Friday Romance: Secret Admirer (Parts 1 - 3)
A quarter to five, just as Rachel was getting ready to close up her store, the bell above the door rang and a man, tall and trim, wearing aviator sunglasses walked in. It wasn’t often that someone she
A quarter to five, just as Rachel was getting ready to close up her store, the bell above the door rang and a man, tall and trim, wearing aviator sunglasses walked in. It wasn’t often that someone she didn’t recognize showed up to her antique store.
“Can I help you?” she asked, feeling more than a bit nervous. “I don’t often see new faces in this little town. Where are you from?”
The man didn’t speak, instead he seemed only interested in perusing the bounty of wares spread about the store. He seemed as if to be looking for something in particular. After five minutes he left the store, leaving Rachel to wonder what had just happened.
When she got home she called up her friend Sam, asking if he’d like to come over for dinner so she could tell him what happened, hoping he’d be able to ease her mind. He said he’d be over in a half hour so she checked the freezer and preheated the oven to 450 degrees according to the instructions on the back of a box of frozen pizza.
She changed into more comfortable clothes, a t-shirt left over from a previous relationship, it was two sizes too big but really comfortable, and a pair of sweatpants. She was delighted to see her friend Sam dressed in a similar fashion when she answered the door.
As they devoured the pizza in front of them, alongside glasses of white wine, Rachel told him about the guy who entered the store just before closing.
“Maybe he was scoping the place out so he could come back and rob you,” said Sam.
“You’re supposed to be making me feel better,” she replied, a nervous tingle dancing up and down her spine. “He could’ve just been looking for the perfect decoration and didn’t happen to see anything that fit what he was looking for.”
“Maybe he was scoping you out. If you didn’t recognize him maybe he just heard about the town beauty who runs the antique store and had to see for himself what all the fuss was about.”
“You’re ridiculous.” Rachel cackled with laughter. “His glasses were so big it was hard to make out his face, but,” she tilted her head side to side as she thought it over, “he wasn’t hard on the eyes. I can’t imagine someone coming into the store like that though if their intention was to ask me out on a date. Certainly not the best first impression.”
“He’s quirky, so what?” Sam shrugged. “This pizza is delicious by the way. Was it delivery?”
“No it’s …” she smirked. “Good one.”
The next morning when Rachel arrived at her shop she noticed a package sitting beside the brick wall of her doorway. It was a yellow gift bag stuffed with white tissue paper. She picked it up and brought it inside with her, placing it on the counter as she walked her purse back to her office.
When she returned she had her phone in her hand, on speaker phone so she could talk to Sam while she investigated the package. Finally he answered, telling her he couldn’t talk for long since he had a customer on hold.
“There was a strange package sitting outside my shop when I arrived,” she said.
“Maybe it’s from your secret admirer.”
“That’s not funny. I won’t keep you for long, but I at least need you on the line while I open this.” She placed her phone on the counter and pulled out the tissue paper from the bag.
“What is it?”
She reached into the bag and pulled out a small wooden box.
“It’s some sort of box,” she said. “A jewelry box, maybe?” When she opened the box and a song began to play. There was a figure in the box twirling around, a ballet dancer. “It’s a music box. This is too weird.”
“It’s romantic,” replied Sam. “It’s not ticking is it? If it is then throw it into the dumpster out back and get under your desk.”
“No,” she replied, rolling her eyes, “it’s not ticking. It’s actually quite nice, despite how random it is.”
“I have to go. Let me know if he stops in again.”
“Will do. Thanks for putting up with me.”
“Someone has to.”
“Lucky you.”
Rachel hung up and placed the music box behind the counter.
As she was tidying up the store the bell above the door rang and her heart began to race. She turned around to see Prudence, a woman who visited at least once a week since retiring a year ago.
“Good morning, Prudence,” said Rachel, holding her chest.
“You poor thing. You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Is everything all right?”
“Yes, of course. Everything is fine. Can I help you find anything today?”
“Just here to browse,” replied Prudence. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look a bit flustered.”
Rachel walked behind the counter and pulled out the anonymous gift.
“Someone left this for me,” she said. “I found it this morning sitting outside the door. There wasn’t a note or anything with it. It’s quite a lovely gift, I just don’t know why anyone would give it to me.” She opened the box and the song began to play. Prudence walked over and placed her hand over her mouth.
“It’s beautiful,” said Prudence. “What a thoughtful present. You clearly have a secret admirer. One with good taste too. I had one in grade school who used to leave chocolates in my desk. Every morning there’d be chocolates waiting for me. I eventually found out who it was and we ‘dated’, but as kids all that meant was we held hands sometimes during recess. Any idea who it might be?”
“There was a man in here yesterday. He came in right before I closed, but didn’t say anything, only walked around for a bit and then left. It was all very strange.”
“Men can be quite strange when they’re smitten with you. Gary Johnson was his name. I wonder what he’s up to now. Not that I’m looking.” She held up her hand to show off her wedding ring. “John and I celebrate forty years together this fall. Can you believe it?”
“That’s amazing. I’m happy for you.”
“You’ll find your perfect match someday too,” said Prudence, inspecting a small lamp. “So, was he cute?”
“He wasn’t not cute…”
Prudence smirked and went about perusing the store.
At noon Rachel took her break, locking the door to the store and putting up a sign which read “Be back at” above a clock which pointed to 1:00 pm. She walked down the street to the diner, where she was seated at her favorite spot which had a window overlooking the street, letting her people watch as she ate her meal.
“What’ll it be today, Rachel?” asked Debby, the waitress. She had her hair tied up in a bun, the front frizz popping out, and stains on her white apron. “By the way, did you get the shipment in for those ornaments I like? The stained glass ones.”
“Not yet,” replied Rachel, “but I’ll let you know as soon as I do. Should be next week. I’ll get the Chef’s Salad, along with a ginger ale.”
“I’ll put that in for you. Hank has me working the fryers back there. I’ll score you some fries to hold you over.”
“I’d like that,” replied Rachel.
As she picked at her food she watched the people she’d come to know walking up and down the street. A lot of her regulars were people who worked the nearby shops, and some even knew her habits well enough to wave as they passed by, knowing she’d be sitting in the window seat. When she was just about finished she let out a quick gasp, catching herself before drawing too much attention. The man in the aviator sunglasses walked by the diner, seemingly making his way to her store. She waved Debby over and handed her enough money to cover her meal and a six dollar tip, then rushed out the door to try and catch the ‘secret admirer’.
“Hey!” she shouted while strutting down the sidewalk. “I’m talking to you!”
The man turned around and put his hands in the air, giving himself up.
“You caught me,” he said, “I was just on my way to see you. Sorry about yesterday.”
“You had me worried,” she said, “walking in and being all creepy like that.”
“Creepy? Is that how you treat all your customers?” He sulked a bit, looking defeated. “Fair enough. I admit it wasn’t my best attempt at a first impression.” He removed his sunglasses, revealing emerald eyes. “I’m Gary.”
“Gary Johnson?”
“What? No. Gary Webber. I’m new to town. Sorry, I should back up a bit. I was in the diner last week when I noticed you sitting by the window. I wanted to talk to you, but couldn’t quite build up the courage. I thought for sure yesterday when I came into your store that I’d be able to at least say hello. Things didn’t go quite as I expected. Soon as you started asking about me I choked up.”
“Did you leave the music box outside my door?” She was standing with her hands on her hips, imagining the two of them sitting in a dark room with a spotlight shining in Gary’s eyes.
“That was me,” he replied, followed by a sigh. “I figured I could use it as a way to start talking to you. I was on my way to your store to find out if you liked it. Was it a bit too much?”
“It was fine,” she replied, letting her hands fall to her side. “I wasn’t expecting it is all. It’s strange to see someone new around here. Sure, we get the random visitors passing through, but usually that’s not until the leaves start to turn closer to October. I’m Rachel, by the way.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rachel,” he replied. “It seems I’ve blown my chance at a decent first impression, but if you’re willing perhaps we can meet for lunch tomorrow? I work at the furniture store about a half mile that way.” He pointed past her.
“I’d like that,” she said, “I take my lunch from noon to one.”
“That’ll be perfect. See you tomorrow then.”
Rachel nodded and went back to her store. She pulled the music box from behind the counter and opened it, letting the music play as she stocked the shelves.
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