"I said, Hi! My name’s Jill and this is my store,” she said still a little wary. “I also asked if I could help you with anything." She still wasn’t looking too sure of how to handle him. At least he was talking now and not just staring off into space. That was good. He guessed if someone came into the place he worked and just stood there staring at him he would probably be acting the same way.
"No, not really," he said leaning on the counter trying to put her at ease. It didn’t seem to be working. "I'm just kinda reminiscing about my childhood." Seeing his words weren’t helping much he quickly added "I grew up around here. My friends and I used to come here all the time when someone else was behind the counter." As he finished he tried a tentative smile to let her know he wasn’t some maniac but it probably just made things worse. He wasn’t doing too well. The one time he actually wanted to make a good impression and he was doing abysmally. She was still looking at him like he belonged more in an insane asylum than a store. He didn’t know what else to do. Maybe it would be better if he just left and came back later when his feet weren’t in his mouth.
"When we were little we used to come here all the time,” he said trying again and ignoring common sense. “A little old lady everybody called Grandma would sell us penny candy and let us read whatever the newest comics she had." He pointed first at the candy that was still kept behind the counter and then at the comic book rack over in the corner trying to illustrate his point. All the while he was talking he kept throwing little smiles into what he was saying. Thinking about how he probably looked he could just imagine what was going through her head. She most likely wanted to call the cops and tell them she needed a little help with someone that was touched in the head. Just as he was about to finally listen to the little voice telling him to shut up he noticed something had changed about her face. As he’d spoke about Grandma her features began to soften. By the time he’d finished there he could actually see a tiny smile.
"Well,” she said blowing out the pent up breath she’d obviously been holding, “now I understand why you were kinda in a daze when you first walked in. At east it makes a little more sense.” Laughing slightly she continued, "I was beginning to think you were a little touched in the head or some idiot depriving his village."
"No, nothing like that," Jim said reassuring her. He was right! She did think he was weird. Great, now he had to do a lot of work to get her to change her mind. Turning his thoughts back to what he’d been talking about he continued. "I was just surprised to find someone other than Grandma sitting behind the counter. I was so used to seeing her it just caught me off guard seeing you. My mom said something about Grandma retiring but I guess it kinda went in one ear and out the other. I was still expecting to see her when I came in.” She looked like she bought everything he was saying which was good since it was pretty much the truth. He hadn’t really thought about who would be sitting in Grandma’s place. Seeing a good looking woman there had just compounded his confusion. “I've been gone for a long time,” he continued, “but I guess old habits die hard. I was actually hoping to see her again but my mother didn’t say much else about her. I’d kinda like to see her but I don’t know where she lived. Too bad though, I really missed her." He knew exactly where she lived but Jill didn’t need to know that. He was just trying to figure out some way to make sure the conversation continued until he could direct to something else. He didn’t want to just say hi, bye and leave. He wanted to get to know her a lot better and if the only way he could find to do it was to talk about Grandma well, he would take it. It would surely eventually lead to another topic. He just had to wait. He actually felt slightly foolish jabbering on and on the way he was but she didn’t seem to mind. In fact she seemed to like it. After telling her a little about what he and his friend used to do in the store he finally finished saying all he could think of so he grinned sheepishly and shut his mouth.
"Got it all out now?" she joked. He just shook his head feeling a little more foolish than he had. He knew he’d been blabbering, he’d just hoped she hadn't noticed. "Now after all that stuff you said I’m happy to tell you that Grandma is still alive and as ornery as she ever was. I should know, I'm Grandma's granddaughter.” She paused to let him take that little bit in. The surprise must have registered on his face since she smiled a little wider as she continued. “She still comes in every now and then to say hi. Heck, you might even see her today.” Seeing her beaming face Jim figured he might not have messed up as bad as he thought, maybe things were looking up.
"Well, that sure is good news,” he said keeping the conversation going. “It’s good to hear she’s still around." He remembered hearing Grandma speak once or twice about having a granddaughter but she’d always quickly changed the subject when somebody asked about her. It seemed to make her sad; the little girl had never come to visit. Nobody had ever even seen so much as a picture of her. Then again that wasn’t surprising since Grandma wasn’t one to go broadcasting her personal life to everyone. She welcomed you into her store and was nice to you while you were there and if she saw you on the street but that was about it. So, now after all these years of only hearing a word here and there about the girl he finally got to meet her. Jim had to say, she had been well worth the wait.
"So," she said when he didn’t immediately say anything else, "I told you my name. Now is usually the part when you tell me yours. Then we talk and get to know each other and soon we’re old friends and everybody lives happily ever after."
"Oh, sorry,” he said feeling like a humungous dork. He was acting like he’d never talked to a girl before. He didn’t understand what was going on. Whenever he tried to speak everything just came out wrong. Whatever it was maybe it would go away if he kept talking. “My name’s Jim Collins," he said trying to get more comfortable. "Like I said a few minutes ago, I grew up right down the road from here. We, I mean my friends and I, used to come in here almost every day. But once I was old enough to leave I did just that. I left and haven't really been back for about twelve years." After talking for a few minutes he felt better. At least he wasn’t staring at her all moon-eyed like he had been anymore.
"So, what brought you back now?" she asked nudging him along.
"Well, unfortunately I had to come back for a funeral. One of my friends died." Everything had been going good until now. He’d almost let himself forget why he was here. Now it all just came crashing back in.
"I'm sorry," she said obviously caught a little off guard. "Are you alright?”
“Yeah, it’s just a little hard whenever I think about it,” he said. “Talking to you helped me put it aside for a few minutes.”
“Well, if you need to talk or something just let me know,” she said sounding concerned. He couldn’t believe it. Most people now a days didn’t care about other people and here she was, someone he had just met and she was acting like they were old friends. She was there with a shoulder to cry on so to speak. That was just another thing to like about her. “I guess I should also say sorry for being so blunt when you first came in,” she added looking a little embarrassed. “It was just, you know, I'd never seen you before and when you came in you looked a little funny and whatnot, then when you didn’t answer me right away after I said something to you I thought you might be some kind of weirdo tourist or something. Maybe even worse. Now look, I've gone and been blunt and came right out and asked you why you were here like you didn’t have any kind of right to be here or something. Now I feel like maybe I’m the weirdo. This first meeting of ours isn't going to good is it?" she finished laughing nervously. He knew exactly how she felt. They were both babbling like a couple of little school kids. The meeting wasn’t actually as bad as she thought though. True, it was one of the strangest he’d ever had, but also one of the best ever too. Still, he couldn’t tell her that. She was the one that was nervous now. The shoe was on the other foot now. His slightly morbid reason for being there had probably been the cause but then again maybe it was something else. That is if he were lucky which he probably wasn’t.