of her back, and draws her close, he whispers in her ear, “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want anymore distance between us.”

© 2015 Carrie Ann