Come Get Me Page 7

  When he finally reached her he bashfully looked up and saw a wary look in her eye and a grim edge around her eyes. From it he guessed she’d seen both good times and bad in her life and didn’t know what category he might fit under. It was a look he hoped he’d never see again after she got to know him. He felt stupid standing there like an idiot but he couldn’t help it. It wasn’t exactly the first impression but it would have to do. If he’d known someone like her was going to be there he might’ve done things differently but knowing him it probably would’ve happened about the same. He’d never done well with women. He’d been ok when he was younger, but something seemed to have happened when he graduated high school and went out into the real world. He just had no luck. He was trying to think of something clever to say so he could end the problem of him looking like a fool when he realized she’d already asked him something.

  "Huh?" he said dumbly, "I mean, could you repeat that? I didn’t quite hear you."

  "I said, Hi! My name’s Jill and this is my store,” she said still a little wary. “I also asked if I could help you with anything." She still wasn’t looking too sure of how to handle him. At least he was talking now and not just staring off into space. That was good. He guessed if someone came into the place he worked and just stood there staring at him he would probably be acting the same way.

  "No, not really," he said leaning on the counter trying to put her at ease. It didn’t seem to be working. "I'm just kinda reminiscing about my childhood." Seeing his words weren’t helping much he quickly added "I grew up around here. My friends and I used to come here all the time when someone else was behind the counter." As he finished he tried a tentative smile to let her know he wasn’t some maniac but it probably just made things worse. He wasn’t doing too well. The one time he actually wanted to make a good impression and he was doing abysmally. She was still looking at him like he belonged more in an insane asylum than a store. He didn’t know what else to do. Maybe it would be better if he just left and came back later when his feet weren’t in his mouth.

  "When we were little we used to come here all the time,” he said trying again and ignoring common sense. “A little old lady everybody called Grandma would sell us penny candy and let us read whatever the newest comics she had." He pointed first at the candy that was still kept behind the counter and then at the comic book rack over in the corner trying to illustrate his point. All the while he was talking he kept throwing little smiles into what he was saying. Thinking about how he probably looked he could just imagine what was going through her head. She most likely wanted to call the cops and tell them she needed a little help with someone that was touched in the head. Just as he was about to finally listen to the little voice telling him to shut up he noticed something had changed about her face. As he’d spoke about Grandma her features began to soften. By the time he’d finished there he could actually see a tiny smile.

  "Well,” she said blowing out the pent up breath she’d obviously been holding, “now I understand why you were kinda in a daze when you first walked in. At east it makes a little more sense.” Laughing slightly she continued, "I was beginning to think you were a little touched in the head or some idiot depriving his village."

  "No, nothing like that," Jim said reassuring her. He was right! She did think he was weird. Great, now he had to do a lot of work to get her to change her mind. Turning his thoughts back to what he’d been talking about he continued. "I was just surprised to find someone other than Grandma sitting behind the counter. I was so used to seeing her it just caught me off guard seeing you. My mom said something about Grandma retiring but I guess it kinda went in one ear and out the other. I was still expecting to see her when I came in.” She looked like she bought everything he was saying which was good since it was pretty much the truth. He hadn’t really thought about who would be sitting in Grandma’s place. Seeing a good looking woman there had just compounded his confusion. “I've been gone for a long time,” he continued, “but I guess old habits die hard. I was actually hoping to see her again but my mother didn’t say much else about her. I’d kinda like to see her but I don’t know where she lived. Too bad though, I really missed her." He knew exactly where she lived but Jill didn’t need to know that. He was just trying to figure out some way to make sure the conversation continued until he could direct to something else. He didn’t want to just say hi, bye and leave. He wanted to get to know her a lot better and if the only way he could find to do it was to talk about Grandma well, he would take it. It would surely eventually lead to another topic. He just had to wait. He actually felt slightly foolish jabbering on and on the way he was but she didn’t seem to mind. In fact she seemed to like it. After telling her a little about what he and his friend used to do in the store he finally finished saying all he could think of so he grinned sheepishly and shut his mouth.

  "Got it all out now?" she joked. He just shook his head feeling a little more foolish than he had. He knew he’d been blabbering, he’d just hoped she hadn't noticed. "Now after all that stuff you said I’m happy to tell you that Grandma is still alive and as ornery as she ever was. I should know, I'm Grandma's granddaughter.” She paused to let him take that little bit in. The surprise must have registered on his face since she smiled a little wider as she continued. “She still comes in every now and then to say hi. Heck, you might even see her today.” Seeing her beaming face Jim figured he might not have messed up as bad as he thought, maybe things were looking up.

  "Well, that sure is good news,” he said keeping the conversation going. “It’s good to hear she’s still around." He remembered hearing Grandma speak once or twice about having a granddaughter but she’d always quickly changed the subject when somebody asked about her. It seemed to make her sad; the little girl had never come to visit. Nobody had ever even seen so much as a picture of her. Then again that wasn’t surprising since Grandma wasn’t one to go broadcasting her personal life to everyone. She welcomed you into her store and was nice to you while you were there and if she saw you on the street but that was about it. So, now after all these years of only hearing a word here and there about the girl he finally got to meet her. Jim had to say, she had been well worth the wait.

  "So," she said when he didn’t immediately say anything else, "I told you my name. Now is usually the part when you tell me yours. Then we talk and get to know each other and soon we’re old friends and everybody lives happily ever after."

  "Oh, sorry,” he said feeling like a humungous dork. He was acting like he’d never talked to a girl before. He didn’t understand what was going on. Whenever he tried to speak everything just came out wrong. Whatever it was maybe it would go away if he kept talking. “My name’s Jim Collins," he said trying to get more comfortable. "Like I said a few minutes ago, I grew up right down the road from here. We, I mean my friends and I, used to come in here almost every day. But once I was old enough to leave I did just that. I left and haven't really been back for about twelve years." After talking for a few minutes he felt better. At least he wasn’t staring at her all moon-eyed like he had been anymore.

  "So, what brought you back now?" she asked nudging him along.

  "Well, unfortunately I had to come back for a funeral. One of my friends died." Everything had been going good until now. He’d almost let himself forget why he was here. Now it all just came crashing back in.

  "I'm sorry," she said obviously caught a little off guard. "Are you alright?”

  “Yeah, it’s just a little hard whenever I think about it,” he said. “Talking to you helped me put it aside for a few minutes.”

  “Well, if you need to talk or something just let me know,” she said sounding concerned. He couldn’t believe it. Most people now a days didn’t care about other people and here she was, someone he had just met and she was acting like they were old friends. She was there with a shoulder to cry on so to speak. That was just another thing to like about her. “I guess I should also say sorry for being so blunt when you first came
in,” she added looking a little embarrassed. “It was just, you know, I'd never seen you before and when you came in you looked a little funny and whatnot, then when you didn’t answer me right away after I said something to you I thought you might be some kind of weirdo tourist or something. Maybe even worse. Now look, I've gone and been blunt and came right out and asked you why you were here like you didn’t have any kind of right to be here or something. Now I feel like maybe I’m the weirdo. This first meeting of ours isn't going to good is it?" she finished laughing nervously. He knew exactly how she felt. They were both babbling like a couple of little school kids. The meeting wasn’t actually as bad as she thought though. True, it was one of the strangest he’d ever had, but also one of the best ever too. Still, he couldn’t tell her that. She was the one that was nervous now. The shoe was on the other foot now. His slightly morbid reason for being there had probably been the cause but then again maybe it was something else. That is if he were lucky which he probably wasn’t.

  "It's ok, calm down," he said reassuring her. "Like I said, I probably did look a little funny just standing there and don’t worry about all the questions. This is your place. If somebody was standing in my store staring off into space I think I’d ask a few questions too. The way you acted was about the same thing I probably would’ve done. Actually I probably would’ve done worse."

  "Well, be that as it may,” she said, the look of concern returning to her face, “I'm still real sorry about your friends’ death. I’m guessing it was Tommy you were talking about by the way. It shouldn’t surprise me though that I see people I don’t know. Tommy sure did seem to know a lot of people. It is all kinda strange though. Nobody’s ever died like that around here from what I’ve heard. Everybody’s real shook up about it. It’s sad how you can be here one day and then gone the next."

  "Yeah it really caught me off guard too. My mom called and woke me up from this weird dream I was having. As soon as I heard what she said I was right back out.” Seeing her puzzled look, he continued. “I passed out right there in my room. When I woke up I came right home as quick as I could. It was almost like I was trying to get here so I didn’t miss my chance to say goodbye to him or something. I hadn’t seen him in a long time. Now I won’t ever again.” He was almost talking to himself towards the end. Looking up he saw that Jill looked like she wanted to do more than just stand there listening but wasn’t sure if she should. “I guess it was about time for me to come back I just wish it hadn't been for something like this," he finished with a bitter smile.

  They stood quietly for a moment before Jim spoke again and changed the subject. Trying to get on a happier note he asked her a little bit about herself. Standing there listening he couldn’t help but notice how pretty she was. The way the light shone on her hair, the way she moved her hands when she spoke. Everything about her made him want to get to know her more and more. He was so wrapped up in what she was doing that he almost missed what she was saying. From what she told him she’d been there for about two and a half to three years. She wasn’t sure since when she’d got there, she mostly been running away from a bad marriage. Her grandmother offered her a place to stay while she got things sorted out. Lucky for Jim, she had eventually divorced and her grandmother asked her to stay and help run the store. A few months later Grandma announced she was retiring and letting Jill have the place. Ever since then Jill had been here. She finished her story and closed her mouth as if she couldn’t believe she had told him so much.

  Before she had a chance to think too much about it and just before Jim opened his mouth to say something else the front door slam open and a shout rang out that sent spike of terror through his body and mad him break out in an instant sweat.

  "Put your hands in the air and don’t move!" the yeller ordered.

  Jill’s face looked as if it had turned to ice. Her features were frozen in disbelief. Jim was similarly frozen. Of all his luck to be in the store with the woman of his dreams in a small town and have the damn place get robbed. He had luck all right; too bad it was all bad.

  Jim heard the door slam shut and listened to the floor boards moaning as the intruder stomped his way towards them. Looking to Jill for some sign of what to expect he saw that she was still frozen by terror. Well if nothing else they would both be robbed for the first time together. Not an ideal first date. Hopefully he made it out alive so he could at least ask her out on a real one. It surprised him he was still clear headed enough to think about things like asking her out. Unfortunately that seemed to be the only thing he could think about. He stood there waiting to find out what would happen next. Surely the person wouldn’t just shoot them; he must have demands of some sort. Heart pounding in his chest, he felt someone move up and come to a stop behind his back a lot closer than he would’ve liked. His stomach tightening into a knot of dread he wanted nothing more than to spin around and turn the tables on the would be robber but knew that if he even tried he or Jill would probably be killed. He wished the person would at least say something. His mind was raced through all the possible scenarios he could think of that would get them out of this situation. Unfortunately everything he came up with ended with them both dead.

  The person was still behind him. Jim took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He had to take stock of the situation they were in. Trying to put everything else out of his mind he thought about everything as calmly as he could. First, he’d just met who he considered the girl of his dream. Next, just as they were getting to know each other somebody decided they absolutely had to rob the store they were in and unfortunately there was nothing he could think of to do about it. Then the last and maybe most important thing, he was pretty sure they were both about to die. All in all he figured his day had gone from great to shit in about five seconds. That was probably a new record for him.

  He was startled from his panicked thoughts and almost pissed himself when he felt something poke him between the shoulder blades. He wasn’t an expert about how thing that poke you in the back feel but he was pretty sure the thing poking his back was a gun. What else could it be? Nobody was going to rob the place with a banana were they? As sure as he was he was, equally sure he was just about to die. At least he hadn’t pissed himself a few minutes ago and embarrassed himself in front of Jill. He didn’t want her last thoughts of him to be his inability to control his bladder. The assailant started breathing heavily in his ear causing the hair to stand up on the back of his neck. Jim unfortunately still had no idea of what to do.

  "Put your hands on the counter," grated a voice in his ear. Well, if nothing else he knew what to do. And he quickly did it. Surprisingly the gun was immediately removed from where it had been poking him. But what happened next was worse than the gun had ever been. Hands began running up and down the sides of his body. They weren’t gentle either. After a few seconds of being searched they came to a rest on his hips. Visions of horny robbers raping him in front of Jill ran rampant through his head. He couldn’t allow that to happen! But the guy had a gun. If Jim tried to stop him he would just pull it out and shoot him. Indecision kept him immobile.

  The robber seemed to be taking his time exploring Jim’s waist. Hands moved from one side to the other as if searching for a way in. Eventually they stumbled across the buckle on Jim’s belt and started to work on that. Jim wanted to turn around and scream in the guy’s face and ask him what his problem was but the guy would most likely flip out if he did something like that. Jim was tempted to do it anyways. Anything had to be better than what was most likely going to happen if he did nothing at all. Then a new thought entered his head. What if there were two of them. True he’d only thought he’d heard one person enter but what if the other guy was covering them while the first guy did his thing? Then after he’d had his way with Jim they would switch. Jill would have to watch the whole thing! Jim’s life was over. The gun wasn’t in his back anymore but he actually wished it was. At least then he wouldn’t be getting ready to be raped.

  The one
time he was present when a store got robbed and the robber turned out to have a hard on for him. This was really just not his day. The breathing near his ear was getting faster. The freak must be getting excited. He heard the rapist licking his lips with a wet slimy sound that made Jim’s skin crawl. The hands were still wrestling with the belt but not for long. He was surprised it hadn’t opened yet. It wasn’t like it was a safe or something. Maybe the guy just wasn’t good with these types of things. Good at robbing people, bad about opening other people’s pants. It could happen. An intake of breath behind him signaled that the assailant was about to say something. Jim expected to hear a demand for him to take the belt off himself or for him to do something much more vulgar but instead he heard a snicker. Not understanding what he’d heard the next thing the thief said left no doubt in his mind as to what was going on.

  "Gotcha buddy boy!" laughed the voice behind him. The person seemed to be having a hard time keeping himself from laughing. After a few seconds with Jim only just now realizing what had happened, a loud braying burst of laughter burst out behind him. Jim couldn’t believe it. He looked at Jill to see her reaction and found, instead of a look of horror like he’d expected, a smile. The thought was now really sinking in that something wasn’t quite right about this whole situation. Whoever it was behind him obviously found this extremely funny since the laughter continued and actually got a little louder.

  Slowly turning around, half expecting to be shot, he was surprised to see somebody dressed up as a police officer bent over laughing so hard he was almost choking. The man slowly started recovering, trying hard to repress new bouts of laughter, and stood up. As he did Jim came face to face with the last person he expected to see. Standing not three feet away with a red, tear streaked face was his childhood friend Rob.

  "Oh, you should have seen your face!" Rob said still trying to hold in the laughter that was bubbling out of him.