![]() Rainy Day Out -part 3A Story by MarkAndTheOcean![]() A little short story about a woman and her man during a rainy day.![]() Characters: -Paula Porter -AGE 24 -Richard Rhodes -AGE 28 -3:10PM-
The two were browsing around some
bookshop downtown, it was actually a place Richard came by a lot whenever he
was in the city. He was looking at some books here and there, walking around
with his hands in his pockets while Paula was reading magazines. They got
inside the store just as the rain began to pour outside, it wasn’t windy, but
it came down hard. The store was busy with plenty of
people roaming around; some of them old, but mostly young. They were chatting
amongst themselves while speakers in the store were playing some of the current
radio hits. He thought that things were getting better since he got her the
coffee but as soon as they got into the store, she became quiet and distant
again. She was reading magazines silently while still wearing her sunglasses
with a blank expression, maybe closer to a frown. When she made her way to the
magazine section, Richard wandered off on his own and made his way around the
place, looking around at books and various other things the store had. The whole walk over didn’t fly by
his head, the way she had been acting this morning had been picking away at
Richard and her aloofness in the bookshop hadn’t helped the situation. He
figured he would just give her a little space for now before reattempting
talking to her. Sure, she seemed happy with her coffee, but Richard wasn’t too
sure about that, so he did his best to carefully walk with caution when
speaking to her. She was also still no doubt a little pissed off at Jean for
her little show that morning, even though she tried to keep cool about
things like that, Paula had a habit of getting jealous. It was about half an hour before Richard
slowly made his way back to his girlfriend, hoping things have warmed up a bit
since he left. She was standing there in the same spot in front of a shelf of
magazines, the only difference is that she was reading a different one and she
had since taken off her grey coat, having it draped over her arm as she read.
Her sunglasses were still on, as well as her blank expression. Richard, hands
tucked in his jean pockets, took a deep breath and made his way towards her. “Whatcha reading?” Richard asked
nonchalantly. “Rolling Stone, there’s an
article in here about Jim Morrison.” Paula explained., not looking at him. He
was already off to a great start. Even though she was trying to
preoccupy herself with reading about some of her favorite things, her mind was
still a bit bothered by crap from earlier. “What band was he in?” Richard
asked, taking a stab at it. “The Doors.” Paula answered,
genuinely surprised. Sometimes she forgot that not everybody listened to 60s
rock and roll. “They were huge.” “What did he sing?” Paula started rattling off song
titles. “Light My Fire, The End, People Are Strange…” “They still making music now?”
Richard asked. “Nope. He died in 1971, he was
twenty-seven.” “Oh wow.” “Heroin.” “Very fun.” Richard chuckled. “What
else is in there?” Paula shrugged. “Mostly new album
reviews and some political junk.” “Any good albums?” “They all suck.” “You say that about everything.”
Richard chuckled. Paula just looked over at Richard
and gave him that look she gave Jean earlier that morning, sticking her tongue
in her check with her mouth open, it looked weirder with her sunglasses on. She was a weird chick. “Have you been listening to any new
music?” He asked. “Not really.” Paula replied. “Any new books? TV shows?” “Not really.” Paula shrugged. They stood there looking at
magazines for a while, there were attempts at small talk, but Paula wasn’t
having much of it. “Are you enjoying your day so far?”
Richard asked a little playfully. Paula just shrugged and kept reading
and all she said was “I guess”. Richard just chuckled a bit, trying to ignore
her lackluster response. He shouldn’t let it bother him, all they did was grab
some coffee and walked around the city for a few hours. He was still optimistic
that things will get better after they get some real food in them and finally
go back to the apartment and relax without the noise and clutter of other
people around them. Not to mention that he was pretty tired from the last week
of working and the drive to the city took a few hours, so that didn’t help his body
much. Even if Paula was still in a bad mood and he had to spend the night on
the couch, he wouldn’t care as long as he can finally get some much-needed
sleep. Getting some sleep with her
would be infinitely better, but he would have to see how the rest of the day
goes before he can think about something like that. Mostly everyone in the bookshop had
a dull or reserved look on their faces, there were people chatting with friends
but aside from them everyone that was alone had a quiet and somewhat detached
demeaner. It wasn’t too uncommon in bookstores; people just want to look at
books in peace and quiet sometimes. “People look so sad in the city…”
Paula mused as she looked around. “What do you mean?” “They look sad, they got sad
expressions…” Paula said as her eyes darted around until she spotted a man
standing by himself, leaning against a bookshelf staring off into the distance,
lost in thought. He was a middle-aged man, nothing really popped out in his appearance
aside from his dull expression and the white box he held under his arm tied
with some string. “Like him.” Richard looked at the man Paula was
speaking about and took a moment to analyze him. “It doesn’t matter what you look
like.” He finally said, causing Paula to look at him. “What?” Paula was confused. “It doesn’t matter what you look
like, it’s what’s inside that matters.” Richard clarified. “How so?” Now she was curious. “Okay, say he has a mean looking
face, right?” Richard began. “But unless you know what he’s thinking, it don’t
make any real difference. Maybe he’s got a teddy bear in that box and he’s
heading home to his sick daughter to cheer her up, despite the fact he might
look mean he might have a good heart. Or maybe he’s a terrorist with a box full
of dynamite and he’s going to blow up a police station, either way, he can
still have the same face.” “Oh…” Paula nodded a bit,
considering his words. Richard placed his hands on her
shoulders and gently turned her attention towards someone else, a cute girl
standing on the opposite side of the store with a smile on her face as she
talks to a friend. “See that girl?” “Yes.” “How does she look?” “She looks happy.” “Alright, why do you say that?” “She has a smile plastered on her
face.” “Okay, but just like that sad old
man, she might be hiding her true emotions too. She might be smiling with her
friend and even though she might be happy with her, there is also the chance
that she hates her, she’s just hiding it with her smile.” “Hmm…” Paula nodded. “Maybe she is a kind and honest
girl or maybe she’s a…” Richard thought about his words for a minute. “Maybe
she’s a skank.” “A skank?” Paula looked at him in
surprise. “Such a harsh word.” “I thought of a few other words a
lot worse than that.” “You have a dirty mind.” Paula
lectured with an unapproving look on her face. “Yeah, but I try to have a clean
mouth.” Richard chuckled. Paula rolled her eyes and shook her
head at his response, looking away and considered what he told her. “People can be hiding all sorts of
things in their mind, from others and sometimes from themselves.” Richard said
absentmindedly, sometimes he said things without thinking. Paula thought about his words for a
bit, becoming quiet for a minute. Richard took notice of this and slowly became
uncomfortable with the awkward silence between the two. “What are we doing?” She asked out
of nowhere, catching Richard off guard. He didn’t really know how to respond. “What do you mean?” “Like, what are we doing all of this
for?... What’s the point of it?” He didn’t say anything, he just
waited for her to continue, not really wanting to make matters worse than they
already might be. Paula didn’t fully realize the things that she was saying,
nor did she pick up on her boyfriend’s obvious awkwardness. When you get lost
in thought sometimes you block out the rest of the world, something that Paula
had a habit of doing from time to time. “I mean… If a person isn’t happy,
then why should they accept it?” “Where did this come from?” Richard
asked bluntly, trying to get to the root of all of this. “I don’t know…” Paula answered,
looking away and crossing her arms. “I guess when you were talking about how
people kind hide their true emotions…” Richard did say anything for a few
seconds, thinking carefully about his next words and at the same time trying to
size up the situation. After the whole coffee thing, it felt like he walked
from one minefield into another. “Who’s to say these people aren’t
happy?” “I’m not talking about these
people, just people in general I guess.” Paula shrugged. The tension was beginning to be
unbearable. He tried being direct again, but he knew full well that it was
risky. He had no idea what she was thinking behind those black sunglasses. “Is this… coming from somewhere?” He almost regretted the words as
they left his mouth because Paula became visibly uncomfortable. Her eyes
narrowed more, her mouth held what looked like a small frown, her arms tightened,
and her chest heaved a bit as she sighed. Richard didn’t show it but he was a
little on the edge, not a lot, but enough to make him hold his breath as he
waited for her response. After what seemed like forever, she
finally talked. “No, not at all.” That was all she
said as she began to walk away, away from the magazines and away from him.
He watched as she made her way past some people and deeper into the store. What is wrong with her? He wondered as he stole a glance
of her, trying to figure out what just happened as he walked in the opposite
direction, making his way around the store again. The day was just one thing
after another. Unbeknownst to them, someone happened
to be watching them from afar as they had their little talk, a girl with
strawberry blonde hair.
- Richard was walking around the
bookshop, trying to sort out his thoughts and relax his mind as he looked
around at all the various books on the shelves, glancing once in a while at
some of the people in the store. Maybe she’s starting to feel bad
about this long-distance relationship,
he thought. No! That can’t be it, it’s been like a couple weeks since we’ve
seen each other! I think… He stopped and thought about how
long it was since he last saw her, they talked on the phone from time to time,
and that was enough for Richard, in person was always better but he can manage.
But could she? Then he thought about her music and
her friends and other interests and all the things they didn’t have in common.
He always felt like an odd man out when he was at one of her hot spots and
around her friends, but he didn’t mind and above all he felt like he was sort
of getting along. As best as I can, he thought as he scratched his
head, it’s not like I’m gonna bend backwards for them. He doesn’t try to force her into
any of his own interests, which sounds rude but really, he didn’t have too many
interests to begin with. He liked music just fine, not like her but they could
sit in the apartment or drive around the city listening to it. He liked
television but she wasn’t huge on it, she wasn’t too big on the shows he liked,
mostly Baywatch or Seinfeld. He liked going to the park, playing
a few sports or just walking around the city and exploring some new places,
mostly restaurants. He browsed around at various books
on the shelf. Books were fine, but he mostly read the same stuff while Paula
mostly liked art books and magazines. He mostly liked fiction, short stories
mostly, mainly because he could never really invest a whole week reading a book
full of more than a couple hundred pages. Maybe one of these books had the
answer to his problems, but his mind was too mixed-up to consider that. Something wasn’t right with Paula,
his mind started to instantly get flooded with clues and hints about the
situation. She’s an artsy girl, he thought, she probably wants to fly
away to some university or Nashville or whatever. Richard began putting
together pieces that weren’t there as he absent-mindedly walked through the
book isles. After a minute he closed his eyes and shook his head in
frustration, trying to clear away any paranoid thoughts in his mind to bring
him some relief. Unfortunately, he didn’t notice a
small table full of books on his side that he accidently walked in to, knocking
over some hardcovers onto the ground. Richard was shaken out of his thoughts as
he looked around and quickly bent over to pick up some books that fell off. “Goddammit…” He grumbled as he picked
them up. While he was doing all of this, he
heard a couple of giggles from a little bit away. He looked over to see two
cute redheads standing at another aisle, one with long wavy hair and the other
with a shorter pixie-cut. Both were cute, both were slender, and both were
smiling at him. The long haired one gave him a wink and bit her lower lip,
causing the pixie-cut to shush her playfully and pull her away, both still
giggling and looking back at him over their shoulders as the disappeared down
the aisles. Richard was dumbfounded as he stood
up and groaned as he slapped the last book down on the table. “First the blonde this morning and
now two redheads in a bookstore…” He grumbled to himself, hands on his hips.
“Where were all these girls when I wasn’t dating somebody?” He shook his head as he walked
away, still grumbling to himself. “I come to this place how many times
these last few years and where the hell have they been?” The world can be cruel sometimes.
- This time it was Paula wandering
around the bookshop as she tried to relax her mind, absentmindedly passing by
all sorts of books and a few people as she walked down the aisles, passing by
some giggling redheads along the way. As she got deeper into the store, she
began to notice the noise a lot more with people talking and her noticing the
somewhat annoying trendy music being played on the shop’s radio. God, the music is annoying… She thought, then she mentally
kicked herself. Richard was right, she thought everything sucks. As time passed by, she stopped
walking and thought about what she said to her boyfriend, the words finally
sinking into her mind. Christ, why did I say that stuff? The thoughts
were running through her head a mile a second. It was sounding like I’m
suicidal or something! She stood there in between two
bookshelves, messaging her temples trying to relax. She knew how she was
feeling, and she knew that she was doing a crappy job at hiding it today from
everyone, especially him. “I just don’t want to tell him… I
really don’t want to tell anybody…” She said to herself, trying to sort out her
thoughts and calm herself down. “Feeling alright, Paula?” Came a
voice from nowhere. This snapped Paula back into
reality as she spun around to see where the voice came from. Standing behind of
her was the strawberry-blonde girl that was watching them earlier, Tambourine
Jane. Her hair was long, wavy and beautiful, complementing her lovely natural features,
with a pair of aviators sitting atop her head in her hair. She had on a loose dark
orange long-sleeved blouse with ruffled ends, baggy tan boho pants, sandals and
a leather purse. The strap slung over her chest as the purse hung carelessly on
her side with a worn-out jean jacket draped on it. Her hands had various gold
and silver rings, she had many bracelets on both of her wrists as well as a few
beaded necklaces around her neck with one of those black hippie chokers. She
also had a golden cross earing dangling from her left ear, it shined in the
light. She was a very flashy girl. One of her most defining features
was her eyes, her eyes were bright and playful but also had a worn-out sense to
them, they were eyes that have stayed up for far too long for far too many
nights. Paula had eyes that shared that same trait. Jane pulled Paula into a kind hug
as she smiled lovingly. “Hello, Jane, where’s your
tambourine?” Paula teased as she took off her sunglasses. Jane was an old
friend and former roommate, as well as a bandmate from time to time. She was
better known as “Tambourine Jane” because of her affinity for the instrument,
which she usually carried around. “I left it at home, it was such a dreary
day that I didn’t feel the need to carry it since I’m not gonna bother standing
outside to play it, even if it might get me an expresso at Starbucks.”
Jane laughed. Those were a few things her and
Jane shared in common, Starbucks and music. Although, those weren’t much
to build a decent friendship off of. Sure, they genuinely enjoyed each other’s
company, but Jane’s style of music was more free spirited and easy going while
Paula preferred to put more work and dedication into hers, something they would
often clash over. Most of the time it wasn’t really about the music with Jane,
she just seemed like a girl that wanted to have a fun time, hopping around from
place to place and band to band, earning her both a loving but sometimes questionable
reputation. “It’s been a while, how have you
been?” Jane asked kindly. “It’s only been a week, Jane, but
I’ve been doing well. How about you?” “I’ve been doing fine, same, same.”
Jane chuckled. “Getting by on the skin of my teeth, like always.” “Like always.” Paula mused,
remembering her days living with Jane. “What are you doing today?” “Not too much, just hanging
around.” Jane chuckled. “I was at the KingsGarden Mall this morning with some
of the girls, just having fun and passing time on the west side.” “How did you get there? Did you
take the bus?” Paula asked. “We all hopped in Kennedy’s car to
get to the mall, but I took the bus back home.” “How come?” “Just felt like it.” “The bus is awful.” “At times, no bums today though.”
Jane sighed as she continued. “So, I just came back home for a bit before
getting bored and heading out again.” “Good, good.” Paula nodded, half
paying attention as she leaned against a bookshelf. “Then I came to the bookshop and
saw you chatting with some boy and it’s been a bit since I talked to you, so
here I am!” Jane smiled, biting her bottom lip as she gave Paula the jazz-hands,
her bracelets jingling as she did this. “Cute.” Paula deadpanned with a
small smirk. “Sooooo, who was that
guy you were talking too? Someone new?” She smirked. “He’s my boyfriend.” “That was your
boyfriend?” Jane was surprised. “The one you talked about before?” “Yep, we’ve been
dating for a bit.” “Does he live in the
city?” “Naw, a few towns
over. He’s visiting for a few days.” “Ohhhhh, well that’s nice… Gonna
have some fun?” Jane gave Paula a mischievous smile, hands on her hips as
wiggled them a bit. Paula shook her head
and chuckled. “Yeah, yeah…” “Well that’s good
then…” Paula inhaled a bit and cracked her
back; she was wondering what time it was and where Richard was. She wasn’t
really that ready to talk to Jane again, hoping to do it in a few days after
Richard left and when she was hopefully feeling better. “Been up to much?” Jane asked,
cutting through her thoughts unpleasantly. Paula took a second to think of a
decent response, she didn’t really want to tell her about her life the past
week. “Not too much, just been around and such.” “Doing what?” “Sorting out stuff, spending my
free time at home.” Paula said, not really giving much. “Just hanging out?” Jane chuckled. “Yes.” Paula said bluntly, she
wanted the conversation to end already. “Everyone’s been worried about
you.” “Why?” Paula already knew. “Because you just left.” “I explained why I was leaving.” “Not really… You were just acting
all mopey the last few weeks and suddenly you just grabbed your stuff and
decided you were going to quit! I can’t believe what happened!” “Nothing much happened…”
Paula said, crossing her arms. “You got in a fight
with everyone and left the band!” She stood strong with her hands on her hips. “It’s not the first
time I left a band.” “But it came out of
nowhere! What’s been on your mind?” “Nothing…” “Your family okay?” “Yes.” “Things okay with
Jean?” “Yes.” Jane thought for a
minute. “How’s that boyfriend
of yours?” She asked. “He’s… good.” Paula
answered, caught a bit off guard. Jane saw this. “Just good?” Jane
raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, what’s it to you?” Paula was
getting defensive; she didn’t like the idea of Jane prying into her love life.
She did that a lot. “Nothing, I just never
met him before…” “I think you did once…”
“Well, I didn’t remember what he
looked like… He’s pretty handsome though.” Jane commented with a giggle. “Thanks.” Paula
deadpanned. There she goes again. “He doesn’t seem like
the type you would date.” “What does that
mean?” “Well… you used to
date more… artsy kind of guys.” “What?” Paula spat. “He looks more…” Jane
thought of the best way to say it. “Rough.” “Rough?” Paula was
puzzled, getting a bit annoyed. “Not a bad rough,
just a working-man rough.” Jane shrugged. “How do you know he’s not artsy?”
Paula’s eyes narrowed. “Sometimes there’s more to a person than how they look.”
Richard’s words ringing through her mind. Jane was quiet for a minute,
feeling a little guilty as she stared at her feet. Then, she tilted up her head
and looked at Paula eye to eye. “Is he?” Paula looked away for
a moment. “No…” “So, why are you with
him?” “I like him…” “How so?” “I don’t know.” Paula
shrugged. “Didn’t you used to say
he was gone most of the time?” Paula just shrugged. “Are things alright
with you two?” “I don’t know…” Paula shrugged
thinking about their day together, but then turned her face towards Jane again.
“What’s it to ya?” “Nothing! Just some people were…
kinda worried about you…” “Why?” “Because of the band thing. What
about your music?” “Well, there’s a lot more going on
in my life than just my music, Jane.” “You didn’t think like that
before.” “Well, people… slowly change over
time…” “Not you.” She was really getting agitated
now, Paula’s fuse was getting short. “How would you know? You were always
bumming around with the other girls, sleeping around in basements and on raggy
couches.” “You did too!” Jane barked back. “Yeah, but I got tired of it,
that’s why I grew up and got a job!” “You hate waitressing!” “At least it’s a real job!” “Some job!” Jane huffed. “Well, maybe I’ll get a better one…”
Paula huffed, not making eye contact with Jane as her eyes drifted away. “Sure, you will.” Jane scoffed. “Better than playing a tambourine
on the streets for coins, living in crammed up houses or rubbing up against
some cokeheads for a place to sleep!” Paula barked. “Screw you!” Jane spat back, flipping
the bird. The two just stood there, not
looking at each other. After a minute of silence, Paula felt a little sorry. “I
didn’t mean that cokehead comment.” “Well, thank you.” Jane huffed. While the girls were talking,
Richard was making his way around the corner when he spotted them. He saw Paula
talking to some girl he didn’t know, it didn’t really surprise him that she
would run into somebody at the bookshop, she wasn’t exactly a socialite, but
she knew plenty of people in the city. Well, a hell of a lot more than him
that’s for sure. The girl had wavy strawberry-blonde
hair and looked pretty cute, he guessed that maybe they were already friends,
mainly because of her sort of bohemian kind of clothing. He walked towards the
two girls, curious to know who the strange girl was. As he got closer though,
he noticed that Paula looked a little tense and agitated from the way she was
standing and talking to the girl. Now Richard really wanted to
know who the strange girl was. Paula noticed Richard coming up
from behind of Jane, she was both glad he was back and dreading him meeting her. “Hello. Paula, who’s your friend?”
Richard asked politely, looking at the girl. “This is Tambourine Jane, Jane this
is Richard.” She introduced with little enthusiasm. “My boyfriend.” “Pleased to finally meet you.” Jane
said as she shook Richard’s hand, a smile quickly plastered on her lips. “Paula
has told me a lot about you.” “Has she now?” Richard asked,
eyebrows raised as he looked over at Paula. “I hope it’s all been good.” Jane just gave a girlish laugh.
“Don’t worry, a man like you don’t need to worry ‘bout that.” It was a
kindhearted jab, but it still felt a bit like an insult. Richard picked up on
this, most defiantly Paula did as well, but he didn’t comment on it. “Why do they call you Tambourine
Jane?” Richard asked. “Because she plays the tambourine.”
Paula answered bluntly. Jane giggled at her response; Richard
didn’t press any further. I guess it was a dumb question, he thought. “Well, it was great seeing you
again Paula, I hope you come by some time, everyone misses you.” Jane said as
she gave Paula a quick hug, although Paula didn’t sense it, she was being
sincere. “One of these days…” Paula replied
as they broke apart. Jane turned her attention to
Richard, her hand reaching out. “It was really nice meeting you, Richie.”
“It was nice meeting you too,
Jane.” Richard smiled as he shook her hand again, this time both her hands were
on his, he was pretty sure he felt one of her thumbs caress his hand. He didn’t
say anything, but Paula noticed this right away, giving Jane a glare that can
burn a hole through her pretty strawberry-blonde head. She also didn’t like how
she said his name, Richie. Finally, she let go of his hand and
gave a quick wink to Paula before she turned on her heel and sauntered off, her
hips swaying a bit as she strolled. Paula shook her head as she watched her,
her eyes still holding her glare. She remembered how Jane can get sometimes,
she didn’t mean to, but girls like her always found a way to cause trouble. “Who was that?”
Richard asked. “Nobody. Just someone
I lived with before.” “I see…” Richard didn’t say it, but
he was thinking that maybe she was one of those girls that Paula said walked
around naked in the summertime at the old house she lived at. At least, he was
imagining what she might look like naked as she walked away. But Paula didn’t
need to know that. “Are you alright?” He asked as he
looked back at her. “Of course I am, why wouldn’t I
be?” Paula replied. “I don’t know.” He answered. “You gonna buy any books?” She
asked, changing the topic. “Naw.” Paula threw on her sunglasses
again. “Good, there are some
other places I want to go to.”
~TO BE CONTINUED...
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1 Review Added on April 21, 2020 Last Updated on April 21, 2020 Tags: angst, music, desire, love, drama, funny, comedy, pop culture, new wave, short story Author![]() MarkAndTheOceanCanadaAboutA man that loves books, film and the beach. Wanted to get my writing out there and improve on it while talking to some new people and having some fun and stuff. more..Writing
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