"It's ok, calm down," he said reassuring her. "Like I said, I probably did look a little funny just standing there and don’t worry about all the questions. This is your place. If somebody was standing in my store staring off into space I think I’d ask a few questions too. The way you acted was about the same thing I probably would’ve done. Actually I probably would’ve done worse."
"Well, be that as it may,” she said, the look of concern returning to her face, “I'm still real sorry about your friends’ death. I’m guessing it was Tommy you were talking about by the way. It shouldn’t surprise me though that I see people I don’t know. Tommy sure did seem to know a lot of people. It is all kinda strange though. Nobody’s ever died like that around here from what I’ve heard. Everybody’s real shook up about it. It’s sad how you can be here one day and then gone the next."
"Yeah it really caught me off guard too. My mom called and woke me up from this weird dream I was having. As soon as I heard what she said I was right back out.” Seeing her puzzled look, he continued. “I passed out right there in my room. When I woke up I came right home as quick as I could. It was almost like I was trying to get here so I didn’t miss my chance to say goodbye to him or something. I hadn’t seen him in a long time. Now I won’t ever again.” He was almost talking to himself towards the end. Looking up he saw that Jill looked like she wanted to do more than just stand there listening but wasn’t sure if she should. “I guess it was about time for me to come back I just wish it hadn't been for something like this," he finished with a bitter smile.
They stood quietly for a moment before Jim spoke again and changed the subject. Trying to get on a happier note he asked her a little bit about herself. Standing there listening he couldn’t help but notice how pretty she was. The way the light shone on her hair, the way she moved her hands when she spoke. Everything about her made him want to get to know her more and more. He was so wrapped up in what she was doing that he almost missed what she was saying. From what she told him she’d been there for about two and a half to three years. She wasn’t sure since when she’d got there, she mostly been running away from a bad marriage. Her grandmother offered her a place to stay while she got things sorted out. Lucky for Jim, she had eventually divorced and her grandmother asked her to stay and help run the store. A few months later Grandma announced she was retiring and letting Jill have the place. Ever since then Jill had been here. She finished her story and closed her mouth as if she couldn’t believe she had told him so much.
Before she had a chance to think too much about it and just before Jim opened his mouth to say something else the front door slam open and a shout rang out that sent spike of terror through his body and mad him break out in an instant sweat.
"Put your hands in the air and don’t move!" the yeller ordered.
Jill’s face looked as if it had turned to ice. Her features were frozen in disbelief. Jim was similarly frozen. Of all his luck to be in the store with the woman of his dreams in a small town and have the damn place get robbed. He had luck all right; too bad it was all bad.
Jim heard the door slam shut and listened to the floor boards moaning as the intruder stomped his way towards them. Looking to Jill for some sign of what to expect he saw that she was still frozen by terror. Well if nothing else they would both be robbed for the first time together. Not an ideal first date. Hopefully he made it out alive so he could at least ask her out on a real one. It surprised him he was still clear headed enough to think about things like asking her out. Unfortunately that seemed to be the only thing he could think about. He stood there waiting to find out what would happen next. Surely the person wouldn’t just shoot them; he must have demands of some sort. Heart pounding in his chest, he felt someone move up and come to a stop behind his back a lot closer than he would’ve liked. His stomach tightening into a knot of dread he wanted nothing more than to spin around and turn the tables on the would be robber but knew that if he even tried he or Jill would probably be killed. He wished the person would at least say something. His mind was raced through all the possible scenarios he could think of that would get them out of this situation. Unfortunately everything he came up with ended with them both dead.
The person was still behind him. Jim took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He had to take stock of the situation they were in. Trying to put everything else out of his mind he thought about everything as calmly as he could. First, he’d just met who he considered the girl of his dream. Next, just as they were getting to know each other somebody decided they absolutely had to rob the store they were in and unfortunately there was nothing he could think of to do about it. Then the last and maybe most important thing, he was pretty sure they were both about to die. All in all he figured his day had gone from great to shit in about five seconds. That was probably a new record for him.
He was startled from his panicked thoughts and almost pissed himself when he felt something poke him between the shoulder blades. He wasn’t an expert about how thing that poke you in the back feel but he was pretty sure the thing poking his back was a gun. What else could it be? Nobody was going to rob the place with a banana were they? As sure as he was he was, equally sure he was just about to die. At least he hadn’t pissed himself a few minutes ago and embarrassed himself in front of Jill. He didn’t want her last thoughts of him to be his inability to control his bladder. The assailant started breathing heavily in his ear causing the hair to stand up on the back of his neck. Jim unfortunately still had no idea of what to do.
"Put your hands on the counter," grated a voice in his ear. Well, if nothing else he knew what to do. And he quickly did it. Surprisingly the gun was immediately removed from where it had been poking him. But what happened next was worse than the gun had ever been. Hands began running up and down the sides of his body. They weren’t gentle either. After a few seconds of being searched they came to a rest on his hips. Visions of horny robbers raping him in front of Jill ran rampant through his head. He couldn’t allow that to happen! But the guy had a gun. If Jim tried to stop him he would just pull it out and shoot him. Indecision kept him immobile.
The robber seemed to be taking his time exploring Jim’s waist. Hands moved from one side to the other as if searching for a way in. Eventually they stumbled across the buckle on Jim’s belt and started to work on that. Jim wanted to turn around and scream in the guy’s face and ask him what his problem was but the guy would most likely flip out if he did something like that. Jim was tempted to do it anyways. Anything had to be better than what was most likely going to happen if he did nothing at all. Then a new thought entered his head. What if there were two of them. True he’d only thought he’d heard one person enter but what if the other guy was covering them while the first guy did his thing? Then after he’d had his way with Jim they would switch. Jill would have to watch the whole thing! Jim’s life was over. The gun wasn’t in his back anymore but he actually wished it was. At least then he wouldn’t be getting ready to be raped.
The one time he was present when a store got robbed and the robber turned out to have a hard on for him. This was really just not his day. The breathing near his ear was getting faster. The freak must be getting excited. He heard the rapist licking his lips with a wet slimy sound that made Jim’s skin crawl. The hands were still wrestling with the belt but not for long. He was surprised it hadn’t opened yet. It wasn’t like it was a safe or something. Maybe the guy just wasn’t good with these types of things. Good at robbing people, bad about opening other people’s pants. It could happen. An intake of breath behind him signaled that the assailant was about to say something. Jim expected to hear a demand for him to take the belt off himself or for him to do something much more vulgar but instead he heard a snicker. Not understanding what he’d heard the next thing the thief said left no doubt in his mind as to what was going on.