Queen of Hearts

Three

"Cole?" 

His smile falters, and his eyebrows furrowed, confused. Oh shit, I think. Do I have the wrong guy? 

"Yeah, I'm Cole," he pauses. "Umm... do I know you?" he asks. I laugh, stunned, to be honest. I mean, sure, it's been six years, but at the same time, I remembered him after all of this time. 

"No, I suppose you don't," I say, coldly. "It's been a long time," I murmur under my breath, probably too quiet for him to hear. 

"Anyways," I say, changing the topic. "What can I get for you today? We have a wonderful selection of jack cheese and brie, but I'm afraid all of our samples have been put away." 

"Oh, I'm not here for cheese. But it's raining very hard and the tires on my car aren't suited for this weather." I peek out of the window and see that his car certainly is not prepared for our weather. From my view, it looks as if he has a small, buggy, one that an old person would have in Connecticut, but not the sort we'd have in New York. 

"Well I'm sorry about that, but we close at 9. And it's 9:02 right now. So I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave," I say through my gritted teeth. I can't believe this, I could be at home chilling not here, I think. 

He smirks, obviously intrigued with my anger. "Well, the door still says open, so I'm afraid you'll have to let me stay," he jokes. He flashes me another blinding smile, but this time I don't find it endearing. I find it very, very annoying. 

Frustrated, I storm my way to the door and flip the sign so it reads 'closed' from the outside. "There!" I scream. "Is THAT better?!?" 

But instead of seeing him laugh as I expected, he just looks startled, confused. "Hellooo," I call out. "You can go now, we're officially closed." But he just stands there dumbstruck, looking at my apron. I look down at myself to see what's so interesting about my green polyester smock. But then I see what he's staring at. 

"Jasmine," he reads. He stares at my gold name tag which I forgot to take off. For some reason, his voice sends a shiver through me, and it takes me a moment to realize I'm scared. My mind flashes back to the time where he confronted me, the harsh grip he held on me. 

And now I am here alone. With him. 

"Jas," he says, again, but this time softer. I see his brain process the information, gradually collecting memories from the time long ago. He looks from my hair to my face, my nose, my mouth, and finally my eyes. The something in him clicks. 

Suddenly, he pulls me into him. I strangle a yelp from the back of my throat as it hits me that he's hugging me. He has a good foot of height on me, so it's like I'm being hugged by a bear. I laugh into his chest. "Yep, that's me." 

He releases me but keeps his hands on my shoulders. He gazes into my eyes, then looks away. 

"Damn, Jas, it's been a long time. A really long time." He pauses, and chooses his next words carefully. 

"You've changed, well, you've grown. No longer the small skinny girl with the obnoxious voice from camp. I thought I'd never see you again, you know, especially with the whole... incident last time."

"Same..." I trail off, ignoring the last part. I change the topic: "Anyways, what are you doing here? In New York, I mean, why aren't you in Vermont?" He drops his hands from my shoulders and grabs an olive oil from the display shelf. 

"Mom and I had to sell the cabins. Some company wanted to build a complex out there, and they were paying us big." He spins the bottle in his hands and adds, "38 dollars for oil? Jesus Christ, that's a rip-off." 

"Aw Cole, I'm so sorry. About the cabins I mean." He shrugs, not really wanting to get into it. "But what are you doing... here? Why New York?" 

He places the bottle back on the shelf. "Mom got a job out here teaching at the elementary school. It doesn't pay a lot, but it's better than being jobless." 

There's an awkward pause between us. Finally, I speak up. 

"Let me drive you home," I offer. He looks up surprised. 

"Nah, it's fine. I can make it with this car..." he trails off, realizing that that was not a good option. 

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Give me a minute, I have to grab my keys and stuff. Just... look at the cheeses I guess." I smile, and make my way into the kitchen. After 5 minutes of checking all of the fridges, taking off my apron, and finding my phone and keys, I walk into the front of the store, and smile. 

"Come on," I say. "Let's go." 

This was rushed, so it's not very good. But what do you think about Cole? Do you appreciate his change, or do you think he's hiding something from her?