by Nia Arthurs
Whup, “Got yah.” I peeped through the slit of one eye and noted with surprise that my rescuer was no other than Archie. I covered my hands in humiliation and felt my limbs tense with discomfort. He held me securely in his arms as he asked,
“Are you okay?”
I looked up, peering at the concerned expression on his face and then noticed that the ladder which I had only moments ago slanted was about to fall … right onto Archie’s head. I hopped out of his arms and stood in front of him, preventing the ladder from crashing into him with my uplifted hands. Being 5”2 and having the arm strength of a noodle, my efforts did little to stop its momentum and it proceeded to haughtily bop Archie in the head.
“Ow,” the man protested before racing to my side and using his superior strength to right the ladder.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He grinned and rubbed at the spot. “I’ll live. And thanks. I’m not sure who rescued who today.”
I glanced at his head full of thick brown hair and cringed, “I’m sorry about your head.”
“Nah, its fine.” he grinned and I noticed that his beard was shaved to a very attractive scruff. I could definitely see a dimple in his left cheek.
Why did he have to be born with a dimple?
“Sorry I frightened you.” he added when I said nothing else.
His apology shook me from the dimple zone, “I just… didn’t expect anyone. Mia said customers don’t normally stop in on Mondays and I …”
His amused expression heightened the flustered feeling in my chest. At that moment, Mia walked out from the back room.
“Hey is everything okay out here? I thought I heard… Archie!” She exclaimed when she saw her friend, “What are you doing here?”
“I thought I’d stop by and pick up something for Melody’s baby shower.”
Mia arched an eyebrow, “Archie, that shower isn’t for a couple of months. And I don’t sell baby clothes.”
He threw up his hands in the face of her suspicion, “Okay, you caught me. I have no idea what to get Nicole for her birthday. It’s killing me. I thought I’d snoop around for a bit.”
Mia still didn’t completely buy his explanation, I could tell, and frankly neither did I, but then these Belizean people could be strange sometimes. Mia’s hands swept the store as she offered, “Snoop away. I’m sure Susan can help you.”
“Me?” I questioned. I barely understood what was happening!
“Sure. That’s cool.” Archie nodded and Mia smiled gleefully. Was it just me or was my boss subtly matching me with a guy who had a girlfriend while that said guy was visiting her store to buy a gift for that girlfriend?
I shrugged. Nah, Mia would never be so underhanded.
“What color does she like?” I asked Archie when Mia returned to her duty in the back.
“She likes uh, pink, I think. No, she likes red. No, it’s purple.” He looked sheepishly at me, “I can’t remember.” I browsed through the blouse rack as I moved on to the next question,
“Okay, let me ask something else. Do you want to buy her jewelry or clothes?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re terrible at this.”
He groaned, “I’m well aware. Trust me, her birthday is tomorrow and I still haven’t found anything. I want to let her know how much I care about her, but not get her thinking about marriage. I’m not there yet.”
I chuckled, “Hanging around Mia and Melody would get anyone to thinking about marriage.”
He pulled his collar away from his neck. “I know. That’s why this gift needs to be sweet but not wedding bells sweet.”
“Tell me a little about how you two met. Maybe we could find something symbolic and go from there.”
He cleared his throat, “We met at the Gym.”
Hm, they met at church. That was kind of sweet. I guess.
“How did you get together?”
“I asked her out and she said yes.”
I snorted, “You are probably the most unromantic man I have ever met.”
“Peyton and Spencer have been training me in that art for years but nothing stuck.”
“Poor thing.” I joked. “Since you are terrible at this, maybe we should just go with jewelry. Clothes can get complicated.”
He conceded, “My relationship is in your hands.”
“Whoa, that’s a lot of pressure for one girl.”
“From what I just saw, you can handle it.”
I cut him a look, “What’s that supposed to me?”
The tips of Archie’s ears grew pink and I silently twittered at the flush.
“Why don’t we scratch that statement from the record?”
“Objection!” I teased, “I want an explanation, Mr. Hamilton.”
“Overruled,” he bantered.
“Hey, you can’t do that.”
“We’re not in a courtroom. I can do whatever I want.”
I narrowed my eyes at him but conceded the point. “Whatever.” I ignored his grin of victory, as I led him to the jewelry case, “Okay, we want to stay away from the rings. There’s nothing like a ring box that inspires thoughts of marriage.”
“Noted,” Archie quipped, his expression solemn enough for a funeral.
“How about this necklace?” I pointed to a gorgeous solid silver chain with a turtle charm at the end. The turtle’s shell was made of a sparkling blue gemstone.
“Mm-mm.” Archie shook his head, “Not that one.”
I brought his attention to several other necklaces, all of which he rejected. My patience wearing a bit thin, I handed him a pair of hooked earrings made of translucent green gemstones fashioned to the smoothest shine and covered with filigreed silver.
“That’s the one.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. I was beginning to think that Archie would never be satisfied with anything in Mia’s store. I put the purchase in a cute little box and accepted Archie’s money.
“Thank you for all your help, Susan.” He said, his silver gaze searing me once again, “I appreciate it.”
“Well, I’m sure Nicole will be happy.” I returned smiling at him as I handed him his change. “And thanks for catching me earlier. I’m sure you hadn’t bargained for that.”
“It was nothing.”
I nodded, feeling awkward for some reason.
“I guess I’ll see you later.” I bid him farewell.
He put a finger to his forehead in a soldier salute before knocking me backward with one more heart stopping smile. It was the darn dimples. I couldn’t resist their appeal. He left and the door clanged shut behind him. I returned to the ladder and found Mia poking her head out of the door near the back room.
“Mia, what are you doing?”
“Me?” she questioned innocently before her whole body came into view. “I’m just uh… chilling.”
“You’re chilling?” I grinned, “Were you spying on us?”
“I was observing your performance with a customer.”
“If that’s what you call it.”
She twittered guiltily and approached me, holding the ladder steady as I climbed, “Archie is a really nice guy.”
“He also has a girlfriend,” I added, since we seemed to be listing random facts about the lawyer.
“She’s nice too.” Mia said.
I peered down at her from my vantage on the third rung of the ladder. “Does this conversation have a point or am I supposed to be clueless?”
“What do you think about Archie?”
“He’s okay, I guess. I don’t really know him.”
Mia nodded as though this was the expected answer and then moved away from the ladder once I returned to the ground.
“What’s with the twenty questions?” I asked her.
“Oh nothing.” She breezily slid past me and greeted a customer that entered the boutique.
I grunted as I packed up the ladder and moved it into the storage closet where Mia kept the mops, brooms, and such. I was not stupid
. Something was going on and I had a feeling that whatever it was, I wouldn’t like it.
CHAPTER EIGHT
That weekend, I unwound at the Reyes house. The entire crew was present and accounted for with the adults gathered in the living room and the younger ones glued to their tablets on the floor. The cacophony from the heated Scrabble tournament going around the coffee table supplied lots of laughs. Mr. and Mrs. Reyes were regaling Mia with jokes about her upcoming one year anniversary and I sat beside Archie and Nicole, who was proudly wearing the earrings that her boyfriend had purchased for her. Archie followed my gaze to Nicole’s ears and gave me a wink and two thumbs up. I smiled in reply. Nicole caught the exchange and frowned. Feeling guilty for no reason, I turned toward her,
“Did you enjoy your birthday, Nicole?”
The troubled look mostly fled from her features, but I could see the lines of concern on her forehead, “I did. Thank you for asking.” She replied matter-of-factly.
Her abrupt answer threw me off. I waited for the right moment to get up and then I moved toward Melody who was engaged in a brutal Scrabble battle against Peyton. I grinned at her extra-concentrated face.
“CONSTIPATION,” I directed my pregnant friend and she gleefully set the letters on the board.
“Ey, that’s not fair.” Peyton protested.
“Read it and weep, sucker.” Melody played the word and earned 33 points.
“Babe!” Peyton called for his wife, “Melody’s cheating.”
“She’s pregnant, let her win.” Mia scolded her husband.
I laughed at the chaos and settled down next to Melody, “I want in for the next game.”
“Fine.” Peyton focused on his letters, “but no more helping out the pregnant lady.”
“Deal.” I agreed and watched as Peyton pulled ahead of Melody with words like ‘PRECOCIOUS’ and ‘FELICITY’.
“This guy is a word wizard.” Melody announced when Peyton beat her by over twenty points.
“Tell me about it.” Mia called from the couch and rolled her eyes, “He plays online against a bunch of other nerds. It’s so weird.” Mia loudly whispered.
“I’m right here!” Peyton reminded her.
“I love you too!” Mia replied.
“I can take him,” I said confidently. I was something of a word wizard myself in high school. I won the middle school spelling bee and placed in the States finals.
“I’m not sure you can.” Peyton shook out the letters into the little gray bag and proceeded to shake them thoroughly.
“Five bucks on Peyton!” Spencer called out in support of his best friend.
Archie put five bucks into the air. “My bet’s on Susan. She read through that entire Pride and Prejudice bore… I mean book like a pro.”
“I caught that.” Melody lightly admonished her friend.
“I thought it was great.” I defended the novel, “The way Elizabeth remained true to herself even when she was in the company of Mr. Darcy and his sanctimonious opinions really spoke to me.”
“Okay, I admit that Darcy had his faults, but you do realize the pride in the title is not only referring to Fitzwilliam. Elizabeth got offended when the poor guy pointed out the obvious flaws of them being together.” Archie parried.
I shot him a hard glare, “I’m sure Elizabeth’s flaws and the social status of her family was not the ideal way to begin a marriage proposal. Right guys?” I addressed the married men in the room. Peyton, Spencer, and Mr. Reyes scratched their heads and muttered to the carpet, clearly not enthusiastic about joining this fight.
“Maybe he was just being honest. Something Elizabeth could have been when she realized that she had feelings for him in the first place.”
“What was she supposed to do? Waltz up to Darcy and plant a juicy one on him? Things didn’t work that way in the olden days.”
“She could have been more gracious when he proposed at least.”
“After he was so gracious at the dinner party when he called her ugly?”
“He never said she was ugly.” Archie shot back.
A timid voice interrupted our verbal sparring, “I… thought you hadn’t read the book, Archie.” Nicole quipped. Her words brought me back to earth and I noticed self-consciously that we held the attention of the entire room. Archie got pink around the ears again. It was so weird watching the tall, imposing man with ink all over his arms blush.
“It was a very detailed movie.”
I counted the threads in the brown carpet beneath me to avoid eye contact with the rest of the gang. Awkward silence descended like a flood. The cicada’s crescendo raged in the quiet. It sounded like they were performing a concert just for us.
“Well, who wants ice cream?” Mia shot up from her place on the couch and tiptoed past me to get to the kitchen.
“I’ll go help,” Melody kneed her way to a standing position and followed Mia into her parents’ kitchen.
“Ice cream!” Alexi and Erin’s feet pattered near me almost stampeding my face.
“Let me see what they’re up to.” Mrs. Reyes hurried after the two. After three more excuses, the only people left in the Reyes family living room was Archie, Nicole and I. Just as I was about to get up and make my escape as well, Nicole stopped me.
“Wait, Susan.”
I froze in my awkward twister-like position and then sat slowly back down again.
“I know your friends are trying to get you two together.” Nicole blurted.
“What?” Archie and I said at the same time.
“I’m not stupid,” Nicole folded her arms over her chest.
Archie turned to her and ignored me, a move which I completely applauded, “Nicole, you’re simply being paranoid. My friends love you. There’s nothing going on between me and Susan.”
“He’s right.” I stood, “I came here for my degree not for a man. I promise, I’m not that kind of girl.”
Archie leaned in and kissed her cheek, “Now… are we good?”
She nodded and I breathed a sigh of relief. “I think I’ll go see what’s taking so long with that ice cream.”
I stood, dusted off my pants and moved gingerly toward the partition dividing the kitchen from the hall. I saw the men first and then noticed the rest of the women near the counter. A long line of bowls sat side by side and Mia and Melody were fixing each one with a scoop of ice cream.
“What was that completely awkward exit about, guys?” I asked the scoopers.
“We wanted to see who Archie would choose.” Mia said as though the words coming out of her mouth didn’t originate from Loony Town.
“What are you talking about?” I dragged out, frustrated at their shenanigans.
“I love her accent,” Mia whispered to Melody and the two giggled wildly.
“Hey!” I snapped my fingers in their faces, “Seriously, cut it out! You put Archie in a totally uncomfortable situation that he didn’t have to be in. Don’t you like Nicole?”
“She’s a nice person,” Melody agreed, “But not the right one for Archie.”
“Well, how do you know that?” I accused, “you’re not God.”
“Susan,” Mia reached for my hand but I withdrew.
“No.” I stepped back, “I know you guys want to see your friends happy and because of your own experiences you think that means having a relationship and getting married, but not everyone was meant for that path!” I turned to Mrs. Reyes, aware that I was causing a scene and said, “Thank you for having me over, but I’ve got to get ready for school tomorrow.”
I nodded at the men and at Archie and Nicole who had just entered the kitchen and stormed out of the place. I knew I was overreacting and with every step that took me away from my friends, I regretted my outburst. My anger stemmed far deeper than Mia and Melody’s harmless matchmaking. No one was forcing Archie and I together. My behavior was rude and unnecessary. I felt shame weighing me down the further I walked. A car horn beeped behind me and I froze. Something told me that the blue truc
k belonged to one of my friends. I slowed my pace and allowed the vehicle to pull up next to me. To my surprise, Archie sat in the driver’s seat.
“Mind if I drop you the rest of the way home?”
I bit my lip, “What about Nicole?” I asked.
“Come on.” Archie motioned with his head, encouraging me to jump in and after a brief hesitation, I did.
“What are you doing,” I asked a few minutes into the ride.
“I’m driving.” He said obviously.
“I mean what are you doing here with me?”
“Would you prefer to walk home?” he asked.
I turned my head to face out the window and sighed, “You shouldn’t have come. Melody and Mia have done enough to cast doubt on our acquaintance. I mean, I barely know you and I just had a really bad breakup-”
“Nicole broke up with me.” Archie interrupted my rampage.
“What?” I faced him. “What happened?”
His grip worked the steering wheel, “She still thinks that there’s something between us, even though I assured her that there wasn’t.”
“I’m so sorry, Archie.”
He glanced at me and blew out a breath, “You probably won’t feel so sorry for me in a few minutes.”
My startled glanced seared his face. I started figuring things out, “You came after me on purpose.”
“Mia and Melody wanted to come, but I asked them to sit this one out.”
“Why.”
His jaw worked frantically. I could almost feel the tension emitting from his every muscle and it made me nervous.
“Nicole suggested something while she was breaking up with me.”
“What did she say?”
He glanced at me and then parked the car in the parking lot of my apartment complex. After shutting down the engine, he sighed and ran a hand through his thick brown hair.
“She thinks that we should hang out in a dating kind of way.”
