Entry #528043, added on 08-22-07 @ 12:53 pm EDT
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| Chapter Nine | Entry #528043 |
Violet waited until Tuesday afternoon to pluck up the courage to walk into the video store. She had only spoken to Christian for a few minutes that day during lunch, in which he informed her that he would be studying in the library and would not be able to join her for lunch.
But Violet figured he wouldn't mind if she showed up.
When she finally pushed through the door, her eyes immediately landed on Christian where he stood at the front counter.
After blinking a few times, either out of surprise or to refocus his eyes after having sunshine in them, a smile formed on his face. "Violet! Hey!"
She smiled back nervously. "Hey, Christian." She walked up to the counter and leaned on the glass. "I hope you don't mind me stopping by-"
"No way!" Christian interrupted, obviously eager to make her welcome. "I love it that you came. I'm sorry we didn't get to have lunch together."
Violet shook her head. "It's no big deal."
"Christian!"
Violet jumped when she heard a man's voice call loudly from somewhere she couldn't see.
"Could you come here for a second?" the booming voice asked.
Christian gave Violet an apologetic look and walked away. While he was gone, Violet looked around the viode store. It wasn't the only video store in town, but it was the closest to her house. And yet, she had only ever been in there once. Whenever she and Drake wanted to see a movie, they would just see it at the movie theatre. Hmm. She suspected it would be weird having a friend who worked at a video store and one that worked at a movie theatre.
The carpet of the video store, which was simply named VIDEOS, was a bright red that almost hurt Violet's eyes. She rocked back and forth on it, examing a life-size cut-out of Johnny Depp that stood on the other side of the store. She could see every section from where she stood- action, drama, comedy, family, horror, and new releases.
"Sorry about that." Christian's eyes were a little wider than they had been earlier, and Violet supressed a laugh. The poor boy was obviously under a lot of stress...working here at the video store and all.
"So, when do you get off?" she asked.
Christian slumped where he stood. "I was just told I have closing today. It's gonna be a while."
"That's okay. I can wait."
Chrisitan shook his head. "I don't want you to do that to yourself."
"I don't mind."
"We wouldn't really be able to hang out anyway. It's a school night. Lots of homework."
Normally, if Violet had heard an excuse like that from anyone else, she would have assumes the person was lying. But when she looked at Christian, she could tell that he was telling the truth, and that he was truly sorry.
She gave him a reassuring smile. "That's okay. I'll just hang out with Drake."
Before Christian could answer, they both heard the door open and looked to see who had come in.
"Mom?"
Violet saw the shock in her mother's face when she realized who she was looking at.
"Hi, sweetie!" Her mother had been digging in her purse for something, but stopped abruptly, looking past Violet at Christian.
Violet turned to look at him too. He looked nervous, and Violet wondered what was going on. She turned back to her mother. "What's up, Mom?"
Her mother walked the rest of the way to the counter and gave her daughter a smile. "It's nothing, honey. Nancy asked me to come over really quick and pick up some water for her. It's the closest place."
Violet nodded. That made sense. She walked over to the cooler that sat by the door and pulled out a water, bringing it back to her mother.
Her mother grinned at her. "Thank you."
"Sure." She looked at Christian, who couldn't seem to stop blinking. "I'm just gonna grab a movie real quick."
"Oh, what movie?" Maggie asked.
Violet shrugged. "I don't know. Something funny. I figure I'll go over to Drake's tonight."
Maggie nodded. "Okay. Have fun."
Violet left herm other at the counter, the water leaving a ring of fluid on the glass counter, and went to find a movie. She went straight to the comedy section. Drake loved stupid humor, and even though Violet couldn't really stand it, she would sit through it just to make her friend happy.
She browsed the isles, and finally spotted one of Drake's favorites. It was a Will Ferrel movie, Anchorman. Drake loved Will Ferrell.
She grabbed the movie and peeked around the shelf so that she could see if her mother was still there.
She was.
Violet found it very awkward to be there with her mother when she had just told her about her stupid indescision the night before, so she waited. She watched her mother hand Christian a twenty dollar bill, quite a big bill for a bottle of water.
Christian handed her mother a few bills, but it didn't seem like enough change for a twenty. Hmmm. She must have been mistaken.
She waited for her mother to leave, then walked up to the register.
"So, I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Christian asked as he handed her change.
She nodded. "Yeah."
Violet sighed as she stepped back outside and climbed into her car. She'd done all that and hadn't even gotten a date from it.
Maggie closed the front door and spotted Pacey sitting on the couch in the living room. "Is your sister already gone?" she called to him.
His little red head bobbed up and down, his eyes never leaving the screen, where Spongebob played.
Maggie sighed in relief. She couldn't believe she had been dumb enough not to notice her daughter's car in the parking lot that afternoon. How could she have not noticed? She should have at least noticed when her daughter pulled up and walked in. Perhaps she had been in the storage room when she arrived.
Either way, Maggie had been lucky that she hadn't pulled the money out before, or that she hadn't blurted something out as she walked in.
She went down the hall and walked into her bedroom. She worked until Nancy had forced her to go home, so when she turned on the light, she wasn't surprised to see Thomas on the bed. He didn't even stir when the light went on. He had obvisouly collapsed when he got home. He still had his work clothes on, his shoes hanging over the edge, his arms stretched wide.
Maggie smiled and tiptoed over to the bed. She sat on the edge and leaned over to kiss her husband's cheek. He stirred but had obviously not awaken. Still, his head turned and he leaned up slightly and captured Maggie's mouth.
She sucked in her breath, but didn't pull back. He must have been dreaming, or was in that dazed state between dream and reality because it had been weeks since he'd kissed her like this. They stayed like that for a few seconds, Maggie enjoying and Thomas dreaming, before his eyes fluttered open.
When he realized what he had been doing, his head dropped back to the pillows.
Maggie didn't open her eyes. She wanted to pretend that the kiss had been intentional, and that her husband still wanted her. She opened her eyes slowly, afraid of the expression she would see on his face.
But when she finally saw him clearly, he didn't look shocked or- she had been afraid- disgusted. He looked like he'd been studying her features, as if he appreciated the satisifed look on her face.
Thomas sat up slowly. "Dinner?" he asked.
Maggie put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down gently. "I'm about to go and start it," she said.
He nodded and let his eyes close again. Maggie sighed and got up from the bed. But before she turned out the light, she crouched down at the foot of the bed and untied her husband's shoes. She slipped them off and fought the temptation to rub his feet. Then she stood, turned out the light, and headed to the kitchen to start dinner. |
© Copyright 2007 GryffindorGurl (UN: magicfreak11 at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
GryffindorGurl has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
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