thethirtysomethingStephanie

this has a different style from the other thirtysomething stories i think. But it is based on a true story.

 

Stephanie’s obsession with wanting to be making the world a better place landed her a new job as the second oldest canvasser on a political campaign. The first oldest was a man name Victor and nobody could quite figure out why he was hired He was infatuated with the candidate and though he was pretty good with getting the facts straight he had a tendency to scare away some of the voters with his intensity and his bad breath.

 

Stephanie was narotic about being 30. She feels as if she watched the years go by and had no vote as to whether or not she could stop their passing. It worked for her on the campaign because all the college students had no idea she had crossed that threshod the week before she joined the ccampaign. Politics were her love but being up againts all this younger people she would find herself completely intimidated sucking the condfidence right from her.  She did not have a poli- sci degree nor was she working towards one and her brain did not pefrom to retain the information like the others. What if she forgot parts of the platform or information about the cadidate that was crucial she worried? It did not seem like these young people forgot a single thing. Young studious minds at work, always made Stephanie feel like she did not belong, not that they intended to.

 

Stephanie got assigned to smoking, loud music, talking about sex, religion, not wearing her seat belt, and occasionally finishing early to either grab a meal or stop at an old record store. This meant she was assigned to Jeff’s car almost every day which made her truly happy. Jeff was one of the senior field managers and the most fun. If you ended up in his car you know he liked you because he had a deal with the Volunteer Coordinator only to take people in his car he could tolerate. All the rules went out the window in his ride and that is the way you liked it or you got traded into someone more appropriates car, like Jody, the girl from the local college getting her masters in becoming a librarian. She had a much stricter policy on seat belts and she did not even listen to music on the way to the location of the day.  A campaign car is supposed to be kept to professional conversation, safe and calm so people can prepare for their wrap at the doors.  Jodi took it to one extreme and though Jeff might have blown every rule off we were the crew that brought in the best numbers and got the most lawn signs out on the streets.

 

Today when they received their maps, Stephanie saw that their turf was off in Divitsville. It shook her to the core at the idea that she could potential run into an ex lover that lived somewhere in that town, population 26,156. He was someone that she had a passionate emotional affair with about 7 months prior to today. She never knew where he lived exactly because they worked together at a restaurant in Philstown, a town just a few miles away. He had not told her anything about where he lived except that it was in what they knew as the ‘Divits’. They fell in love when she was going through a break up and he claimed to be separated from his wife. He turned to her for comfort she fell for it. They had been friends for a year or so prior.

‘What would be the chances really?’ she thought to herself as they grabbed their clipboards and left for the day.

 

In the car, Stephanie smoked a clove cigarette because though she did not smoke often she found that not only did it help her fit in but it also helped relax her nerves because she got a slight high off of it. She was sitting shot gun enjoying the sound of Cake, “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” a new band that was introduced to her by James, another coworker that always won the prize of Jeff’s vehicle. This day, the ride was relaxing. Some days they found themselves laughing their asses off or getting into some kind of heated political conversation about the latest talking point. Today Stephanie just smoked her clove, took in the music, and stared out the window, thinking about what it would be like to see her former lover face to face. She new rationally she would not have to worry. He is a republican, it’s raining, and they will not be out too long. What are the chances? Near impossible. “Hey Stephanie, what the hell are those purple rubber things on your feet,” asked James with a huge mocking smile on his face. “They keep my feet from getting completely gross in the rain” she answered him knowing that she was doomed for a mocking. “Those shoes have holes in them how do they protect you from the rain? And another thing, Steph, they are UGLY!!” James teased as he and Jeff lit up two more Camels and laughed coming up with a plethora of more comments to badger Stephanie about her shoes. 

 

Jeff pulled a left into a residential area and on the corner on one side was a take out coffee chain restaurant and on the other corner was a bar called “Take Your Best Shot.” Stephanie froze when she saw the bar. She remembered her former lover telling her about it before. That is a gay bar that he stopped in one night when he needed to get out of the house from a fight with his wife. He had this whole wonderful story how he bought all the guys at the bar and the bartender a round of drinks as to not offend anyone but letting them know gently he batted for the other team. He was such a good storyteller and the name of the bar just stood out to her. This means he has to be close by.

 

Jeff parked the car under a tree about 3 blocks down from the bar. He began dividing up the turf between the three of them. Stephanie did not have a good feeling about today’s day of work. She thought to herself, ‘Truly though what are the chances? I am sure he would not go to a bar on the corner of where he lives. That is too close to home.’  Jeff hands Steph her work for the day and lets her know he took it easy on her. “Steph, you have three blocks. James and I can bang out the longer part of the turf faster. Let’s get it done so James and I can go smoke a fatty!” Steph laughed and looked down at her map. She had three streets all by the name of states, Chicago, Ohio, and Nevada. Jeff only gave her about 7-10 houses a block which means she will be done in 2 hours. It was an extremely easy day’s work. With that in mind, she through on her purple rain coat, grabbed her clipboard with a plastic bag to keep it covered, and went out on to the street.

 

It was not raining to hard, but just enough that she had to protect the pages that listed her voters she needed to identify. The first block she went to she could not stop thinking of her former lover and what it would be like if she went to his home. As she walked deeper down the block she spotted a house first with a boat on the side which she remembered him mentioned he had. Then her eye went to the last house on the block that had a jeep in the driveway. It was black not blue like his, but what if he painted it since she saw it last. Her mind was going wild. Each door she knocked, though she had a name attached to it on her list, she still was finding her heart beating quicker and quicker in anticipation of seeing his eyes that steal her sensibility away on the other side of the door.

 

By the second block, she calmed down a little. It began raining a little harder and she had to concentrate on not letting her pages get wet. With each knock she carried on asking her questions about the candidate and her mind went further and further from him. She saw a blonde woman come outside with a dog and for a second she thought, could it be his wife, and then remembered he had a lab not a golden retriever.

 

She was ready to turn to her last block and she took a second to call her friend because she needed to get out some of this nervous energy that had been with her all day. “Hey Samantha, you are never going to believe where I am?” Samantha would never believe where she is or would never guess because she is not as obsessed with these thoughts as Stephanie is. “Sam, remember that ridiculous story I told you about ‘you know who’ and the bar Take Your Best Shot? Well I am in the neighborhood behind the bar. I was so afraid I was going to run in to him or worse his wife. Fortunately, not a chance.”  

“Steph, only you. How did you end up over in the Divits? And how do you know that is where he lives?”  

 

“I don’t know where he lives. I just got nervous when I saw the bar. You know me. I get paranoid. And the Divits is in our voting district so that is just my luck. Jeff or James probably ended up knocking his block.” 

Samantha felt so terrible for Stephanie and her obsession. She watched Stephanie get crushed by this guy and wished she would just leave it alone already. It amazed her that she ended up in situations like these, where she was forced to think about it. Who could blame her?

 

“Well, I have one more block to walk. I will talk to you later.”

“Steph, why don’t you hook up with James or Jeff or something? Just get your mind off of that shithead. Remember he hurt you bad. He went back to his wife.”

“Thanks Sam, I got it.” They said there goodbyes and Love you’s and hung up.

 

Stephanie turned the corner to the last street, Nevada. It was the same street that the bar was at the corner of. She went to the first house on her list and there was a nice little door way to stand in and thankfully because the rain began to really fall. The family was not home so Steph took advantage of the overhang and got her papers set up for the block so she could get through it quickly.

As she gathered her bag, and began the trek down toward the dead end of Nevada St. she spotted a blue jeep in a driveway off at the end on the right side. Her heart began to beat as fast as the rain drops were now hitting the sidewalk.

‘Don’t get excited Steph, you have seen lots of jeeps in this neighborhood.’ She tried to say to calm herself. She froze and did not know what to do. The rain was pouring into the holes of her purple rubber shoes and her papers were starting to get wet even through her paper bag.

 

Snapping out of her blue jeep shock she continued walking on to the next house. The man she was looking for answered the door and she began asking him the proper identification questions she was there asking though her heart felt as if it was going to beat out of her chest. As she was asking the man if she could count on his support for the candidate she sees a white Audi pull down the block with a blonde haired woman about her age driving. Stephanie starts to stutter over her final question and when she goes to hand the man the literature she drops several pieces of it all over the doorway. She sees the blonde woman get out of the car and hurry to the backseat to pull something out. ‘Oh my god she’s returning for groceries on this rainy day. Those should be my groceries!’ Stephanie now dead focused on the woman identifying her as the wife of the man she loves and no longer identifying the man standing before her as a potential supporter of the candidate.

 

Into the back seat the blonde woman reaches and it is not groceries she pulls out at all but a small child about 6 or 7 months old. Grabbing the baby carrier, she runs into the house closing the door behind her. Stephanie sloppily apologizes to the voter for the mess, shakes his hand and goes to leave. He shuts his door and she realizes she is feeling paralyzed. She is not sure which direction to go. She is not sure what she just saw.

 

Questions flood Stephanie’s mind like the rains that just opened up from the sky above now pounding the pavement. Was that his child? Was he ever really separated from her? How could love be built on such lies? How could someone say they love but not love at all? How did she get on this block? Why is this happening to her?

 

Stephanie still had about 6 houses left to finish on the block one of them being the love of her life, his wife and their baby’s next door neighbor. She just did not know how she can stay on this block and wait for him to come out and see her. Or maybe he should see her. She wondered if she should scare the crap out of him and knock directly on their door pretending their names are on her list. Her mind was spinning with what to do.

 

Stephanie decided to squish her way back in her purple rubber shoes down the block in the direction she came. She crossed the street to the side that his house was on and finished some of the houses there but stayed the distance on either side of number 36, his family’s home’s number. She could not figure the right words to say if she did see him.

 

When she finished doing the best she could she quickly hurried to Jeff’s car. Nobody else was back yet so she grabbed the spare key from under the license plate and got in. She lit up another clove not knowing what to do with herself. Her hands were shaking profusely All she could see was a vision of the blonde woman and the baby. She knew she did not have a story to share with anyone here and she could not bear to even call back Samantha right now.

 

At that moment the guys returned soaked from not having any rain gear. “Let’s grab some lunch,” Jeff suggested with excitement to be done with an easy 2 hours of work. James giggled looking at Stephanie again, “How did those rubber shoes hold up for you when it down poured?”  She looked down at her purple rubber shoes and thought,

‘What would he have thought if he saw me wearing these?’ 

Author's Note

my grammar and spelling is always problem. feel free to let me know

Reviews

[JC Fox]

there were some errors ^_^ but I'm not a Nazi lol I loved this story and I agree the croc shoes are very ugly lol. Awesome I love your thirtysomething stories!

[Forest Green]

You've got a term I am fond of....: 'Riding shotgun in the car....

Very good development of interactions and events. Gather up the energy of the plot and you'll be able to pick the pace up considerably.

I am excited for your work, Danielle.

Forest

[R J Askew]

Wonderful opening graph! The second not so good, but I stuck with the story. Interesting for a Brit to have a fly-on-the-clipboard view of U.S. electioneering...and topical right. But the insights into the 30 something neurotic were the best part...and I found myself hating the rubber shoes with a passion! But this was good because it shows I was engaged by the story and not trying to edit it. You milk the worry of a potential meeting very well and the woman vs woman angle over the baby. And there were some good dabs of humour. But, ach, those horrible, horrible shoes! I can hear them squealching on the wet pavements of Navada.

[SweetPeachesAlways]

clove cigarette because though she did not smoke often she found that not only did it help her fit in but it also helped relax her nerves because she got a slight high off of it. - I've been told this before!
the bar Take Your Best Shot - Good name! ;)
paralized - paralyzed
Quite interesting storyline...more, please!