Vision

Chapter Eight

Edited

Walking into Oasis the following day is like inhaling a breath of fresh air, slightly minty and sweet. The shop has had an overhaul to say the least. Shelves are moved or missing. A coffee table and six chairs came from out of nowhere.

I find Lillian in back heaving boxes from one pile to the other. "So did some hippie fairy come in the middle of the night and change the shop?

She's not even startled as I surprise her. "I did a little of this and that last night before leaving. And I may have come in extra early to finish a few things."

"And who helped you?"

"Colton." Her reply surprises me, but it shouldn't. He's always been helpful. "He was out on another date at the pub across the street. Claims it was going terrible and on his way to his car, he saw me manhandling the furniture." She straightens her back out, "the rest is history. It's amazing, isn't it?"

Yeah. Amazing.

Before I have a chance to agree, she rushes into making demands. "I have a bunch of new products that arrived a couple of days ago. Can you please make them look pretty next to the sitting area?"

I grumble in compliance. Whatever Lillian asks for, Lillian gets. So I spend the next several hours unpacking fancy teacups, tins of loose tea and the most fragile glass tea presses I've ever seen. One clink against something too roughly and shards of the glass will be everywhere.

The sound of a traveling voice pricks my ears. Someone's asking for me.

Lillian's voice, however, comes across clear as day. She's flustered, but still bossy. "She's busy in the back and you can probably catch her at home seeing you live across the hall from her, but..." Peter? I straighten my clothes, puff the stray strands of hair out of my face before heading up front.

Out of nowhere she hollers my name into the shop. "Jeez, Lill." I whine as I round the corner. The cringe from the volume of Lillian's voice still has me cringing. "I was on my way up already." My eyes land on Peter, "hi," I mutter like a complete fool, "there's no rain in the forecast today."

His eyebrows crease together for a second or two before it clicks, "yeah, I-uh-I know, but I-I was meaning to ask you something." He's terrible at this and I find it completely adorable. "I wanted to see if you would want to go for coffee or dinner sometime" He swallows the lump in his throat, I can see it, his nervousness. "I would've asked you last night, but I knew you were in a hurry to get your clothes off."

Lillian chokes on her own spit and I have to slap her on her back as hard as I can to help her clear it. "What he meant was that I got caught in the rain and was soaking wet when I got home." She nods since she's still unable to find her voice. I put my attention back to Peter, "I would love to..."

He cuts me off, "I feel a but coming on."

This has Lillian in more hysterics. I give her another hard slap on the back. "No. Yes. It's just, I'm busy for the next," undetermined amount of time while I try to figure out who's stalking me and potentially getting abducted, ''few days or so. I'll definitely take you up on your offer, I just don't know...when."

His face falls. Rejection, but not exactly rejection. He leaves with 'I'll see you...at the complex.' It has my stomach twisting.

Once he's out the door, disappearing down the sidewalk, Lillian grabs my arm, "you're thinking what I'm thinking, right?"

My wide, deer in the headlights eyes are enough for her to figure out that I'm not thinking what she's thinking.

"It's Peter," she blurts out loud enough for the whole shop to hear. Quieter, almost in a whisper, she repeats, "Peter is your stalker. I mean how long has he lived next to you and just no he's asking you out?"