Catching Butterflies

by Nicole Adams

  “Right this way, please.” She leads us down a corridor and towards rope curtains covering doors. “Please make sure you don’t have any butterflies on you when you leave. Now have a great time.” With a smile, she pulls back the curtain.

  Charlie steps forward and pushes the door open revealing another black rope curtain with light seeping through.

  “Have a great time!” she shouts again, closing the door behind us.

  “You ready?” he asks, pulling the curtain back slowly to reveal a tropical paradise. A gust of warm moist air comes gushing past us. I take a step through and look at the wonders laid out before me. There were lush green tropical leaves everywhere with brightly coloured flowers. Then on another glance I see the butterflies, filling the room, flying as elegantly as falling rose petals.

  “Wow.” I say walking into paradise. “There’s a Green Banded Swallowtail, Southern White Admiral, Zebra Heliconia, oh wow! Look the Blue Cracker butterfly!” I point to each of them in turn. I turn around to see Charlie staring at me. “I’m weird, aren’t I?” I ask.

  “It’s actually pretty adorable. What’s this one?” He says pointing to one on a large succulent leaf.

  “That’s a Blue Morpho butterfly. My favourite, actually. The blue is just so vibrant and almost magical.” I say. “That one is a Queen butterfly and good luck,” I tell him excitedly pointing to the sunset coloured butterfly on his shoulder.

  “I hope so,” he says, looking at me with a content smile on his face.

  “Are you ready for the feeding experience?” a woman with an explorer hat comes bounding over towards us.

  “Yes, sure!” Charlie replies, taking my hand and leading me in the direction of the feeding station.

  “Feeding?!” I exclaim.

  “Right do you want to do it together?” the lady asks. Charlie looks at me unsure.

  “Sure!” I say smiling at Charlie. He smiles right back at me.

  “Okay! I need you two to link fingers, palms up and put your hands together to create a big bowl.” We do as she says. She puts a variety of freshly cut fruits in our hands. Oranges mainly. Butterflies really do love the sweet juicy, taste of them. All the while Charlie and I are just looking into each other’s eyes.

  “Right! All done! Lift your hands slightly and watch them swarm,” she says, stepping away.

  As we raise our hands in the air, one butterfly, then another, then another, all land to eat the fruit. It wasn’t too long before a kaleidoscope of butterflies was in the air above our heads. Ducking and diving and gliding in a whirl.

  We take a moment from looking up at the butterflies and look back at each other, beaming.

  “It’s breathtakin,” I say, glancing back up at the butterflies. The smile on my face said it all, I had no control over it.

  “Definitely,” he says, not taking his eyes off me. His eyes had that twinkle of childlike wonder.

  “Thank you, Charlie. Best day ever.” I lean my head against his chest.

  As we leave, I see a sign on the door ‘HELP WANTED’

  “Excuse me, but I’m interested in the position? I’m going to study entomology at college so this would be perfect as experience,” I excitedly tell the lady at the counter.

  “Of course. It’s only for the summer and two days a week. Just take an application and send it back and we will be in touch.” She hands me a sheet of paper.

  “Perfect,” I reply, giving her a little smile and turning to leave.

  “So, are you ready to go home?” Charlie asks me.

  “Never, Why? What have you got planned?”

  “Do you want to go eat? I’m starved,” he says, rubbing his stomach for effect.

  “Sure!”

  As we approach his truck, he scoops me up.

  “Might as well do this again, don’t need you struggling like last time,” he laughs.

  “How gentlemanly of you,” I reply in the poshest voice I could muster. He opens the door and places me on the soft seat.

  “You’re welcome, my lady,” he says, copying the posh voice and bowing before closing the door.

  God, this is the best day ever. What the hell am I going to tell my parents? Or Henry? At the minute, I don’t think I care.

  He gets in the truck and turns to me. “I totally get it. That was…mind blowing.”

  “Glad I’m not the only one with an appreciation,” I giggle.

  “Why do you like them so much? I know you said that thing at the table, but really, why?” Charlie looks intrigued.

  “Well, I just find insects fascinating. They make me feel calm on a day when my head wants to explode. They all have their jobs and their jobs are their lives. Even though they only live a small amount of time they make the biggest impact.”

  “Wow. That’s deep,” he says trying not to laugh.

  “I’m serious. I just want to pay attention to the small things. They’re the things that really matter.” I explain.

  “You’re on a whole other level, aren’t you?” he says, turning to look at me.

  “Don’t be stupid.” I laugh.

  “Is this okay for some food?” He points out of the window at a diner called “Christie’s Café”. It looked vaguely familiar.

  “Is this your Moms place? I feel like I’ve been here before.” I feel a little embarrassed that I’m not sure. I don’t really know much about his Mom come to think about it.

  “Yeah it is, and you have. You were here last night,” he says, not really making eye contact.

  “Oh no. Your mom saw me like that? I’m so embarrassed!” I say covering my face to hide my red complexion.

  “No, she doesn’t really work here much anymore. She leaves it to the manager,” he says, concentrating on parking the car.

  “Phew! That’s good. I wouldn’t have been able to face her.” I let out a sigh of reflief.

  We enter the diner and Charlie heads straight for a circular booth in the far corner. The place was exactly how you would expect a diner to be. Juke box blaring 50s music, 50s quote plaques on the wall, and a fake Elvis in the corner. The whole place smelled delicious, cinnamon mixed with the smell of grilled sausages. I remember Henry saying they used to come here all the time and that they did the best pancakes in town. I look for them on the menu.

  “Hey Charlie! Two days in a row! What can I get you both?” A cheery lady smiles happily, taking a pen and order book from the pocket of her apron. I look at her name tag ‘Jane.’

  “Hi Jane, I’ll have my usual please. Faye?” Charlie asks, looking to me.

  “I’ll have the pancakes please, and a strawberry milkshake.” I smile, handing her back the menu.

  “Lovely to meet you Faye. I’ve heard a lot about you,” she says pointing her pen at me, then returning to the kitchen.

  “What was that about?” I ask, turning to Charlie and raising my eyebrow.

  “We had a lot of time to talk about you when you were asleep on the table,” he says laughing.

  “Oh no! I’m so embarrassed.” I can feel my cheeks turning a lovely shade of apple red.

  “It’s okay. She understood. She’s like a second mom to me.” There’s much more to Charlie than meets the eye. I get a feeling he is keeping something from me.

  Jane comes back with our drinks. Charlie has a coke.

  “I’m so glad to see you’re not feeling ill today. You’re lucky Charlie was there to take care of you. It’s a shame you can’t trust people like you used to,” Jane says, placing her hand in my wrist.

  “I’m so embarrassed. Thank you for being so understanding,” I say covering my face with my hands again.

  “It’s alright. I’ve got two girls at home and they’ve been in worse states. Self-inflicted,” she replies with a little giggle. Someone on another table calls her and she heads over towards their booth.

  “God she’s lovely,” I say, feeling a little more relaxed.

  “Yeah, she’s always got time for people. Even if she’s only known you 5 minutes,” h
e says with a smile on his face as if he was remembering something.

  “So, tell me more about you.” I say. “I feel like I’ve known you forever, but don’t really know you.”

  “Well what do you want to know?” he asks, looking a little uncomfortable.

  “Everything. What’s your family like? What do you like to do? Apart from working on the farm. What do you want to do? Everything.” I try to come up with a list the best I can.

  “Well, it’s just me and my Mom, and has been since I can remember. I do like the farm work and football, and I don’t get much time to myself beyond that. I used to work here. And I want to play football. That’s my version of your meadow I suppose,” he says, shrugging his shoulder.

  “What’s your Mom like?” I ask.

  “She’s the best. Makes the best food,” he says, as he sees the food coming towards us his eyes light up.

  “Here we go.” Jane says. “Enjoy.”

  The pancakes looked amazing. I hadn’t even had breakfast so at this point I could eat a cow. They were thick stacked pancakes fresh from the stove with bacon, drizzled in maple syrup and a giant dollop of whipped cream. My mouth was watering just looking at them. Charlie’s looked amazing too. He had ordered a breakfast burger. It had a burger, egg, bacon, hash brown and melted cheese oozing out the side.

  “I don’t know which one looks better,” I say, my tongue nearly hanging out of my mouth.

  “Hey. I don’t share this. This is the only thing that’s mine and mine alone,” he says, laughing and pretending to guard his burger with his arms.

  I tuck into my pancakes. They taste incredible. The mixture of salty and sweet made my taste buds tingle with delight, and the texture melted into my mouth. “Oh my god! These are amazing,” I say, my mouth still half full.

  “It’s my Mom’s recipe. She doesn’t let the chefs stray from it because she knows it’s good. She loves to cook.” Charlie carefully wipes some cheese off his chin.

  “Why doesn’t she cook here anymore?” I ask.

  “She does sometimes, but doesn’t really have the time for it anymore. She wants to open a restaurant, so she’s busy working on new recipes.” He tucks in further to his burger.

  One, this is our first date and two, my pancakes will get cold. I take another bite of my pancakes, chewing as slowly as I can to make the symphony of flavours last a little longer. This is a bliss I never want to end.

  “So, football? How is that going?” He knows I don’t don’t go to games, but I do try to catch them on tv when I can. I used to go when they were in high school, but I haven’t been to a game this year, I realise. Even though the family has been busy we should have made the effort for Henry. And Charlie.

  “It’s great. I’m MVP on the team. Scouts have been coming to games but haven’t heard much yet. We are only in our first year though. If professional football doesn’t work out, Henry and I are hoping to start a business together. So far, we have a few ideas bouncing around, but we mainly want to focus on our game. Next year is when they really start looking at us. They’re just getting a feel for us this year.”

  “That’s great! Hopefully we will be able to make it to more games next year.” I smile.

  “I’d like that. That’s when it will get interesting. Three of us on the team have been named ones to watch. Henry included. The team is getting a name for itself.” He smiles.

  “I’m so happy for you. Both. Happy for you both.” I finish my plate feeling positively stuffed.

  “I don’t really want to take you home after this, but I think your parents will be worried.” Charlie looks down at his plate.

  “Oh crap! I haven’t called them all day to let them know where I am!” I worry, jumping at the realisation that after this amazing day I could be in deep trouble.

  “It’s okay, I realised this. I spoke to your mom this morning,” he says, continuing to sip his shake, not looking at me.

  “You told my mom you were taking me on a date?” I question, not sure whether to be pleased or embarrassed.

  “Well I had to tell someone where you were. I couldn’t tell your dad now, could I? That’s not a conversation I wanted to have. I’ll probably tell him later.”

  “Please don’t. I don’t want to deal with that today. He’s already annoyed he had to deal with the vet by himself the other day. I don’t want to add this to the pile. We don’t even know what this is.” I gesture to us both. He frowns a little.

  “I want to date you. I know it seems a little out of the blue, but I needed to make sure that it was definitely … well, feelings, before I made a move on my best friend’s sister. I’m hoping he takes it well. As well as he can I suppose.” Charlie rubs the back of his neck nervously.

  “I want to date you too, but I want to make sure that we let them know in the best way possible to prevent carnage.” I slurp at the last of my shake, almost not listening to Charlie and getting lost in my sensory world.

  “Fine, but soon,” he says, pressing his index finger into the table, like he was sealing in the timeline.

  “Yes.” I reply.

  “Good. The sooner everyone knows, the sooner everyone knows you are mine, and off the market.” He winks.

  “Oh, so I’m being claimed now? You’re not dating anyone else?” I ask, raising a brow.

  “I’m not going to date anyone else. It’s you and me. How do you feel about that?” He leans in so he’s only a hairsbreadth away.

  “You and me. Sounds amazing.” I say, loving the distance between our lips.

  Chapter 7

  “Did you have a nice time at Gilly’s? Wow your hair looks lovely,” my mom says, smiling at me from the table. Dad was sat opposite her reading the paper, he looks up and nods his head in approval.

  “It was fine,” I reply.

  “Well, dinner will be ready in 20 minutes,” she continues. “Did you have a good time at the party?”

  “It was lame. Don’t think we will be going to many anytime soon,” I reply, remembering the blurry details of last night and shaking them out of my head.

  “Good, at least you can help me on Saturday. We’re going to sell the cattle,” Dad says, folding his newspaper.

  “They all passed then?” I reply.

  “With flying colours. We’ll get the boys down here to help push them into the corral. Bill is coming to take a look at them.”

  “Oh, okay.” I turn and head for the stairs.

  “Honey, let me come with you, I want to ask you about the salon you went to,” she said, chasing me up the stairs.

  As I get to my room, my mother is on my heels behind me, pushes me through my door and closes it.

  “Tell me everything,” she says.

  “About what?” I say, winding her up.

  “Just tell me, I’ve been walking on eggshells all day not to spill the beans to your father. Now spill,” she says, pleadingly but stern.

  “It was great Mom; it was the perfect day. He took me to the new butterfly sanctuary, and we fed the butterflies, then we went to his mom’s diner. It was weird how it wasn’t a bit awkward. It felt so relaxed and it was great just getting to know him and spending time with him,” I say, lying back on my bed.

  “I’m so happy you had a great time. Was his mom there?” she asked.

  “No.” I reply.

  “I didn’t think so. So, you’re happy?” she asks.

  “Yeah, I guess I am,” I reply, smiling uncontrollably.

  “Just be careful. I’m not telling you what to do, but he’s older than you and will probably expect things…” she starts.

  “Mom, we are not having this conversation,” I reply.

  “Okay, just be careful. I know he’s got a bad boy act going on with Henry so just be careful.” She says. “He might get himself into trouble and you get dragged in,” she says pointing her finger at me as if she is telling me off.

  “I know,” I say hiding my face under a pillow.

  “Good. Now, what did say? What wa
s the experience like, was he nice?” she asks trying to change the subject, but there was an awkward atmosphere left behind.

  “Yes Mum, it was great. Can we talk about this later?” I ask, trying to hide the awkwardness behind my words. My phone pings with excitement at receiving a message.

  “Yes, sure, no problem. One more question. Are you going to see him again?” she asks a leading question.

  “Yeah, he’s taking me out next Friday night.” I reply, reading the message I receive on my phone. It’s Gilly, asking for an update on the date.