Between the Lanterns(8)
Genuinely surprised, August looked up and locked eyes with Samantha, saying, “Well, I could make you one… if you’d like?”
“Really? It wouldn’t be too much trouble?” she asked.
When he shook his head no, Samantha added, “That would be amazing, August. I’ll tell you what, sweets. I don’t take gifts from strangers or even handsome gentlemen with whom I’m just becoming acquainted. I’ll trade you for it. I’ll make you something nice in return. How long do you think it’ll take you?”
“Oh, I reckon about a week to get a phone and get it all set up. Yeah, a week should do just fine,” he answered.
“Ok, you come back in a week and I’ll have something to trade for it. Now, let’s get this Credit business done so you can get on home,” she told him, gently touching his forearm.
August liked her touch and the sound of this deal. He gets something nice from her, gets to come back and see her again, and all he has to do is make her a working cell like his own. Not a bad trade at all, he thought as he began to process his Credit app with the machine.
“Oh, sweets, you’re using your personal credit by accident,” Samantha told him. “You should be using the free Montek.Credit, remember?”
August had been hoping she wouldn’t notice. Now he had to explain, and it was going to make him seem like a liar. She’d never go out with him once she found out he’d been lying to her.
“Well, you see, uh,” he began explaining with difficulty, “Montek only gave me enough Credit for a cup of coffee, Sam. But, I liked John so much that I lied to him and told him I had hit the jackpot. He was hungry and sad. See, his ex-wife used to own this place. She died from The Countdown a few years ago, but he only just found out yesterday. I couldn’t let him leave without eatin’ his fill, you know? It wouldn’t have been right.”
Samantha’s eyes shot wide open in surprise.
“He’s THAT John? Cheryl’s ex-husband?” Samantha asked, floored by the realization. “Oh my gosh. I had no idea. She used to talk about him all the time, sweets. She regretted living her life without John. That is so sad! I wish I had known who he was. I would have told him all about it. Oh, shoot.”
“Well now,” August said, laying a calming hand on hers. “I’ve got his contact information, Sam. I can pass it on to you. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. It would probably do him good to hear that she always loved him, you know? He certainly seemed to feel the same way about her.”
Relief flooded into Samantha. She would be able to talk with John after all. This August seemed like one hell of a nice gentleman. Samantha was starting to hope that he would ask her out on a date.
“Yes, please if you don’t mind,” she told August. “I would love to talk with him about Cheryl. I just miss her so much. But don’t think that I forgot about what you did,” Samantha said, hands on her hips.
August realized he blew his shot with this gorgeous woman, and his heart began to recede into the solitude to which it was accustomed.
“What you did for John was the nicest gesture I’ve ever seen anyone do in my entire life,” Samantha said, bringing August’s lonely heart back into the open. “You are a good man, August; a real decent and handsome human being. I like that quite a lot, sweets. Quite a lot.”
Samantha put enough flirt in there to hopefully entice August to ask her out, but not enough to seem slutty. She didn’t want to come across as that kind of girl.
August smiled at the way she said it. He might have a shot at dating this beautiful woman after all. He said a silent prayer that she’d agree to go on a date with him, but he just couldn’t ask right then. He was too dang nervous. August thought it would be better to wait a week, and ask when he came back with the cellphone he was going to make her.
August paid with his Credit through the machine finally, and it made the same beeping noise it always did when waiting for confirmation. The screen turned green, and read, “Accepted. Credit deducted. Thank you.”
Then the handheld Montek.Credit machine made a strange whirring noise and sparks flew out of it, catching August’s shirt on fire. Just a little bit on fire, though.
Samantha screamed. August yelled. Tara put her hands over her mouth from behind the counter, where she had been watching the two flirt with each other. Then Samantha grabbed the coffee cup that John had left behind and doused the small fire with the remains of the old man’s Folgers. It was more than she initially thought was left behind, though, and it splashed all over August’s face, as well as his shirt.
August stood up faster than a bolt of lightning, embarrassed to hell and back, and quickly headed for the door.
“See you next week, sweets?” Samantha awkwardly called after him, her face grimacing in the hope he would still ask her out.
August turned back, shocked that she still wanted to see him again, and not thinking he was a doofus after seeing him on fire and covered in Folgers.
“Uhh, yeah. Yeah. See you in a week… uh, sweets,” he replied clumsily.
Samantha grinned and felt a flutter in her stomach. She had never felt anything like it before. It could mean only one thing… she liked him. She really liked him. No one had ever called her sweets before. That was her thing. But she liked the way it sounded when August had said it. It felt right. Samantha watched through the diner’s window as he walked away.