A Tale of Two Carnies

34 - A Job Offer

The holidays passed. On the seventh of January, a Thursday, we had our first major snowstorm, nearly two feet. My boss called and told me the shop would be closed and told me to stay home. I experienced snow as a kid growing up in St. Michaels. Having wintered in Florida her whole life, a land with little snow, Cozbi was enchanted. She still hated the cold but bundled up in her new winter gear. She insisted on dragging me outside to explore.

I wasn't into it but gave in, not wanting to sour her rare happy mood.

She acted like a little kid, oohing and ahhing while struggling to tromp through the hip deep drifts stacked against the trailer.

"Let's make a snowman!" she exclaimed.

"I don't think we can, it's too deep."

She scooped a handful of snow, made it into a snowball, and hit me with it square in the chest. Sticking out her tongue, she said, "Spoil sport. We could at least try."

I wasn't about to let her get away with it and tossed a snowball back at her.

The battle was on!

I chased her around the trailer lobbing snow bombs her way. She hid behind a burn barrel and fired volley after volley at me, laughing like I never heard her laugh before. Seeing her that way made me happy.

Cozbi had a wicked aim, scoring hit after hit as I stood in the open. When I suffered enough punishment, I charged her position. She tried to run, but her shorter legs got bogged down in the deep snow.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and tackled her, our momentum rolling us around in the soft cushion of snow until we came to rest with her lying atop me, her face inches from mine. Loose strands of hair escaping from her knit cap hung down tickling my cheeks. White clouds of expelled air mingled as we both tried to catch our breath.

We stayed that way for a while, looking into each other's eyes.

Cozbi whispered, "Jacey, you finally caught me. Long ago you warned me you wouldn't let me off the hook if you caught me."

That had been a different life. "What do you want?"

"Can we please try to be friends again?" Then she kissed me, full on the lips, only for a moment before pulling away.

I'd be lying if I tried to convince myself I didn't like it. But I had to stay strong. We were broken as a romantic couple. A little breathlessly, I said, "You better let me up."

She stood, reached out a hand, and helped me to my feet.

We said nothing more as we climbed the steps and entered our warm trailer. The two of us stripped off our winter coats, hats, and boots. While I made hot chocolate, Cozbi sat at the dinette examining the set of sketches she had been assigned to complete for Marcus Tolliver.

After our chance encounter with the author and his agent at the shopping mall, he had given Cozbi a complete set of Urban Urchin graphic novels to study. He wanted her to learn all about the characters, what motivated them, the different story arcs, and especially their unique physical features. Then he had provided her with a new story narrative and asked her to transform the narrative into sketches. He wanted to scrutinize her interpretation to determine if her vision matched his.

If it worked out, he would offer her a job as a graphic artist.

Cozbi chewed her lower lip as she examined her completed sketches.

I set a mug of hot chocolate in front of her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "He's going to love what you've done."

"You think so?" She sounded unsure of herself.