“But what if you guys stop chatting it up, or her job doesn’t work out and she gets a stick up her ass and blames you for everything? You could lose your damn job over it. I can’t believe this! I am in shock that you’d do something like this, Aiden. Why?”
“Because I love her, Tim! No, we didn’t start out being in love, but you weren’t there when she’d call me and we’d go over her interview questions, and then we’d talk for hours about all sorts of things, night after night. You weren’t there when I looked into her references and saw all the volunteer work she’d done for people with disabilities, all of her glowing references from people who had worked with her—talking about she always went the extra mile. You weren’t there when she told me her ex-husband called her two weeks ago and for the first time since their divorce, she felt strong enough to tell him to go away and never look back.
“She was ready to completely move on and leave the past in the past, something I’ve personally struggled to do!” He pointed to himself. Tim pulled out the chair next to him and sat down beside him, his expression softer. “You weren’t there when she told me she went into speech therapy because her favorite aunt had been abused by her husband. He sliced her damn throat and the woman couldn’t verbally communicate anymore and ended up losing her will to live! Addison said her aunt used to love to sing and that guy took it all away from her. If she only had a voice, man… if we all only had a voice!” His eyes watered. “Look, man, I can’t explain it, but she makes me… she makes me want to reach a little deeper, give myself a voice, give life to the stuff on the inside.”
Tim gave him a sad smile, and he seemed to finally understand.
“She makes me want to open up to her, to see what I’ve been missing… I don’t know.” Aiden slowly set the drink down, his emotions running wild within him. “She just makes me feel good and I am not just talking about sex. It’s one thing to feel good with someone, it’s another thing when they love you so much they force you to love yourself harder, too. She’s good for me, man. She listens. She heard me screaming, even when I wasn’t saying anything at all…”
The slight drizzle proved exhilarating and refreshing. They hadn’t even bothered to take cover; instead, they sang off key, shopped and frolicked about like children on a sugar high. Hand in hand, Aiden and Addison raced from tent to tent at the farmer’s market, gathering an assortment of juicy citrus fruits and mason jars of local honey. It had been her idea; he’d much rather be watching television with a large pepperoni pizza and a Corona, but hey, love was about give and take. Addison pointed eagerly up ahead, letting it be known she wanted to keep perusing the eclectic wares. She’d spotted a vendor offering an array of colorful and exotic homemade jewelry, quaint tarot card decks, incense and tie-dye blankets.
“Oh boy… hocus pocus shit,” he teased, causing her to playfully bop him in the shoulder before they moseyed on over. A woman sat behind a large white lopsided card table, a thick black shawl wrapped around her slender frame. The middle-aged lady ran long ringed hands through her lanky dark hair, then got to her feet and greeted them with a toothy smile.
“Hello, beautiful,” she said, then went into a sales spiel. “Buy two of these necklaces, get a bracelet free… These are onyx.”
Addison was taking it all in, hook, line and sinker.
“This is jade, isn’t it?” She picked up a necklace and turned it to and fro. It was a silver and gold wrapped chain with a green elephant pendant hanging on it.
“Yes, my love, it is. Beautiful, isn’t it? It sells for $23.00 but for you, I’ll let you have it for $19.”
“The trunk is turned the wrong way.” Addison looked at the pendant closely, frowning as if her trust in the world had been suddenly crushed. Aiden figured she was simply putting the older woman on, trying to use an excuse to knock off another buck or two. “See?” She thrust the jewelry in Aiden’s face. “It’s bad luck for the trunk to be turned down like this.”
He nodded in agreement, but he had no idea what the hell his baby was talking about. His gaze drifted to a bottle opener that was shaped like a football. It seemed rather out of place, but it was right up his alley.
“You’re right,” the vendor stated as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I hadn’t noticed that before. I do have others though.” She began to pull out trays filled with various pendants: gold crescent moons, ruby hearts, ebony and ivory cat heads, colorful parrots, and some bejeweled elephants, as well. “Oh, here’s one! Now, this is a ruby, but the trunk is up and it’s gorgeous!” The lady really laid it on thick.
“It is really pretty… I’m partial to jade though.” Addison sighed in disappointment. She took notice of a pair of jade earrings and promptly plucked them from the display. “How much?”
“Fifteen.”
He grabbed the football shaped bottle opener and looked at Addison, taking delight in knowing she was going to try and bargain with the lady.
“Twelve,” Addison countered with a crooked grin.
“Thirteen and a half. I can’t go lower.”
“Deal.” Addison giggled as if she’d made the transaction of a lifetime and Aiden couldn’t help but laugh.
In no mood to haggle, he thrust a five-dollar bill in the woman’s hand, the exact asking price, and walked away with his new little trinket. They made their way over to a man who was selling assorted berries, kiwis, ingredients for homemade soap, and magazines. What a strange combination indeed.
“It was funny to see you two going at it like that,” Aiden stated as he grasped an old Time Life magazine, dated 1976, from the table. As he gingerly flipped through the slightly yellowed pages, he caught her grinning at him from the corner of his eye.
“My mother taught me and my sisters how to bargain. That’s how wealthy people stay wealthy. We negotiate. Everything is negotiable.”
“Oh, really?” He smirked as he kept flipping through the pages and internally laughed at the photo of a man in yellow and red striped bell bottom pants and matching jacket. “Well, how about we negotiate going back to your place and then negotiate what position I want to take you in?” At this, he was met with a playful shove, almost knocking him off balance. He laughed, set the magazine down, and took her by the hand, leading her towards the parking lot.
“I’m not done shopping,” she protested, holding a slew of recycled bags filled with knickknacks, jewelry and fruits in her right hand.
“There’s another place you can shop at, and they have a big deal today and today only, so we better hurry. You won’t want to miss it!”
“Oh really? Where?”
You innocent little lamb you. You have fallen right into my slaughter house…