duskrunsdry

[duskrunsdry]

Can’t Hide - Chapter Two.

The grocery bags dug into her skin, but the feeling of money still in her wallet numbed the feeling.  

Maggie observes the sky, and after a beat, decides its about to rain. While she is walking with her bags of groceries. Her walk had at least five or 8 more minutes left, depending how well her legs decide to work today. 

The rain is pouring hard enough she can feel it through her shirt, when finally she sees the doors of her apartment building, and, she squints her eyes, a man and a woman arguing in front of them. 

“...you keep on doing this,” she catches the tail-end of the conversation, and the woman’s voice is defeated, almost a whisper.

The man doesn’t speak, just frowns, and rubs his face. Maggie slows down on the sidewalk, unwilling to interrupt.

The woman shakes her head, and then takes two steps down the stairs, before turning around.

“Andy,” she says, before cutting off and going down the rest of the steps but did not look back; the man looks like he is about to follow her, but pauses. 

Maggie thinks that their conversation was so deep, that they might not even know that it’s raining outside. 

Their conversation now over, Maggie speed walks to it, no longer feeling her extremities, and that’s probably not good. 

The man is standing by the door, staring at the receding back of the lady that was just speaking to him, a sad look on his face; one that Maggie had seen before somewhere long forgotten. 

 She get’s close enough to him, and he seems to snap out of it, the look immediately gone off his face. 

“Hello!” he chirps, and looks down at her grocery bags clutched in her hands. He pushes the door open for her, and she says thank you and ducks inside. 

“So,” he says, voice a little rough, “New here?” he asks. 

Maggie looks back, and gives him a small smile. 

“No, been here for two years now,” she narrows her eyes, “I think.” 

The man behind her doesn’t say anything for a little while, just follows her. 

“Not stalking you,  promise,” he says, “Name’s Andy, and I think we’re going the same way.” 

Maggie looks back, “My name is Maggie,” she utters, but smiles. Grocery bags swinging back and forth from how fast she was walking. 

Andy looks behind her, and she looks forward, only to run into someone, again. Her bags fall, and by the skin of her teeth, nothing breaks. Maybe it’s because she’s short, she thinks. Less distance to fall. 

She lands on her butt again, looking up at Andy, who is looking up at whoever was in front of her. 

“Ah, Chris!” he says happily, walking around her and her strewn about groceries. 

‘Chris’ looks down at her, and recognizing her, smiles a small smile; offers her a hand. 

“I think it’s because we both don’t pay attention,” he murmurs, when she clutches his hand. 

He pulls her up, and Maggie is kind of amazed how easy it is for him; looks at his shoulders. Wow. 

There is an awkward silence, and Maggie quickly let’s go of his hand, instead bends back down and begins to pick up her groceries, and salvaging bags that aren’t ripped. 

Between looking down, and up while picking groceries, she introduces herself as she introduced herself to Andy. Chris helps her pick up the rest of her groceries, and she thanks him. He nods, but starts to talk to Andy, and they separate from her, murmuring back and forth. 

She stares at their backs for a little while, and shivers. ‘Right,’ she thinks, she has to get home. 

---

The record player in the middle of her floor plays, the crackle of it sending pleasant rumbles down her back. As soon as she had gotten in to her house, she took off her damp clothes, and took a nice warm shower. Got into her comfy PJ’s and was now dancing in front of her stove, her braided hair tickling her right arm every time she bounced. 

Now, this, was when she was happy. Warm, comfy, and not worrying about anything, she thinks, taking another sip of wine. 

She can barely wait to eat her pasta, drink more wine, and finish the book still sitting on her kitchen table, as if begging her to come and finish it. She will, she will... 

Her telephone rings, and she pauses. Narrows her eyes. Stares at her pasta, and then at the book at her table, the phone rings; record still playing merrily on her living room floor. 

She stays like that for a few more seconds, and the phone finally stops ringing. She sighs; content, looks like she is going to eat her pasta. 

Her phone rings again. Maggie huffs. Waits it out. It rings again. 

“Hello?” her voice comes out angry when she answers, and she thinks, well maybe you shouldn’t call someone three times in a row at- she glances at the clock- almost nine o’clock at night! Then guilt trips herself, cause maybe it’s an emergency and they don’t need her attitude on top of it. 

“Hello,” she asks again, softer. 

“Hey!” the voice chirps, and Maggie deflates, already knowing who it is. “It’s Britney!”

“Hi, Britney.” Maggie echoes. 

“So, how is your night?” Britney asks, happily. 

“I was enjoying it,” Maggie responds kind of tipsy from her wine, “But, it seemed this annoying sound kept erupting from some where in my apartment and-”

“So,” Britney interrupts, and Maggie’s grip gets tighter around the body of the phone. “I’m glad your night was okay, but, um, would you mind coming in for me-”

The slam of the phone into it’s cradle cuts her off, and Maggie smiles. Drinks more wine from the glass. That settles that. 

The phone rings. Maggie checks on her pasta, ignores it. It rings. 

“Yes?” Maggie’s voice is sharp. 

“Did you hang up on me?” Britney asks, voice no longer chipper. Maggie thinks it suits her better; not as fake. 

“Did I?” she answers nonchalantly. 

“Anyway, I was asking if you could come in for me-”

Maggie puts the phone down, and nods her head. Right, where was she- The phone rings. 

She blinks, once, twice, picks up the phone on the third ring. 

“What, Britney?!” 

“Um,” a voice says on the phone, male. Maggie’s eyes widen, um, what. 

“Hi, um, I’m Jared, and I was just wondering if you were having trouble with your car insurance-”

Maggie wonders why she even has a phone, but then thinks it makes a pretty satisfying noise when it fits into the receiver. She then shrugs, and then returns to the pasta, it making a loud bubbling noise. It was almost ready!

She cranks the record up, and walks back into the kitchen, and bashes her pinky toe, again. Oh, well, she decides, nothing is going to get her down tonight. 

The phone rings, and like a dog, her head rises slowly, and starts to ignore it when the answering machine picks up.

“Hey, Margaret. It’s Dan, I’m calling about your-” she answers the phone, and as the person talks to her, she decides it must not be fate to enjoy the rest of her night. 

----

[duskrunsdry]

Can’t Hide - Chapter One

“You come here often?” he asks, leaning forward to rest his arm against where one would normally write their checks. His breath sweeps onto her face, and she shudders, barely holds back the comment on the tip of her tongue. 

Did you forget toothpaste, sir? Cheery customer service grin included, of course. Ignores him, and grabs the next pack of tv dinners without looking at them, or anything else. This day would be over soon, and she had a nice night ahead of her. 

Undaunted, the man leans forward farther, and the stand creaks, not made for anyone’s weight. 

“You come here often?”  the next whiff of his breath hits her, and she shakes her head slowly. Right. Of course, it was going to be one of those things. 

She grins, and stops scanning his groceries to look up at him. “No, not really. I just walk in here to randomly scan people’s groceries,” She looks around conspiratorially, and leans in, as if telling him a secret. “They haven’t actually noticed that I work here yet... Do you think they will?” She tips her head to the side, and gives him her craziest eyes. Doesn’t blink. 

The man looks stunned for a second, then frowns at her, not sure if she’s serious or not. He mutters something under his breath, and shakes his head. He backs, up, intimidated just a little. She leans forward a little more, and grins brighter at him, although her eyes were getting a little parched.  She finishes up scanning his groceries, the typical bachelor like stuff, beer, TV Dinners, and cigarettes. When she scanned the last item, she announced the total in an amazingly chipper voice, and he shoved his cash in her awaiting hand. 

“Thank you, sir! You have a nice night, now!” She waved, and when he was finally out of her sight, she shook her head. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she reaffirmed that she had only thirty more minutes of her shift, and she started to smile from the thought of finally being able to go home. It was a Friday night, and she had huge plans to sit in her bed and catch up on the book she had been thinking about all day. To sit in her warm, big bed... When she caught sight of the new customer coming to her counter she reigned in her thoughts. If she kept them on her work, then maybe time would go much quicker. 

After completing scanning the long line that had accumulated after the short break she had, she glanced at the clock again. Yes! A little after ten, but still she was off. Besides, she’d rather stay a little later than be the type of cash register that chases away the customers that come up to her just because she wanted to leave so badly. Also, she was sure that her manager would not appreciate her doing that although she had seen a number of coworkers do it before; it always was her luck to be caught at stuff like that. Turning off her light, she headed to the back room to grab her coat and her keys. Bringing a wallet late at night was just inviting anxious thoughts to vibrate in a head that had no more room for such things. 

If she needed money then she would stash a ten in her back pocket just in case something came up. She glanced at her schedule one more time to be prepared that she actually knew when she was working that week, as it was pretty rare for her to have the weekend off. Glancing around to be sure she didn’t forget anything, she headed off through the back door to start off on her walk back to her apartment. 

Readjusting her keys through her fingers to make it seem like she was Wolverine from the X-Men, a comic her dad used to read, and had always longed to be like.  She reassured herself it was just like any other night and no one would be out to get her, her apartment wasn’t that far away from the grocery store anyway, it was always better safe than sorry. 

When she saw the worn, grey door, she almost screamed in delight. It seemed as if she made it one more day alive. She pushed the door open and made the assent up to her apartment on the floor that was just below the top. Pushing the door open she had just unlocked, she was greeted by the familiar scent of home. Why did the smell of her home always make her feel so relaxed? 

She walked around her room changed into her pajamas, and got into her bed to read. As soon as she got comfortable, she heard the ringing of her telephone.  Furrowing her eyebrows, she headed into the kitchen to answer the phone. 

“Hello?” She uttered, her eyebrows still furrowed. 

“Hey, hey, hey, Maggie? Maggie, right? That’s your name?” An unfamiliar voice came through her receiver, and if it was possible, her eyebrows furrowed even more. 

“Yes, that’s my name. Who is this?” 

“It’s Britney! I work with you! You might not remember me, because you stick by yourself so often, but um, can you come in for me tonight? My grandma has gotten sick and she has no one else that can-” the voice cut off in a high snort, and she could hear a distinctly male voice in the background talk lowly to ‘Britney’. 

“Hey babe, come off the phone.. you know you want some of this..” the man spoke lowly. The girl giggled, and Maggie could hear more hushed voices.

“I’m coming baby, I’m coming... Just gotta get this over with. I need this job.” the voice became louder, and Maggie was graced with the noise of Britney’s beautiful voice again. 

“Yeah, um, Maggie, Can you come in for me? I really need to look after my Grandma,” 

Maggie pushed her hair back from her face, and ruffled it. Did she really feel like going back in after she worked all day? She glanced at her bedroom, and saw the blankets all rolled up, and sighed. 

“Britney, right?” when the girl grunted, Maggie continued, “What time were you scheduled to get off?”

“Yeah, um,” Britney thought for a moment, “ I would get off at 5.” 

Maggie made some sort of noise, and she was sure it was a cross between a snort and a scoff, then shook her head. Hell no. 

“Hey, well, I have already worked all day, and I’m already pretty tired... I’m sorry that I can’t pick up your shift, and I’d be happy to any other time, but..”

“Yeah, okay, whatever, see you some other time.” 

Before Maggie could say anything else, she was greeted by the dial tone of her phone. Feeling just a little bit used, she clicked the phone back into it’s cradle. She scoffed, and shook her head. Maggie walked back to her bed, and crawled into the still warm spot and turned the book to right where she left off. Soon, the real world faded to black, book still opened in her lap. 

---

When she awoke next morning, she was greeted by the loud thump of her book hitting the floor. She startled awake before she realized what had happened, and realized that today was the beginning of her weekend off. Feeling renewed, she threw her legs over the side of her bed, and walked towards her dresser to change out of her pajamas. Before she reached the dresser, of course, she tripped over the large tome on the floor and jabbed her arm into the corner of said dresser. She muttered an expletive, and nursed her arm close to her body. Why did she always have to do these types of things? That would be a pretty bruise tomorrow. 

Getting changed, she headed towards the kitchen and was on her way to make coffee when she heard her answering machine beep. She paused, and leaned against the counter in thought. Who would have called late at night; and had she really slept so deep that she hadn’t heard it?

She hesitantly walked towards the phone and pressed the play button. 

“Magggggsssssssssssssss,” the voice dragged out. “Why don’t you come out with us anymoreeeeeeeee? Don’t you love meeee? We’re at that bar you used to love!” 

Maggie covered her mouth to save herself from the giggle that was about to escape. Why didn’t she think of Claire? Claire was usually up all night. She must of called her while drunk. Claire was someone that she had met as soon as she moved to Seattle. Claire had clocked her, and automatically had befriended her with her quick wit. Claire was one of those people that you just couldn’t not like. 

“You are coming with us the next time we go out you bore,” Claire continued, and Maggie shuddered. It’s not like she hated to go out, she just wasn’t fond of getting crushed in the crowds of the shows they go to. It’s like no one could see her, and they always knocked and pushed on her. Clicking the save button, she figured she would show sober Claire, drunk Claire the next time she came over. 

Message saved.

She sat her hot coffee on her kitchen table, and trekked back into her bedroom to grab the book that she was reading the night before. She cursed when she realized that she hadn’t bookmarked the book before she fell asleep, and flipped through the page numbers.

She sat there for over an hour, just reading. Maggie glanced at the clock on the wall, and decided that she should probably get a move on if she was supposed to accomplish anything. She had to go grocery shopping, but had not decided whether to go to the bookstore or the record store, or even both.

She looked down at her attire, a gray flannel and a pair of jeans with just a few rips on them. She decided that it wasn’t that bad to go outside in, and to be honest she kind of didn’t care. 

She grabbed her purse, and her keys to her apartment, and sat on the arm of her sofa to put her boots on. She swept the apartment with a spare glance, looking around in case she forgot anything. She pulled the door behind her, and holding it shut, she locked it. It was one of those doors that you had to hold to lock, or it wouldn’t. She turned the handle to be extra sure it had locked, and began to walk down the stairs to the door to the outside. 

As she walked, she started to think where she should go first. Maybe to the book store first? She could store whatever books she bought in her purse, a large leather messenger bag. It was the perfect size for two books, depending on the thickness of both. While pondering the thought of where she should go, she did not pay attention to where she was walking, too concerned about where she should spend her time on that day, she ran into a large, hard chest. The person did not budge, but she repelled and landed right on her rear. 

Looking up, her eyes met large blue ones, and as she was taking the person’s face in, they were doing the same. He had a large mop of curly brown hair, and thick brown eyelashes to match.  Wow, her brain helpfully supplied.

“Ah! I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going,” She met his eyes again when he didn’t say anything, and he just shook his head in response.

“No, it’s fine. I know how that is,” he ducked his head as a goodbye, and turned to walk around her. 

Still stunned by what just happened, she turned back around, and headed to the bookstore, the man’s face burned into her mind. Man, was he something. 

She pushed the doors open to the bookstore, and stopped short when she realized they would not budge. Well. She backed up, and looked at the door. There it was, in bold letters, closed. She shook her head, dejected. She was almost finished with the book she had left at home, and she did not know what else she was supposed to do tonight. She had already read most of her collection a couple times over, and she just didn’t think she could do it again. Dejected, she decided she would make her way towards the record store. This time, she made sure to keep her mind clear enough that she wouldn’t run into anyone. 

She pushed the door to the record store open, and luckily this time, the door actually opened. Smelling the smell of old record sleeves, her face erupted into a small grin. 

“Hey! Maggie, you haven’t come in here for a long time!” Mitch spoke, his voice as smooth and crackly as the records he sold. The grin on her face grew a few more inches into a full-fledged smile, and she almost skipped the whole way to him. 

“Mitch! Mitch, man I missed you! Where have you been?” her voice was full of happiness and Mitch picked her up in a hug.  

“Oh, here and there,” he winked, still holding her in the air. She wiggled, and when he let her down, she stepped away. 

“I told you to stop picking me up, Mitch! You know it strains your muscles, and who knows what else, maybe you could even-” he cut her off by poking her in the nose.  

“As much as I have been here these past few weeks, I haven’t seen your face at all. They aren’t working you too hard over there, right? You know you are always welcomed here.” He changed the subject. 

“I told you, I’m fine!” Maggie grinned, distracted. “I’m actually pretty close to my goal, you know.” She nudged him, the good news making her face glow bright. 

“I told you I don’t want your money,” he said serious, eyebrows furrowed in a  familiar look that made Maggie look down. 

“Mags... ” He murmured, but she shook her head. 

“It’s fine, Uncle Mitch.” she changes the subject this time, looking around at the shelves around her. “Anything new happened since I’ve been gone?” 

He shakes his head, and points to himself. 

“Don’t you know I’m a boring old man?” he giggles, “Tell me, what’s new in your life. Get up to anything new with Claire? Anything,” he pauses, leans forward,  “Interesting?”

She deadpans, and begins to speak in the same tone. “ Oh yeah, we had a great time the other day with that guy she wouldn’t quit talking about? ” Maggie replies without a hitch, closes her eyes and speaks in an exaggerated breathless voice, and waves her hands stupidly. “He was so great,” she waxes, but pauses, forgetting his name, “Jeff?” she intones, pulling a name out of her ass, but keeps going.  

“His fingers!” she declares, fanning herself, “He really rocked hard that night, harder than she said she would f-.” She stops when Mitch touches her shoulder, face staring decidedly past her, at someone behind her. Of course.

She stood completely still, and was seriously thinking of running away when Mitch just shook his head, and gestured to the person behind her. 

“Mags, this is Jeff Ament. He plays bass in Mother Love Bone,” he pauses, “And also is one of my regulars.”  

“Um,” he paused, still looking between Mitch and Maggie. 

“Nice to meet you, Mags,” he mumbles while stepping around her, and continues right up to the cash register without another look. 

Mitch recovers quicker than her, and casually finishes the guy up and gives him his change. Jeff doesn’t look back, and almost books it out the door, the door giving a scary rattle on the hinge. Geez. 

Only then did Mitch start to laugh, hands bracing himself on the counter in front of him. 

“Look at you, scaring my customers!” he got out between the giggles. 

Maggie narrows her eyes not fond of the teasing, still sore from embarrassing herself earlier, and changes the subject quickly. 

“What records do you have for me today?” She gestured behind him, at the pile behind him, in the spot they always were. 

He turned around, scooped the records into his arms, and plopped them right on the counter in front of her. Seeing the sheer amount of them, she began to thrum with excitement. 

“Mitch.. you have so many!” She started to flip through the titles, and seeing each one, she just grew more eager as each artist passed by. 

“Well, since you haven’t been able to see me, the amount has grown,” He gave her a long, pointed look, “I saved as many as I could, but you know I can’t keep ‘em hidden for long.” 

She nodded slowly, and opened her purse to grab her wallet.  She opened the flap on the front, and flipped through the credit card slots to find her secret stash. The money she was saving just for these situations. She flipped through the bills, counting them slowly to make sure the amount was right. 

“ I’ve got sixty, the rest I need for groceries. How many should that get me?” she positively thrummed with the thought of being able to listen to them tonight, and finish her book, and the thoughts running through her brain must of translated through her face.

Mitch chuckled, and looked through the records in front of him. He pulled out seven, and looked back up at her. 

“I’ll give you seven for fifty-six,” He tapped his pointer finger on the pile, and looked at her for confirmation. 

She looked at him, and then at the records in front of her. 

“How about this, I take five and you keep the rest of the money as tip? I insist.” She slid the money towards him before he could refuse. He smiled softly at her. 

“I don’t need that, Mags....” 

“I know you don’t need it, Mitch. I just want to thank you for always looking out for me. Even when you don’t need to, you think of me. It’s only fair! And really, you basically reserved these for me. I should give you more!”

Mitch shook his head quickly, and held his hands up in refusal. “No, No, no... I just keep them ‘cause I know you’ll like ‘em. Either way, I appreciate it, girl.” Mitch grinned big.

She grinned right back at him, and Mitch began bagging up her records in the standard paper bag. When he handed her the bag, he grinned his typical grin. 

“I’ll see you next week sometime? And you’ll tell me how much you liked those records?” He asked her, and before she could grab the bag, he jerks back.

“And?” 

“Of course, Mitch. Next week.” He nodded his head, happy with her answer. 

“See you then!” He let her take the bag, and clapped her hard on the shoulder as a goodbye. She jerked forward, not prepared for the slap, but turned around and waved nonetheless. 

Anyway, she still had to get groceries. Wasn’t she looking forward to taking them back with her on a walk. Maybe she’d get a taxi... but it was so expensive...

With that thought, she headed towards the store as her last stop of the day.