Honor: a novella

by Chasie Noble

  Osric approached me. “Car trouble?” he asked.

  “You could say that.”

  He put his hand out. I was unsure of what he was wanting, and he could tell, “Can I see your keys please?” I handed them over (my face burning with humiliation).

  He opened the door and took a seat inside. He did this very gracefully for his large size. He tried to start it and nothing happened. Then he popped the hood and began tinkering with things. He pulled out what looked like the car battery.

  “It’s the battery,” he confirmed. He took it, opened his trunk, and put it inside. I was shamelessly enjoying the show. He held open his passenger door and waited.

  “I believe someone told me earlier this evening to watch out for strangers,” I stated.

  Osric stared at me for a moment. “I can’t leave you here on a dark street.”

  I tilted my head to the side. “Lucky for you I can’t let you leave me on a dark street.”

  He smiled as I got into his car. It smelled of cologne and leather. It was clean and had black leather seats. He got in next to me and started the car.

  “You have a nice car.” I suddenly became curious about him. “Do you work on cars for a living?”

  He looked over at me. “Thank you, and no I don’t work on cars for a living.”

  “What do you do then?” I asked.

  He glanced over at me. “I am a carpenter. My grandfather was a carpenter, he taught me when I was a child.”

  I tried to picture him as a small child. I was sure he was one that had to be large for his age. One of those that everyone thought was older than he actually was. It made me wonder if he was picked on, or if he was idolized for his size.

  “Were you raised by your grandfather?” I asked him.

  “I was raised by my mother and grandparents.”

  It made me think before I asked the next question, but I asked anyway, “What happened to your father?”

  He looked over at me. I could tell he seemed to be lost in thought. I was about to tell him I was sorry for asking so many questions when he started to talk: “My father is no longer here.”

  My hand went up to my mouth; my big fat mouth. “I am sorry Osric. It is hard when someone we love dies.” His expression was hard to read.

  “He isn’t dead, he just isn’t here anymore.”

  All I could think was that he had left him at a young age. I wasn’t going to ask any more questions about it.

  We pulled into the auto parts store parking lot and he took the battery inside. I followed close behind. When the salesperson brought out a new battery I went for my wallet, but Osric beat me to it.

  “What are you doing?” I asked him.

  “I am buying you a new battery.” He took his change and we walked out.

  “Here, take this please!” I tried to hand him the cash, but he wouldn’t take it.

  “You helped me earlier today and now I am helping you.”

  “Showing you where a library is at is totally different from buying a car battery.”

  We were both buckling up and he smiled at me. “Tell me about your family Honor?”

  “You can’t change the subject on me!” I was getting a little angry at this point.

  “Do your parents live around here?” he asked and waited for an answer.

  “They live about an hour away. I went to college here and started working at the library right after.”

  He drove with both hands on the wheel looking over at me from time to time. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?” he asked.

  “Just me. My parents were older when they had me. I have no living grandparents and never knew them. I have an aunt we see on holidays, but that’s it.”

  We pulled down the street by my car and he put the new battery in as I watched. I made sure when he wasn’t looking to put the money in his car. He started my car up and it worked just fine.

  “Thank you Osric!” I smiled at him.

  He looked at me for a second like he was thinking about something. “Honor, would you like to get coffee with me tomorrow night?”

  I was first in shock that he would ask. I wouldn’t have thought a man like him would ever be interested in me. Once I processed what he had asked, I was screaming on the inside…YES! YES! This gorgeous man wants to have coffee with me. Then reality came crashing in. I had told Brenda I would come to her thing.

  “I would really like to, but I have this thing I have to go to. A lady from work is having people over. Would you like to come with me?” I tried to read his face to see what he was thinking.

  “Your friend won’t mind?” he asked.

  “No, not at all. She had even said earlier today, in so many words, the more people the better.”

  “What time would you want me to pick you up?” he asked.

  “It starts at seven, so a little before then. She doesn’t live too far from me.”

  We exchanged phone numbers and I gave him my address.

  “Thank you again for your help tonight Osric,” I told him.

  “I am glad I was here to help.”

  He smiled down at me from where he stood. I waved goodbye as I drove away.

  Chapter 4

  Saturday morning I busied myself with laundry. Once everything I owned was washed and put away, I tried to find something to wear. A pile of clothes was beginning to form on my bed. I finally settled on jeans and a sweater my mother had gotten me for Christmas last year, which was still in the gift bag. I quickly put away the clothes I had tried on and had tossed aside. I cleaned up the kitchen and put away my massive book towers in the living room. Once my cleaning was done, I hopped in the shower.

  I had not considered what Brenda would think when I showed up with Osric. I hoped she wouldn’t bombard me with questions in front of him. I started to panic as I straightened my hair. I put on more makeup than I normally would wear. I had always been one of those women who thought I would never try to over do it in the makeup department just to impress a man. I laughed out loud as I looked at my reflection; I had never seen a man like Osric before either.

  I was ready at six-thirty and kept rearranging the pillows on the sofa. I was checking over my decorating skills as I heard a light tap on the door. It made me jump and I had to calm myself down before answering it. I opened the door and there he stood, even more drop-dead gorgeous than I remembered. He wore dark jeans and a dark green button up shirt. He smiled at me as I looked him over.

  Once I had come out of my trance, I noticed he was holding flowers. He held them out to me. I glanced at them and then to him.

  I had only received flowers one other time in my life. Those were from my dad when I was thirteen and had started my period for the first time. I think he gave me the flowers to acknowledge that I had become a woman and he didn’t want to talk about it.

  Smiling like an idiot, I took the flowers from Osric and uttered, “Thank you!”

  He stared at me for a moment like he was going to say something and didn’t. I noticed he hadn’t come inside and I was about to tell him to as he asked, “May I come in?”

  I motioned him inside. “Yes, I am sorry. I have no manners.” I went to the kitchen to find a vase to put the flowers in. As I did that, I saw he was looking over all my books. I suddenly became embarrassed about the amount of books I had.

  I walked back into the living room and he turned, “You have some good ones here.” I didn’t feel as dorky when he said that.

  “I like to read. What can I say? I’m guessing you do too, being that is how we met.”

  His mouth went up in a half smile, “I do enjoy reading.” He looked down at his watch, “Shall we go?”

  I had almost forgotten all about Brenda. “Yes, I guess we should.”

  Once we had reached the bottom of the stairs of my apartment he took my hand and led me to his car. I wasn’t sure what to think of this. Was he just showing me the way to his car or was he holding my hand because he wanted to?

  When we reache
d his car, he opened the door for me and I got inside. Once he got in, we were on our way. We talked about the weather and he asked about my car, and if it was still running all right. I found it hard to concentrate on our conversation, I think because he was sitting so close and he smelled so fantastic. He didn’t seem to have any trouble with my directions and we got there fairly quick. I started to open the car door but he beat me to it.

  “Such a gentleman you are,” I told him.

  He smiled. “I always strive to be a gentleman. I do have my faults though.” I saw something in his eyes when he said this, but I wasn’t sure what it was.

  “I somehow doubt that,” I whispered looking over to him.

  He took my hand and we walked up to the house. Brenda met us at the door, and by the looks of it she was feeling no pain. Her cheeks were pink and her smile went from ear to ear as she saw who I was with.

  “Come in you two, come in!” she squealed.

  We both walked inside and everyone turned to stare.

  “Honor, tell me who your friend is!” Brenda tried to wink, but shut both of her eyes at the same time instead.

  “Brenda, this is Osric. Osric, this is Brenda.”

  Osric held out his hand to her. “It is nice to meet you Brenda.”

  Brenda smiled again and her face grew even redder as she did. “Nice to meet you too. What an original name you have. Let me get you two a drink. What would you like?” She asked both of us, but only looked at Osric.

  “I am fine thanks. Honor, what would you like to drink?” Osric asked as he looked over at me waiting for a response.

  “I will just take a water.”

  Brenda was still staring at Osric like he was an exotic animal she had never seen before. An older man walked up behind Brenda and put his arm around her. I was sure it was her husband, but I couldn’t think of his name.

  “Harold, could you get a bottle of water for Honor?” Brenda requested without looking over at him.

  He smiled over at us both and held out his hand. “I am guessing you are Honor from work? I don’t think I know you though,” Harold observed as he held out a hand to both of us, shaking Osric’s hand first.

  “Hello, I am Osric. Honor invited me.”

  Osric towered over Harold. Actually, he towered over everyone that was in sight there. It was almost comical to see Osric stand next to Harold. It made me understand why Brenda couldn’t keep her eyes off him.

  “I’m Harold, Brenda’s husband. I am glad you both came. Ors, are you sure you don’t want a drink?” he asked.

  “I’ll take a water also, thank you.”

  Harold walked into the kitchen as Brenda made the rounds introducing us to everyone. I noticed she introduced Osric first each time. I came to understand why Harold didn’t get along with his brother. He was a rude man and his wife walked around with this look on her face like she smelled something bad.

  Once we were introduced to everyone, and had more small talk than I personally cared for, we stepped out back. Osric sat down on a bench and I did the same.

  “Sorry, I don’t do well at social gatherings. It can be overwhelming at times,” I told him.

  He laughed. “I am sure it has a lot to do with the people at these gatherings.”

  I instantly knew he meant Brenda. “I think that is why I prefer books to people.” I laughed at admitting that out loud. “I just don’t do well meeting new people.”

  He looked over at me. “You seemed fine when we met,” he said.

  My face grew hot and it must have shown. “Well, I guess you’re just different,” I replied.

  “That I am,” he murmured as he looked down at the patio with sadness etched on his face. As those words came out of his mouth I knew they had double meaning, I just wasn’t sure what he meant.

  The back patio door swung open, and an even tipsier Brenda came wobbling out with Lilly and Ryan behind her. “There…they…are,” she slurred.

  “Hello Honor,” Lilly said with a huge smile upon her face; though her eyes said so much more while she looked over to the god-like man sitting beside me.

  I chose to ignore Lilly. I turned towards Ryan and asked, “Hello, Ryan. How are you tonight?”

  “I’m doing good. Lilly and I were just stopping by before we head to the movies.” I noticed as Ryan talked he kept glancing over at Osric.

  Lilly walked straight over. “Hello, I am Lilly. I work with Honor. I feel like I have seen you before. Have you been up to the library?” I rolled my eyes as I looked away. Brenda, who looked to have trouble standing, was also watching Lilly introduce herself to Osric.

  He smiled while shaking Lilly’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Osric. I do go to the library often, I am sure you have seen me there.”

  My cheeks felt hot as I thought back to us spying on him at the Library.

  Brenda staggered over to Lilly, getting right by her ear as if she was about to whisper. “Isn’t…he so…handsome, Li…lly?” Brenda burped as she garbled. She obviously thought none of us heard her little secret. Lilly wiped the side of her face in disgust. Ryan laughed and I tried my hardest to hold my laughter back. Brenda stumbled a bit and Osric rose quickly to steady her.

  “I think you should probably switch to water now Brenda,” I told her.

  Osric went to find Harold, while Ryan helped Brenda inside the house.

  “What is going on with you?” Lilly hissed once we were alone. “I can’t get you to go out or do anything, then here you are with mister underwear model! How did you two even meet?”

  I wasn’t sure if Lilly was really upset with me or not. I had seen her play around about being angry, but she seemed like she was really pissed.

  “We met at the library. Then my car broke down and he helped me. He asked if I wanted to go out tonight, so I asked him to come along.” I had left out the part about him following me to the downtown branch.

  She eyed me for a minute and then gushed, “Oh Honor, I am happy for you! What is he like? Tell me everything!”

  I laughed at her. “Well, he is gorgeous, but I don’t have to tell you that. He is a carpenter. He’s very polite and reserved. I don’t really know him all that well, but from what I have seen so far he is a good guy.”

  She stared at me, taking it all in. “A carpenter…that must be where he gets his body.” She laughed and I couldn’t help but laugh too. Osric and Ryan came walking out the back door as Lilly elbowed me in my side to shut up.

  “Harold is with Brenda, but we should probably get going if we are going to make it to the movie,” Ryan told Lilly.

  “Sounds good. You guys want to join us?” Lilly asked.

  I didn’t want to impose on their date, and I didn’t want Osric to feel like he had to go. “I think I will pass, but thanks anyway. We will walk out with you guys though. Since Brenda is indisposed at the moment, I’m sure everyone else will be leaving soon too.”

  Osric opened the back door for us. We made our way through the house and said our goodbyes to everyone before leaving. Once outside, we parted ways with Lilly and Ryan.

  Osric turned and asked, “Would you like that coffee now?”

  I looked up at him as he stared at me. “I would like that.”

  He opened the passenger door, letting me inside the car. He got in shortly after and paused for a moment while he stared at me. “You look really nice tonight Honor.”

  I knew my face turned scarlet. I didn’t take compliments well, especially from a man like him. “Thanks,” I whispered. “You look handsome too, but Brenda already told you that.” I giggled as I thought about Brenda tonight.

  “You think she will be okay?” he asked.

  “I’m sure she will be. She probably won’t feel too hot in the morning though,” I replied.

  He smiled at me as we drove off.

  Chapter 5

  We sat at a table by the window as we waited for our coffee. I watched as women passed by outside, gawking at the attractive man sitting in front of me.r />
  “How long have you known Lilly?”

  I turned my attention back to him. “I met her about eight months ago when she was hired at the library for the page position. It was nice to have someone come along that was my age, or close to my age anyway.”

  The waiter placed the cups of coffee in front of us both. Osric told him, “Thank you,” then turned his focus back to me by asking, “How old would that be?”

  “I am twenty-three, soon to be twenty-four on October 30th,” I told him. “How about you, how old are you?”

  He stared at me for a moment. “How old do you think I am?”

  I hated when people would ask me to guess their age, it was a trick question. If you guessed older, you were a jerk. You always have to go lower, but not so low that they know you’re trying to be nice. I took a deep breath. “Hmmm…I would say you are…twenty-six?”

  A mischievous smile crept upon his face. “I am older.”

  I was pretty sure he was lying and was about to call him on it when my phone rang. I pulled it out of my purse and saw it was my mom. “It’s my mother, I need to take it. I’m sorry!” He was taking a drink of coffee and shook his head. I got up and walked outside.

  “Hi mom, are you okay? It’s kind of late for you to be calling.”

  I heard her clear her throat. “I am fine, I was just thinking about you and wanted to check in to see if you’re doing okay. How are you?”

  I smiled at the thought of my mom sitting around the house looking over my old school pictures. My dad had told me when I had left for college she would mope around the house going through old photo albums.

  “I am fine Mom. I’m actually kind of on a date.” I waited to see what she had to say about this. There was a long pause on the line. “Mom? Are you still there? Mom?”

  I could hear her breathe out what sounded like a sigh of relief. “I am here. You’re on a date? I was wondering when you would meet someone. Is he a nice guy?”

  I rolled my eyes (thankful she couldn’t see me). “I would love to play twenty questions, but that would be rude, being that he is waiting on me. I promise I will call you in the morning.”