Maynia -- Day Three -- 2,337 words
I mentally shook myself as I turned and headed towards my gramps’ office. When was the last time I saw a beautiful woman like her? Damn, I swear she saw me checking her out! I cursed to myself as I remembered how that skimpy skirt of hers accentuated her figure. And who even wears knee-high boots along with them? Granted, it did bring out the shape of her slender legs- Ok Lucas, stop acting like a horndog!
Letting out an awkward cough, I composed myself before entering gramps’ office. Inside, I saw that gramps was just finishing up with the slightly shivering chihuahua named, Augustus. “Must have been that mean ole’ thunderstorm last night that got this champ scared out of his wits. Poor fella..” He softly tsked and gave Augustus a comforting rub on the head before starting to bring him back to his carrier.
“Let me help you with that pops. Here, you got your next patient waiting for you.” I offered as I gently put down Jaden’s carrier in front of him before proceeding to take Augustus from his hands.
“Hmm? What’ve we got here?” Curiously, grampa peered into the newly placed carrier in front of him as he adjusted his round-rimmed glasses on his nose.
By the time I was ready to bring out Augustus to Mrs. Twiddle, I noticed how gramps gently cradled Jaden close to him, an inquisitive look on his face as he stared back at the shocking jade-colored eyes of the cat. Hm, I guess that’s why she named him Jaden.
Not taking his eyes off the cat, and gently laying him on the examination table, gramps suddenly spoke, “I’ve never seen this cat from town before.. What did the owner say was wrong with him?” He asked as he examined the cat’s ears and eyes with a pen light.
“She said something along the lines of Jaden seeming sick.. She didn’t exactly say what from..” I tried to offer helpfully as I watched gramps checking the cat’s teeth and tongue. Jaden I noticed, was now putting up a fight of sorts, albeit weakly.
“Umhmm.. Just as I thought! Now, what did you say the owner’s name was again?” Gramps continued asking as he took to writing on a new page on his clipboard.
“I uh-actually forgot to ask?” I felt myself frown as I realized that slight mishap. This time grampa had stopped writing and finally looked at me as if I had grown a second head. “Well my boy, why don’t you bring back Augustus to Mrs. Twiddle and call in the owner of this handsome cat?” He instructed me as he got back to rubbing Jaden, this time on his chin and I swear the cat was now enjoying the attention he was getting.
Nodding my understanding, I got out of the office and headed towards Mrs. Twiddle but soon found myself distracted with Jaden’s beautiful owner; she looked quite serene as she held and continued reading the Almanac in her hands. Spying the title from the spine, I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow in interest. The Time Traveler’s Almanac.
It wasn’t until Mrs. Twiddle took Augustus from my hands that I realized she asked me a question. Focusing my attention on her, I relayed my grampa’s usual instructions for Augustus’ anxiety and flashed Mrs. Twiddle with my best smile. It always did the trick.
And like always, Mrs. Twiddle profusely thanked me and my gramps for his service as she paid before I led her out the door. Sighing to myself as I closed the door, I turned to see that Jaden’s owner was now putting the Almanac back in its place before she turned and looked at me expectantly.
I started slowly heading towards her and stopped just a few inches away, enough for me to notice her emerald eyes. Like the darkest green leaves of spring. I thought before softly asking, “What’s your name?” I don’t know if everything was in slow-mo or it was the way she was looking at me, but I found myself slowly wanting to kiss her before- a cough.
Blinking out of my reverie, I noticed I was a little too close to her and it was she who had coughed, albeit awkwardly into her hand, as she gazed up at me sheepishly. Stepping back and wanting to apologize for my actions, I then noticed how she gave me a small smile before offering her name, “Shiela.. Lancaster. Just Shiela is fine.” I noticed how she hesitated on her last name, but I chalked it up to her being new in town. I’ve never heard of any Lancasters residing in Samheinrock before, anyway.
Smiling back at her, I decided to welcome her to our town, “You must be new around here Ms. Shiela, welcome to our little town of Samheinrock.” I felt myself relax further as I watched her smile grow, “I am, I actually just arrived last night. She said, and although she mostly muttered the next part of her sentence, I seemed to have heard it clearly enough. “For a second there, I thought you’d be welcoming me to the “Dark Side” too..” Just last night huh? What are the odds..
Gesturing towards my grampa’s office, she then asked, “Jaden.. How is he? He’s going to be fine, right?” Seeing her worried expression, I fought the sudden urge to hold her in my arms to comfort her. Maybe I was going at this a little too fast. Instead I said, “I’m sure he’ll be fine, Dr. Bliant’s the best in his field. He actually wants to talk to you about Jaden’s condition.” Trying my best to cheer her up as I lead her towards my grandfather’s office.
Inside Dr. Bliant’s office, I saw that Jaden was now peacefully napping inside his open carrier as an older version of Dr. Luke silently rustled a couple of papers on his nearby desk.
At the sound of our entrance, he looked up from what he was doing and smiled cheerily at us. “About time you got back to me, Lucas.” He mused as I saw how his soft grey eyes flitted between me and Dr. Luke.
“Pops, this is Ms. Shiela Lancaster. She’s new in town, I was just telling her how you’re the best in your field.” I heard Dr. Luke say as Dr. Bliant only nodded humbly.
“That, my boy, can be easily ruled out as a biased opinion.” Dr. Blaint stated good-naturedly “But I think I can still prove to Ms. Lancaster here the best of my capabilities.” He finished as he stood up from his desk and gestured me towards Jaden.
“Please, just Shiela is fine. I’m not really used to such formalities.” I said as I stopped by Jaden’s open carrier on the examination table. “Ah very well, but I hope you don’t mind me insisting on calling you Ms. Shiela instead. I’m sure my grandson wouldn’t mind calling you ‘just’ Shiela, of course.” Dr. Bliant said lightly but gave a quick, almost teasing, glance towards Dr. Luke.
Wistfully smiling at the silly exchange between the two, I regretfully only half listened to Dr. Bliant’s diagnosis of Jaden as I tried not getting lost in the past.
After already paying for Jaden’s treatment, I was now a couple of steps away from the clinic when I heard my name being called, “Ms. Shiela!” Turning back, I saw Dr. Luke jogging towards me and I couldn’t help but admire his nice physique as I waited for him to catch up.
Barely panting as he ran up to me, I curiously watched as he held up a few bills. “You forgot your change.” He said, smiling. Without his lab coat on, I could now truly appreciate him up close in his blue shirt and denim attire. Hm, it brought out the color of his eyes.
“You really ran after me for that? Please, just keep the change Dr. Luke. Think of it as a thank you for urgently seeing to my cat.” I said as I started turning away.
“Then, why don’t I at least help you carry Jaden to your car, how about that?” Dr. Luke insisted as he ran back in front of me.
“Really, it’s no worries. My car’s just by the carwash, it’s fine. I can handle myself.” I further insisted as I continued walking, Dr. Luke right beside me.
“Mike’s Carwash?? Wait, Shiela!” As he held my free hand, I resisted the urge to gut him. Easy there Shiela, this is Dr. Luke in front of you. He’s a nice guy. I hoped as I stopped and stared up into his clear grey eyes and saw no malice in them.
Sensing my unease, he quickly let go of my hand muttering a quick apology, but not before I noticed the slight caress of his thumb on my skin. Releasing a shaky breath at the sudden touch of his skin on mine, I promptly distracted myself by slowly offering Jaden’s carrier in front of him, “Here, it seems your persistence won me over this time around.”
I resisted the urge to smile as I saw the triumphant tilt of his lips. Cute. Instead, I gestured towards the direction of the carwash, “Come on Dr. Dolittle, I’ve still got places to be.” I said as I walked ahead of him. This time, I didn’t resist the urge to smile.
There’s something about this car… I thought as I crossed my arms and held my chin in thought. Mike said something about getting this car sparkling clean in less than an hour, but it’s already been almost two and whoever dude owns this prized steam engine’s missing out on a nice date. But really, there’s something about this car…
Suddenly getting a flash of memory from the previous night, I unfolded my arms and stared at the car in disbelief. “Welcome to The Dark Side of Samheinrock! Woohoo!!” Sonofa.. Chuckling and raising my head heavenward, I glanced back at the gleaming silver car and began caressing its hood. That ain’t no dude. That pert little mouth I saw past the windshield could only belong to a-
“What the fuck are you doing to my car?!” Raised from my thoughts by the annoyed voice behind me, I turned and stopped dead in my tracks as I saw a very-I kid you not- beautiful woman. Fuck me Jesus, that is a vision! I think I stood there gaping like a fish but-Holy!
Maybe it’s the way those wavy, chocolate locks framed her face. Boy, I’ve got a thing for brunettes. Or maybe it was the way that pert little mouth was pursed in irritation. But still managed to look kissable. But I’m betting it’s probably those emerald irises that locked on mine dead-on. As long as she’s got her focus on me, I can die a happy man. Wait, hold up- she’s the lady with the pert little mouth from last night!
“Hey Z! It’s good to see you’re the one taking care of Ms. Shiela’s car!” At the mention of my name, I grudgingly had to drag my eyes away from the vision right in front of me only to see Luke standing right beside her.
With that greeting, “Ms. Shiela” as her name was, turned towards Luke and asked, “You know this guy?”
“Uh yeah, he’s one of my childhood friends. We practically grew up together in this town.” He answered helpfully with that Prince Charming act of his. Well, I’m not gonna be one-upped by that.
“The name’s Zephyr Clancy, at your service ma’am!” I held my hand out to her and even gave a saucy wink, but she only stared back at me appraisingly. Well if she’s just gonna size me up, might as well cut to the chase- But the next thing I knew, she was already handing me a wad of bills and taking something away from Luke’s hands.
“Thank you for your services Mr. Clancy, it was nice meeting you.” She said as she nodded back at Luke before turning towards her car.
“Is this how you apologize to a guy you almost ran over last night?” I called back to her just as she was now rounding the side of the driver’s seat.
That got her attention, since she stopped and turned back to us, “Excuse me what?”
I felt Luke put his hand on my shoulder as he tried to intervene. Always the pacifier, this guy. But not today, buddy! Cutting him off just as he was saying, “Ah. Zeph here just had way too much-“
“Cucumber wine!” I blurted the first thing that came to my mind. Ah shit. There goes your chance with a pretty lady, Clancy. Way to go.
I chanced a glance at Luke, but he only looked at me as if I suddenly had wings for ears. Well no better time than today, I guess. Suddenly urging my ears to become feathered cartilages.
Just when I thought a made a complete fool of myself, I heard giggling coming from Shiela, until it became a full-on laugh. Well hell, who wouldn’t love girls who can take on a joke like that? Wait-what love??
Before I could even understand what this all means, I saw Shiela already composing herself, the only evidence of her joy were her flushed cheeks and eyes still sparkling with laughter. I sure as hell know, Luke here is also smitten himself. I grumpily thought.
“All right you guys, I’ll make it up to both of you. Does dinner at my place, sound good?” She asked, smiling.
Luke and I then exchanged a look before looking back at her with grins on our faces, both of us accepting the offer.
“I’ll see you guys later then. Luke, you’ve got my address on Jaden’s record, right?” She asked and I heard Luke’s confirmation.
And with that, she got inside her car and drove away. Damn, I can’t wait for tonight!
to be continued...
Image from Pixabay, by Phan Minh Cuong An: https://pixabay.com/users/minanfotos-9565064/ (edited with dreamscopeapp)