At the age of twenty-eight, you would think that I should have had it made in life.
This, however, was far from the truth.
Two years shy from the big thirty and what exactly was I doing with my life? Well, nothing as it so happened.
I was in a rather dead-end town, in an equally dead-end job, living a boring miserable life.
Glancing up from the till I sat behind I surveyed the empty store before me, allowing myself to get lost in my imagination.
Unfortunately, no imagination would change anything.
Tonight would be the same as many others, I would sit behind the till and perhaps a few regular customers would come in to buy something from the crappy little store, and then I would cash up before leaving for home.
Tomorrow morning I would awaken to go to my half-day job, sit behind a computer and file away meaningless reports. Around midday, I would leave and have nothing to do until my shift at the store which started at five p.m, and then I would repeat it all over again.
Quite a sad life if I thought about it.
Sighing I stared down at the counter, wondering how I had allowed myself to get here.
The bell above the door chimed, but I didn't bother looking up as I murmured my greeting, it was probably old John or his son Eric coming in for something. One of them always came in every night for something; sometimes milk, sometimes sugar.
"Hello."
I jumped at the unfamiliar voice and looked up.
This was definitely a stranger not from around here, he looked somewhat exotic even, and his voice had held an accent I wasn't quite able to put my finger on.
His beard and mustache were well kept, but his thick dark hair was somewhat messy.
And his eyes were like getting lost in the darkest chocolate.
I shook my head to pull myself from ogling this handsome stranger before me, "Hi!" I said a little too happily.
He gave me a dazzling smile, "I wondered if you could help me find something? Do you stock shovels?"
My brows furrowed in confusion, "Shovels? Uh, yeah... you don't look dressed for digging," I leaned over the counter to give his dark suit a once over, "But follow me."
He didn't bother responding to my nosy comment as he followed me to the gardening aisle.
"Here they are."
"Thank you. I'm relieved that you sell these, I haven't had much luck with any of the stores in nearby towns."
"Yeah, you would need a hardware anywhere else. This place prides itself on making sure you can get anything from us."
He picked up a shovel and stared at it for a second, "Do you know where this place is?" he handed me a map of my town, a small red circle over one area.
"Yeah, those are right next to the train tracks, sort of in between the tracks and the residential area."
"Right. Is it far?"
"Nope. It's a few blocks from here."
"I'm horrible with directions, do you think you could show me?"
I chewed the inside of my lip before glancing at the clock, it was nearly closing time.
"Uh, sure but you'll have to wait till I close up in about five minutes."
He smiled again, this time his eyes lighting up, "Sounds perfect. Let me pay for this so long."
We returned to the till and I rang up his odd purchase when suddenly a thought occurred to me.
"What are you doing with a shovel? You're not going to murder me are you?"
He laughed and I found myself thinking that it was the most perfect sound I had heard.
"No, I am no murderer."
The bell chimed and in walked Eric.
"You're late!" I shouted as he made his way into the back.
"I'll wait outside." The stranger said before rushing off.
Eric brought over his milk, "Mom finished it at the last minute, I actually thought I'd get out of the trip, can you believe it?"
"As if. This is like your routine."
"True. Hey, are you going to come passed the bar tomorrow?"
I shrugged, "Maybe. You know I'm not much of a people person."
He nodded, "Sure, but you've been back home for months and rarely spent any time with your old friends."
I forced a smile as I finished ringing up his purchase.
There was a reason for that; although I had been here in my teen years, I had wanted to forget it all.
My old friends were nothing but a bitter reminder that I had lost everything and had to return to this godforsaken place.
"I'll make a stop after work."
"See you there," he winked before leaving.
Don't get me wrong, the townspeople weren't bad, they just had no drive to do anything.
Sighing I began to cash up.
I wanted thrill and adventure in my life, I didn't want boring, yet here I was.
When I had finished high school I hightailed it from the town as fast as I could to go to college and start my life.
I thought I had made it, how stupid of me.
But then again, they do say that the higher you are, the harder you fall.
And boy had I fallen pretty hard.
Shaking my head I got my things and walked out, locking the store.
I'm about to get into a car with a complete stranger who had a shovel, have I learned nothing?
I turned to the man who stood up against a fancy-looking black car, "What's your name?"
"Kameel," he responded instantly, and I was sure I had seen something cross his face, almost a look of annoyance.
"Sounds exotic."
"Turkish."
I smiled before making my way to his car, "I thought I heard an accent."
We got in the car and I directed him to the spot he was looking for.
"Can I drop you off?"
"You already did, I live right there," I pointed to one of the houses, "Good luck with whatever you're doing."
"Thank you for your help."
I nodded before walking away, a strange feeling in my chest.
Kameel was a stranger, but a very handsome one and a part of me was disappointed that I would probably never see him again.
Walking straight into the backyard I made my way to the front of the house, unlocking the door and going in.
As usual, my dog, a rottweiler mix came over to greet me.
One of the few things my ex hadn't managed to take when we finally split.
I could hear the TV playing in the living room so I made my way through, assuming the babysitter was still up.
"Hey! How was your day, Raya?" Bailey asked a bag of popcorn on her lap.
"Same old. Although I met a handsome Turkish man that was a bit odd, purchased a shovel wearing a suit."
I watched her nose curl up, "That's... I don't know, it's strange right?"
I nodded, taking a seat opposite her.
Bailey was only twenty-one, but she and I had become good friends over the months of her babysitting for me.
"Very. Did Snow behave herself tonight?"
She nodded, "Yup, had a bit too much sugar but she knocked out eventually."
Snow; my daughter could be a handful at times.
"Well, I'm going to head off to bed now, lock up when you leave."
She winked playfully, "You sure you don't want to leave it open in case your Turkish man comes looking?"
I flipped her off before making my way down the hall, stopping in to kiss my sleeping child before heading to my room.
If only I knew the excitement to come.
