Fool to Fall

Fool to Fall

A Chapter by George Love
"

Dale and Shelby meet at an unlikely location, in unlikely circumstances

"

 

Fool to Fall


 
 
They were riding fast. Maybe too fast but for the mood they were in at this moment, even a supersonic jet would have felt like it was moving in slow motion. Their lives were perfect. It was a match made in heaven according to her family. He was exactly the type man they wanted her to find. He was strong, self-reliant, and successful and not a bad looking man either.
            She did not know whom to thank for her good fortune. Shelby's relationships were not the things from which fantasies were made. They were horror stories involving good time lovers and one to two month stands.
            The t-shirt she wore on that late night run to the market for another pint of Death by Chocolate ice cream bore the attitude she put on to protect herself. “Prince Charming is Over-Rated” seemed to be her motto.
            He noticed her as she dashed inside. The rainfall caused her makeup to run and she had streaks of waterproof mascara running down both cheeks. She looked more like a punk rock chick than a brilliant medical school student. 
            Dale picked up a carton of ice cream without thinking. His always-faithful Calico cat went on the rampage if she did not get a small bowl of ice cream a couple times a week. 
            “Oh! That's just great!” Shelby slammed the cooler door closed as the ice cream disappeared from view. She was in no mood to meet another man after tonight, but he had what she wanted and he did not look like the “Death by Chocolate” type.
            “Hey! Hey you!” she yelled at the stranger. 
            Dale stopped. He had to be the ‘Hey you' the girl yelled at. The possibilities were him, the stock boy and a dirty street person trying to stay dry.
            “Excuse me?” he stopped in the middle of the aisle. “Do I know you?”
            “No, but you have something I need.”
            “Oh, yes. I can see that. Here you go.”
            He handed her a couple of tissues and turned toward the checkout lane.
            “No, wait! What's this for? Please stop.”
            Dale was a little amused by this, but his cat might be attacking his favorite chair with all four claws if she did not get her treat.
            “What now? Look, I have a cat at home that might tear up a prized possession of mine if she does not get her treat tonight. Tell me what I have that you need so desperately so I can save my favorite chair.”
            “Well, you have not paid for it yet, so it is still fair game, right?”
            “What? The ice cream?”
            “Yeah, that Death by Chocolate ice cream is the only thing that will help me make it through this night.”
            “Bad relationship?”
            “Is it that obvious?”
            “Well, the red, puffy eyes, streaming mascara and the wild desperate dash in the middle of the night for ice cream give that away a little. Look, I am sorry, but I have to go.”
               Shelby was not predisposed to violence, but she was desperate. She grabbed the ice cream from Dale's hand and ran for the check out lane. She threw three ones at the clerk and sailed out the door into the waiting arms of a State Trooper.
            “Whoa there, missy! Stop right there!”
            “But I paid for it. Honest!”
            “Yeah, people pay for stuff and run out of the store like its on fire. Let's go back inside. No shoplifting on my watch! Turn around and place your hands over your head.”
            He cuffed her and escorted her back inside the store. The surprised clerk and stock boy did not know what to think of this scene. 
            Dale walked back to the ice cream cooler for another pint of ice cream, vanilla this time, to placate his house cat. He took his purchase to the self-checkout lane and started to pay for it when he noticed the girl in custody.
            “Hey! You, with the ice cream!” Shelby yelled at Dale in a desperate move to get out of this embarrassing mess.
            “Me?”
            “Yeah, will you please tell this officer I’m not a shoplifter?”
            The Trooper turned and recognized Dale immediately.
            “Dale! Hey, do you know this little lady?”
            “Yeah Mike. We met a little earlier. What's up?”
            “Not too much. Well, ma'm, if you know Dale, I know you are no shoplifter. Take care next time, okay? Be careful now.” He released Shelby from the handcuffs and shook Dale's hand.
            “Thank you! May I be on my way now?” Shelby turned to leave the store but the clerk's voice stopped her.
            “Wait! Wait!” the check out clerk yelled after her. 
            “Now what?” Shelby was not patient with all these events delaying her date with her comfort food.
            “Your change and receipt?” he offered.
            “Thanks,” she said as she accepted the few cents and slip of paper that proved her innocence. She got to her car and went to get her keys out of her pocket. Her fingers found nothing but some errant lint. She checked the other pocket and found more of the same. In disbelief, she saw her keys gleaming in the ignition, taunting her. The streetlights glinted off them as they swung back and forth in the night.
            She tried the doors one at a time. Locked, every door, and the rain started to come down even harder.
            “This just isn't my night!” she screamed as she sat down in the rain.
            Dale saw the whole scene. He started to offer help, but the girl was very distraught. Distraught females are dangerous, almost like scared cats. They can do great damage and never mean to do so. 
            Shelby did not want to bother the man again. In the space of fewer than twenty minutes, she had stolen his ice cream and used him to get her off the hook for shoplifting. She knew she did not need to behave like this. She was angry at the jerks who made her like this.
            She got up from the wet pavement and shook off her pride. She waved the man down again.
            “Hey, mister! Please!”
            Dale pulled over to her car and rolled down his window.  “Let me guess, you want the vanilla too?”
            “No, my keys are locked in my car. My cell phone too. Would you mind giving me a lift?”
            “You sure you aren't just trying to get my vanilla ice cream too?”
            “Please, it is pouring down out here. I promise I will not touch your ice cream.”
            “Okay, there's a saddle blanket in the back seat. I'll get it for you. Don't think this too forward, but what's your name?”
            “Shelby Langford, and you are.”
            “Dale Weston. Come on, get in. You have spare keys at your apartment?”
            “No, but I can sleep on the front deck until my roommate comes home.” 


© 2008 George Love


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i like this line especially: "She looked more like a punk rock chick than a brilliant medical school student."

the image of her running out of the store and the frustration at the people in the store thinking she stole the icecream even though she didn't is so powerful & filled with so much raw emotion. good job (;

Posted 16 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.


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Added on February 11, 2008


Author

George Love
George Love

Murfreesboro, TN



About
I am a retired Paramedic with over 20 years of Emergency Medical Services experience. While attending Middle Tennessee State University and Volunteer State College, I majored in Music, English, Preme.. more..

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