Confrontations

Angela makes a few enemies. How will it all turn out?

    It had been a few weeks since Gustafa had informally declared his love for me.  At least, that's how I perceived things.  I still hurried through my farm chores so I could visit Gustafa, but I always spent plenty of quality time with Trouble.  My little puppy had already grown quite a bit, and he took his guard dog responsibilities seriously. 

    I was just walking out of the barn when I heard Trouble barking furiously.  Was there an intruder on the farm?  Trouble was doing his best to sound ferocious, even though he was still just a puppy.  I heard a high-pitched scream, so I started running toward the disturbance.  As I rounded the corner, I saw that Trouble had someone cornered up against the tool shed.  The sobbing woman was Muffy, the waitress at the Blue Bar.  She had a bubbly, outgoing personality, which made her a good waitress.  Muffy had a curvy figure, long, wavy blonde hair, and pale green eyes.   When I first moved to town, I had been impressed by her beauty, but then I realized how shallow she was.  "Trouble, come!" I commanded and my puppy obeyed with only a slight hesitation.  Nami's training techniques were working very well.  "Are you all right, Muffy?" I asked the nearly hysterical woman.  "Oh Angela, he attacked me!  I was so scared!  I thought I was going to die!" she wailed.  Goddess! What a drama queen!  When I didn't seem to be reacting with the proper amount of sympathy, Muffy tried a different tactic.  "I came by to show you my new dress and shoes, and that horrible dog ruined them both!" she said in a miffed tone.  I looked at her new outfit and nearly burst out laughing.  Muffy had come to visit me, on a farm, after a rainstorm, wearing a skin-tight red dress and matching high heels.  Honestly, what was she thinking?  There are puddles everywhere and she's blaming Trouble for getting her muddy?   "Trouble was just doing his job, guarding the farm.  It isn't his fault you walked in here wearing such a ridiculous outfit." I scolded her.  Muffy's pretty face contorted in anger for a moment at my 'ridiculous outfit' comment.  Then she seemed to change her mind and her mood, and stated, "But short skirts and high heels make my legs look good."  I couldn't believe how self-centered Muffy was.  And to think I was actually attracted to her when I first met her. I told her that the next time she wanted to visit, she should wear older clothes.  I escorted her off the farm as quickly as possible.

   I watched Muffy walk back toward the Blue Bar, on much drier ground.  I sighed in exasperation, then turned back to Trouble and gave him a big hug.  "Good boy, Trouble!  You can sense a dumb blonde a mile away, can't you?"  I cooed as I tickled his tummy.  A familiar voice interrupted my playful mood.  "Peace, sister.  It's a beautiful morning." Gustafa greeted me as he walked toward my farm.  "Peace, sister?  You're such a damn hippie." I snorted.  "But I like you that way.  Don't ever change, Gustafa." my tone softened and a wistful smile played across my lips.  Gustafa, always sensitive to the moods of others, noticed my caring look.  "Um Angela, I was wondering if you would like to go for a walk with me?" Gustafa asked, looking unusually flustered.  I told Trouble to guard the farm, and Gustafa and I walked up to Goddess Pond together. 

    Gustafa settled himself in a patch of soft grass and wildflowers.  The grass was still a bit damp, but it didn't bother me as I sat next to Gustafa.  It was turning out to be a beautiful day.  The trees, grass and flowers seemed freshly washed and bright from the rain last night.  The birds were singing and the sun was sparkling off the river next to us.    Gustafa played more of his song about the magic apple and the dwarf. The melody filled the air around us and seemed to become a part of me.  I felt like he was expressing his love for me with this song.  It was unusual and beautiful, just like Gustafa.

    I slowly walked back to the farm, not wanting to leave Gustafa, but I knew I had more farm chores to do.  After he finished his song, I had thanked him and kissed him gently on the cheek.  Gustafa had grinned from ear to ear as I headed off down the hill.  I smiled at the memory, but was startled by a harsh voice saying "Why are you hanging out with that ugly toad?"  Surprised, I looked up to see Rock standing nearby, leaning nonchalantly against a tree.  "What ugly toad?" I asked, genuinely puzzled.  "I'm talking about Gustafa, stupid.  He's ugly and he dresses funny.  Besides, everyone knows I'm the best looking guy in town." Rock added as if it were obvious.  "Did you just call me stupid?" I asked in a dangerous tone.  Rock suddenly looked very uncomfortable.  "You know what?  Gustafa is a wonderful, caring, talented man.  Don't you dare insult him!"  I added with venom.  To my surprise, Rock actually stood his ground in the face of my anger.  Rock was either very brave or very stupid.  I voted for stupid.  "Talent can only get you so far in life.  With that bird beak of a nose and those outdated clothes, he'll never get anywhere in life." Rock stated with a smug little smile on his face.  I was so angry and shocked, that I didn't say anything for a moment.  How does this little jerk always end up making me speechless?  Rock gave me what he thought was his most charming smile and smoothly said, "If you're nice to me, I might actually go out with you."  The nerve of this guy!  Never being the ladylike type, I balled up my fist and punched Rock in the face.  He fell backward and landed in a puddle, which secretly thrilled me.  The white pants he habitually wore were now filthy.  Rock was clutching at his bleeding face with a look of such surprise, it was comical.  "What did you do that for?" he whined through his broken nose.  "I thought your nose needed some improvement."  I replied tersely, and walked away.

 

   My anger slowly evaporated as I went about my farm chores and played with Trouble.  When evening came, I was in a wonderful mood again as I walked to Gustafa's yurt.  It was now routine to spend the evenings sitting outside his yurt listening to his music.  Gustafa could play several different instruments and had already treated me to the guitar, the bongos, and a few others I'd never even heard of before.  Sometimes, Gustafa would ask Nami and I to sing along with him.  I had a decent singing voice and, once I overcame my initial shyness, I happily joined in.  We never could get Nami to sing with us, but she still seemed to enjoy the music and company.  Tonight, Nami looked uncomfortable and decided to leave early.  Gustafa looked worried, but I told him she probably just wasn't feeling well.  I stayed a little longer, because we were both having such a good time.  I finally had to say goodnight, since I had to get up early to take care of the farm chores.  Gustafa routinely stayed up until midnight working on songs, but I "got up with the chickens" as the expression goes. 

    I headed back home, watching where I was walking since there was only a thin crescent moon to light the way.  I was so focused on my feet, that I nearly jumped out of my skin when someone hissed "Stay away!"  A person stepped out of the shadows and blocked my path.  Am I going to get mugged?  Who is this person?  "Wh-who are you?" I stammered.  The figure stepped closer and I realized it was Nami.  "You scared me half to death, Nami!  What's wrong with you?" I asked tersely. "I want you to stay away from Gustafa." she said.  "Gustafa is my...friend and I like listening to his music, but not when you're there." she snapped testily.  Then, to my surprise, she added, "You were being nice to me just to get to him, weren't you?" I was shocked beyond belief but tried to explain, "But Nami, I..." She interrupted me with a glare and said, "I don't want to hear any excuses!  Just stay away!"  She stormed off into the night, leaving me there to sort out my tangled emotions.  Why wouldn't she let me explain?  I wanted to chase after her and tell her that I spent time with Gustafa in the evenings because she was there too.  It was the only time Nami seemed to let her guard down. I had actually seen her smile a few times during our evening music sessions.  I sighed and trudged home in absolute misery.

   

Author's Note

I've always wanted to punch Rock. He's such a jerk. It felt really, really good to write this. :-)