{"id":7014,"date":"2014-04-01T02:50:24","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T07:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/polarbear60.org\/randr\/?p=7014"},"modified":"2014-04-01T02:50:24","modified_gmt":"2014-04-01T07:50:24","slug":"apple-and-orange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jeanschara.com\/pmtoo\/apple-and-orange\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple and Orange"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apple Harris watched the second hand as it swept to the top of the clock.\u00a0 The minute hand was ready to tick over to the bottom of the clock, meaning she could finally close her window.\u00a0 Ten seconds to go.\u00a0 She heard the door open.\u00a0 Naturally.<\/em><\/p>\n

The guy was running to the window.\u00a0 “Please!\u00a0 Wait!”<\/p>\n

Apple tried to hide her irritation and lowered her hand from the metal door she was about to pull down.\u00a0 He was cute, but she told herself that didn’t enter into the equation. “How can I help you, Sir?”<\/p>\n

He pulled up at the counter and thrust an envelope at her, “I have to get this out today.\u00a0 Certified.”
\nApple smoothed the envelope, laid it on the scale.\u00a0 Postage was correct.\u00a0 She pulled out the paperwork for certified.\u00a0 Decided to fill it out herself, since it would be quicker.\u00a0 “Do you want to know when it’s delivered?”<\/p>\n

“Yes, please.”<\/p>\n

She slid the postcard and a pen to the guy and continued to fill out the certified forms.\u00a0 When she was done, she affixed it to the envelope.\u00a0 She rang up the total, hoping nobody else came in, so she could get closed.\u00a0 He finished, she checked the form, affixed it to the envelope, collected his cash — yes, a young guy who used cash.\u00a0 Odd — then she handed him his receipts.<\/p>\n

“Thank you, so very much.”<\/p>\n

His relief was so obvious.\u00a0 “My pleasure,” she looked down at the return address, “Mr. Orange?”<\/p>\n

He nodded.\u00a0 “Good night.”\u00a0 He turned to leave.<\/p>\n

“You, too.” She reached up to pull the door down, noticing he had a really nice body.\u00a0 She thought she heard someone coming up the steps.\u00a0 She closed the door firmly and locked it.\u00a0 Whew.\u00a0 Someone banged on the door, but she was officially closed.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Don walked out of the Post Office, relieved. The contract was on its way, and he’d just met the deadline.\u00a0 As the relief flooded through him, and he relaxed, he reflected on the woman at the counter. Her name tag had said her name was Apple. How unusual. She’d been all business, but she’d also helped him when she didn’t have to.\u00a0 Part of him wanted to get to know her better.\u00a0 Too bad he didn’t live closer to Reedsville.\u00a0 It wouldn’t be too strange to drive fifteen miles to buy stamps, would it? His environmentalist friends would never buy off on it. He didn’t particularly care what his environmentalist friends thought anyway. If he did, he wouldn’t drive an F-250 4X4. Practical reasons. He bumped the door locks and climbed inside. Everyone said his truck clashed with his name, but he liked this particular deep shade of red.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Apple had counted her drawer and secured it in the safe before turning out the lights and setting the alarm.\u00a0 Still daylight when she secured the building before heading to her car, she wondered what Donald Orange was sending off that required a certified letter. She hoped it was for something good.\u00a0 He looked so relieved to be able to catch her before she closed.\u00a0 Most people were, but this felt different somehow.\u00a0 She shrugged.\u00a0 She’d probably never see him again.\u00a0 His return address was from Trio. A larger town than Reedsville, so he’d not be likely to be in their neck of the woods often, even though it wasn’t far away.\u00a0 Something had brought him to town today, though.\u00a0 Don’t be silly, she told herself.\u00a0 He’s a customer.\u00a0 One of hundreds of customers who came to her window in a week.\u00a0 Some were regulars.\u00a0 Some, like Donald Orange, were one timers.\u00a0 That’s what she had to tell herself.\u00a0 Silly to get all wrapped up in someone she’d met for a five minute rushed transaction.\u00a0 Shake it off, Apple.\u00a0 You need to get to the grocery store, or you’ll be eating crackers and water tonight.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Don made it to the edge of town before turning around.\u00a0 She’d likely be finished closing up.\u00a0 Maybe he could catch her before she left for the day.\u00a0 He hadn’t seen a ring on her finger, but she could still be involved with someone.\u00a0 He at least had to know before he wasted lots of time thinking about her.\u00a0 He pulled back up at the Post Office right as a car was beginning to pull out of the parking lot.\u00a0 He rolled down his window and honked his horn.\u00a0 She looked up at him, clearly puzzled.\u00a0 He gestured for her to wait, and he pulled his nose into the parking lot so his door was next to hers.\u00a0 She rolled down her window just a few inches.<\/p>\n

He didn’t blame her.\u00a0 “I’m sorry to worry you, but, well, I don’t know any other way to ask this.\u00a0 Are you seeing anyone right now?”<\/p>\n

Apple looked taken aback.\u00a0 She recovered enough to say, “That’s not a question I get every day!”<\/p>\n

He waited.<\/p>\n

She looked up at him in his truck from her car, “No.\u00a0 I wouldn’t say that I am. Why do you ask?”<\/p>\n

“I thought I might like to get to know you better — unless there was someone who would object to that, then I would respect his wishes.”<\/p>\n

She grinned, “How do you know it would be a he?”<\/p>\n

His turn to be taken aback, “Oh!” He paused.\u00a0 “Lucky guess?”<\/p>\n

Now she laughed. “Okay.\u00a0 Lucky guess.”<\/p>\n

He plucked a business card off his console, “I’ll tell you what.\u00a0 I would like to get to know you better, but just in case you might not, I’m going to give you my card.\u00a0 Give me a call anytime.” He handed the card out the window and stretched toward the narrow opening in her window.\u00a0 She reached up and took the card from his hand, brushing his fingers as he released it.\u00a0 He drew his hand back into his truck, touched his forehead, in a mock salute. “I’ll leave you to resume your regularly scheduled evening.\u00a0 I hope it’s a pleasant one.\u00a0 Good night.”<\/p>\n

She smiled and waved.\u00a0 “Good night.”<\/p>\n

He waved and pulled into the parking lot to turn around.\u00a0 She drove away.\u00a0 He was careful to turn the opposite way.\u00a0 He didn’t want her to think he might follow her.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Apple rolled her window up and turned out of the parking lot.\u00a0 She still had to go to the grocery store.\u00a0 As she drove the few blocks, she mentally composed her list — milk, cereal, fresh vegetables for casseroles, fresh fruit for lunches, a couple of cans of beans, some fancy spaghetti, tomatoes, and lean ground beef.\u00a0 That would keep her going for a couple of days. As she parked in front of the store, she glanced at the business card she’d placed in one of her cup holders.\u00a0 Donald Orange, of O Range Ranch.\u00a0 She hadn’t heard of that one.\u00a0 Should she call him?\u00a0 She locked the car behind her and headed into the store.\u00a0 First things first.\u00a0 She needed groceries, then she needed to get home.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Back at the ranch, Don changed clothes and headed out to take care of the cattle.\u00a0 He made sure the tank had plenty of water.\u00a0 He added a fresh roll of hay.\u00a0 He counted heads to make sure they were all\u00a0 there, and while they were milling around, he checked to make sure each of them looked healthy.\u00a0 While he worked, he wondered if Apple would call. He couldn’t believe he’d decided to do that.\u00a0 What had come over him?\u00a0 That was so unlike him, but he hoped it would pay off.\u00a0 He didn’t even know why, but his gut told him he wanted to get to know Apple better.\u00a0 He had no reason to believe Apple would be any different from any other woman he knew — so far they all had decided ranch life wasn’t for them — even the ones who had grown up on working ranches.\u00a0 At least, that’s what they said.\u00a0\u00a0 Face it, he told himself.\u00a0 That contract you sent off tonight isn’t going to make it any easier to be involved with a rancher.\u00a0 Finishing his checks, he headed for the house.\u00a0 He had work to do.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Apple started dinner, then she studied the business card Donald had given her.\u00a0 O Range Ranch. She smiled.\u00a0 Clever.\u00a0 She reached for her phone.\u00a0 She had a few minutes before dinner would be ready.\u00a0 May as well let him know she’d be willing to get to know him a little better.\u00a0 After tapping the unfamiliar numbers into the phone and pressing send, she waited.\u00a0 Third ring.\u00a0 He answered.\u00a0 “Hello.\u00a0 This is Apple Harris, the woman you threw yourself at as she was trying to leave after she finished work today.”\u00a0 She paused.\u00a0 “Assuming there was just one.\u00a0 If there were more than one, I’m the one from the Post Office.”<\/p>\n

He laughed and said, “No.\u00a0 Just the one.\u00a0 Thank you for calling.”<\/p>\n

“I can’t talk long.\u00a0 I just wanted to let you know I’d be interested in getting to know you better.\u00a0 No promises.”<\/p>\n

“Fair enough.\u00a0 I’m planning to go to the Trio Trades Days this weekend.\u00a0 Would you be interested?”<\/p>\n

“Sure.\u00a0 I’ll meet you there. Are you going Saturday or Sunday?”<\/p>\n

“Saturday if that works for you.\u00a0 About nine?”<\/p>\n

“That does work for me.\u00a0 Where would you like to meet?”<\/p>\n

“I get breakfast at the Trio Diner.\u00a0 If you’d like to join me there, make it 8:30.”<\/p>\n

Apple smiled as she confirmed, “Sounds good to me.\u00a0 See you at 8:30 Saturday morning.\u00a0 I have to go.\u00a0 My dinner needs some attention, or it will burn.”<\/p>\n

“See you then.”<\/p>\n

Apple ended the call and stuffed her phone into her pocket as she headed toward the kitchen.\u00a0 That wasn’t as painful as she thought it might be.<\/p>\n

________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Thank you for visiting for the April A-Z Blogging Challenge.\u00a0 Today’s entry is a work of fiction.\u00a0 I’d love to hear your thoughts on it in comments — what you liked or didn’t like.\u00a0 Each day will be a little different, so if you don’t want to miss an entry, please enter your email address below, press sign-up, then check your inbox to click the validation link to get these blog posts in your inbox.<\/p>\n

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Apple Harris watched the second hand as it swept to the top of the clock.\u00a0 The minute hand was ready to tick over to the bottom of the clock, meaning she could finally close her window.\u00a0 Ten seconds to go.\u00a0 She heard the door open.\u00a0 Naturally. The guy was running …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-z-challenge"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeanschara.com\/pmtoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeanschara.com\/pmtoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeanschara.com\/pmtoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeanschara.com\/pmtoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeanschara.com\/pmtoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jeanschara.com\/pmtoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7014\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeanschara.com\/pmtoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeanschara.com\/pmtoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeanschara.com\/pmtoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}