by Minkman, Jen
‘Gab… 3 guesses who works here 2 :$’ she texted Gaby as soon as she entered the stockroom. She couldn’t help it – she had to share this.
‘thorsten??’ her phone dinged one minute later.
‘no… kolbe.’
‘is the mofo stalking u?!’ Gaby texted.
‘can’t b. he was here b4 me. this = NOT good 4 my rep…’
‘hang in there. ttyl. X!’
With a big sigh, Julia put away her phone and tried sticking to her task. After ten minutes, Donna came in with a boy and a girl who were clearly siblings. She introduced them both to Julia. When she sat down for a cup of coffee in the break room around eleven with Marco and Silke – the twins – Michael was nowhere to be found, fortunately.
“Have you guys worked with the cash register yet?” she wanted to know.
Marco nodded. “Yeah, it’s pretty simple. Didn’t Michael explain it to you this morning?”
Julia shrugged. “Yup, but I wasn’t paying attention. Sorry.”
Silke started laughing. “He’s quite a distraction, huh?”
“Why do you say that?” Julia turned red.
“Oh, come on, don’t think I didn’t see you ogling him, girl. The guy is glorious.” She patted Julia’s hand. “But don’t you fret. I’m dating someone, so fair Michael is all yours.”
“Pfff. As if,” Julia huffed sarcastically.
Silke and Marco both eyed her curiously, causing her to grumble inwardly. Why couldn’t she keep her big mouth shut for a change?
“We went on a few dates,” she explained tartly. “And then he decided to grow cold and ignore my calls, and ever since, I keep bumping into him when all I want is to forget about the jerk. End of story.”
“Oh, one of those guys.” Silke cocked her head in surprise. “I wouldn’t have pegged him as the type.”
Her twin brother nodded his agreement. “Yeah, color me confused. He seems like a very nice guy.”
Julia snorted derisively. “Well, why don’t you ask him out then. You might be luckier than me.”
Marco grinned. “Not gonna happen. First of all, I’m not into guys, and second of all, he still likes you. He stares at you, you know.”
Julia swallowed, her face flooding with color. Right at that instant, the door to the break room opened and Michael entered the room together with Donna. They all grew quiet.
“Time for a drink.” Michael looked at the three of them and hesitated. “Uhm... am I interrupting something?” He sounded genuinely insecure.
“No, of course not,” Silke hastened to say. “We were just gossiping about Martin, so we stopped talking because we thought it was him.” She winked at Julia, who purposely ignored Michael and took another cookie from the jar. She suddenly had the irrepressible urge to flee the scene.
“I’m going to the bathroom.” She abruptly stood up. “Will you help me with the cash register later?” she mumbled at Silke before barreling out of the room and running up the stairs to the restrooms.
With a long-suffering sigh, Julia slammed the door shut and sat down on the toilet seat, running a hand through her hair in frustration. Okay, so Marco had also picked up on Michael’s fascination with her. She couldn’t deny his interest in her any longer. But why did it manifest itself after she’d saved him in the forest? She still didn’t get it. Maybe he felt like he had to make things right between them. Was that why he wanted to be friends?
‘I’m sorry he hurt you like that.’ The words he’d spoken earlier that day popped into her mind. She’d probably misheard him, or maybe the knock on his head had done more damage than everybody realized. Who talked about himself like that? Was he suffering from disassociation?
One thing was certain – locking herself up in a bathroom stall wouldn’t solve her inner turmoil. Julia left the restroom and hurried downstairs. She was happy to see Silke had already returned to man the checkout. This time, she would pay extra attention during her explanation.
Things weren’t so bad, she told herself. All she had to do was get through the day. Tomorrow, the store would be closed, and tonight, she’d be able to evaluate today with Gaby and the rest of her friends. She could do this.
When lunch break arrived, Julia made sure she was chatting animatedly to Donna and Silke when Michael came in. Marco followed him, the two of them sitting down at a table near the coffee machine where Martin joined them after a few minutes.
“Any plans for tonight?” Silke asked Julia.
“Yes, we’re going to Shamrock. Me and my school friends, that is. Oh, and my new neighbor is joining us. I asked him out yesterday.”
“Way to go, you strong, independent woman. Is he hot?”
“Yeah, he is.” Julia couldn’t help cracking a goofy smile. Silke and Donna both started wolf-whistling and giggling. The three others at the next table looked sideways, and Julia felt Michael’s eyes on her. She hoped he hadn’t heard the cause of all the commotion. Although, of course, she shouldn’t really care whether Michael knew of hot neighbor Thorsten’s existence or not – in fact, it would be good if he realized she had moved on.
“I’ll keep you girls posted,” she cut the conversation short, leaving it to Donna and Silke to fill her in on their own plans for the weekend.
“If you feel like it, please come to our birthday barbecue on Sunday,” Silke said. “Marco and I are turning eighteen tomorrow, but our parents won’t be there to congratulate us reaching adulthood – they’re still on vacation. So, to make up for their poor parenting skills, they said we could throw a big garden party. We have enough meat to feed an orphanage, so don’t hesitate to bring some of your friends. Thorsten, for example.” She nudged Julia conspiratorially.
Julia smiled. “Thanks for inviting me. I have no idea whether Thorsten will tag along, but I might bring some of my other friends, if that’s okay with you.”
“Totally. As long as they’re not vegetarians. The more carnivores, the merrier!”
Silke and Julia swapped phone numbers, and after lunch Julia walked downstairs for the last few working hours of her day.
At about four o’clock, Martin asked her to bring up a few orders and unbox them in the stockroom. Feeling grateful she could leave the checkout behind for a while, Julia climbed the stairs to the third floor holding a large box of books. Once there, she put the box down to open the door. To her surprise, the light was already on, and her heart sped up when she saw Michael standing in the corner, reaching for a set of encyclopedias on the top shelf.
“Oh, hi,” she mumbled. “I have to shelf some books here.” She pointed at her box.
“And I have a customer downstairs who has never heard of Wikipedia.” Michael held up the heavy tomes by way of explanation.
Julia cracked a smile. “Oh well, so much the better for Martin. He’ll never get rid of those things otherwise.”
He grinned back. “Who knows, he might put some in our Christmas hampers.”
“Looking forward to that already. Actually, I think it’s pretty neat, having an encyclopedia at home. It feels so nostalgic – you know, reminiscent of my mom’s childhood, when Internet was only used by the CIA, not by puny mortals like us.”
“For real? Was the Internet developed by the CIA?”
“Uhm, I don’t really know. Axel knows a lot about that kind of stuff – you should ask him.” Julia coughed shyly, suddenly wondering why she’d started this conversation with him. And why had she picked a topic she knew next to nothing about?
“I will.” He walked past her without really looking away, then lingered at the door. She could see his hesitation. “So, how about playing my mom’s grand piano sometime after the weekend?” His eyes bored into hers.
Julia averted her eyes and stared hard at the floor. “I don’t know yet. I work almost every day, so I probably won’t have time.”
“Just consider the offer,” he said quietly. “I’m going back downstairs.”
She only dared to look up after he’d left. With a deep sigh of
frustration, she dragged the box full of books to the shelf they belonged on and started to unpack them. When she was almost done, Donna showed up with three more parcels that Martin wanted unpacked and sorted. By the time they had finished the task, it was one minute to five.
“Freedom!” Donna shouted in a booming voice, raising one arm in the air doing an imitation of Braveheart. “Will I see you tomorrow at Silke’s birthday bash?”
“I think so, yeah,” Julia nodded. “Have a nice evening!” She went into the kitchen to get her bag from her locker. Everybody was gone, and when she got to the first floor, Martin was the only person there.
“Have Marco and Silke left already?” Julia asked, secretly wanting to know something else.
“Yeah, Donna and you were the last of the Mohicans.”
“Okay.” She tried not to feel empty because Michael had left without saying goodbye. “See you on Monday. Have a great weekend!”
On the bus home, she called Gaby to invite her over for dinner. “I really need to vent, and you can be my sounding board. All day I’ve been walking on eggshells. My nerves are shot. What have I ever done to deserve working at the same store as Mr. Dickwad?”
“I’ll be there,” Gaby promised. “I’m still stuffing my face with pastries at Tomaselli’s with Tamara and Axel. What time are you guys having dinner?”
“Depends on my mother. Just come over whenever you’re ready.”
Julia hung up and stared out the window. Just as she was about to put the phone away, the thing beeped twice, signaling two incoming text messages.
‘will i cu 2nite? ;) x mick’
‘what time r we meeting up 2nite? cya, thorsten’
She chuckled nervously. Wow, wasn’t she wildly popular all of a sudden. She stared at the winky face in Michael’s message with a burning face. What the hell – he was teasing her with the fact she seemed to follow him wherever he went. He probably assumed she would show up at O’Malley’s tonight, because she normally did on Saturday nights.
“No, you won’t see me tonight, you tragically deluded megalomaniac,” she muttered. “I won’t be there, and I’m not gonna tell you where I will be.” She texted Thorsten to tell him he was welcome to join her and Gaby at her place before they went to Shamrock. That way they could all take the bus together from Birkensiedlung.
‘gr8! cu there :)’ she got back after a few moments.
Only when she got off the bus did she realize that her invitation to Thorsten was mildly ill-timed if she wanted to sit down and talk to Gaby about how to deal with Michael as a colleague. Harping on and on about the guy who had brutally dumped her and yet somehow still had a hold on her would rightly give Thorsten the impression he shouldn’t bother making a move. She wasn’t sure what message she wanted to put across. Was she secretly hoping he’d hit on her, or was she just looking for a distraction?
With a frown on her face, she opened the front door. The smell of fried potatoes wafted into the hallway, making her mouth water. She popped her head around the kitchen door. “Hi, Mom! Do you mind if Gaby and Thorsten join us for dinner before we hit the town?”
“Fine with me. But you’ll have to bike to the supermarket to get some extra desserts. If no one tells me I have to cater for a mighty host of friends, I can’t stock up.”
Julia grinned. “Will do.”
“Oh, and be sure to drop by Sabine’s on your way back. Anne is still at the neighbors’, and I want her home for dinner.”
Julia took a ten-euro note from her mom’s purse and went outside to get her bike from the shed. Whistling cheerfully, she cycled to Eichet in the languid breeze of the summer evening. After doing the groceries, Julia decided to take the forest path back home.
The plastic bags dangling from the handlebars rustled due to the bumps in the road. Julia slowed down. In the orange evening light breaking through the canopy of the tree tops, she saw her spot up ahead. The oak tree stood still and silent against the backdrop of the sunset glow. She got off her bike and parked it against the tree.
“Hello, Mister Oak,” Julia whispered. She pressed her cheek against its bark, hugging the trunk with both arms. Somehow it still felt something had changed about this place, and when she looked up, she spotted yellow leaves on the branches. That was very uncommon for this time of year. Could it be her Hugging Tree was sick? That would explain why she felt so different about this place lately – maybe something really had changed. After all, trees had to die some time, too.
She sighed morosely, letting go of the tree to get her bike and cycle home. Suddenly, she was unreasonably angry at the world for changing around her, without giving her the means to stop it.
“Anne? Sabine?” As she wheeled her bike through the gate of the neighbors’ yard, Julia looked around. “Are you girls here?”
Sabine’s father came out. “Grüss Gott. Are you here to pick up your sister? They’re still in the woods, I think. Did they tell you they’re building a tree house?”
Julia nodded. “Aren’t they getting a bit too fanatic about it? It’s close to dinner time.”
“Well, Sabine’s wearing a watch, but maybe they forgot about the time.”
“I just cycled through the forest, actually, but I didn’t see them anywhere. Where’s that tree house of theirs?”
“I have no idea. I was only allowed to come and have a look at it after it’s done, they said,” Sabine’s father explained.
Just then, Julia heard laughter on the wind. Anne and Sabine showed up, cycling down the road leading up to the house.
“Aren’t you a bit late?” she snapped at her sister when Anne entered the front yard. “Mom’s waiting for you.”
Anne looked upset. “I’m sorry. I thought I’d make it before dinner time.”
“Oh well, you’re here now. Let’s hurry up. Gaby and Thorsten are joining us for dinner too.”
Anne’s eyes lit up when she mentioned Thorsten’s name. Julia bit back a chuckle. So she’d been right about her sister’s puppy love for Sabine’s brother. That’s why she wanted to give the forest prince blue eyes in her story. Smiling, she put a hand on Anne’s shoulder, taking her inside to sit her down at the kitchen table.
“Hello there!” Gaby bellowed when she stepped into the house five minutes after Julia and Anne had come back. “It’s me!”
“I can hear that!” Julia shouted back, quickly getting up from the table and dragging Gaby into the living room area next to the kitchen. “Come talk with me for a minute,” she hissed.
“Uhm, why? Aren’t we eating yet?”
“Yes, we are. I just wanted to say I also invited Thorsten for dinner.”
“Wow, you go, girl! I’m proud of you for being so straightforward.”
“Yeah, thanks. The only problem is we can’t really talk about Michael with him around.”
“You have a point.” Gaby plonked her bag down on the couch and cocked her head at Julia inquisitively. “So what’s up, Jules? Something’s bothering you, I can tell. Do you still have feelings for Michael? You can tell Agony Aunt Gaby, okay?” She put a hand on Julia’s arm.
Julia shook her head. “There is no ‘still’. I’m falling in love again.” Her voice was so quiet Gaby had to bend forward to catch her words.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I understand now that I never really got to know him in school. I never saw him for who he truly was – I invented my own stupid story about Michael, in which he was an awesome guy blowing magical glitter everywhere. But now… he’s just so different.”
Gaby gave her a pensive look. “You think he wants a second chance because you saved him in the woods?”
“Maybe.”
“But does it mean he’s truly changed? Or is he just feeling guilty?”
“I haven’t got the faintest clue.”
“Do you really want to give him a second chance?”
Julia scowled at the floor. “Okay, I know that’s stupid.”
Gaby worried her lip and shrugge
d. “I don’t think you’re being stupid. I get it, I do. Sorry I raised hell before when you mentioned Michael still intrigued you. All I want is for you to be careful, but what’s stopping you if you want to shop around a bit? Arrange a few more dates with Thorsten, see if he isn’t a better choice, and in the meantime, hang out with Michael at work to get to know him better. I still think he’s a scumbag after the stories you told me about him, but hey, it’s your life. I’m not going to be a meddling Molly.”
Julia exhaled. “Thanks, Gab. That’s a huge relief, actually. I was afraid to bring it up again because you went all banzai about it before.”
“I get that.” Gaby grinned wickedly. “I can be quite intimidating.”
At that moment the doorbell rang, and Gaby shoved Julia playfully. “Guess that’s option number two on your doorstep.”
Julia giggled and walked over to the front door. When she swung it open, she looked straight into Thorsten’s sparkling blue eyes. She swallowed. Man, he was hot. She was crazy for not focusing on him a bit more – he was gorgeous, interested, available, and he lived next door. If there was a God, He was now surely banging His head against the wall in frustration at her lack of eagerness.
“Hey, good to see you,” she greeted him a bit nervously. “Gaby’s already here; she’s my best friend.”
Gaby popped into the hallway and introduced herself. The three of them went into the kitchen and were soon chatting about school, vacation, and their majors in college.
“I’ll be a sophomore in sociology here at Salzburg University,” Thorsten told them. “I did the first year in Graz, but the transfer wasn’t a problem, fortunately.”
Julia froze for a few seconds when she heard the name of the city Michael would move to after summer. It was almost too good to be true – Michael was leaving Salzburg, but Thorsten had come here to take his place. It almost felt like the changing of the guard.
“Sociology sounds interesting,” Gaby mumbled through a bite of potato. “I considered that, too. But I settled on psychology in the end.”