Escaping Eden
Escaping Eden
By Yolanda Olson
Published by Yolanda Olson at Smashwords
Copyright 2014 Yolanda Olson
.
Escaping
Eden
I
always used to think about what my mother would say to my father when my father found out I started to get ink on my body. “The worst thing she’s ever done is gotten tattoos; you can’t get mad at her for that too.” My mother always knew just what to say to make me feel better and calm my father down.
Of course I wish it stayed that way; tattoos being the “worst” of my mistakes, but I never really knew how to cope with certain things so I became kind of a recluse. I kept a small circle of friends from high school and a few from my first couple of jobs. You know, the ones that never judged you and loved you no matter what your mistakes were.
Now here I was after three miserably failed relationships and a full time job at a video game store, trying to get my life in order at twenty three.
“Hey Eden!”
The voice that entered the store took me out of my thoughts and I smiled. My best friend since I was thirteen years old, Liora, walked in and came over to the counter I was standing behind.
“Hey, Li,” I replied.
“I’m on my break from work so I thought I’d come in and hang out for a while,” she said, leaning against the counter.
I went into the back room of the store and found a folding chair. I came back out and set it next to the counter by me so she could sit down. Being that I had recently made assistant manager, I knew I couldn’t get in trouble for it. I handed her the newest gaming magazine and turned my attention to the customer that was waiting patiently to be rung up. After I bagged up the guy’s game and handed it to him, I glanced over at Liora who was flipping through the magazine with a small smile on her face.
“Find something cool?” I asked, leaning over to see what she was looking at.
“Well,” she started. “There’s this new guy at my job and—”
“No. Absolutely not,” I replied, cutting her off and crossing my hands over my chest.
“Oh come on! You didn’t even let me finish!” she said with a laugh.
“Li, you’ve tried to get me together with almost everything that has a penis at your office. I’m just not interested. I don’t want to feel like a failure again so soon,” I replied, shaking my head.
She sighed and snapped the magazine closed. I knew she was just trying to help me build my self-confidence again and I knew she had only the best intentions but after my last relationship, I was done. I accepted that I would probably be alone forever and I didn’t really mind it.
“Then I guess I should tell him not to meet me here,” she said, as she dug around in her purse for her phone.
I stared at her, my mouth hanging open. Li knew how painfully shy I was and to have this guy just show up to meet her at my job was completely unlike her.
“Liora!”
I turned my back to the voice that walked into the store. It was male, slightly accented, (though I wasn’t quite sure from where yet) and cheerful.
Maybe he’s one of those ‘straights’ that doesn’t like tattoos. Good thing I wore my halter-top today so he can get an eyeful of the work. Oh God, I’m going to kill Li for this one.
I looked up into the security mirror and caught his reflection. Dark messy hair and a pair of glasses was all I could make out. I grabbed a box that was sitting unopened, behind the counter and looked around for a box cutter. I reasoned that now would be a good a time as any to start putting away some gift cards.
The phone rang and I said a silent Hail Mary as I answered it. The more I had to do, the longer I could avoid the inevitably awkward first introductions.
“Game Cave! This is Eden, how can I help you?” I asked cheerfully into the phone.
I put the customer on hold and went into the backroom to find the game they were calling about. I spent about ten minutes looking for it, then grabbed the phone from my belt loop and let the customer know that we did have it in stock. As soon as I hung up the phone, I noticed that Dark Messy Hair was sitting in Li’s chair and she was nowhere to be found.
“Liora said she’d be back in a little bit,” he said with a friendly smile.
“Thanks.”
“Eden, right?” he asked.
I nodded briefly and fiddled subconsciously with my name tag. He was really hot, in a geeky kind of way. I mean if he lost those glasses he’d be absolutely stunning, but I kind of liked that look on him. Not that it would matter really. No matter how adorable he was, I wasn’t going to allow Li to set this up.
“I’m Simon,” he said.
“Hi Simon,” I replied.
“Hi Eden.”
He smiled.
I blushed.
God damn it.
“It’s nice to meet you. Li talks about you all the time,” he said politely.
“So, where are you from Simon?” I asked as I leaned back against the desk behind me. “Originally, I mean.”
“Australia. Sydney.”
I nodded and began to drum my fingers on the desk.
I suck at making conversation. Go away
, I thought starting to feel somewhat miserable.
Simon cleared his throat and straightened himself up.
“Wow. Aren’t you a tall one?” I asked.
“No, not really. It could be that you’re small,” he teased with a smile. “Anyway Eden, it was a pleasure to meet you. I have to get back to work now. It took me so long to find this place that I wasted most of my lunch time on it.”
I smiled at him and nodded as he turned to leave. I couldn’t help but wonder what the purpose of this was since we didn’t really say much of anything to each other. Of course, it was mostly my fault because I just didn’t care. This time was the first time that I got flustered in a while though. And for that one reason, I thought I’d stop him.
“Hey, Simon?” I called out as I leaned out the door.
He turned around to see who was calling his name, then smiled when he saw it was me.
“Hey Eden!” he called back.
“Who’s um, who’s your boss at work?” I asked as I approached him.
“Liora.”
“Give me a sec,” I said to him, reaching into my pocket for my phone and sent Liora a text.
Hey Li. I get off in ten minutes. Any chance I can keep the Aussie for the rest of the afternoon? He missed out on lunch going on YOUR wild goose chase so I thought I would buy him some.
I tapped my foot while I waited for her to text me back.
“Everything okay?” Simon asked, glancing at his watch.
My phone vibrated and I looked down. I laughed and held up my phone.
Hold this up to Simon. I hereby order you to take the rest of the afternoon off, paid, and get something to eat. Don’t come back to work today or else!!! ~ L
He laughed. I turned my face to hide my smile when I saw his eyes light up. Something that simple and genuine turned my face red and I didn’t want him to notice.
“What’s for lunch then?” he asked, with a smile.
“I’ll figure it out once my replacement gets here,” I replied.
Nodding, he turned and followed me as I walked back into the video game store. I didn’t want to be awkward and quiet, so I decided to put him to work.
“Are you good with computers?” I asked, stepping behind the counter.
“Yes, I work in the systems department. Why?”
“This baby right here,” I said, tapping the register/computer on the left, “took a shit last week and I can’t get anyone out here to fix it. Want to give it a go?”
With one finger, he pushed his glasses up his face, and stepped behind the counter. I stood there for a moment while he hit the power on button, and leaned over the register/computer and got to work.
I spent the next ten minutes fixing the gift card display and shelving new stock. Magazines, video games, flyers. When my replacement wandered in, I smiled and greeted him. He raised an eyebrow at Simon and then back at me.
“Jeremy, this is Simon. He’s on loan to us from Li’s job. He’s fixing that old piece of crap. Simon, this is Jeremy, one of the best employees we have.”
Simon glanced up and smiled at Jeremy and they shook hands, before he returned to his work. I used my computer to clock out and then I moved next to Simon as he pushed a few more buttons before he stood up with a sigh.
“It was a virus, but I think I’ve got it,” he said finally.
I nodded.
“Let this run,” he said to Jeremy. “The computer will restart itself once it’s done and then it should be okay.”
I went into the backroom to grab my bag. I picked up one of the boxes I had opened that morning and set it on the shelf before I walked back out into the front of the store and waited patiently for Simon who was having a friendly discussion with Jeremy.
“Ready?” I asked him. Simon smiled and nodded.
“See you later, Jeremy!” I said, waving at him as we headed toward the door.
I led Simon to my car; a dark green Cherokee, and unlocked the doors. As he slid into the passenger seat, I turned the car on and sat there for a moment.
“Any idea where you want to go eat?” I asked him.
“Anywhere’s good,” he said, running a hand through his messy hair.
I put the car in gear and decided to take us to Outback. I thought it would be cute and funny and hoped he would get the subtlety of the joke when we got there. I turned the radio on and turned it to the rock station and tapped my fingers to the beat on the steering wheel while I drove. Simon was silent but his presence was strong.
I heard him chuckle when the restaurant came into sight. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and saw him smiling.
“Clever,” he said, as I pulled into a free parking spot.
“Thought it could be fun,” I replied, making a silly face at him.
When we walked in, a young girl greeted us with menus and walked us over to a table by the window. I thanked her as we sat down and began to look over the menu options when I felt eyes on me.
I glanced over the top and saw Simon sitting there looking at me over the top of his menu.
I blushed and he smiled, lowering his eyes to look at his options.
I couldn’t help but wonder what was making him stare at me. Was it the fact that my hair was so blonde it boarded on white? Was it my dark blue eyes? I’d been told they looked like sapphires. Perhaps the small silver spikes that were in my ears? Maybe it was the side of my head being shaved? I went through a semi mental breakdown after my last relationship and shaved off the part of the hair he had always had his hands on. Of course, it could’ve been my impossibly bright red lipstick. I never wore makeup and I wasn’t sure what had possessed me to do so today.
“So what brings you to America?” I asked uncomfortably.
“Work, really. That’s what my visa is valid for. I got contacted by Liora when she saw my resume on line and her company paid for me to come out here and do some contract work for them,” he replied, looking at me again.
“Yeah that sounds like Li,” I responded laughing. “Once she sees something she thinks will work out,
BAM
! She’s on it!”
“Tell me about those tattoos on your back,” he said politely, setting down his menu.
“Oh it’s just a play on words really. My name is Eden, right? I thought what better thing to cover a wide range of my body with than a garden?”
Simon leaned back in his chair and smiled. God he was impossibly beautiful. His hair, even though messy, seemed like it had been placed perfectly. Simon’s eyes were an enchanting light brown with specks of green and gold in them. His black frame glasses displayed them like a trophy and I couldn’t help but think he was the kind of guy that girls would fall over if they knew his personality was as amazing as his face.
Most girls wouldn’t give someone like Simon a chance, because of his overall appearance. Smart, neat, slightly nerdish. I knew how he felt, because most guys wouldn’t give me a chance over my appearance. Apparently, I looked “wild, untamed, like a bitch” as I had been previously branded.
Maybe Simon would be good for me, as a friend. Maybe we could help each other in the relationship department and maybe we could—
“Sorry that took so long,” a pretty girl said walking up to our table and interrupting my thoughts “We suddenly got slammed. What can I get you guys to drink?”
“Um, I’ll have a Coke please,” I said to her.
“Same,” Simon said.
“Alright did you guys need more time or are you ready to order?”
I glanced at him and he shrugged and glanced back down at the menu.
“Give us a few minutes?” I asked. She nodded and left to get our drinks.
“What looks good?” I asked him.
He looked up at me with a small smile and his eyes lingered on me for a moment before he lowered them again.
I blushed again.
“I think I’ll have the fish,” I mumbled into the menu.
“Sounds good. I think I will too,” he replied turning his menu over and waving our waitress back to us.
She set down our drinks and Simon gave her our order. Then we sat there in silence.
And here’s that awkward silence I hate.