I woke Sunday morning, tired, and with burning eyes. I wasn't hungover from my graduation party the previous night, but my eyes were betraying me as if I had been. I rubbed them a bit and tried to open them again but still felt as if someone had rubbed in fiberglass. I laid back in the bed and thought about the previous night. I was upset that the my best female friend and current best friend had hooked up at the end of the night and that she had not chosen me. I guess I was just one more victim of the friend zone. I did not know it then, but it would be a pitfall I would blunder into many times in my life.
I took a deep breath and sat up, opened my eyes and turned and put feet to floor. I had a summer to enjoy before leaving for college, and damn it, it was just what I was going to do. I grabbed some some clothes, a towel from the hall closet, set them on the bathroom sink and jumped into the shower and turned the water on before letting it warm. The cold blast instantly dispelled any lingering malaise I placed my hand level, before my eyes, letting the water splash off it and into my slightly open eyes. It gradually began to relieve the burning. After a few moments of this I washed, hair, head, arms, body, and lingered to relieve some left over tension from losing out. After thoroughly rinsing I stepped from the shower and dried off. Hair brushed, teeth brushed, and remnants of an okay night brushed aside I headed out for the day.
I checked my wallet, before getting into my car, for the third time (a bit of O.C.D.) to make sure the money I received last night from friends and family was there in the proper order and direction in the billfold. I headed to Greg's and after knocking on the door and waiting a few moments his Mother came to the door and said he had just left to help his father at their shop. I drove around town with the money burning a hole in my pocket and not a damn idea what to spend it on. Around five I gave up and headed for work. I had two months left to work at our town's largest Woolworths. I had worked there, my first job, for the last two and a half years.
I arrived, headed to the office and checked with Mick our Manager about the night's special needs if there were any. He just said to do what I do best so I said okay and headed to the back to get to work. Just as I finished drawing up a list I made every night I worked, to run through and check off finished tasks, I heard a light knock on the delivery door. I opened the door and there before me stood a tall, slender, blonde vision of beauty. I almost fell over trying to keep the wind from slamming the door open and possibly hitting her as it was caught and swung out. It stopped just short of hitting her nose. Her face was frozen in the shock of the near miss. I apologized and mentioned that she was late, we had been expecting the shipment yesterday morning.
"I know, and I am sorry, but there was a problem with the truck, and with it being the beginning of summer, well, we had no one to step in and bring the load."
"Yeah, I know," I said, lightly laughing, "I just thought I should give you some grief since I am willing to bet that there are few who would be so bold to do so. Seeing how it might hurt their chances of bedding you."
"Bedding me? They're bold? Right! You've got them beat!"
"Me? What do you mean?"
"Come on, you're telling me that you're not hitting on me?"
"Ma'am, while you are definitely beautiful even though you're sweaty, and I can't possibly think of any reason you'd want to be stuck in the hot cab of a truck on a Sunday, you are out of my league in sooo many ways." I said looking her in the eyes, while trying not to look at her body.
"Oh my, you are good. And, pray tell me, how I am out of your league?" she asked hands on hips and a daring look spread wide across her lovely face.
I tried to hide my gulp as I thought of how to begin. "Well, okay. Number one you're about eight, maybe nine years older than me, and seeing how I am a stockboy and just graduated high school yesterday, I am most likely very low on your list of choices for a date. Second, as I said, while you're sweaty, your bright blue eyes radiate energy, warmth, and whisper of a soul deep and so wide as to make your beauty so much more than skin deep. Third, -"
"Oh, hell, stop right there!" She breathed out loud. "You just jumped over 99% of the men on that damn list you compiled in your head. How, why, wha . . . how can you say those things?"
"Well, let me get this load in here and if I have time I'll let you in on what I see." We worked feverishly to unload the truck and check to make sure the load was complete and no loss paperwork needed to be completed due to damaged goods. When done I was a sweat soaked mess and, as I turned to her, "I feel odd asking this at this point, but may I ask your name?" I had forgotten to check on the manifest.
She laughed, "Definitely!"
"Definitely. I like, its unusual but I -"
"What a smart ass!" she said laughing as she slugged me in the shoulder, "Its Melody!"
"Well, it is nice to have met you Melody, I am Daniel," I handed her back the delivery copy of the shipping order and thanked her.
"What? That's it? You're not going to tell me what you see?"
"Well I am off here in 15 minutes, are you off immediately to deadhead to your next load or do you have a layover?"
I don't need to head out until 7 in the morning. In fact I was going to ask if you knew if there was somewhere good to eat nearby I could walk to?"
"Sure, but I'll drive, just give me a few and meet me out front." I let her out back and had her bring her truck around to the front and to the far east corner and park it there. It would be safe out front under the lights. I shot down the aisles sweeping so quickly, but not missing a thing, mostly because I had received highest rankings for cleanliness from corporate and I was a stellar stockboy. Done, I said goodnight to Mick, and the ladies (our cashiers) and met Melody out front, where I was happy to see she had actually waited.
I held out my arm which she accepted and I led her to my car (well, my Mother's station wagon - just another reason). I opened the door and helped her in, closed it, and headed around to my side, and before getting in, took a deep calming breath.
"What would you like to eat? We have just about everything you'd want within a mile."
She thought for a moment, "I guess, I'd like to try your favorite place."
I laughed.
"Whats so funny?"
"You would really want A&W?"