OLD ENDINGS INTO NEW BEGINNINGS
Prompt - Old Endings into New Beginnings : Take an old poem, story or journal entry of yours and use the last line and make it the first line of your writing today
"Nothing. Nothing at all." He walked away. It had been a complete waste of his time coming here. Another humiliation.
The first time he'd seen her he knew she'd be one of those. The unforgettable ones. He'd gone into the shop, a vast warehouse of a place, with no particular idea in mind. Getting out of the rain more than anything. Had wandered the aisles, pretending to himself and anyone who might be interested that there were things he really wanted to look at. Then saw her walk by.
She was medium height, slim, angular, dark hair in a pony tail, dressed in corporate bland. He followed her instinctively, saw her go to the front of the building and settle in behind a desk and screen in the quietest corner of the store. A sign in on the front of the desk said COMPLAINTS. He wished he had one.
The shop became a place to go to. He'd rush in on his way home from work, go in earlier on his days off, spend a bit of time there on Saturday. Always checked out the Complaints Desk to see if she was there. Which she usually was. Nobody ever seemed to come a talk to her.
He began buying things he didn't need in the hope that one of them would be faulty and he'd have to make a complaint. They never were. He thought about complaining that there was something he wanted that they didn't stock, but he could never think of anything. The weeks and months went by.
He had a half day one Tuesday, went to the shop. Hung around the aisle that gave him some view of the Complaints Desk. Of her. Trying his best to look invisible, to look engrossed in looking at the same items on the shelves, over and over. He was waiting for someone to complain, so he could casually wander past and hear her voice. But nobody came, and she sat there, occasionally looking at her screen, typing briefly, and otherwise looking, he thought, a bit bored. She deserved better. Maybe he should complain. He would, it would make her day to have something to do, so she'd smile at him and be grateful. He went over to the desk.
It didn't work as it had inside his head. It never did with women. He thought she'd be peased he came over, but when he told her he'd been watching her he realised how creepy he sounded. So then he tried to make things better by saying he had a complaint to make. But he didn't have a complaint, did he? Not a real one. So he made himself sound even more stupid by making one up about her time being wasted in a job where she didn't have anything to do and even as he said it he knew he was making even more of a fool of himself. A manager had come out and at least he learned her name was Sharon. But the man's calm assurance made him even more flustered and he went on to tie himself up in knots until nothing made any sense any more.
And nothing was what it ended with. He walked away and knew he wouldn't, couldn't, come back.
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