R.E.solve (Rain Experience Book 2)

by Thomas W. Everson

  “You sneaky girl. But you remember what happened the last time I had ice cream. Maybe we should try something a little less painful.”

  “No, I’d quite like to see you inflict that upon yourself again.” She bumps her shoulder playfully into mine and grasps my hand.

  “I bet you would.” I smile and tap her arm playfully.

  We head over to the same shop we stopped at last time and it’s conveniently open. We place our orders. Hers is two scoops of ‘chocolate cherry chunk’ while I stick with what I know, peppermint. Eating in silence we stare deeply into each other’s eyes. Despite my best effort to savor the ice cream, I can’t control myself. I devour it, only to cause myself a severe amount of pain from the extreme cold. I stop eating only momentarily to rub my forehead. When it doesn’t work I hit my forehead a few times while squeezing my eyes shut. Ami laughs at my pain and I can’t help but laugh too.

  “Stop laughing! It hurts!” I mock protest.

  “You’re laughing too! And you did that on purpose!” She pushes me by the shoulder and I nearly drop what’s left of my cone.

  When I’m able to open my eyes again I can see the delight in Ami’s face and it makes me smile more. Finishing my ice cream, I take her by the arm again and lead her along while she continues to eat hers. We take our time in reaching Anselmo’s store but it seems like we are there before too long. She finishes her ice cream just in time for us to enter and I let her arm down to hold the door open for her. As she passes by, I bow and wave my arm for her to enter, like a gentleman. In response she curtsies like a lady.

  His shop is duller than the last time, with very plain clothing throughout most of the store. Only a small section in the back corner has any real class to it, and they are familiar. They are Ami’s design, right down to the flowers she puts on them as her signature.

  Anselmo appears and time has not been kind to him. Though he has a smile on his face, he appears fatigued. He has lost a significant amount of weight and his clothes are baggy. His receding hairline does nothing to help the wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes.

  “Welcome to…” he starts in but stops and stares as if he’s seen a spirit. “You! Let me look at you!”

  He grabs Ami’s shoulders and spins her around, then does the same to me. He’s clearly in disbelief.

  “You look like you haven’t aged a bit! I heard you were back in town, but this is insane! You look almost the same as when I saw you all those years ago!” He points at me. “Well, except for you having black eyes. That I don’t remember.”

  Ami laughs. “It’s all a very long story.”

  “Well, here! Come, take a seat in my office missy! Oscar! Watch the front!” He yells at someone we can’t see.

  At the back of the room he pushes his office door open and allows us to enter first. Ami and I take a seat in the chairs at front of his desk while he moves around back of it and sits down too. His face has brightened up.

  “How is this possible?” He swings his arms open and then crosses them across his chest.

  “Would you accept the answer I take really good care of my skin?” she jests with him.

  “You’ll have to sell me whatever it is you use. I need it.” Anselmo laughs while stroking his wrinkling face. “What are you? Immortal?”

  I chuckle and shake my head. “I wish.”

  “So, how well did my clothing sell?” Ami leans on the table with her elbows.

  “‘How well?’ she asks.” He chuckles while looking at me and pointing at her. “You did nothing short of creating a fashion statement which lasted five years strong.”

  “That’s amazing!” Ami squeals.

  “I was the lead clothing store for both powerful and weak, the rich and poor! So much so I was able to put away a nice nest egg. It helped me through Denis’s reign of terror. Now that he’s gone, the economy will recover and so will this shop.”

  “I noticed you have much simpler clothes out there right now,” I observe.

  “Yeah, well with Denis eating everyone’s profits I had to make some cutbacks and make cheaper clothes. But it’s over now. I can flourish again.”

  “You kept some clothes from the original designs though,” Ami says, clearly pleased.

  “I sure did. Made some alterations though to keep up with trends and styles as they changed. Kept them around not so much for sale, but for display. I’ll have you pick one out for your own collection in return for all the money I made off of your original designs.”

  “Oh no, I couldn’t. You already paid me.” She puts her hands up and shakes her head.

  “I insist. The amount I paid was well below what you should have received. I can see that now. No arguing.” He waves his finger at her and grins.

  Ami sighs, but she is smiling.

  Anselmo stands up and motions for us to follow. Leading us back out to the sale floor and into his special collection in the back corner he opens his arms wide and smiles while turning around.

  “Pick what you want. Doesn’t matter what it is!” He becomes rather excited and makes his way through, pulling out fancy dresses and looking at Ami questioningly before putting them back.

  Anselmo looks beyond us and waves someone over while Ami browses through the clothing. A small stout man appears and Anselmo whispers something to him. Then Anselmo moves to me, puts his arm around my shoulder and leads me to the front of the shop.

  “Here.” He hands me one of the currency cards and points down the street. “Go buy some flowers about three blocks down. There’s this little red headed girl who picks them and sells them to help her family make ends meet. Buy some flowers for your girl.”

  “But I –” I start to protest, but he interrupts.

  “No. No buts. Go on now.” He shoos me with waving hands.

  I walk down the street, counting the lampposts as I do to keep me entertained. My feet carry me through the crowds which have begun to swarm about in a ‘business as usual’ manner for this society. I look for the little girl with red hair and flowers. I have to scour the stalls to locate her as the population density increases. Someone matching Anselmo’s description catches my attention and I shuffle my way over to her. In her flower cart she has bundles of several types of flowers.

  “Excuse me miss! Want to buy some flowers for the special one in your life?” She attempts to peddle her flowers to people passing by.

  When I reach her she throws her sales pitch at me. She crosses her arms in front of her dark blouse and bats her eyes. Catching my stare she lathers on the charm.

  “You look like you want to help a little girl support her struggling family!” She dances cheerfully in place, her braided hair flopping around.

  “I sure do. I’ll take one bundle of your nicest flowers.” I wink at her and hand her the card.

  “That’ll be fifty thousand!” She snags the card from me before I can protest.

  “Fifty thousand?! That’s quite steep! Are they gold plated flowers?”

  She looks at me out of the corner of her eye, a conniving smirk on her face. “All right, I’ll give you a discount. Ten thousand. But you can’t tell anyone I gave you such a great deal.”

  Knowing ten thousand is a significant amount, I hesitate. She opens a sliding door and pulls out something different from the bundles of ordinary flowers that are sitting on top of her cart. The bundle of flowers she pulls out luminesce a light blue and I’m astonished. Gently she carries the flowers to me and hands them to me. They emit a sweet fragrance from their large glowing petals.

  “Now, if you take care of these properly you can make them last a whole month. In the daytime the petals are white and they drink in sunlight. At night they release their stored light. Make sure you change their water frequently!”

  She hands me back the card and smiles wide, knowing she just made a large sale. Smelling the flowers, their scent is subtle and somewhat fruity. I smile and nod at her before heading back toward Anselmo’s. The flowers are cradled safely in the crook of
my arm as I make my way back. Reaching a break in the crowds, I can relax. When I arrive back at Anselmo’s he is outside waiting and I can see a look of disbelief on his face.

  “You bought those?! I was thinking you’d buy her something simple!” He whispers but the shock in his voice is clear.

  “I got swindled!” I whisper back. “Before I could respond she took the card and whipped these out!”

  “Cheeky little girl…” he chuckles. “I sure hope you didn’t pay her full price for those!”

  “Was ten thousand too much?”

  He chokes, coughing violently. After he catches his breath he shakes his head and smiles.

  “She sure has a way of hooking people. What did you talk her down from?”

  “Fifty.”

  His eyes go wide. “I’m sure glad you did talk her down, but next time try to haggle lower. I don’t mind helping her though. Her family and their shopping mart had it pretty tough under Denis.”

  “Anselmo, thank you.” I return his card to him and extend my hand to shake his.

  “No problem buddy.” He grabs my hand and shakes it eagerly. “You just take good care of Ami and we’ll consider it even. She’s about done with the alterations.”

  I nod and turn back to face the street while Anselmo returns inside. It’s not too much longer before the door opens and shuts again. When I turn around Ami is there and I am stunned into silence. She’s wearing an ankle length, sleeveless, red dress. Slim in design, it hugs her body and as she spins around I can see its elegance. In a twist of modern meeting more of an older look the shoulders have some fringe and pleats on them. The front dips down a fair amount, showing a bit more of Ami’s chest than I’ve ever seen before. The back is nearly non-existent at the shoulder it simply cuts down to waist level where a red sash is tied off to her right.

  My jaw drops and I blush heavily. She sees my reaction and averts her eyes, blushing also. She looks down at her chest and plays with a small bow at the end of the collar, then looks back at me.

  “Is it too much? I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate for me to have this much showing…”

  “I…I really couldn’t say.” I stammer a little. The invitation she’s presented me to actually look at exposed skin puts me in an uncomfortable position. When I look I make it only a glance.

  Needing to take the tension off of the situation I present her with the glowing blue flowers. Her eyes go wide and she looks at me with a puzzled look on her face, no doubt wondering where they came from. She takes them from me and breathes deeply through her nose.

  “They smell so wonderful! Where in the world did you find these?” she asks excitedly.

  “A little girl down the street,” I answer innocently.

  She throws her arm around my neck. “These are amazing! Thank you Rain.”

  I hug her back, my arms around her waist. The deep embrace causes my muscles to relax. I feel all the tension in my body flee and we both let out sighs. When she finally releases, I follow her lead and she picks up a brown bag from the ground.

  “Are your other clothes in here?” I ask, extending my hand out for the handles on the paper sack.

  “Yeah.” She hands it to me and she puts her free arm through mine indicating she’s ready to go.

  Until the early hours of the morning we walk slowly and silently through the city streets, sometimes through crowds, sometimes down empty areas. We stop for a bite to eat; meat and vegetables on a skewer, roasted over an open flame. We finish in a matter of moments and continue on. She holds my arm while clutching the bouquet to her chest and when we finally reach the edge of the park we stop. She turns to me and I face her.

  I don’t want this to end. I’m sure she doesn’t either.

  She blushes. “I had a good time, Rain.”

  “I’m glad – I did too.” I smile. “That dress really looks amazing on you.”

  She pushes her wavy brown locks out of her face and looks up at me. Staring intently into one another’s eyes, I can feel the urge to lean in and steal a kiss. Urges translate to actions and I lean in a little. She closes her eyes and pushes up on her tiptoes. Nervously I close my eyes too and lean in. I can feel her breath on my lips. Placing my hand on her cheek I draw her in.

  A whirring noise cuts through the air, breaking my concentration before I’m able to press my lips to hers. I’m hit in the temple with a hard and heavy object. Falling sideways, on my way to the ground, I hear Ami begin to yell. The assaulting object rolls off my face. It’s Eve’s boot once more.

  “You were about to break your own rule, tramp!” Eve’s scream pierces the air.

  “Excuse me, but he was going to kiss me! Not the other way around! There’s a difference! And I think ending a date with a kiss is acceptable because it’s clearly not random!”

  “You don’t get to go on dates with him!” Emma cries out. “Wait! Are those Vibrant Iris flowers?!”

  Rolling onto my stomach, I slowly push myself up and while they are distracted by their argument I make a break for the house, full speed ahead. Looking over my shoulder I see they’ve noticed. Eve and Emma have begun pursuit. I reach the back door before they do and as I charge through it, I slam it shut and flip the lock.

  Without hesitation I run through the house and up to my room. Shoving my bed up against the door, I barricade myself in. Their rules in mind I strip down to just my undershorts and jump into bed.

  Loud thuds reverberate through the room as they bang on my door and I have to muffle my laughter with my pillow.

  Taking a deep breath in, I yell at them, “You can’t come in. I’m not dressed and I’m in bed!”

  The banging stops and Ami laughs at them. The sewing room door opens.

  “I’ve seen him without most of his clothes on anyway,” Ami taunts.

  She slams the sewing room door and Emma and Eve proceed to badger Ami through her door. They bicker in the hallway over the date and I just lie there until I’m tired. With the pillow over my head, I’m able to sleep with them still going at it.

  Sleep, my reprieve!

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  It feels like I only slept a few hours when I come around. I shove the pillow off my face and take note of the silence outside the room, indicating it’s probably safe for now.

  Slowly I stand and put some light clothing on and head down the wooden stairs, their cool touch somewhat soothing. Half way down the stairs the earth quakes beneath us and I hear Emma scream.

  “Put me down!”

  “Stop, Eve!”

  No! Can I get there in time to push her out? I hoped I had another day to convince her to stay in her own time. Or that maybe she would be gone when it happened. I didn’t even get to talk to Ami about it!

  Continuing down as quickly as I can, I try to make it outside before the vortex finishes the transfer. I brace myself against the wall with my arms. By the time I reach the bottom the quaking has stopped and I hear the horse whinny.

  I’m too late.

  I move to the living room window. The four of them are in the yard and what I see doesn’t surprise me. Eve has Emma slung over her shoulder. Ami appears to have been mid-struggle with her while Agatha was trying to block her path. But they’ve stopped dead in their tracks to observe our new time.

  I didn’t think she’d take it that far after I warned her. I guess I only specified not to hurt her. Our motives for Emma not coming may have been different, but she knew it was the right choice.

  But why were Ami and Agatha trying to stop her? Do they really think it’s beneficial for her to be traveling with us rather than reviving Chas?

  We’ve come to rest on an open plain directly in the middle of a settlement. There is minimal vegetation. A multitude of animal skin tents surround us, and primitive looking people gather around. The house is being surrounded by men of all sizes, all shapes, all skin tones, wearing skirts of tall grass and leather, wielding spears. The women and children of the tribe scream and retreat back be
hind a line of warriors readying to wage war on the house. Eve practically drops Emma to the ground, ready to fight.

  Apparently taking their advance as a personal challenge, she makes aggressive gestures at them.

  No rest for the weary, or wicked?

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  3

  TRIBULATION

  Rushing out of the house, I place my hands at chest level, palms open and outward to show them we’re not hostile. I plant myself in front of the women as a barrier. The tribal people watch me with leery eyes.

  One of them shouts at me in a language that almost sounds familiar in the way it is structured and flows, but I can’t understand anything. To the left and right, they’re forming a semi-circle around us in the yard. Another waves his spear, bellowing in their tongue. He is set apart from the rest with the headdress he wears made from the head of a buck, its antlers still attached. With him being the only one wearing such distinctive headgear signifies to me that he is likely someone of high importance. A leader.

  “Rain, blast them!” Eve orders.

  “I’m not going to harm these primitive people over your lust for battle,” I bark.

  I sigh, trying to think on my feet for a way to diffuse the situation. “There’s no way this is going to work,” I mumble. With my attention on the man of importance, I speak in a soft and hopefully disarming tone. My arms are still raised in a surrendered positon. “Do not attack. We are friends.”

  He looks at me puzzled and yells a short phrase. Looking over my shoulder, I see Ami has joined me.

  “Quick,” I whisper. “Go fill a small basket with some food and bring it to me.”

  Ami disappears into the house and it catches the man’s attention. Stepping into his vision I draw his attention back to me and force a smile. Moving forward, I place the palm of my hand on the tip of the spear in good faith.

  “We are not going to hurt you.” My voice calm, I push the tip of the spear down a bit, trying to point it to the ground. But he quickly asserts himself and points it back at me.