Behind The Counter

A Story by David

Love/ Sad/

I first saw her behind the counter at the Brewster package store. My heart dropped at first glance. I was so nervous I couldn’t even manage a brief conversation. I did however give her a real good long look and she knew it. I think I made her a bit nervous as well. Once in the parking lot, I turned as I opened my car door and she was looking . I caught her! She had on white jeans , sandals and a T-shirt. She was around five foot five , exceedingly well put together, not muscular but more built for comfort. Her hair was dark brown and she wore it a bit below the shoulder. This girl liked to tan. She was a golden brown and I could feel the heat from her body from 3 feet away. Large brown eyes that one could drown in, given the right circumstances. She wore no makeup and really needed none. Just a bit of lip gloss and that tan was plenty sufficient. Her nose was smallish and turned up just a bit, just the right amount. Across the bridge of her nose were five or so tiny freckles. I was dead meat!

It took me a few weeks to figure out her schedule since she worked part time but once I did I was a constant visitor. Still not comfortable I made small talk and was on my way out fairly quickly. One night I screwed up my courage and before leaving the store I wrote down my phone number and slid it across the counter. She apparently had been living with a boyfriend and told me so but she also took that paper and slid it into her back pocket. I smiled and said goodnight.

Knowing the situation of the boyfriend , I tuned down my visits and would just honk the horn as I drove past. I was living with my brother at the time . It must have been around nine pm when the phone rang. This was unusual since we worked early in the morning. My sister in law answered and looked at me and whispered “it’s a girl” as she handed me the phone. It had been several weeks since I left my phone number with her but obviously she kept it.

She started with “ this is Patty” , “remember me”?. She was about to get off work and wanted to know if I could meet her. I told her sure, where, when. We or she decided on a local watering hole the next town over called The Barley Neck Inn. When I arrived she was already there and waiting for me inside.

This was a great place. It was an old sea captains house and had been converted to a bar restaurant. It was on the road to one of the most beautiful beaches around and had quite a bit of traffic. They had a monster fieldstone fireplace , low ceilings with beams that appeared to come from old whaling ships. It was dark and welcoming.

We sat for an hour or so and talked. Once we started talking we became very comfortable with each other and our conversation was easy and natural. Not forced or uneasy. She had two young children , she said and had to get home to them. We paid the bill and I walked her to the parking lot and to her car. Once at her car she unlocked the door and turned and faced me. She put her arms around my neck , pushed her body as close to me as she could get and kissed me like I had only dreamed of. Her body was welcoming, her mouth beckoning and those freckles drove me crazy. I went home on a cloud that night.

She would call every night and we would meet somewhere, a beach , a park, the mall. She was in the process of moving out of the situation she had been in so I never pushed it. I was just happy to be with her. Sometimes she had the kids . They were as cute as she was. The little boy longish dark hair, as tan as mom and even had her freckles. He was around five. His sister equally tan, maybe almost four, equally cute but had a dark side to her. I wasn’t sure if this girl had a hard time sleeping. Many days we would go to the beach and she had these dark circles under her eyes. She seemed normal and happy enough for a kid of that age other than the occasional dark mood. I didn’t think about anymore about it. I was crazy about her and I liked the kids. We soon enough moved in together .

I managed to hold down a variety of jobs. Mostly two at a time. Car salesman, carpenters laborer, waiter, bartender, just about anything that would bring a check. As time went on we moved to a better place , a newly built house and I started a painting business. I was pretty successful at this and made a good deal of money but still worked nights as a waiter. We did not want for much. Maybe this is where the trouble started but knowing what I know after the fact I doubt it.

I had asked her to marry me and we had talked it to death. She had a one carat diamond on her finger and it was beautiful. We had talked of me adopting the kids . One night I came home a bit early from my night job. The kids were in bed and she was in the tub taking a bath. I hollered upstairs telling her I was out of cigarettes and did she have any. In my purse was the answer. I opened the purse and found the cigs but a letter came out with the pack. It was from a man , apparently she had been seeing for a little while as I worked nights. It read that he could not wait for her to get rid of me and was looking forward to being together .

Long story short, this about destroyed me. This girl was actually the first real love of my life. I felt as though a mountain had come crashing down on top of the mountain I was already under. I managed to go on a self destructive spree that lasted a good long time. Here we are thirty years later and I can describe this kiss for kiss, every place we ever made love, what we talked about and where we were. If I were to dwell a bit I would still feel that incredible betrayal .Fortunately for me I stopped thinking about her as you can tell from this story! At least it stopped hurting some years in and I hope none of you ever have to go through this nightmare.