The Grape Eater

Chapter 7: Peaceful Chaos

Autumn had been dominating nature. Trees wore shy fluttering dresses of orange and damp red. The weather had been having mood swings. Sometimes it poured, sometimes it was sunny or sometimes there was a stagnant lid of hovering cold.

I was in the candy shop that particular evening and the weather was neither of the aforementioned state. Nature had a writer's block, I think, not being able to write the poetry of the day and how it should be.

As I said, I was in the candy shop, leaning on to the counter with my chin cupped between my hands. Mrs Patmore, my employer, was not present as usual. She was never in the shop except on some rare occasions when she didn't have to be at home tending to her sick husband or running errands.

It had been one month since I had gotten the job and I was doing pretty well although she advised me to be extra nice and friendly with children and eventually lure them into buying more candies. Learning the tricks of the business, she said.

The dim lights were on inside the shop and the sun who hadn't visited me for days showed up now. Like an abhorrent child, a wedge of sunlight hesitantly sneaked in through the window.

My eyes darted to what laid beyond that. The hushed street and shops standing by its side; particularly the flower shop. I couldn't see inside as there was a stirring haziness.

The letters painted on the shop where I stood became visible in the silent disappearing evening light especially the 'T' on which it directly fell upon. 'Patmore's Candies and Sweets' written in backwards from where I could see it. My eyes trailed off to the flower shop again and I stared at it for some curiously mysterious reason.

Before long, the door opened and a slender figure appeared at the door. It happened to be the receptionist also noted in my head as Niall's crush.

In the past one month, I had bluntly ignored Niall. From avoiding eye contact to not waving back or returning greetings. Just handled the situation like the professional I was and surprisingly, he had stopped pestering me. Perhaps he had received the message, my philosophy 'Don't be the wasp to get close to the fire' and up until this late October, I was walking on the right path. So that evening when I saw Sharon, the flower shop's receptionist walking out on the street, a guilt nestled in my chest which was uncomfortable. I had never regretted avoiding anyone before, though the number of those people wasn't large. But at that moment, there was a heavy gravity inside me that pulled hard.

Sharon stepped outside on the pavement with a disturbed and vexed mood. She crossed her arms and let out a deep sigh, heavy enough for me to notice from this distance. At the back of my head, I sensed an event about to happen. And how I was right! Soon after that, the one I was feeling guilty about rushed outside and walked up to Sharon. His appearance was deeply scathed, his breathing fast and gait excited. He started hurling out words at her. I couldn't make out what he was saying but he looked desperate. The still troubled lady occasionally stole glimpses of him, as if not sure whether to believe him. He carried out his rant or so I believed judging the rapid movement of his lips.

Her patience was being tested, by my observation, as she kept on tapping her foot incessantly. She faced down and I assumed she started crying but no. Suddenly, she uncrossed her arms and turned to him. Now it was her turn to deliver sentences. He looked sadder at each word that escaped her mouth and seemed on the verge of a mental breakdown. I felt bad for him. His face was worth sympathising for.

He ran his hand through his hair in a fierce way and stepped closer to her. She didn't cease her speech and continued lashing out. The next things happened so quick, I didn't have the time to comprehend them, just watched. All of a sudden, he grabbed her wrist and began to say something. This was some serious romantic encounter that I clearly had understood but what I didn't get was the next thing she did which was harshly push him back and shockingly, he lost his footing and fell down flat on his butt on the pavement. My jaw dropped and two questions instantly popped in my head.