EVERYONE SEEMED SURPRISED WHEN I knew their names before they even had the chance to introduce themselves to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Harry wink at me and I smiled. Travis and Megan were the last ones to show up and they were both shocked at how I knew their names. Megan was standing right behind her brother and a check mark went off in my mind. Harry said she would always be glued to his heels and there she was standing right behind him. Travis' glasses sat on the tip of his nose and—of course—he was wearing a plaid shirt. I wanted to laugh and thank Harry at the same time.
I soon enough found myself joining Olivia at the kitchen table. Billy was in the living room with everyone else and I was not interested in watching what they were watching. I pulled out one of the chairs and when Olivia looked up from her phone to see me, she knitted her eyebrows together. I sat down and scooted the chair closer to the table. I placed my elbows against the wood and Olivia turned her phone off completely. She was smiling and I could tell she was studying me. Her hand was on her phone so if she suddenly lost interest in me, she would have something else to entertain her.
"So you know Harry," she said after a while.
"That I do."
"How?"
"We work together."
"In the herb shop?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Huh," Olivia sat back and stared at me harder. "I'm very impressed at how well you know everyone. Did Harry talk to you before we arrived?"
She was probably the only woman who made me feel this uneasy. Jillian made me feel uncomfortable but not like this. Olivia did not seem to hold back on anything. If she wanted to know something, she went for it without a single regret. My eyes wandered to the tips of her hair and I noticed how pink they were. The color was slowly fading but the pinkness was still there. Harry mentioned how she changed it a lot. What color was she going to pick next? I met her gaze and realized she was still waiting for me to answer her question.
"No—"
"There's no need to lie," she grinned. "He did the same to all of us. Personally, he gives us all good clues on how to remember each other. What clue did he give you about me?"
"You're the shortest one in the group."
"That bastard," she snarled. "What about Valerie?"
"Valerie is a blondie. It rhymes."
"Clever," she no longer seemed upset. "Harry told me you're not from around here?"
"I'm from Portland."
"What made you want to pack up your bags and come over to here to Seattle? Portland isn't that far away, you know."
I looked at Olivia with curious eyes. She sure was asking me a lot of questions. A part of me was not the slightest bit bothered by it, though. Harry warned me about her. If I got uncomfortable at all during this conversation, I would just excuse myself to the bathroom. However, I wanted to stick around and see what other questions she had in store for me. She had questions and I had answers. If I allowed her to question me, perhaps she would let the table turn and let me question her? I hoped so.
"I wanted a change in scenery."
"Want to know what I think?"
"Do I have much of a choice?"
"No, not really, nope," she smirked.
"Sure, I'd love to know what you think."
"I think you left Portland to get a fresh start," she said and I tilted my head to the side. "You needed to get away from your family and needed some time alone. Instead of moving hours and hours away, you came here to Seattle. You're not too close but not too far, either. If you suddenly get homesick, you can pack everything back up and drive...what? Two or three hours back to Portland? You want a life where drama is not involved. You work in the herb shop because it's small and you don't see many people. I must be getting something right because you look like you've just seen a ghost."
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Candles
Fanfiction[C O M P L E T E D ✓] They were curious. They both had their own share of secrets. He was a man living in the present. She was a woman living in the past. He was a candle, ready to see everything she was keeping in the dark. And she was the w...
