October is one of those months where the weather can go either way. Some days a person can comfortably go outside wearing just a short sleeve T-shirt and jeans. Then there are days where the weather is cold, raw, and uncomfortable. Unfortunately, this Halloween evening brought the uncomfortable latter instead of the pleasant former. An earlier rain storm left the evening with the kind of weather that made you feel uncomfortably cold.
To Adam's credit, he didn't let the unpleasant weather affect his spirit that evening. He decided to celebrate Halloween with a trip to the small, isolated village of Hammock. The earlier rain gave the town a spooky, old-European feeling that night as he enjoyed watching the small crowd of tourists and denizens as they walked along the street under the moist glow of the antique street lights
"A nice, quiet little town," Adam thought to himself as he walked down the quaint little street for the first time. "Or is this considered a hamlet?"
The street, if that's what you could really call it, was the only thoroughfare through the small hamlet of Hammock. Hammock was barely a blip on the radar of American towns and communities. The population was about 25. The main attraction was the Tourm Inn, a luxurious hotel and bar that was the anchor of this small community that seemed to spring out of nowhere.
Hammock was a mysterious town. No one really knew anything about its history. It was believed that the town was established sometime in the early to mid 1600s by English settlers who were looking to not only escape religious persecution, but religion altogether. Hence the lack of a church close by. There had been rumors of ancient witches' covens and other assorted paranormal activity in Hammock but, of course, none of it was ever proven. All that was really known about the town was that a modest number of tourists would pass through to shop at the fine jewelry and baked goods stores that lined the single street village and relax at the old inn.
As Adam walked along the old brick sidewalk, he felt someone brush past his shoulder. When he turned to look at the person, time seemed to slow down as if he were in a movie. He couldn't believe that he didn't see the woman coming towards him and he swore that she was not there just a moment ago. It was like she simply materialized and was suddenly walking past him. Plus, it was impossible to not notice her.
The woman was so stunningly gorgeous that she could've stepped straight out of a dream. With the way she'd appeared...maybe she did. Her beautiful blonde hair came down to the middle of her back. Her long bangs were cut straight across and came just to the top of her eye brows. She wore a black leather jacket that was unzipped and open. Her large, round breasts looked like they wanted to burst from her pushup bra and the white blouse that revealed plenty of cleavage. The blouse was just short enough to show a little bit of the skin of her incredibly thin waist just above a pair of the lowest of low riding black slacks Adam had ever seen. She looked like a character drawn from a comic book.
But it was those blue eyes with the long black lashes that met Adam's gaze and locked onto him. She smiled slightly as she turned to continue on her way and time seemed to rush back to normal speed. For a moment, Adam felt like his breath had been stolen from his lungs. He took a deep breath to try to reenter reality as he stopped to watch the blonde woman walk away from him and enter the Tourm Inn.
It was almost an involuntary reaction as Adam turned to follow the blue-eyed beauty. Her eyes seemed so vivid when she looked his way and seemed to stun him for a moment. When he met her gaze, it gave him a feeling he just could not describe. It was something other than pure lust, but it certainly wasn't love. He felt a compulsion to follow her and meet this woman whose gaze enchanted him. When Adam entered the inn, he could see the woman was seated at the bar. A glass was already in front of her. Adam made his way to the bar and sat on the stool next to her.
"Hello," Adam said as he sat down next to her.
"Hi," her soft voice replied as she met him with a smile.
"Do you come here often?" he asked.
"Nice opening line, but you might want to work on it a little bit," she said with a laugh.
"I'm sorry. I just..."
"No, it's ok. It just seemed like the stereotypical pickup line," she said with an almost reassuring smile. "But then, are you?"
"Am I..."
"Trying to pick me up?"
"No, no, no. Nothing like that," Adam nervously replied. "I was just trying to make a little conversation. I guess you get all kinds of pickup lines. I'll leave you alone, if you want."
"No, it's fine. I just like to give guys who approach me a hard time. Helps weed out the undesirables."
"I take it you get approached a lot here?" Adam asked.
"Not really. It's a small town and not a whole lot of people pass through when I'm here in the bar. But I've been approached by enough of the undesirables."
"Hopefully I'm not one of the undesirables. I'm Adam, by the way. Adam Collins."
"Rachael Page. Nice to meet you, Adam Collins." The woman smiled and offered her hand. Adam firmly, yet shyly, shook her hand. "So, do you come here often?"
"Are you coming on to me?" Adam joked.
"Ah, touché." Rachael replied, smiling. "Actually, I don't remember seeing you around here."
