10 October 2012 fiction, Untitled, unfinished

#18: choose a set of elements and write a story that includes all three of them

A taxi, an old enemy, and Valentine’s Day.

            As Rebecca brushed her hair on Monday morning, she couldn’t help but smile. Today was Valentine’s Day, and she finally had a Valentine. He was planning a special surprise for her, she just knew it. She took extra time that morning on her appearance, not caring that she was wasting valuable sleeping time.

            She smiled as she sipped her orange juice, laughed extra loud at what the TV personalities were saying, and descended the stairs from her apartment with a little extra bounce in her step. As she waved down the taxi, she smiled at what she believed was in store for her.

            When she opened the door to the taxi, she was not at all prepared for what she saw. Michael.  Her Michael, her valentine, was sitting in the taxicab with another girl on his lap, and they were kissing like he was a soldier just home from the frontlines and she a lonely soldier’s wife ecstatic at her husband’s return.

            Rebecca’s mouth fell open and a small gasp escaped. Michael, suddenly realizing the cab door was open and he had an audience, looked up. In seeing Rebecca, he did a double take, but by that time, Rebecca had regained her composure. She slammed the cab door and smacked the trunk with the back of her hand, indicating that it was okay to leave. The cab driver sped off, and Rebecca sank down onto the steps of her apartment building, numb to her fiancé’s face staring wistfully at her from the receding cab window.

            After a few minutes, reality suddenly sank in; the tears started flowing. She put her head in her hands and cried quietly, not caring that she was outside and all of the people walking by could see her.

            She didn’t know how long she had been crying when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Believing it was Michael, she shook off the hand and growled “Go. Away.”

            In receiving no response, Rebecca looked up. When she saw it wasn’t Michael, she was relieved. But when she realized who it really was, all she could do was laugh.

            “Stanley Fischer.”

            Stanley Fischer smiled and nodded. She looked great, of course. Her navy skirt and matching blazer just looked expensive, and her pale pink heels matched the blouse that peeked out from the jacket. Her hair was in a tight bun and her nude lipstick made her lips look full and healthy. Who knew if she was wearing mascara, but her eyelashes were as long as the Mississippi River. Rebecca wanted to strangle her.

            “Hello Rebecca.” Stanley said as she sat down beside Rebecca on the steps to her apartment. “What’s new?”

            Rebecca didn’t want to be alone, but even solitude was better than Stanley Fischer. Stanley had mercilessly tormented Rebecca all through middle and high school. When Rebecca had finally gotten the courage to confront her at the prom senior year, Stanley humiliated her. “Ripped dress Rebecca” was painful enough as a memory. 

            But for the sake of keeping her dignity, Rebecca smiled sweetly and chirped “Not much, Stanley. How are you?”

            “Oh, I’m fine, Rebecca.  I was just in the neighborhood today, and I heard you had rented an apartment in one of my buildings, so I decided to come pay you a visit. Catch up; I haven’t seen you since that dreadful night at prom.”

            “One of your buildings, of course.” Rebecca muttered bitterly.

            “Listen, just so we’re clear, I want to apologize for how mean I was to you in high school. We were just a couple of kids, didn’t really know what we were doing.”

            “Oh it’s okay.” Rebecca said without feeling. What an apology, blame me for half the problem. She thought.

            “Do you think I could come upstairs? I haven’t had any coffee this morning, and I know it’s rude to invite myself, but I don’t think I could have a real conversation with you without any caffeine in my system.”

            Rebecca sighed. “Sure.” She stood up, and opened the front door to her apartment building. They took the elevator up to the third floor, and Rebecca unlocked the door, motioning for Stanley to go inside.

            Stanley went in and sat down at the kitchen table. “Your apartment is lovely. The decorations are very cozy.”

            Rebecca stared at her IKEA furniture and leftover posters from her college dorm room. “Thanks.” She said blandly, starting the coffeepot. Why is she kissing up to me so much? She wondered.

            They waited in silence while the coffee brewed, and Rebecca dug two mugs out from her cabinet. One of them had a picture with her and Michael on it. She gave that one to Stanley.

            After a sip of coffee, Stanley motioned for Rebecca to sit down. Rebecca shrugged, and then sat down at the small kitchen table across from Stanley.