A chance meeting

Who: Shoshannah and Janey
When: Lunchtime
Where: On the streets

All day, Shoshannah had been feeling just a little off. She couldn't quite place it. Aside from her camera being stolen, nothing really major had happened that would upset her. She'd been to her first movie with Cheyenne and Elle a couple days back which had been nothing short of fantastic. Hopefully she'd get to see them again, this time for something that she'd be able to treat them to. Then after the movie, Angelo and she had gone out in search of her camera but to no avail.

Still, all thoughts of that aside, something was nagging at her today. She thought that maybe she was just hungry, so she asked her boss if she could take her lunch break a little earlier and grabbed her jacket when she got the okay.

She'd been on her way to a small coffee shop near the bookstore, passing little shops selling this or that, when she'd caught sight of something in the window of one. It was a small boutique, the kind that sold expensive clothes to people who could afford them, and Shoshannah had thought the dress in the window looked nice, but that technically wasn't what she was staring at. She wasn't really staring at anything but to the outside observer it might seem like she was caught up in that dress. Mostly, she'd just lost herself to her condition and was staring through the window, at nothing behind it.

Walking slowly down the street with her arms full of grocery bags, Janey was enjoying the temporary letup of the rain. She wasn't one for window shopping, really, so although she gazed passively through the glass at all the wares, her mind was wandering far elsewhere, not really taking much of it in. Even though the sun wasn't quite out the mere opportunity to not be soaked when she got home was enough to put her in a slightly better mood.

Of course she was worrying; it was Danny's first day back at work and she wasn't sure that he was ready for it. She'd thought about stopping in to check on him, but decided against it--partly, if she was honest with herself, because she wanted to avoid another encounter with Zhen, especially with Danny in the building. Although she had appreciated the woman's friendliness and advice, she also knew that Zhen could be very forward and honest, sometimes almost to the point of harshness. The last thing she needed was a confrontation with her husband "mediated" (read: instigated) by Zhen.

Deep in thought, Janey didn't see the girl standing there until it was too late. She sidestepped to avoid a collision, and she did, but in her urgency she managed to catch her foot on the sidewalk and lose her balance, lurching gracelessly to the ground.

Shoshannah could have stood there, immobile and silent, all day had someone not tripped just beside her. It was the sound of groceries smacking into the ground, the sound of someone smacking into the ground, that brought Shoshannah back. She took her routine glance around, assessing where she was before she assessed what happened. She was fine, but there was a woman on the ground and Shoshannah couldn't help but think she'd been the one to cause her to fall. Maybe she'd made the woman bump into her or something.

Rushing to the woman's side, Shannah frowned and reached out, placing a hand on her arm. "Are you all right?" She asked, concern lacing her voice.

It had happened so fast Janey wasn't sure how she'd ended up on the damp ground. Her legs were twisted awkwardly under her, caught by the hem of her skirt, and her hands stung from their impact with the ground, but nothing was really hurt. Even the groceries--the bag had landed on its side, so its contents had tumbled halfway out, but there'd been nothing breakable, so the worst that could've happened was a squished loaf of bread or a few bruised apples. She could always use them for a pie anyways.

"Miss? Can you hear me? Are you all right?" Shoshannah asked again, getting more worried now that she hadn't answered her yet. In her mind, the groceries could wait until Shoshannah figured out that this woman wasn't hurt. Injuries were more important, always.

"I, uh, yes, sorry..." Janey said, looking up. The girl was bent over, a look of concern on her face. "I'm fine, I just tripped, I wasn't paying attention," she explained.

At least the woman wasn't bleeding or hurt, at least not that Shoshannah could see. She stood up, holding her hands out for Janey. "Here, let me help you up. There's a bench right over there. I'll get your groceries if you want to go sit?"

If the girl hadn't been there, if nobody had seen her fall, Janey would've probably just gathered her bags, gotten up, and continued on her way home. But the girl seemed genuinely concerned and Janey decided sitting for a few minutes wouldn't be a bad thing. The jolt of the fall seemed to have triggered a headache, so maybe resting would relieve that before she had to continue her walk home, although Janey wasn't optimistic.

"Thank you," she said, taking the girl's hands gratefully to ease herself off the pavement. She winced as she stood up--she could already feel the bruises forming on her knees and calves. She brushed her hand down the back of her skirt, though it probably didn't do much good--she hadn't landed in a puddle, but the ground was wet, and she could feel wet gravel clinging to the fabric, and to her stockings.

Shoshannah helped her to the bench and fished around in her purse, handing the woman a handkerchief. "Here, I'll be right back." She promised, moving back over to the groceries and starting to collect them. It didn't take her very long to get them all up and head back over to the bench, sitting it down beside her on the bench before sitting beside it. "You're sure you're all right? Is there anything I can do?"

Janey closed her eyes, saying a quick prayer that maybe, just maybe, the pounding in her head wasn't there to stay. "I'm fine," she said, opening her eyes and breathing deeply. "Thank you, Miss..." Janey said. The girl didn't look familiar, so she didn't have a name to tack on.

"Oh, I'm Shoshannah Hagel," She said, extending her hand to the woman. "But you can call me Shannah if you like, I know it's a pretty long name." Shannah was smiling more now that she could tell Janey was really not that hurt. Shannah tended to trip and fall because of her clumsiness more often than not but not everyone was used to that.

The girl's mood brightened noticeably after Janey responded. "Nice to meet you, Shannah," Janey said, shaking her hand. "I'm Janey." She brushed a stray piece of hair away from her face. "I'm sorry if I gave you a scare."

"Janey, pleasure to meet you." Shoshannah turned from Janey to her bag of groceries and pushed it a little closer. "I think I found everything and I didn't see anything broken, but you should check it again. I wouldn't be surprised if I were wrong." Not on a day like today, apparently, when she was causing accidents for other people with her condition, because Shannah was almost certain that was what happened.

Janey chuckled. "If anything is damaged, it's my fault. I'm a bit of a klutz, even moreso when I'm caught up in my own head. Thank you so much," Janey said, carefully folding the handkerchief and handing it back. "Really. You didn't have to help."

Shoshannah shook her head. "Not at all. Believe me, I know about clumsy." She turned her right hand over to show a small smattering of tiny scars and discolorations on her arm, the largest being a long scar on her pointer finger. "I decided I would learn how to cook one summer. It didn't go over too well." She took the handkerchief back at first, but glanced at Janey again. "Are you sure you don't want to keep it?"

"Really, it's alright. Thanks, though," Janey said. The girl's friendliness was contagious, and she couldn't help but smile. "I had a few incidents of my own when my mother taught me how to cook. Every once in a while, I still do, if I'm not paying attention."

Replacing the handkerchief in her purse, Shoshannah nodded. She could have gone on to talk about cooking and how she didn't really know how to cook because she'd stopped trying to learn, but something dawned on her. She was on the clock and she'd zoned out. She didn't know what time it was, it could be hours after she was supposed to be back. Hoping that her question wasn't too rude, Shannah looked at Janey again. "Do you happen to know what time it is? Is it before one? I really should get a watch. I only ask because I lost track of time and I'm on my lunch break."

Janey shook her watch out from under her coat sleeve. "It's eleven-twenty," she said, "so you've got some time, but you should probably get moving. Where do you work?"

Relieved, Shannah smiled wider this time. If it had been anytime past one o' clock, her boss would be understandably upset, but she knew herself. She could have stood there for hours had Janey not come along. "I was only going to take a short lunch today, so as long as I'm back by twelve-thirty, it should be fine. I work at Prophet's Pages just up the street? It's the bookstore with the really large tabby cat? Have you ever been there?"

"A few times," Janey said, warmed by the memory. The shop was small and cozy, and the cat's presence made it even more homey. She wasn't much of a reader, but it was a nice place to wander through on a rainy day. The stacks upon stacks of books, beautiful with their smooth leather bindings, and the somewhat musky scent of the pages, reminded her of rainy childhood days spent exploring her grandfather's library with her brothers. "It's nice," she said, daydreaming.

That was something Shoshannah loved about books and bookstores; their ability to conjure up fond memories. She had spent many a childhood day (when she wasn't sleeping) caught up in a book. It was one of the reasons she wanted to work somewhere with stories. The other reason being that it wasn't a job that she would require a lot from her and with a condition like hers, there was no telling when it would flare up. "Well, if you stop by sometime, maybe I'll see you there again? Where is that you work?"

"Oh, I don't work," Janey said. She wasn't asked that question often, and was surprised to find it stung a little. As if to justify that she wasn't completely useless, she added, "I'm very active at the church, though, cooking for funerals and the soup kitchen, and just generally serving the community. It's been ages since I went by the store, but now I'll have to come by again," she said, smiling more.

Shoshannah was not going to judge anyone for not working. For so many years, she had no choice but to not work. Who was she to say if Janey didn't have something keeping her from working too? But community service was about the same as working, right? "They're very lucky to have you. If they had someone like me cooking, there'd be nothing to eat." Laughing Shoshannah nodded. "You should! It'd be nice to see you there. What kind of books do you like? I've been cataloging a lot of children's books lately but that's not all we have."

Childrens' books. Janey had always loved them. She used to wander into the store and look through the childrens' books, imagining the children she'd someday have to read them to. Like so many other things in her life, it seemed, the bookstore had slipped away in the years since the last miscarriage.

"I don't read much, to be honest," Janey said. "But--well, I'd love to hear some of your suggestions."

"We've got a lot of great how-to books, but my favorites are some of the novels. There's a section we have for romantic books," She said, making sure she distinguished between 'romance' and 'romantic'. While she didn't know much, she knew the difference in those two kinds of books. "I'm a sucker for a good love story. But if you don't like that, there's definitely something there for you. We have so many books, I'm sure we could find you something you'd like, if you wanted that is."

"That's be great," Janey said. "I'll stop by sometime and look for you to help me," she promised. "When do you usually work?"

"I work today until three," She said, but she knew that Janey probably had plans and had a bag of groceries to deal with. "I also work tomorrow the same time, from ten until three. More often than not, I'm there most days during the day, at least for a little bit."

"Great!" Janey said. "Then hopefully I'll see you again soon," she added, rising from the bench and picking up the groceries.

Shannah followed her lead, rising up as well. "Do you need some help getting home?" Shoshannah didn't think Janey was injured, but a sprained or twisted ankle was something that didn't always pop up immediately. She knew from experience.

While it was a nice gesture, Janey felt pretty stable and didn't want to trouble Shoshannah any more than she had. "Oh, no, I'll be fine, really. No need for you to go out of your way," she assured the girl. "I appreciate the offer, though.

Nodding once, Shoshannah smiled to Janey again. "As long as you're sure. Hopefully I'll see you again soon at the bookstore. Have a safe trip home!" She said, waving to Janey before taking a few steps in the direction of the cafe, determined not to zone out this time.