That someone can be me!
***
“Hey there,” a brassy haired blonde with bright red lips says as she leans in towards me. “You must be new here, right?”
She’s older than me, but that’s hardly surprising. I often attract a bit of a cougar. I’m not quite sure what it is they find so attractive about me, but they do. I usually don’t mind an older woman, I think they expect much less from me. They know what ‘just sex’ is, and they’re happy for that. I’m not interested today though, I only have one thing in mind.
“Yeah I am new. I’ve just come to pick up some groceries.” Maybe my tone is a little colder than I’d like it to be, I just don’t want there to be any misconception here. Sometimes I’ve been known to accidently flirt. “Is this all you have here?”
“Sure is.” She pops her gum loudly. “We just get what we get and have to make do. What is it you’re after?”
I sigh loudly. I’m not much of a big chef, but I do know how to make a good Coronation Chicken but I don’t think I’ll be able to get everything I need here. It might have to be a pasta bake and cheap wine night. Not the way I’d like to treat a lady I actually have interest in, but what else can I do?
“Erm no, I think I got it,” I huff out. “Thanks though.”
“I take it you’re a part of that big new development thing?” she continues, not taking the hint that I’m not interested. She leans over the counter while pushing her cleavage together. This gives me a better view of her name badge which reads Erica. “Are you the one in charge?”
“I am.” I brace myself as I run my eyes over the shelves. I wait for the onslaught, similar to what I go from Lola, but somehow it doesn’t come.
“Cool,” she says simply instead.
As I glance at her out the corner of my eyes I realize why. She’s one of those people who doesn’t care enough about anything to have an opinion. She’s more than happy to just let things happen around her. That makes her life content, but without any fire. Lola is nothing like that. I think that’s what attracts me to her, she stands out in so many ways.
Despite the fact that I know I might be treading on thin ice, I decide to delve in and do a bit of digging. From what I’ve learned in life you can tell a lot about a person from what others have to say about them… even if it isn’t all true.
“So, do you know Lola Boots? I went to see her singing last night. She seems pretty talented.”
The woman’s face turns into a glowering expression which suggests she doesn’t like me discussing another female in front of her. "She’s okay, I suppose,” she tells me pettily. “Everyone thinks she should be famous, but she can’t be because she has to care for her dad.”
My blood runs cold, I realize my mistake. I’ve already decided that I don’t want to pry until she wants to share things with me, but it seems I’ve done that by mistake anyway. I press my lips tightly together, trying desperately to keep any other words inside, but Erica doesn’t take my silence as a plea for her not to continue. Subtle hints are obviously not her strong point.
“And after losing her mom so young, I guess she feels that she doesn’t have a choice but to stick around to run the farm as her dad’s MS gets worse. She doesn’t want him to lose the only home that he’s ever known. The link to her mom too I suppose. It’s all a bit sad, really.”
I don’t know what she’s trying to achieve here. Maybe she thinks I’ll start seeing Lola as someone to be pitied rather than attracted to, but it doesn’t work. It just makes me see how big her heart is. I knew that she worked on the farm, but she didn’t tell me that she runs it to keep her dad happy. I know she sticks around for him, she told me that without even needing to use words, but I didn’t know she was his care giver. This just makes me want to treat her more, it makes me want to make our time together, however short it might be, even more special. I know now more than ever how much she deserves it.
“Right, well this is what I’m going to get,” I say while dumping a selection of things on the counter. “Thank you for… you know, talking with me.”
She scans the items, still popping her gum. “You interested in Lola?” she asks briskly. “Because if you are I think you should know you’re barking up the wrong tree. She very much keeps to herself. A couple of the guys have tried to crack on with her, all with no luck. She’s just… I don’t know, empty, I suppose.”
I don’t say anything, even though the words are bursting to get out of my mouth. Clearly these guys, whoever they might be, were nothing compared to me. That’s why I was the one who managed to win her over in just a few short hours.
“Maybe they just weren’t the ones for her,” I say through gritted teeth. “Maybe she’s waiting for the one.”
“Oh come off it,” Erica scoffs. “No one believes in the one. We all just settle for someone we can put up with, that’s all. You aren’t idiotic enough to believe in all that crap, are you?”
“No,” I admit
as I hand over some bills to pay for the food. “I don’t. Not really.”
It takes me a few more moments, but eventually I manage to tear myself away from Erica and her reasons for why we all just settle – a lecture I find very depressing actually – and I start the walk over to the farm. It isn’t far because everything is close together in this place, which also eliminates a lot of the traffic. That’s one good thing, I suppose. On the journey over I can’t stop smiling to myself at the thought of seeing her face again. She’ll be surprised to see me, I know that much, I just hope it’s a pleasant shock.
I spot her long before she sees me and I’m stunned with how rapidly my body reacts to her as she stands with a hoe in one hand and petting one of the sheep from the farm with the other. She isn’t in her sexy hot pants today, she had what looks like sweat pants covering her sexy, luscious legs, but she is wearing a checked shirt and an actual cowgirl hat which is interesting. I might have to get her to wear the whole outfit for me at some point, if she’s feeling particularly kinky…
“Lola!” I cry out happily to her. “I’m here. How are you doing?”
Chapter 7 – Lola
What the…?