Eyes Deep Within A Frozen Heart

One Good Deed

CHAPTER 2

   VANESSA

   I had been driving for over 45 minutes now. I was long past the highway and driving past what seemed to be acres of thick forestry. I was beginning to regret following Mr Grumpy because I had no idea how I’d get back to work from where I was. My car started to make several startling jolts and with further inspection I noticed he had turned off road through some rocky track. Great, I don’t think my tires were designed for this sort of thing. I heard a loud bump and as a reflex my foot slammed down on the brakes. I noticed he had stopped some 100 feet infront of my car and he was getting out. He walked a short distance before disappearing from my vision. I assumed he was going back to his workplace, his desolate, extremely isolated workplace. I got out of my car and examined all four of the wheels and could not suppress my loud groan when I noticed one of them was slightly punctured. I collapsed on my car and a  silent sob escaped my lips. There was no way this flat was taking me all the way back to the highway, much fartherless work and I had no clue whatsoever where I was to text anyone for assistance. Great. Why’d I have to go being all Vanessa and follow this dude. Now I sit and think about the logic in what I did, I wanted to cry even louder. What would I gain from following him and I should have given up when I realized I was more than 10 miles away from work. I only had one option and that was to ask for help around here. Someone at his workplace must be nice enough to understand my then fabricated story on how I ended up here and be willing to change my tire. If I avoid Mr Grumpy I would be fine. I started to walk away in the direction I saw Mr Grumpy go and I sighed, mentally lamenting on the fact that he had parked so far away from his workplace. As I walked I noticed several things that were off about where he worked. They weren’t any other cars around and it was beastly quiet. I had stopped in my tracks when his workplace came into view, only it looked nothing like a workplace… this was a house.

  

    I shrunk even deeper into my shell as several thoughts started flooding my head. What if I knock and his wife answers or one of his kids? Or even worse…what if he answers? I relaxed and persuaded my feet to keep in motion.

Come on Vanessa you don’t have any other options here, he’s not cold hearted enough to not help…Is he?

   Upon approaching the house, I took a few steps back to examine it. It was huge. It needed a few fixer uppers and some fresh paint. The faded beige color which covered the house was accented with a deep ocean blue. The windows were traditional and from the structure of it I could tell this house was as old as my ancestors would be. I ascended the creaking stairs and took a deep breath before I knocked on the heavy purple heart door. My heart raced and I felt heat amass within my veins. I rested against the stone petition before I collapsed of fear and anxiety. Almost a minute passed and my uneasy feelings were no more. I began to feel annoyed and knocked with more vigor and longer this time. Whilst I was knocking still, the door flew open and my heart jumped out of my chest when I came eye to eye with Mr Grumpy. He looked beyond annoyed and if looks could kill at this point I would’ve been 6 feet under but to my surprise his face relaxed and his eyebrows shot up and he looked almost…surprised.

  I was too much in awe at the fact that this man could actually show some sort of emotion in his face to remember why I had knocked in the first place.

 “You’re that gal from the convenience store up the road” he said and I gaffed impolitely. ‘Up the road?’ Up the road is what you’re mom tells you when you get you’re first bike and you ask her how far you can ride it. Up the road is where you go to pick up a newspaper or a bag of chips. THIS was up the state.