The sweet smell of honeysuckle danced across my nose as a soft Fall breeze blew across my face. I lifted my head and watched as a singular car zoomed on the windy road and passed by El Mexicano II. A couple random leaves flipped up into the air and softly floated back to the asphalt.
There was a slight chill in the air but not cool enough to slip on my cardigan that was draped over the bench next to me. I ran my hands down my denim-clad legs and took a deep breath in. I stared up at the sign hanging from the rickety roof above the building that had been there my entire 26 years of life. It read in peeling painted cursive writing, ‘Glen Oak Candy’.
As another breeze zipped by I smelt the familiar smell of boiling sugar and antibacterial hand gel. Though together the two weren’t the worse smell, they also weren’t incredibly pleasing to the nostrils. I looked through the frosted glass window at the familiar woman cashing out a customer. Without my glasses I couldn’t read her name tag, but the lipstick stuck on her teeth was visible without them. I let a small chuckle escape my lips and then locked my iPad, tucking it into my tote bag and zipping the bag closed.
I swatted nearby my right ear as a small buzzing began. I felt my brows furrow as the buzzing persisted in both ears now. I used the knuckles of my pointer fingers on both hands and attempted to close my ears. The buzzing did not stop, in fact it sounded like cicadas were buzzing lowly nearby.
My irritation grew slightly before the buzzing ceased. I thought to myself, ‘Someone must be talking about me.’ I stood up and began walking over to my car, unlocking the door and throwing my bag inside. It wasn’t until I reached for my cardigan I realized it remained lying across the bench of the table.
I looked up and seen a man picking it up and looking around the parking lot. I tried to sprint quickly to him to claim it when his eyes met my slowing jogging figure.
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“Sorry, that’s mine!” I said a little more loudly than anticipated.
“No worries, I was getting ready to put the umbrellas in and noticed it lying here. I was hoping its owner wasn’t far,” the man said with a deep and calm voice.
“She’s well loved so I’m glad you found her,” I said with a small smile.
His eyes looked slightly puzzled but handed my cardigan to me and also smiled softly.
“She’s a female?” He pointed to my sweater.
“I guess I don’t know that, do I?” I asked shrugging.
He let out a small chuckle and said, “No, I don’t think you could ever really know.”
”You might be right,” I looked down at his shoes, “Thank you,” I said softly.
“You’re welcome,” He responded and a smile was visible on his lips.
“My name is Valentin,” he said softly but forcefully.
“My name is Violeta,” I responded with a smile.
I watched as his hands gripped the umbrella poles tightly, his gold bracelet hanging slightly from his wrist.
“Beautiful name,” he commented.
“Thank you,” I could feel some heat across my cheeks.
Whenever someone complimented my name I felt shamefully embarrassed. My grandpa always shook his head at that, because it was his great-grandmothers name and he felt I should wear it with pride. Conveniently enough, my cardigan also belonged to the original Violeta.
Another cool breeze shook me from my thoughts and I gripped Violeta’s cardigan tightly in my right hand. I felt a sharp pain in the back of my neck as I smiled softly and thanked him one more time before heading toward my car.
The sun was glowing purple, orange, pink, and yellow as the sun began to dip below the mountain range visible. I sat in the driver’s seat and started my car, peering out onto the wooden deck where I left Valentin. He was pulling an umbrella from a table and fastening the strap around it tightly.
The pain in the back of my neck zapped me again and I gently rubbed the sore spot before backing out of my parking spot and beginning the descent down the mountain back to the lighted streets of Cuyaipa.