This is one of those stories that just seem to pop up from nowhere when you're watching TV on a Saturday morning. As always this is a work of fiction, and I alone am solely responsible for its content and any and all mistakes are of my own doing. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. If you like what you read, please remember to vote, like and follow me, and if you leave a comment, please be respectful. Thanks for reading and following me.
It was colder than I remembered as I walked to my truck here in the parking garage, I had enjoyed a nice meal at a local restaurant that was right below the garage. Conveniently just half a block from the theater where I had just watched this year's production of the Nutcracker. It was one of my favorite ballets and I found it relaxing to see, as I have grown older, I've become more of a patron to the arts. As a kid I always liked museums, something about what was there always drew me in, I don't know if it's the history or the finding out of the unknown.
I could finally see my vehicle and 2 spots over another car was sitting there with its hood up and I could hear a young female voice muttering curses at the engine gods. I walked over clearing my throat, it startled her. 'Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that.' I said and looked in. 'What seems to be the problem?'
She kicked the tire and looked up at me. She was very pretty, well built and seemed familiar. 'Sorry, this thing tends to die when it's cold out.' She replied.
'Mind if I look?' I asked and started checking the obvious thing then had her try to crank it over. I want over to my truck and got a few tools out of the box in the back, I made a few checks and had her turn it over yet again. 'It's your battery, when was the last time it was changed?' I asked looking for the assembly code sticker.
She got out, walked over to me and shrugged. 'I don't know, I only got the car a few weeks ago. It was working fine until we hit this cold spell. Hell, I just moved here 5 months ago, I don't even know my way around a 10th of this city.' She said.
I knew what she was talking about, I'd lived here for more than 10 years now and knew maybe half to 5/8 of it. 'Well, I know you won't be able to get a cab at this time of night and I can put the battery in for you tomorrow, that'll save you.' I told her and put my tools away. 'I can possibly jump you off, but will it start tomorrow? where do you work anyway?'
She turned around and pointed out the open space between the 2 floors at a brown building. 'Over there, I'm in the company.' She said. I snapped my fingers and smiled.
'That's where I saw you, you were one of the snowflakes in tonight's performance.' I said. She smiled and blushed.
'No one ever recognizes us.' She replied.
I closed her hood and smiled yet again. 'Well, you're in luck I do know where a Wally world is that's close by, we can get a battery there and that should fix the problem.' I said and opened the door for her. I helped her in marveling her muscle structure.
30 minutes later we were in the store and a few minutes after that I had figured out which one was needed, and she was able to pay for it. I had found out that her name was Carol and that she was from St. Louis, she had gone to school at UT Austin and had a BA with a major in dance and had been hired by the company right out of school. From me she had learned that My name was John, and I was retired because of injuries and that I had also hit the lottery a way back.
I asked her if she had any plans and invited her over to my place after asking where she lived, come to find out it was within a mile of my place. She accepted and followed me over to my place. I'm not the typical Bachelor, I don't have just beer in my fridge though I do have a fridge in the garage for just that. I actually do clean up after myself and keep my house clean and fresh smelling, and so on and so on.
I asked her if she'd like a bite to eat and quickly whipped up a small meal, after I gave her a quick tour showing her all but 1 room. I figured ballerina equals athlete so carbs and protein, I do love air friers they make things so easy to cook like chicken. I brought out chicken with rice and salad. Carol smiled and wondered how I knew how to cook so well, I told her that I had learned from my parents and grandparents and that they had raised no fool.
She laughed and said that I sounded like her dad, he often said that his parents didn't raise any fools. We both laughed and I asked her questions about her life as a member of the Corp. She said that it was hours of work every day, the only upside was that she was paid quite well, and the events coming up promised more opportunities for her to be an understudy for some of the more experienced dancers.
I finally looked at my watch and saw that it was nearing 12:00 pm and she was shocked, she stated that she was usually in bed by now. I laughed knowing that I would be up for another hour at least before I went to bed and told her so. I took our dishes into the kitchen and loaded them into the dishwasher and put things away.
Coming out I could see Carol watching me sipping her wine. 'What's behind the door you didn't show me John? I promise I won't run screaming into the darkness.' She asked and took another sip of wine.
