Chapter Eight
Beryl woke early with a spring in her step and a song in her heart. She didn’t usually wake up that way, but she had something to look forward to today. And his name was Jake Jones.
She’d mapped out the best route to Dark Matter Metal & Leather from the Supernova Supermarket and decided she would just walk over there when his place opened.
It would take fifteen minutes or less and she needed the exercise anyway. Besides, it was a lovely day to walk into downtown Alienn.
When she got to work, there was no growling or grinding from the ice machine with its new motor and that was glorious.
She’d removed the problematic bracket that Jake was reconstructing for her.
Mr. Dobbins had said one night without it wouldn’t hurt anything.
And she really wanted it to be quiet at the front of the store.
Beryl walked through the Supernova Supermarket, checking things out as she did at the start of every day, and found no concerns. There were no irate customers with expired coupons to deal with, for which she was eternally grateful.
And again, that beautiful sound of silence from the front of the store made her realize she’d made the right decision in opting for the new motor. She’d have seven and a half years of promised quiet and that calmed her nerves dramatically.
The rest of Beryl’s morning went much smoother than the previous day. She left for Dark Matter Metal & Leather, giving herself double the time needed to walk there.
She was smart enough to know that she’d likely meet a few townspeople along the way and if the grapevine was alive, as it was every single day, she’d probably get more than one or two questions as she made her way downtown.
Beryl was surprised that she was only stopped once during her journey and that was to give directions to lost tourists in search of the Gamma-Ray Gallery. She pointed the pair in the right direction and kept moving.
Just when she thought she was home free, a voice pulled her back to Earth. Space potatoes.
“Beryl Ashcraft!” Ashleigh Graves shrieked in an excited tone when Beryl was mere steps away from this morning’s destination. “I’m so happy to run into you this morning. How have you been?”
Ashleigh promptly leaned forward, grasped Beryl’s shoulders and air-kissed each side of her face. Beryl found the custom annoying, but endured it, not wanting to cause a scene—make that another scene—that would be fodder for the grapevine she hated.
“Ashleigh,” Beryl managed with quite a bit less enthusiasm.
“I’m well. Thank you for asking.” Beryl purposely didn’t ask how Ashleigh was doing.
It was petty, but not only did she not want to know, she didn’t care.
They’d verbally tussled early in their acquaintance, well before Beryl and her family arrived on Earth.
She clocked their frenemies status back to primary school on Alpha-Prime.
Ashleigh was from a very wealthy and prominent family. She looked every bit the rich, spoiled princess she was on their home planet. Hair, makeup, nails and clothing were, as always, perfect and in the height of fashion.
Beryl wondered why Ashleigh had come to what was considered a backwater planet by some upper-crust factions on Alpha-Prime.
Some days, it felt like she’d come for the sole purpose of aggravating Beryl.
Logically, she knew that was unlikely, since the Graves family had been on Earth for five years, though they visited Alpha-Prime regularly.
Ashleigh was stellar in her efforts to annoy Beryl, layering on as much sugar-coating as possible to every word that exited her mouth. Mostly, she made Beryl weary. They were not, nor would they ever be, friends.
An example of why was that underlying tone every time they spoke of fake sorrow about Beryl’s “unfortunate” circumstances after her groom jilted her at the altar.
Beryl didn’t think they’d had a single conversation that hadn’t included some form of a recap of the worst day of her life since it had happened two years ago.
Ashleigh, of course, had been at the church and witnessed Beryl’s utter and lasting humiliation.
And she never let Beryl forget it. Ever.
“Listen,” Beryl said, “I’m on my way to an appointment, but it was…
nice seeing you.” She took a step away from Ashleigh, intending to continue toward Dark Matter Metal & Leather’s front door, wanting to escape any further conversation with the woman.
Out of the corner of her eye, Beryl thought she saw the door open.
Beryl had known dismissing the woman wouldn’t work, because Ashleigh wasn’t someone who was easily dismissed, no matter what was going on.
If Beryl had been bleeding from the head and attempted to excuse herself to race to the emergency room, she suspected Ashleigh would still want to finish her conversation and express whatever vapid words she had to say.
Today was clearly no exception.
“Now, don’t be rude, Beryl. I just wanted to see how you were doing after your terrible experience of being left at the altar in front of so many of your friends and family.”
Beryl scowled. “That was almost two years ago, Ashleigh. Listen to me and trust me when I tell you—I’m over it! And I’d love it if you never brought that memory up ever again. Am I clear?”
Beryl didn’t know where those angry, totally appropriate words had come from so quickly, but they weren’t a lie. Just unfortunately timed. Ashleigh wasn’t going to let go of her favorite dig at Beryl. Ever. Beryl suppressed a sigh and waited for her frenemy’s reaction.
It didn’t take long.
On cue, Ashleigh’s expression hardened instantly in anger before shaping into a fake hurt look. “Why, that’s so mean, Beryl. As a dear friend, I’m only inquiring after your well-being.”
A hearty laugh came from over Beryl’s shoulder. “You are not only inquiring after her well-being,” Jake said. “You’re the one being mean. Lady, why would you ever bring up a painful subject like that if you are, as you claim, a dear friend?”
Beryl turned to see her savior standing in the open doorway of his business, where it was obvious he’d had no trouble hearing their conversation.
“I beg your pardon,” Ashleigh said with a huff, staring at Jake like she wanted to tear his head off. “Who are you and who invited you into this private conversation?”
“Private? That’s funny. If it’s so private, why are you standing on a public sidewalk having your private conversation?” Jake’s eyebrows rose at Ashleigh, challenging her and earning Beryl’s gratitude from this day forward.
Jake turned to Beryl as if dismissing Ashleigh completely. “Come on in, Beryl. You’re right on time. I have your special request item ready for you.” He stepped out of the doorway and motioned for her to enter.
Beryl turned her back on Ashleigh and walked into Jake’s shop without a backward glance or word of farewell.
It was perhaps rude, but she didn’t care. Jake had rescued her from a difficult conversation and she was grateful to him. And would be forever.
As the door closed, Beryl heard Ashleigh exclaim, “Why, I never!”
“Thank you,” Beryl said.
“You’re welcome.”
“Did you hear everything she said?” Beryl asked, knowing it was only a matter of time before Jake found out about her tragic past. Still, she hadn’t wanted it to be so soon and not from Ashleigh.
He shrugged. “I came in at the point she accused you of being rude, which I knew for a fact couldn’t possibly be true.”
“Well, thank you again. Ashleigh is a real pain in my patootie, as my Aunt Dixie is fond of saying about those people who annoy her.”
Jake laughed, even as a puzzled expression washed down his face. “Pain in the patootie, huh? That’s awesome. I may have to borrow it.”
A grin shaped her mouth. “No problem. Aunt Dixie would love that.”
Jake was nearly beside himself with joy. Being heroic seemed in line with what his gut thought he should do. On top of that, he’d been delighted to stick up for Beryl.
The hateful woman accosting her in front of his store had stomped off angrily after Beryl entered his shop. Good riddance. The look of gratitude Beryl gave him was payment enough and made him glad he’d stepped in.
He eagerly watched for her first impression of Black Matter Metal & Leather. He wasn’t disappointed. She liked it. He could tell.
“I love your shop, Jake,” she said, her gaze darting around the retail space, her smile growing wider with each display space or item she saw.
“Thanks.”
Jake saw Frederick—across the room behind the checkout counter—take note of both Beryl and Jake’s reaction to her when she entered his shop. His smile could have lit up the evening skies to a noon-time radiance.
“Welcome to Dark Matter Metal & Leather,” Frederick said, as he did to all customers.
Beryl slid her gaze in the manager’s direction as she walked further into the store. “Thank you.”
Jake followed at an arm’s length, fearful that if he got too close, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from trying to touch her arm.
Be cool, he said to himself. Once the transaction is complete, you can ask her out.
Frederick circled around from behind the counter, offering his hand to Beryl as she approached. “My name is Frederick Khang. I manage all the wonderful artistic creations Jake produces.”
Beryl glanced around the room again before taking his hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Frederick. I’m Beryl Ashcraft. And, clearly, he is very talented.” She looked over one shoulder and winked at Jake.
Jake was so besotted his mouth almost fell open in surprise.
“Indeed, he is,” Frederick said. “I’m so delighted to make your acquaintance, Beryl because now there’ll be two of us who can convince Jake of how clever and artistic he really is.”
Jake cocked his head to one side, pretending he’d just figured out they were talking about him and his artistic abilities. “I’m glad the two of you have found common ground, even if it is at my expense.”
Frederick returned to his spot behind the counter. “I have your package ready for you, Beryl. Jake worked into the night to finish it for you.”
Beryl smiled at Jake. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to. That noise from your ice machine was exceptionally atrocious yesterday. I needed to do my part to make it stop. And if you need help installing it, I’d be happy to aid you.”
She reached out a hand that he took in his. “Thank you, Jake. I truly appreciate it, but I can put the bracket back in place. I was the one who ripped the old noisy one out.”
“If you’re sure, but if you change your mind, let me know.” She nodded and released his hand to pay for the bracket he had lovingly crafted for her. Truthfully, he would have stayed up all night and into the morning to ensure it was perfect.
Frederick took care of the payment quickly, handing her the package Jake had so carefully wrapped up for her.
With the package cradled in one arm, Beryl turned with a pensive expression on her face. Jake told himself to get it together. Now that the transaction was complete, he could ask her out.
“What are you doing for lunch?” Beryl asked.
He paused only a breath before responding, “Hopefully, eating with you.” The grin that lit up her face was like a flash from an old-timey camera going off, lighting up the room.
“Good. What would you think about a picnic in the park?”
“A picnic?”
Beryl said, “I can pick up everything we need from the Supernova Supermarket and then it’s just a short walk to the park in downtown Alienn. I can meet you halfway between our businesses and we can walk the rest of the way together. What you think?”
“It sounds perfect. I can’t wait. What time would you like to meet?”
“One o’clock would be best for me, after the lunch-time rush we always seem to have at the grocery store.”
Jake nodded, hoping his expression didn’t look as happily goofy as he felt on the inside. “Perfect.” Frederick always took his lunch from eleven to noon so he would be in the shop to deal with the same lunch-time rush they always seemed to have from noon to one.
“Excellent.” Beryl said to the manager, “A pleasure to meet you, Frederick. Hope to see you soon.”
Frederick smiled. “Indeed, it was my pleasure to meet you as well, Beryl.” His gaze shot over her shoulder to Jake when he added, “I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again very soon.”
Beryl slowly walked toward the exit. Jake took a few longs strides to reach it first, opening the door for her. No. He did not usually do that for customers, but Beryl was special. Even his gut agreed.
She left with a wave, saying, “See you at one, Jake.”
As soon as the door closed, Frederick said, “She is perfect for you, Jake. I think the two of you will be very happy together.”
“What makes you say so?”
“Ancient Chinese secret,” he said with a laugh.
“Oh? I thought your ancestors came from South Korea,” Jake said with a smirk.
“My great-grandparents did, but it is clear to me that your new friend Beryl likes you, likes your artistry in this shop, but mostly, she really likes you. And I think that is great.”
Jake shrugged. “I was going to ask her out, but she beat me to it.”
Frederick nodded. “Exactly. Makes me like her even more. She’s a smart one.”
Jake didn’t disagree.