Between the Lanterns (4 page)

“That is amazing, sweets!” Samantha said in awe. “I wish I had one of those. I’d take this filthy chip out of me in a heartbeat to have a cell like that.”

Genuinely surprised, August looked up and locked eyes with Samantha, saying, “Well, I could make you one… if you’d like?”
 

“Really? It wouldn’t be too much trouble?” she asked.
 

When he shook his head no, Samantha added, “That would be amazing, August. I’ll tell you what, sweets. I don’t take gifts from strangers or even handsome gentlemen with whom I’m just becoming acquainted. I’ll trade you for it. I’ll make you something nice in return. How long do you think it’ll take you?”

“Oh, I reckon about a week to get a phone and get it all set up. Yeah, a week should do just fine,” he answered.

“Ok, you come back in a week and I’ll have something to trade for it. Now, let’s get this Credit business done so you can get on home,” she told him, gently touching his forearm.

August liked her touch and the sound of this deal. He gets something nice from her, gets to come back and see her again, and all he has to do is make her a working cell like his own. Not a bad trade at all, he thought as he began to process his Credit app with the machine.

“Oh, sweets, you’re using your personal credit by accident,” Samantha told him. “You should be using the free Montek.Credit, remember?”

August had been hoping she wouldn’t notice. Now he had to explain, and it was going to make him seem like a liar. She’d never go out with him once she found out he’d been lying to her.
 

“Well, you see, uh,” he began explaining with difficulty, “Montek only gave me enough Credit for a cup of coffee, Sam. But, I liked John so much that I lied to him and told him I had hit the jackpot. He was hungry and sad. See, his ex-wife used to own this place. She died from The Countdown a few years ago, but he only just found out yesterday. I couldn’t let him leave without eatin’ his fill, you know? It wouldn’t have been right.”

Samantha’s eyes shot wide open in surprise.
 

“He’s THAT John? Cheryl’s ex-husband?” Samantha asked, floored by the realization. “Oh my gosh. I had no idea. She used to talk about him all the time, sweets. She regretted living her life without John. That is so sad! I wish I had known who he was. I would have told him all about it. Oh, shoot.”

“Well now,” August said, laying a calming hand on hers. “I’ve got his contact information, Sam. I can pass it on to you. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. It would probably do him good to hear that she always loved him, you know? He certainly seemed to feel the same way about her.”

Relief flooded into Samantha. She would be able to talk with John after all. This August seemed like one hell of a nice gentleman. Samantha was starting to hope that he would ask her out on a date.
 

“Yes, please if you don’t mind,” she told August. “I would love to talk with him about Cheryl. I just miss her so much. But don’t think that I forgot about what you did,” Samantha said, hands on her hips.
 

August realized he blew his shot with this gorgeous woman, and his heart began to recede into the solitude to which it was accustomed.

“What you did for John was the nicest gesture I’ve ever seen anyone do in my entire life,” Samantha said, bringing August’s lonely heart back into the open. “You are a good man, August; a real decent and handsome human being. I like that quite a lot, sweets. Quite a lot.”
 

Samantha put enough flirt in there to hopefully entice August to ask her out, but not enough to seem slutty. She didn’t want to come across as that kind of girl.

August smiled at the way she said it. He might have a shot at dating this beautiful woman after all. He said a silent prayer that she’d agree to go on a date with him, but he just couldn’t ask right then. He was too dang nervous. August thought it would be better to wait a week, and ask when he came back with the cellphone he was going to make her.

August paid with his Credit through the machine finally, and it made the same beeping noise it always did when waiting for confirmation. The screen turned green, and read, “Accepted. Credit deducted. Thank you.”
 

Then the handheld Montek.Credit machine made a strange whirring noise and sparks flew out of it, catching August’s shirt on fire. Just a little bit on fire, though.

Samantha screamed. August yelled. Tara put her hands over her mouth from behind the counter, where she had been watching the two flirt with each other. Then Samantha grabbed the coffee cup that John had left behind and doused the small fire with the remains of the old man’s Folgers. It was more than she initially thought was left behind, though, and it splashed all over August’s face, as well as his shirt.

August stood up faster than a bolt of lightning, embarrassed to hell and back, and quickly headed for the door.

“See you next week, sweets?” Samantha awkwardly called after him, her face grimacing in the hope he would still ask her out.

August turned back, shocked that she still wanted to see him again, and not thinking he was a doofus after seeing him on fire and covered in Folgers.

“Uhh, yeah. Yeah. See you in a week… uh, sweets,” he replied clumsily.

Samantha grinned and felt a flutter in her stomach. She had never felt anything like it before. It could mean only one thing… she liked him. She really liked him. No one had ever called her sweets before. That was her thing. But she liked the way it sounded when August had said it. It felt right. Samantha watched through the diner’s window as he walked away.

“Today was a great day, Tara,” she said wistfully. “I think I could fall in love with that man one day.”

“The man you just set on fire and then threw coffee in his face?” Tara asked, laughing.

“He set himself on fire, Tara. I only put it out. I’m a damn hero,” Samantha said, sticking her tongue out at her business partner and best friend.

Chapter 4

WEST MAIN

The next day, Samantha decided to call John and tell him how Cheryl had always felt about him. First, she accessed her SmartChip’s contact list using her preprogrammed voice command “Contacts, y’all” and added his number to the very short list.
 

“Call John, please,” she then said. As the call was being routed, she thought about the intriguing man she had met twice now. August was something special. In this modern world of instant gratification and impatience, of go go go go and no time to be slow, he was different. He had manners. He had kindness. He wasn’t in a hurry to be somewhere or do something. August took his time and enjoyed the little things. And that, more so than his fine features, was what drew Samantha’s thoughts to August again and again.

“He…hello,” John answered, sounding in pain or at least distressed in some way.

 
“John? Are you ok, sweets? This is Sam. From the diner yesterday?” she said.

 
“Oh… hi there, ma’am. I… I’m in some great deal of pain right now,” John explained. “Could we talk later maybe? I’m sorry to cut you off, but I just don’t think I’ll be any good in a conversation right now.”
 

John sounded terrible, like something bad was going on for sure. Samantha intended on finding out what.
 

“John, where are you? What’s going on?” Samantha asked. “Tell me how I can help.”

“Well, dear, I’m at the clinic on West Main Street, right down from your diner, in fact. I never made it back to Columbus,” John said. “A lady in a real hurry to get back to her office, Lord knows why, hit me with her AutoCar as I crossed the dang road. Funny, ain’t it? I build them suckers for a livin’, and now one of them’s gone and killed me.”

“Don’t you dare talk like that, John,” Samantha scolded. “I’m on my way to the clinic now to sit and visit with you. Is that ok, sweets?”
 

Samantha was honestly less worried about talking to him about Cheryl at this point, and more concerned about making sure John wasn’t all by himself.

“I’d never dream of turning down the company of a lovely young woman like yourself. I’m in Room… 517,” John told her, gasping in pain and letting out a long, uneasy breath.

“I’ll be right over,” she replied. “See you soon, sweets.”
 

Samantha ended the call and then grabbed her bag before heading out the door. As she strode purposefully down West Main Street, avoiding those automatic sidewalks, and headed towards the Granger Clinic, she wished that she had August’s contact information. She had forgotten to ask for it, and he never offered it up. It would be nice for him to come along to the clinic, as it seemed like he and John hit it off so well the day before.

Her head was down and not looking where she was going, lost in thought and worried about the poor old man she had only met yesterday, when she ran into something solid. Two strong hands gently gripped her shoulders and eased her back a step. Samantha gazed up into the smiling face of August, his stark, white teeth standing in such contrast to his beautifully dark skin. Looking to her left and right, she noticed they were in the same spot where they first met.
 

“Sam, you ok?” he asked. “I was callin’ your name and thought you’d slow down or stop and notice me. But you just kept walkin’!”
 

Honestly, August had not minded one bit that she ran into him. She smelled like flowers and a home-cooked meal combined. It was immediately his new favorite scent.

“August, thank the Lord,” Sam said with a relieved sigh. “We never traded numbers. Then I needed you but couldn’t call. But,, here you are. Here we are. Between the lanterns again.”

August looked from side to side and noticed where they were for the first time. Strange that they should meet again in the exact same place.

“You… needed me?” He asked, his mouth turning dry. “Uh… well… I’m here now. Everythin’ is gonna be ok, Sam. Just tell me what I can do.”

She hadn’t even told him what was wrong and this sweet man was ready to stop whatever it was he was doing to help a woman he barely knew. Samantha looked into his eyes and saw everything. She saw his heart and his soul. They were kind and warm; gentle but tough. She saw their marriage, their kids, and their grandkids… in that moment in the reflection of his eyes,; she saw what could be their entire life together. And she wanted it all.
 

At that moment, between those two normal, everyday levitating lanterns, she realized August was her one true love. She didn’t know much about him, but she just felt it in her heart and her stomach. Samantha always listened to her stomach. When it came to food or love, it didn’t matter. She always listened.

“Thank you, August,” she said in a daze. “Uh, well I called John; you know, from yesterday? To talk about Cheryl and all, but he was in an accident after he left the diner. He’s over at the clinic right now. He says he’s dying, August. I was just heading over to sit with him and keep him company. Do whatever I can for him, you know?”

August still had his hands on Samantha’s shoulders. It felt right to touch her. She was warm and soft, but there was strength in those shoulders, too. She most definitely had known long days of hard work. He could feel that she wasn’t just a desk jockey. She worked with her hands;: he could tell by the movement of the muscles under her skin. He looked into her eyes as she talked about a man she only met yesterday. The affection and kindness that flowed out of her mouth about someone who was basically a stranger hit him hard in the gut.

Yes, this girl was beautiful. He had thought that he was in love with her the first moment he saw her between the lanterns. August realized now that it was just awe in seeing someone so visually perfect. Now, however, he felt what it surely was to fall in love. Before had felt like getting hit by a truck… well, this felt like falling through space and time. He felt dizzy and excited. His blood felt warmer flowing through his veins, and his breath came quicker. Looking at this beautiful lady, he knew. And he knew in his heart that even if she looked like an opossum on drugs, a greasy, old trucker, or his fifth- grade teacher, it wouldn’t matter to him. The heart inside of her chest beat with the love and generosity that were missing from most of this world. It was everything that he had ever wanted. He had to marry this woman. He just had to. And one day he would.

All of this hit August in just an instant, and processing it for a second, he stowed it away for the time being. If John was dying, then August was going to be there for him. That old man had reminded him of how things should be. The talk they had at lunch yesterday revived August. It filled him with the desire to try and be the shining beacon of kindness that his granny had been. He owed it to John to be there for him at the end. And so he would be.

“Ok, Sam. Let’s get down to the clinic,” August said. “John saved my life yesterday. I wasn’t dyin’, but I wasn’t livin’ either. He reminded me of what our lives could be like; happy, friendly, takin’ it slow and enjoyin’ all that the world has to offer. I owe him big time.”

Samantha reached up and grabbed August’s hand from her shoulder and interlocked her fingers with his. They smiled at each other, and both made a silent promise that later, at some point down the line, a kiss would be very much in order. Hand -in -hand, they rushed to Granger Clinic to be with John.

They sat on opposite sides of his MediBed and listened to him tell the story again of how this had happened. August was saddened by the fact that the businesswoman had not even stopped. She was in too much of a rush to get back into the office.
 

At least she had called emergency services and told them what had happened.

It was a sign of the times that she wasn’t even in trouble for leaving the scene. The police were supportive and understanding of the fact that she didn’t want to be late to work. Unbelievable, Samantha thought.

“John, what can we get you? Are you thirsty or hungry? You want some more chocolate pie?” Sam asked, hoping to help in some way. “I can run down to the diner and grab you a slice, sweets. Heck, I’ll bring the whole damn pie if you want.”