Typo

This is going somewhere, I have the thread of the story, however, I wanted to get someone's opinion on it. Honest opinion. Don't be kind.

Kissing in a pool of fresh water.  That was the dream that had played on his mind over and over again.  What it meant he had no idea.  He only cared that it had happened. 

She was fresh on his mind.  The clear spring of clear water, still fresh from the shade of the ancient weeping willow that stood watching biding his time until he would be the only remaining guardian of the brook, was muddled by their feet walking on the soft wet earth.  They had walked quietly.  She was paces ahead of him, her loose white dress trailing behind her ebbing and flowing like the water they walked on.  A small crown of daisies adorned her auburn hair and those almond shaped eyes looked back at him.  He followed them, unconsciously water on the water, treading his way through the disappearing footprints she left for him. 
            Reaching a small twist in the brook, she sat down, resting her weight on her right leg and hip, leaning on her right arm and pulled him to sit down with her.  He sat, bemused, entranced by her smile, those round cheeks that seemed to be the source of his air.  A few spots of sunlight danced on her olive skin.  He sat.  The water instantly seeped through his clothes, running around his form, making its way to its destination. 

He reached for her, his lips in a desperate search for hers.  They met.  A trickle of heat bore down his body flooding his mind with sensations never before experienced.  The suppleness of her lips cushioned his fall into blissful oblivion.  Nothing had existed before that contact.  He took her bottom lip between both of his, his teeth trapping it softly but firmly like a lioness clutches its offspring.  He felt her upper lip come down on him and rest, wet to the touch, taking him in, resting, breathing, holding the moment.  They parted and he tilted his head and again found her lips.  An aggressive tongue searched for hers, clashed with it, battled, joined, becoming one. 

Breaking the spell she rose and smiled.  His hand held onto her dress.  It was inevitable.  It was, after all a dream.  Nothing could be taken from it except the memory. 

She began to walk away, the wet part of her dress clinging to her body accentuating her right hip and her supple waist.  He saw her walk away, her feet breaking the water and then ascending onto the grassy knoll that led to the green foliage that led into the jungle.  Nothing remained except the sensation that he had held on to that kiss.  He could feel the imprint of her lips on his, the taste of her tongue permeating his soul, and her eyes, watching him from beyond the greenery. 

Now he lied in bed, quietly remembering all that had been in that distant world of which he was no longer a part of.  Another day he thought as he clumsily rose and sat on the edge, making the moment before the day starts last as long as it could possibly last.  There was no point and he slowly slipped his feet into his sandals and made his way to the bathroom for the daily routine of showering, shaving, brushing, and all those other small necessities of which we have no conscious mind of anymore. 

After slipping into the shower he regulated the water to the point that it wasn’t warm but cool enough to make it comfortable.   Lathering his body he kept thinking of the dream and what it all could mean.  Why did he keep dreaming of her so often having never even seen her.  And that place: the greenery of the jungle, the brook.  It all seemed from another world.  Was there even a chance it was a real place?  He figured it was pointless to think of it anymore than he thought of why we existed.  There was no answer and if there were one, would he like it?  Not likely he thought.  If it didn’t exist he’d live in his dreams day and night, waking and sleeping.  If it did exist, what could he ever do about it?  He knew it was impossible to live a life of instinct and on a whim.  However, the idea was appealing enough to daydream about it.  That was his way of thinking at times.   Dream your life away so your life doesn’t kill you minute by minute.   Yeah, immature maybe, but at the same time it helped him cope with all the pile of unavoidable circumstances that life can set off in your path to your destiny.  Destiny: funny word he thought.  If we all knew our destiny, would we chase it with such fervor?  Would we look forward to it or would we find a way to avoid it?  Again he snapped out of it and he found himself standing under the water completely lather-free.  He turned the knobs of the shower to the right to turn off the water and stood there listening to the drip from the shower head, waiting again to hold on to the peace allowed him in home.  That couldn’t last much longer than a quarter ‘til eight when he had to drive himself to work.  He yanked the towel off the steel rod that held the shower curtain aloft and dried his wet body and stepped out gingerly onto the bathroom mat.  He tossed the towel over his shoulder and stood in front of the mirror looking at the reflection it provided him of an ageing man.  Gone were the healthy visions of his young self.  He had taken them for granted.  He thought them eternal, never changing, normal and boring.  Now he wished he could stare at that man once more.  When had it all changed?  And that’s the peculiarity of change, or at least physical change, it goes unnoticed and comes at you from the corners and crevices of your eyes.  They say parents see their age in their kids: they age as they grow and see where their years have gone.  But he was like a man paying rent in an apartment that would never be his.  Money thrown away.  It was fitting that he’d grow old here in this apartment that would never be his.  Not that he’d ever want it, but still, money thrown away.  His age had crept up on him and now he saw it plainly in the mirror.  A shadow of bristly facial hair lined his chin and jaw, creeping and disappearing near his neck.  No need to shave.  Brushing his teeth was the only thing left and then to change for work.

He exited his small bedroom, a towel hanging from the corner of the bed where it would dry alone all day long until it was time to be of service once more.  On the rug laid several items of clothes that had been carelessly strewn around, underwear, shorts, socks, and a shirt cover the still wet sandals from the morning shower.  In the far corner of the room the green numbers on the black box radio shone as the lonely color in the dimly lit room that would take on an eerie yellow orangey glow in the evening when the setting sun would invade the west facing window.  Twenty ‘til.   Still had time.  It wasn’t much of a drive but he rather no be cutting short.  On his way out he went past the kitchen table where he normally left his keys and took them up and the jingling accompanied him past the front the door and out into another day of everyday normality.  It was a good morning he thought as he got into his car.  Fresh but not cold and he felt good enough to not care what came next. 

Jon sat in the lunchroom eating his loaded baked potato when he saw his coworkers approach the table with their trays of food.  Steven and Josheline sat in front of him and Priscilla sat in the empty chair next to him.  The trio had on their trays meat plates with different sides.  There were few vendors left in the cafeteria and the Barbecue Pit had become the most popular one amongst the remaining ones.  As the idle chat began as it always did Jon put aside the free magazine that he had picked up while waiting in line for his food.  It had a woman on the cover with a bright pink top and posing on a bike obviously straining to show her toned abdomen and musculature on her legs that were adorned by almost non-existent biking shorts. 

            “Aw, were you looking at the pretty girl on the bike Jon?” Steve began as he stuck his fork into his potato salad, “Did we interrupt you?” 

            “Yeah, that’s exactly what I was doing this whole time, looking at some photoshop chick on a bike that she probably doesn’t even own.  Honestly, do women ever flex like this?”  She looked at the girls for an answer.

            “Honestly,” Priscilla began, “it looks kinda of mannish.  Just saying.”  She took a piece of bread and began to lay a piece of lean brisket soaked in sauce on it and added a few slices of dilled pickles and wrapped her hand around it closing the bread over it and taking a bite.

            “That’s mannish?”  Joss said with a smirk on her face.  Her dainty manner of eating was in complete contrast to her coworker.  She gingerly cut pieces of her turkey breast slices and ate them without much effort or movement besides that of subtle chewing.  Jon enjoyed the banter that these two provided for entertainment purposes.  Steven on the other hand was nearly done with his food.  He always ate the sides first because according to him he saved the best for last.  Jon didn’t care much for the food.  He just ate it.  Sometimes he’d eat from the Chinese place across the food court, others from the Health Shack but really only sandwiches from there.  Other food vendors came and went, everything was given a chance, gyros, Greek skewers, taco places, but Lin’s Palace, the Health Shack and the BBQ Pit were the favorites of the congregation. 

            “So…” Steven began with half a mouthful of food still be worked in his mouth, “what we gonna do this weekend?  Where we going?  What’s going on?”  He said this and began to look from face to face looking for an answer to his question.

            It was the typical behavior for a Thursday thought Jon.  Rumors started flying across the floor of what was going to happen, who was doing what and who was in and who was out.  He usually tried staying of it for the simple reason that is was never a good thing to be too involved with coworkers outside of work.  It always seemed as if it all turned sour.  Too many benefits were granted that were mistaken in the workplace.  Toleration became an everyday thing once you let them put the foot in the door.  Anything from asking for money to covering shifts was game for some individuals.  Jon knew better now.  Hard knock lesson but it was a good one to learn.  He had learned to live with the consequences of his involvement with a previous supervisor, and although it had started off innocently it had turned into a many faced beast that had forced him out of his comfort zone and a transfer to another department.  It was his fault he always said but it had been as much his fault as it had been hers.  And it had all started so innocently that he still had a hard time remembering what had actually happened and how it had all gone south so quickly.  He remembers some times when he actually enjoyed her company, but not many to count on more than one hand.  But like many things in the life of a man, his hormones clouded his judgment and he quickly took advantage of the fact that she had just been through a divorce.  There is no easier step to take for a divorced woman than to hold on to the first man that makes her feel wanted and that was exactly what Jon had done: he listened and listened and it was mistaken for affection.  What man wouldn’t say yes to such an easy situation that fell directly on his lap?  However, it hadn’t been much of a commotion in his life, nothing was changed and he found himself not looking to make time for her and eventually it dissolved into a hide and seek game between them at work until she asked for a transfer.  It was comical to see her walk in with her ex-husband to say goodbye to her former coworkers.  He was not part of the small group that congregated for the goodbye, thankfully he had things to arrange in the stock room.  People knew however what had happened, what a terrible person he was although she had made very different confessions laying naked with him in bed.  But that’s the nature of the beast that is a woman’s mind.  She had gone back to her ex-husband as easily as a child goes back to his mother after scraping their knees on the rough fall.  It figures that a divorcee cannot stand to be alone after being tied to someone.  As pathetic as it may be, it’s safer to be miserable than to have the possibility of being nothing.  A pity really, she was a good woman and just happened to need a man with her. 

            “Jon?” asked Priscilla bringing him out of the stupor of his memories.

            “Sorry, what?” 

            “Do you want to go somewhere this weekend?”  They were mostly done with their plates, Priscilla had all but finished everything on her leaving only a few bread crusts soaking up the sweet smelling barbecue sauce her brisket slices had dripped and smudges of potato salad on the white Styrofoam plate, most of her coleslaw was still on the plate.  Figures, he thought,  eats the fatty food and leaves the greens.  She was a heavy-set woman of twenty and six, not old enough to be called a lady and not young enough to be called a young girl.  Like all the company at the table, unattached and looking for nothing more than the weekend, Jon wondered if they saw him the way he saw them.

            “I don’t know, I have to visit my parents and run and fix the dam sink, but I’ll let you guys know.”  He always finished his excuses with that meaningless expression of “I’ll see.”  Steven rolled his eyes and Priscilla pursed her lips.

            “Of course,” Steven began, “always something to do, huh?  Come on man, what the f**k?  You want us to beg you?  I mean s**t, why can’t you just say, ‘yes, I’ll go’?  Why is it such a pain to just get you to join us?  Haven’t you had some fun when you’ve gone out with us?”

            Joss interceded here as she always did to keep Jon and Steven from butting heads, “Shouldn’t your landlord take care of the sink?”

            Jon ranted to about how irresponsible his landlord was and how he had to do everything around the apartment and how his rent was for nothing.  It was a purposeful rant that pushed the conversation away from the plans for the weekend and as most complaints will do it brought out other topics of conversations and eventually they went back to the situation at work.  New management was coming in as it happened every so often in these retail businesses.  It was one of the biggest stores in the shopping center and as so they were various levels of management which meant that they usually went unnoticed and walked completely unnoticed to and fro helping willing customers spend their money.  Jon was lucky, at least in his mind, because he was behind the scenes in the stock room.  He took care of organizing merchandise that arrived almost on daily basis, bringing out what was needed for customers or to replenish the front.  It was a good job for him.  Rarely did anyone go to bother him, except for his lunch group, and even at that it was not for too long.  He usually had to come in early to make sure that everything was set up by opening time and would work his dutiful eight-hour shift.  Living weekly, waiting for the schedule that dictated their lives for yet another week.  He thought sullenly how he lived with this as his centripetal force.  And then he thought of her once more, his maiden lost in a jungle inside his dream world etched forever in his mind and his soul. 

            They had all returned to work and it was nearing Jon’s end of shift when Joss came to the back with a black top in hand, “Hey, do we have this in an extra small?”  Jon took the black top sequenced with bright-colored beads that adorned the neckline in a not very subtle way.  He took it, looked at the model number and headed down the aisles of three-tiered aluminum shelves.  Only he understood the organizing methods though Joss as she sat on the edge of one of the racks, legs stretched out in front of her, arms holding up her upper body and her head hanging.  “Long day?”  Jon asked from somewhere behind her.

            “Yeah, frustrating.  They’ve been bitching all day about sales and credit cards and keeping clean.  I mean,” her voice dripped with fatigue, “ wa’t the hell man?  They don pay us enough for this s**t.”  The sound of her exasperation dripped from her and permeated the entire stock room.  Jon felt pity and reluctance all together.  He was glad he was not part of the show floor sales turned into day after day.  That would be him.  Nothing bothered him back here in his domain.  He had been very lucky when he was offered the job when Isaiah had left to finish his nursing degree, which had been all he could talk about for months.  According to him he could have been something more: work less and earn more if he hadn’t knocked up some broad that had worked at the store before Jon’s time and he couldn’t afford to go back to school until she finished hers.  She had become a pharmacist, another thing he’d never let go until he quit and went back to study and finish his degree.  Jon had seen him later when he had come in to shop and had asked him to help him out with the employee discount.  That was ironic.  He hadn’t stayed long in school.  No he was down on the other end of the shopping center in the stock room of a kids’ toy store. 

            “Here you go?”  Jon handed the black top along with the sample she had brought back and told her that the day was almost over.  Before she left she stopped at the door to exit the stock room and turned back to look at him.

            “Hey, you should think about this weekend, it’ll be fun,” she bit her lower lip as Jon was looking at her through the divider behind which his worktable was located.  He could appreciate her petite figure, wearing a hugging blouse and black slacks, shirt tails in, making her small waist very noticeable.  Her light brown eyes looked at him, tired but smiling above that perfectly placed nose and lips covered in a soft pink shade.  Her hair, auburn streaked with lighter shades up in a ponytail assisted in accentuating her round ears and her soft jawline.  She was indeed beautiful and her disposition was nothing short of gentle and calming. 

            “Sure, I’ll think about it.”  Jon answered and smiled.

            “Well, if nothing else, we can always go out for a coffee or a drink,” Joss walked out before Jon could reply. 

            He busied himself once more, unpacked a box of jumpsuits for the new season’s line and began to place the censor on each one on the left leg.  As he worked he thought of Joss and found himself leaving the stock room behind and found him self in the brook once more, his dame sat on the grassy carpet that adorned its edges, her face was distracted with a small twig she twirled in her hands.  She seemed upset and troubled and as she looked up he saw irritation around her eyes.  She had been crying.  He tried to speak but of course found him self back in the stock room as soon as he utter the words he wanted to say to her.  He found his hands fumbling still with the censor on the third jumpsuit and realized that it had been nothing more than a fragmented daydream.  After he finished he placed the stack of jumpsuits in the section they belonged and went on to clock out.  On the way out he saw Joss wave goodbye to him and smile sweetly as he responded to her.