The first chapter of my new adult book Lavender.
She leaned her elbows on the shiny wooden bannister of the pier. Years of hands sliding down the rail had worn it smooth, and she put the weight of her upper body on it without worry. The ocean was a bluish green this day, and she watched the ever-present surfers sitting on their boards, waiting for the perfect wave. Whitecap after whitecap rolled past them, bobbing them up and down like buoys. She shivered a little thinking about how cold the water must be this time of year. Seagulls flew past and over and around, their cries sounding sad and haunted.
She ignored the tourists walking behind her, even when she could hear them talking about her. “Look, Dan, she looks like she came straight out of the forties!” “Do you think she’s in a movie or something?” It didn’t matter what they thought. The bottom of her lavender dress flowed out away from her, then snapped with the wind, dancing without her participation. When the breeze reached out and played with the brim of her matching hat, she absentmindedly put one hand up and took it off. Holding it over the rail, she toyed with the notion of letting it go, just to see how far the wind would take it, but instead, she tightened her grip.
She turned her face up towards the warm sun, closing her eyes and basking in the glow for a moment, before she felt someone touch her. Slowly bringing her head back down level again, she opened her eyes to see a child standing in front of her.
“Excuse me, are you somebody famous?” Her perfectly made up lips curved upwards. “No, sweetie. I’m no one special.” A look of disappointment crossed the little girl’s face. “Oh.” Taking her elbows off of the railing, she turned towards the child and bent at the waist so that their eyes were level. “If you want, you can tell people that you met the famous Lavender White.” The girl looked confused. “Who’s Lavender White?” She reached her hand out and touched the little girl’s shoulder. “Just remember the name, sweetie. You’ll hear it again soon enough.”
An overweight woman wearing a bikini began yelling for the child. “Megan! Come on! We have to go if we want to make the Hollywood tour at noon!” Trying to keep her face emotionless, Lavender motioned at the tourist. “You had better go.” Megan stuck her hand out, and Lavender gently grasped the dirty fingers. “It was nice to meet you, Miss Lavender.” With a glance at the child’s mother, who was walking towards them, Lavender pulled her hand back. “It was nice to meet you too, Megan.” She turned back to the rail, avoiding interaction with the mother.
It was a flawless day, she thought to herself. And it was only going to get better. She shifted her position a little, pulling one of her lavender pumps off, then switched to the other side to complete the process of becoming barefoot. Lavender could feel the warm wood under her feet, and she stretched her toes a little to release them from the shape of her footwear. Wiggling them, she smiled at the feeling of the sand that had been dragged up from the beach by touristy footwear.
“Soon. He’ll be here soon.” She didn’t realize that she had spoken out loud until she heard the man next to her respond, “Excuse me?” She rearranged her face into the mask that she used to talk to the tourists. “Sorry, I was just talking to myself. Don’t mind me.” His smile became more of a leer when she turned to look at him and he caught a glimpse of her face.
“A beautiful woman like you shouldn’t have to talk to yourself. How about I take you to lunch and you can talk to me all you want?” Lavender wasn’t surprised at the invitation. Most men who saw her face tried to take her to dinner or more. For their efforts, they were politely rebuffed. She had no interest in what they had to offer. This man in front of her was from the Midwest. She knew it by the twang in his voice. Her father had been from Missouri, and she recognized the accent immediately. The one good thing about it, she thought, was that men from that area were invariably polite when they were refused.
“Thank you so much for the offer-“
“Mike”, he interrupted.
Her eyes softened a little, a calculated move that she knew he would pick up on. “Thank you so much for the offer, Mike, but I’m afraid I have to say no. You see, I’m waiting for someone.” He wasn’t disappointed in the answer. The look of sorrow that she gave him made him certain that if she didn’t have someone in her life already, she would have gone out with him for dinner. Or more.
Mike from the Midwest had no idea how lucky he was.