by George Page
What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her, Bart thought. That’s the whole point I suppose.
He sipped his coffee, looking over the outer rim and across the small sidewalk café at her brunette hair being teased by the light breezes. Bart had been watching her for over two hours. Two hours of watching her read her book, write on her pad, and sip her Chai Tea.
This is what she did: Read, write, sip, repeat.
The only interruption of his vigil was from the cheerful, but hesitant waitress filling his cup at regular intervals. Her first attempts at conversation had dwindled to just helpful quiet service. Not because of anything he said – he was courteous – but more from an unexplainable feeling that prompted her to be seen rather than heard.
As two o’clock approached, Bart began looking more often at his watch. He had also noticed several of his “co-workers” walking by. It was getting close to being “that time.”
Read, write, sip, repeat.
He watched the girl pause her little routine to look at a watch in her purse. She looked surprised at the time and began packing up her things. She stood and stretched, picked up her bag, and turned from the table. Bart got up from his chair, but quickly sat down again when she turned back to put some money on the table.
Whoops, he thought. She almost saw me there.
She turned to leave, then exasperatedly came back to pick up her purse. This time Bart only got half-way up before dropping back into his chair. Ok, Bart thought, third time’s the charm, right? She went back to pick up her pen, then again to leave the tip, and again for her tea. Each time suckered Bart almost to standing. Sixth time the charm? Do your part, girl, so I can do mine.
This is what they did: Stand, return, sit, repeat.
Finally she stopped and mentally collected herself before leaving the table. She caught sight of Bart – poised expectantly in his chair – and smiled. Panic flitted briefly across his face at first, but then he smiled sheepishly back. I might be in trouble, Bart thought.
She appeared to be having a mental debate. She turned and turned back several times. Apparently she reached a conclusion and walked over. He was finally able to stand up all the way. Yep, I’m in trouble.
“Hi!” she said and glanced around searching for something else to say. “Uh, how’s the coffee?”
“It’s, it’s pretty good,” he answered nervously.
“May I join you?” she asked.
Oh no. “Of course,” he said with chagrin.
“Is this okay?” she asked when he was seated.
“No, no. I mean, of course. I was just, um…”
“Because you seem kind of anxious,” she said.
“I do?” Bart asked as he looked up at two of his co-workers standing on the corner, staring at him in open-mouthed astonishment.
“You do,” she said. “Are you waiting for someone?”
“No, not anymore.”
“Not anymore? Won’t she be mad?” she asked.
“No, there is no she.”
“No she? I find that hard to believe.”
“Well, thank you,” he said.
“So you’re sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. Really. I was just enjoying the day.”
“Good,” she said and smiled at him for a moment.
Bart thought furiously. How do I do this with her sitting right here? She’s not supposed to be sitting here. She’s supposed to be walking down the sidewalk right now. What do I do?
“So, um, you write a lot?” he asked while eyeing his co-workers at the corner. They had been joined by a young man. The conversation looked serious and all three kept looking over at the table.
“Just scribbles and notes…my journal,” she answered bashfully.
Bart watched the young man leave the others at the corner to approach the table. He looked up at his co-worker and said, “Hello, Josh.”
She turned around to see who he was talking to. “Hi!” she said.
“Uh, hi,” the man answered, a bit disconcerted.
Seeing the man’s discomfort, Bart spoke up. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Josh, this is…this is, uh…”
“Jennifer,” she said.
“Nice to meet you,” Joshua said, adding a restrained bow before turning back to Bart. “Bartholomew, this probably isn’t the best time to bring this up…”
Bart interrupted. “Should we be talking about our work? Here?” he asked, nodding at Jennifer. “In present company, I mean?”
Josh shrugged helplessly. “I heard you’re having trouble with your, ah…latest account.”
Bart leaned back in his chair. “That’s true, Josh. Bad news travels pretty fast, eh?”
“It can,” Josh answered in a way that made him seem ancient despite his youthful face. “It does, and…it did.”
“Everything will be fine,” Bart said, not very convincingly. “I think. What do you think, Josh?”
“I’m not sure either. It’s not your normal everyday problem,” Josh said, looking thoughtfully at Jennifer.
“What are the bosses thinking?” asked Bart.
“I don’t know.”
“So you just came over to see how you could help out?”
“Yeah, something like that,” Josh answered.
“Do you think you could check into things and get back to me?” Bart asked.
“Sure, but be careful, Bart. These kinds of deals don’t turn out well, or at least they don’t turn out like you expect. I know. Really, I know.”
“I know you know,” Bart said. “Just see what you can find out.” Despite everything, he felt calm now. The higher-authorities were going to be in on this. He could relax a bit.
“Will do,” Josh said. “Jennifer, it was nice to meet you.” He offered another little bow then left.
“You too,” she called after him then turned back to Bart and gave him a pointed look.
“Everything will be fine,” Bart said, again not very convincingly.
After staring him down for a moment, Jennifer pursed her lips and said, “Well, then I just have one question for you. Your name is really Bartholomew?” A flash of a devilish smile then her demeanor was bubbly again.
Bart chuckled and sipped his coffee. “Yes, but you can call me Bart.”
She sighed. “If you have to go that’s fine,” she said. “I mean, I don’t want to keep you from anything important.”
“Thank you, but you’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
“I’m being serious!” she protested.
“I am too. I know that as soon as we get up from this table I will have to go back to work. I’m not even sure what I need to do at this point.”
She paused then asked, “So, what kind of business are you in?”
“Well, I’m in acquisitions…of a sort.”
“Acquisitions and mergers? How exciting!”
“Nope, just acquisitions. Mergers are another department,” he replied.
“Just acquisitions? How exciting!”
“Heh, thanks,” he said.
“And that allows you to have long coffee dates with strangers?”
“Well, this is a first actually.”
“So normally you’re a workaholic?” she asked.
“Yeah, something like that.”
She paused to sip her Chai Tea and something caught her eye. Puzzled, she looked around. People were staring, but not at her.
“Hey. You’re getting a lot of attention,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“That’s so…weird,” she said, peering at a waiter who was staring at Bart. “Everyone keeps looking at you.”
“Really?” he asked calmly.
She watched a man at a nearby table, a woman in her car, and a couple standing at the corner. They were looking, watching, with blank expressions.
“But…it’s strange.”
“Strange looks?”
“Yes. I mean no…” She trailed off, lost in thought.
“Yeah, well you did too if you’ll remember.” His voice distracted her and brought her mind back to the table.
Then she realized what he had just said. “I didn’t give you a strange look!”
“But it was a look,” Bart teased.
“Touché,” she said with a smile.
This is what they did: Quip, laugh, sip, repeat.
Their empty cups had been replaced twice by the time Joshua returned to the table.
“Hey, Josh. What did you find out? Am I in trouble?” Bart asked.
“Nah, the account is fine and will play out. There’s nothing extra to be done on your part.”
“What about me, Josh?” Jennifer asked. “Am I in trouble?”
“Yes. If you keep hanging around with this guy, that is,” Josh said.
“Thanks, Josh, thanks for that,” Bart said sarcastically. “Don’t you have to be, I don’t know, somewhere else, maybe?”
“Be nice,” Jennifer said.
“Thank you, Jennifer,” Josh said. “So you’re good for now, Bart?”
“Yeah, I can handle it from here. Thanks for checking for me.”
“No problem,” Josh replied. “You kids have fun. I’ll see you around.”
“Well, he seems like a good guy,” she said after Joshua had walked away.
“Something like that.”
“Well, it was nice of him to cover for you anyway.”
“He did give us some extra time,” Bart mused.
“Hey, what time is it, anyway?” she asked with a jolt.
“Almost four,” Bart said.
“Oh, shoot! I’ve got to go! I hate to, but I really have to run. I’m sorry.” She pulled a pen out of her purse and wrote on a napkin. “Here’s my number. Call me tonight and let me know how it went with your account.” She looked up at him and noticed a sad look in his eyes. “That is, if you want to, I mean.”
“Of course I want to,” he said as the sadness vanished.
Bart watched her hurriedly gather her things. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay longer? We could get some scones or something,” he said.
“Ooh scones! You really know how to tempt a girl,” she said. “It was really good meeting you.”
He stood up when she did. “I’m glad you came over to talk to me.”
“Me too,” Jennifer said as she walked away. “You better call me!”
He waved slowly, watching her get close to the end of the block. She looked so happy, he thought.
“Well…” he muttered. “I guess it’s about that time.”
She looked back when she reached the intersection. She was pleased to see him still watching her. His smile had faded though, and the sad expression stayed in place this time. Why is he so sad? She thought as she walked off the curb onto the crosswalk.
Her first step in the street was jolting. She looked down to see if her heel had broken when she felt someone grab her shoulder. She felt a full-body yank and time stopped. She gaped at a bird suspended above her, at people frozen in the act of walking. She frantically looked around the still and silent world.
This is what she did: Look, gasp, repeat.
Jennifer turned to see who had grabbed her. There was a serene Bart standing behind her, his hand on her shoulder.
“Bart?” Her voice was loud and strange with the absence of all other sound. “What’s going on? Bart, I’m scared.”
“Don’t be. Everything is fine.”
“Fine? Everything is not fine! Look around you!” Jennifer started pointing. “Look at the cars! Look at the p…” She stopped as she realized that not all of the frozen people were actually frozen. Here and there she saw men walking, standing and watching, or talking to each other. She saw Josh across the street conversing with a taller man with shocking blond hair. Josh paused when he noticed her looking at them. He smiled and waved. For some reason she felt reassured.
“Bart, I don’t understand.”
“I’m taking care of my account.”
“Your account? You mean me?”
“Look,” he said and pointed at the street behind her.
Jennifer could see the back of someone that wasn’t there a moment ago. It was a young woman in the crosswalk…about to be hit by a car. It took a second for Jennifer to realize that she was the girl. She looked down at herself, then at her double frozen in the street.
“Oh,” she said.
“Relax,” Bart said, turning her back around. “Things are about to get much, much better.”
“So you…what are you?” she asked.
He grinned. “I think you know.”
“And they? Are they…”
“Yup.”
“Josh too?”
“Joshua too.”
“But you said you were in acquisitions!”
“Acquisitions of a sort, is what I said.”
“So what happens now?” she asked.
“Come on. I’ll show you.”
This is what he does: Stop, explain, guide.
Repeat.
© 2010 George Page
Original fiction debuting at Residential Aliens.
Tags: George Page, short story, speculative, spiritual fantasy