By Rachel Ann Michael Harris
“All right, I’m here. What did you want to talk to me about?” Without even looking at Oliver, Ben sat down in the booth and turned to the waitress at the neighboring table. “Coffee. Black. Thanks.”
Oliver stirred his creamer into a heart shape. “I’m in love.”
Ben’s head shot up. What?! “With who?”
“She works in the office. Long blonde hair. Green eyes. Perfect smile. Likes to sing to herself. Has a picture of her dog, Trinket, on her desk. A cute Doberman. She also volunteers at a soup kitchen on the weekends.” Oliver sighed and gazed up to the ceiling.
Ben waited a moment. “And her name is…”
“Oh—” Oliver straightened. “Don’t know. I’ve just been watching from afar.”
Ben blinked and slowly shook his head. “Hate to tell you, but that’s not love. That’s infatuation.” Bordering on stalking. “It’s creepy.”
Oliver huffed. “At least I’m open to unending bliss and devotion. When are you going to fall in love?”
Ben stood up. “The day I fall in love is the day I die.” He turned around and crashed into the waitress bringing his order. A cascade of scalding coffee burned through his clothes. “Ah!”
“I’m so sorry!” The waitress scrambled for a towel.
Ben waived her off and headed for the door. “Come on, Oliver, we’re going to see Penny.” In college, Penny pursued art then opened a successful gallery after graduation. He hoped she had enough sense to talk Oliver off the ledge. “Love doesn’t happen in an instant, you know. It is something cultivated out of commonality—sharing opinions and goals.”
“It’s not as mundane as commonality and interests.” Oliver rolled his eyes. His voice took on an airy tone. “It’s more like… fireworks.”
Ben waited for the crosswalk signal to change then stepped into the street. “I’m just saying—”
Tires squealed and a grey car plowed through the red light. It lurched to a stop a hair away from Ben’s knee.
“Hey! Watch the road.” Ben hit the hood.
“You okay, man?” Oliver directed Ben across the street, glancing back and forth between the car and his friend.
“Fine, fine.” Ben smacked dust off his jeans. He didn’t need any more of this. What is with people today? “And that’s another thing… you can’t decide on a life with someone without talking to them. What would this woman think if she discovered you know all that about her and haven’t even said ‘Hi’ yet?”
“That I really care about her. Besides, haven’t you heard of love at first sight?”
They walked past a parked Hanson Movers truck. A mover stood on the sidewalk, looking up and hauling on a rope. They ducked under the rope and hugged the building as they passed.
“Love at first sight?” Ben snorted. “Fairy tales. Superstitious nonsense.”
“Look out below!”
They spun around as a piano hit the concrete a foot from where they stood in a resounding clang of discordant tones and snapping wood, holding its final notes like the last chords of their funeral dirge.
“Wow!” Oliver’s eyes bugged out of his head like a cartoon character’s.
“Yeah, wow.” Ben stared at the smashed wood cracked into sharp, pointed knives and the wires snapped and twisted like garrotes.
“You both okay?” The mover ran up to them. “Good thing you stepped out of the way when you did.”
“Yeah.” Ben pushed Oliver. “Let’s get out of here.” There were a few too many close calls for his comfort. Better get to Penny’s as soon as possible.
Three blocks later, they dashed into the gallery. Ben shook a dog off his leg and slammed the door closed as a pack of ten more dogs threw themselves against it. A beady-eyed Chihuahua snarled through the pane. A chunk of Ben’s pants dangled from its mouth.
“You’d think a dog walker would have better control of their clients’ pets.” Oliver watched a young woman wrangle the dogs’ leashes.
Unreal. How many close calls could happen in one day?
“Watch your step.” Penny wiped grime off her hands with a cloth as she weaved her way around buckets. Plastic sheets covered the walls that usually sported local artists’ works. “The ceiling’s leaking, and the floor isn’t too happy about it.” She glanced between the two men and cocked her head. “What’s up?”
“What?” Ben jerked around. “Oh, right. Tell her, Oliver.”
“I’m in love.”
“Oh, really?” Penny perked up. Almost bounced on her toes. “Who with?”
“I… haven’t caught her name. Yet.”
“He’s been watching from afar,” Ben quoted.
“What?” Penny’s face scrunched up.
“She also has a dog—” said Ben.
“Named Trinket,” Oliver interrupted.
“Sings to herself—”
“It is hard not to listen to that golden voice.”
“And has long, blonde hair.”
“Hey, that’s not freaky. Everyone sees her hair.”
Penny shook her head. “Oliver, no.”
“Thank you.” Ben threw up his hands and wandered into the studio, just in case that Chihuahua came back.
“First off, stalker much?” Exasperation laced Penny’s words. “Second, you can’t say you’re in love because you know some details about someone. And you don’t even know her name?”
“Hasn’t introduced himself yet,” Ben called from across the room.
Penny’s eyes went wide. “No. Love is based on commitment and a shared connection with someone… who knows you exist.”
Ben scratched his head. Had she always talked like this? So much like… him?
“Just knowing about someone’s life isn’t enough,” she continued. “Sharing interests and life’s struggles, highs and lows, is what makes a real relationship. Right, Ben… Ben?”
The floor below him groaned, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her. How had he never seen her like this before? Her fiery personality. Her messy, brown hair. The way she stood strong, but approachable. And they shared so much.
A floorboard cracked.
With a sigh, Ben smiled. “Penny, I think I—”
The soggy floor splintered under his feet and started to give way. His eyes went wide. “Uh oh.”
Can you guess which song from the 1950's inspired this story? Share in the comments!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cute story, Rachel! The ending made me smile!
I’m not sure which 50’s song this is, but my best guess is Buddy Holly’s “That’ll be the Day.”
Thanks, Jillian. I’m glad you enjoyed it and it brought a smile to your face. Knowing it made an impression on you means a lot. :)
You’re correct, Jillian! If you’re a member of the Havok Horde, you’ll be automatically entered into a drawing for a $10 Amazon gift card.
I like the pace of the dialogues. Could this be inspired by “When I Fall in Love?”
Thanks, RC. I like writing dialogue so that was fun.
Oh man, this was hilariously good fun! :-)
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
That was a great one! I really enjoyed the character interaction and the ending. 😁 Now I really hope he doesn’t die…
Hee hee. Thank you. The characters were fun to write as well as all the ways he could die. :)
This was a fun one! No idea what song though.
Thank you, Skye. I hope I didn’t make it too hard to guess the song. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Love this, though it is a little hard on poor Ben.
Ha ha, yeah, I might have been too hard on him. But I had such fun thinking of all the ways he could die. That might be a little morbid of me.
This was very cute! I definitely wanted to know what other calamities could befall Ben in one day!
My song guess would definitely be “Earth Angel” by The Penguins 1954
Earth Angel is such a good song! It always makes me think of Back to the Future. I’m glad you enjoyed it and I loved thinking of all the ways the calamities to through at him.
That was ADORABLE. These characters are amazing! I love the delightfully sappy dialogue about “what love truly is.” Fantastic job! :D
Thank you so much. That means a lot. Dialogue is something I really enjoy writing. :)
Ha! I can’t help but feel bad for Ben, but I did enjoy the image of him being chased by those dogs.
Yes! The dogs. My sister has two dogs, both sweet, but it is the small chiweenie (chihuahua, wiener dog mix) that I could see doing this before her big softy of a dog. So, he was a little bit of the inspiration.
Haha, Ben should be more careful with what he says! :) Very funny, especially his reaction at the end.
Thank you. Yes, he should be more careful of what he says. :) All things come around.
I really like how it’s not the third but the fourth incident that is the “end”. And will Penny get his meaning? Great story.
Ha ha, I never even thought about it was the fourth and not third time that got him. I was just having too much fun thinking of all the ways he could bite the bullet. Thanks for reading. :)
I’m going to take a stab at this and say the song is Love Hurts by the Everly Brothers.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my story. :)