Boy from the Woods (9781311684776)

by Minkman, Jen

  What the hell was he doing here?

  Slowly, she approached the oak tree. Michael didn’t seem to notice her – he was sitting motionless with his eyes closed, resting his hands on his knees.

  This guy was driving her insane, little by little. Ever since she’d decided to try and avoid Michael, she kept tripping over him at every turn. Of course it was unreasonable to blame him for her restlessness, but it bugged her to find Michael here. It didn’t compute. This was her meditation spot – he shouldn’t be here.

  Just as she was about to turn around and silently retreat into the woods, Michael opened his eyes.

  “Julia,” he said, turning his head and staring straight at her, almost as if he’d sensed she was there.

  “Hey,” she replied curtly, a tiny shiver running through her body. How had he known?

  He smiled, and the wind stirred the leaves of the tree he was leaning against.

  Julia grudgingly walked toward him. She couldn’t in all decency just storm off now. After all, he’d greeted her kindly enough.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked a bit too tartly.

  Michael got up, running a hand through his hair. “Thinking,” he replied softly, then looked around him. “This is where it happened.”

  Julia took in his serious face, suddenly feeling ashamed for hating his presence here so much. He had every right to visit the place where he’d almost met an untimely end. It was obviously just coincidence it happened to be her special place, too.

  “Don’t you have bad memories associated with the forest?” she asked cautiously.

  Michael smiled broadly and shook his head. “I feel at home here,” he answered. “More than… at home.”

  Julia thought of his beautiful, expensive mansion, of his wealthy parents who were mostly absent. A sudden feeling of pity overwhelmed her.

  “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

  He shrugged. “I’m not. This is a beautiful place to feel at home.” He took her hand as if it was the most normal thing in the world. “And you come here a lot,” he continued, happiness showing in his eyes.

  “I do.” Julia stared at her hand in his. How did he know that, actually? She hadn’t told Michael that much about herself in the hours she’d spent with him in private. They’d been busier making out than talking. Julia felt herself redden when she looked up and became aware of his proximity. He was closer than she’d thought. Her hand was growing hot in his palm. “I – I feel at peace here,” she stuttered, shyly taking a step backward and releasing his hand. “I come here to clear my head.”

  “But I bet you come here for inspiration too?”

  Julia nodded mutely. “Writing poems. That kind of thing,” she mumbled at last.

  “Composing?”

  She nodded again.

  “You play the piano, right?” He nonchalantly put both hands in the pockets of his jeans. “You should come over again. That grand piano is just gathering dust in the living room anyway. My mother never has time to play.”

  Julia looked at him in surprise. “Me? Playing that Steinway?” she stammered, perplexed.

  Michael moved closer. Julia felt the oak tree against her back. She leaned back her head and looked up at him. Slowly, a crooked smile crept across his face.

  “Yes,” he replied calmly. “You. Playing that Steinway.”

  He was way too close for her to feel comfortable. Why did her treacherous heart still race when he was standing this close? She knew very well what kind of person he was… or had been, at the very least.

  “I dunno,” she hedged. “I’ll think about it.”

  “You should. The invitation stands. That piano is gonna feel lonely until you decide to grace it with a recital.”

  Julia swallowed hard. “So, I should be on my way…” She pointed vaguely in the direction of the path, tiptoeing around Michael as if he would stop her. “I have cooking duty.”

  “What’s on the menu?”

  “Pizza.” She shrugged. “I know how to cook properly, though. I’m just being lazy today because I have to babysit my sister.” Oh, she could kick herself for that – apologizing for having fast food tonight. What did he care? What did she care?

  “Hey now, mind your words. Pizza is proper food. Don’t let the Italians hear you. My grandpa on my mom’s side is an Italian. I love pizza.”

  “Amy’s Kitchen isn’t exactly Italian,” Julia objected.

  “No, but it sure is tasty.” He shot her a playful look. “My favorite brand, in fact.”

  Oh my God. She was literally this close to inviting Michael for dinner, and it was pretty obvious he was angling for it, dropping hints the size of bricks.

  “Yep, mine too. Looking forward to it already.” She gingerly took a few steps back. “So, yeah, I’ll see you around.”

  “I hope so,” he said.

  Julia quickly took off before she could start blushing again or – oh, horror – change her mind in a fit of insanity and invite him anyway. At break-neck speed, she crashed through the woods as if the devil were chasing her.

  When she got home all sweaty and out of breath, she called Gaby to invite her over for a movie night after Anne’s bedtime. By now she could use some support. Frowning deeply, she shoved two mushroom pizzas into the oven.

  Anne was sitting at the kitchen table reading a Donald Duck comic. “Is something the matter?” she asked, observing the testy way Julia slammed the oven door closed.

  “No.”

  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  Julia couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s nothing in particular, Annie. I’m just nervous because of my first day at work tomorrow.”

  They are their pizza and ice cream while watching Toy Story. When dusk set in, Anne went to bed and Gaby showed up at their doorstep with three big bags of popcorn and a DVD.

  “Just how many movies are we watching tonight?” Julia shot a look at the intimidating amount of snacks her friend had brought. “Or have you invited some more people?”

  Gaby waved the DVD case in front of her. “It’s going to be quite a session, Jules. This movie lasts for hours, and on top of that, Axel told me we have to be focused and we’re probably going to need to pause it every now and then to philosophize about it.”

  “Uh-oh. Axel lent you a movie for geeks.”

  Gaby nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, Florian and Moritz were talking about Moritz’s band’s name last night, right?”

  “Waiting for the Kick?”

  “Precisely. And then Axel said Moritz and his buddies must have watched Inception because that expression was used in the movie. So he called me today telling me he’d burned me a copy, because I’d gotten all curious about it.”

  All of a sudden, Julia remembered the tiny spark flying between Gaby and her cousin. “Well, Ax should congratulate himself on turning you onto geekdom, too.”

  “What? Me? No way Jose. I love my dark, alternative self too much for that.”

  Julia studied Gaby’s flustered face. Should she ask what her best friend thought of Axel? That might be too confronting. She didn’t want to ruin things between Axel and Gaby before they’d even had a chance to blossom. Maybe she could trick her friend into spilling her guts by making a juicy confession of her own.

  “I asked Thorsten out today,” she said, flashing a sultry smile.

  Gaby yelped. “You didn’t. You did?! For real? When are you guys going on a date?”

  “Just, tomorrow. So he can tag along to Shamrock.”

  “Way to go, diva!” Gaby slapped Julia on the shoulder. “I’m so proud of you! When did you ask him?”

  “Oh, I bumped into him at the supermarket in Eichet. He works there now.”

  “Good, good. I’m taking it you’ll be grocery-shopping for your mom all week, am I right?”

  Julia smiled. Thorsten was a cute guy and he’d click well with her friends. This was the right road to take. She conveniently forgot to mention her less-than-casual encounter with Michael in the forest.<
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  “On Sunday we’re going to book the plane tickets to London.” Gaby flopped down on the couch. “We’ll make sure we can see Moritz play. He’s leaving a few days before we do. Flo said we should all meet up at his place on Sunday night, so we can print off the boarding passes straight away.”

  “I’m so excited! When are we leaving?”

  “Third week of August.” Gaby pointed at the copyright warning appearing on the TV screen. “Axel is such a smart rat, isn’t he? He even copied the warning against copying DVDs.”

  “Yeah, my cousin is our resident Einstein.” Julia grinned. It wouldn’t hurt Axel’s chances if she tried to talk him up a bit. “And not to mention, a dedicated friend. He must have slaved away for you, ripping and burning that DVD at top speed so you’d have it within a day.”

  “Yup. He’s the best,” Gaby nodded, reaching for the bottle of soda on the table. “You want a drink?”

  Julia chuckled. No matter how fast a talker Gaby was, she hadn’t managed to hide the tiny blush creeping up on her face.

  “Well, at least make yourself a sandwich to take with you!” Julia’s mother yelled from the kitchen the next morning, as her daughter was running around in a panic trying to leave on time for her first day of work. “You need breakfast, don’t you?”

  “I don’t have time! I have to leave five minutes ago.” Julia quickly put on a jacket while struggling to tie her shoelaces.

  Resolutely, Julia’s mom snatched away one of Anne’s sandwiches and packed it in a Zip-loc bag.

  “Hey,” Anne piped up, sounding offended. “My peanut butter sandwich!”

  “I’ll make you a new one,” Ms. Gunther promised. “Now shush.”

  “Thanks, mom.” Julia grabbed the on-the-go breakfast. “Sorry Anne! See you guys tonight!”

  With an anxiously pounding heart, she sprinted to the bus stop. Why had she slept through her alarm clock today of all days? She could only hope the traffic was quiet on Saturday morning, or else the bus would definitely be late. She didn’t want to make a bad impression by showing up late for work on the very first day. Epic fail, as Gaby would say.

  Once she was on the bus, she calmed down somewhat. No traffic jams and all the lights were green. Julia leaned back in her seat and popped in her ear buds while munching on her sandwich. After a twenty-minute ride, she got off and hastily crossed the bridge leading to the Old Town, ending up in front of the store at exactly half past eight. Martin was just unlocking the door when she appeared.

  “Hello, Mr. Haider,” Julia called out.

  Martin swiveled around. “If it isn’t Julia! Happy to see you. The store won’t open until nine, but I wanted to give you a quick company tour and sit you down to fill in two more forms. I need to know where to transfer your generous salary to, after all,” he winked.

  Julia chuckled. She was beginning to really like her new boss. “Let’s hope it is. I’m going on a trip to London this August.”

  “You are? Great choice. It’s a magnificent city. How’s your English? Reasonable?”

  Chatting amiably, they walked to the back of the store where they climbed the stairs to the office where Julia had done her job interview. After letting her fill out her bank details, Martin accompanied her to the break room further down the hall. “This is the kitchen where all the members of staff eat between one and two, when the store closes for lunch break. We close at five today, by the way. Saturday timetable.”

  Another flight of stairs led up to the stockroom and the toilets. Julia’s boss went into the room to get her a black T-shirt with the store logo, which she put on over her own tank top. Once they got back down to the first floor, Martin showed her which categories of books were shelved on the first and second floors of Höllrigl, after which she was more or less good to go.

  “Why don’t you grab some coffee?” he suggested. “The store opens in a few minutes, and I’ll ask one of your colleagues to introduce you to the rest of the team and explain to you how the cash register works so you can man that position in the afternoon. Is that okay?”

  “Sounds cool.” Julia couldn’t help but grin like an idiot as she looked around at all the books in the store. This was a dream come true – she was having a Beauty-in-the-Beast’s-library moment. Martin had told her she was entitled to a pretty good discount on all in-store purchases. Axel would cry with joy when she told him the news. Whistling cheerfully, she walked up the stairs again to get some tea. When she returned, Höllrigl was open for business and she bumped into another girl in a company T-shirt going up the stairs.

  “Hi,” the girl said, extending her hand. “You must be the new one.”

  Julia shook the girl’s hand. “Julia. The new one,” she said ceremoniously.

  “Donna,” the girl replied. “The old-timer.” They both laughed.

  “I’m on my way to the checkout,” Julia said. “I need some lessons before being thrown to the wolves. Talk to you later?”

  “Absolutely!” Donna beamed at her and continued up the stairs.

  Julia hummed happily to herself as she made her way to the front of the store. She was such a lucky bastard for finding this job! The work seemed easy enough, her boss was a nice guy, her colleagues were friendly and the pay wasn’t bad either – not to mention the discount Martin had promised her. What else could she wish for?

  “Ah, there you are.” Martin popped up from behind a towering pile of bestsellers. “Please come with me.”

  Julia trailed behind him as she walked over to the cash register, looking left and right to catch a glimpse of her other colleagues.

  “Kolbe!” her brand-new boss shouted toward the entrance. “Come and help me out, will you?”

  Julia stopped dead, frozen in her tracks. Was she going deaf, or had Martin just said… Her heart hammered ridiculously fast as her eyes zoomed in on the front door.

  “He’ll come and help you at the register.” Martin’s voice sounded as though it was coming from far away. He left her standing there, rooted to the spot.

  Julia tried to snap out of her paralysis and stumbled the final few steps to the counter. Her breath hitched when she saw an all-too-familiar figure walking in her direction. She swallowed. But surely it couldn’t be. Oh God, no. No, no, no. This was not happening.

  And then, she couldn’t look anywhere else but up, straight into two eyes green as the forest.

  6.

  “What on earth are you doing here?” Julia stared at him in alarm.

  “I work here,” he replied unfazed, a half-smile tugging at his lips.

  “Since when?” It was simply not possible that she, in her unfailing stalker mode, had somehow missed this: Michael holding a job at the same bookstore she’d applied to two days ago.

  “Since last week.”

  His smug composure quickly turned her initial befuddlement into outright infuriation.

  “Why?” she demanded fractiously.

  He raised an eyebrow. “To earn some extra cash?” he declared in an ‘isn’t-that-really-obvious’ tone.

  “But why here?”

  Michael started to chuckle. “Why are you giving me the third degree?”

  “Are you following me or something?” she grumbled, her heart treacherously leaping in her chest for a moment as she considered the possibility.

  “Well, I’m sorry to burst your bubble here, but I think it’s the other way around. First, you turn up at the pub I always hang out at on weeknights, then, you decide to take a jog near the place where I almost had a fatal accident, and now you turn out to have applied for a job at the same store I’ve been working at for the past week. What does it look like to you?”

  Shucks, he was right. Julia resisted the urge to stamp her foot like a little girl. “In your dreams, you arrogant bastard,” she muttered. “Everybody says I should stay away from you.”

  In the silence that followed, she could still hear her heart beating in her throat.

  “I can imagine,” Michael quietly said, in such a lo
w voice she wasn’t even sure he’d actually said it until she saw the look in his eyes. It was a look of shame.

  “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so mean.” Julia’s face grew hot with embarrassment. “It’s not like I can’t work together with you – that won’t be a problem.”

  Michael was still watching her, his mouth set in a grim line. “I’m sorry he hurt you like that.” Once again, he spoke so softly she wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. Julia blinked in confusion. Who was he talking about – himself?

  “Okay, why don’t I go and do what Mr. Haider has asked me to do,” Michael abruptly switched to business mode. Apparently he’d caught sight of their boss. He walked over to the cash register and beckoned for Julia to join him. “By the way, you can call him Martin. Don’t feel shy about it – he insists. He says he feels like a grandpa if we call him sir.”

  With wobbly knees, Julia stood next to him and listened with half an ear as Michael explained to her things about ringing in customer purchases, punching in the codes for regularly-priced books, special prices, discounts, and completing sales.

  Her gaze swerved to his face instead of the buttons under his hands. He looked so relaxed and at ease. So handsome. She just couldn’t forget about that last kiss he had given her, the morning after. She wanted to know if he had really changed. She wished she could feel him that close once more. She wanted…

  Oh, she had to stop doing this to herself! He’d never even said he was sorry. In fact, he acted like nothing had happened. And here she was – daydreaming about dragging him behind the first available pile of books to suck face with him out of sight, when she was really supposed to pay attention. Her lewd ways would turn her into a clumsy, incompetent mess on her first day at work. She’d sell new books to customers at a ninety percent discount by accident, and Martin would fire her on the spot.

  “You think you’ll be okay?” Michael interrupted her inner harangue, looking at her from aside.

  “Yeah. I’ll manage.” Quickly, she scuttled away, determined to ask Donna for help later so as not to perish ingloriously. She didn’t look back on purpose, running up the stairs to unpack the day’s shipment like Martin had asked her.