CHAPTER ONE:
Cool Cabin Candles - Friday night - 6:20 PM
Amber sighed heavily of boredom and put her book down on the counter, by her register. She let down her long, thick brown hair and it cascaded down her full breasts. Amber was 39 and with large hips, a small waistline which was accentuated by her tight white dress. There had only been four customers all day and she was feeling restless.
The candle store phone rang.
"Hello, Cool Cabin Candles?" She answered promptly.
"Hi Amber, it's Claire." The owner asked her, "I really hate to ask, but can you please close up shop tonight?"
"Sure," Amber said, "why not."
"Thanks," she gratefully said, "I'll make sure you get a raise on your next paycheck. You're long overdue."
"Thanks!" Amber said.
After a brief exchange of stocked item questions, they hung up.
Sitting back down, she picked up her book and got back to her reading.
Cool Cabin Candles - Friday night - 8:10 PM
Amber began posting tons of photos on social media. The candle displays were worth showing off & so was her new dress. She posted a few selfies and a few to promote the shop that had just given her a raise. The instant she set her phone down, she received a notification.
*DING
As she picked up her phone, she smiled. Her online crush, Jack: A 35 year old from afar with whom she had a long term friendship she held dear.
He never received her being interested in him too well, but that never hurt their friendship. Weird for him to message her first. he only did on a rare occasion.
Amber put the phone back down. She kept staring. If she answered too quickly, would she be too eager? She didn't want to seem desperate.
Though he lived far away and she never had any signals from him aside from bemusement, her attraction to his intellect was powerful and she let him know how she felt. He rejected her, but said he liked things about her, as well.
What if this message was important?
Curiosity started to gnaw at Amber and she went ahead and opened up the social media message.
Jack wrote, "I'm in town with family. Thought I'd stop by the candle shop and say hello, if you're still there."
Her heart started to feel as if she was doing cardio! What was this, he lived thousands of miles away!? How could this be?
He had once said "never" to the idea of meeting her, and now he was dropping by her work.
Since she only knew him from mutual friends on social media, she only imagined this day would come!
She started to primp and texted back, "yes, I'm at the shop, see you soon."
The app showed he read her message right away.
Cool Cabin Candles - Friday night - 9:40 PM
When Jack walked in, Amber tried to stand up ceremoniously, rather than to look too excited. She kept telling herself to play it cool.
At only 5'3", Amber felt suddenly very small. He towered over her at 6'7", and he walked in with luggage and a guitar case.
He had long, light brown hair and a full beard that looked as if he was some kind of Viking.
They both had hazel eyes and though they'd had interactions through live chat others hosted and a few fighting video games they played together, this was their first face-to-face after years of interaction.
She smiled and said, "Oh, hey Jack... what a ... surprise! Why are you in New York?"
He said, "Hello, what kind of place is this?", as he gazed around incredulously at endless shelves of candles and crystals. "I'm in town for a cousin's funeral. My aunt asked me to play guitar for the services."
Amber said, "I'm so sorry about your loss! This is Claire's candle shop. She takes delight in having this type of gift shop."
"That's okay," he answered in the condolences, then added with a smirk, "this place looks so dumb!"
As Amber laughed along, she said, "why?"
He answered, "I don't know, just a bunch of girly candles... it's not my thing. What time do you get off work?"
As he continued to speak, his deep voice with a northern lad accent really started making her feel like her juices were flowing. Her ivory lace thong must be soaked.
"11:00 o'clock." she said, shifting gently so her wet panties might not distract her.
He smirked. "Who in the FUCK is buying candles at 11:00 PM in New York City?", He asked with biting sarcasm.
This was so funny to her, especially on a slow day. Amber had been so nervous, she began to bubble over with laughter.
He seemed to see her for the first time.
"I saw your posts online."
She thought about the photos, "Oh, did you?"
"Yes," he never spoke to her in a sexual way, and yet she now saw his eyes wandering over her breasts.
He was a highly intelligent man, he made her laugh... and this was what she found attractive in addition to his perfect teeth and the sultriest voice.
Why did he suddenly pop in? She decided to go ahead and ask.
"I'm just curious," she inquired, "Why did you stop by to see me? I am glad to see you! I guess it's such a shock!"
"I was in town," he said, almost sounding bored as he examined some sage for sale with a look of disgust, "and I saw your posts were just down the road from where we had dinner. It was either hang out with family... which I did NOT want to do... or..."
His eyes turned to her, "Stop by and see you at this silly flower child shop."
She giggled nervously, and said, "Okay!"
A moment passed and he said, "Look, some friends of mine are playing at a bar. Come by if you want, if not... it was good seeing you. Have a nice shift. I'll be here at midnight."
He handed a card to her.
"John's Garage Bands" the card read, with a red demon cat logo.
"Okay, see you there!" Amber said.
He strolled out. No looking back, he just said "Bye."
No hug? No handshake?
Maybe she was overthinking how much he liked her.