After The Storm

The sky looked ominous as Jason Dobbins made his way into town. Storms had been predicted for most of the day and Jason did not doubt for a second they would arrive sometime soon. Eyeing the sky periodically as he drove, Jason made the ten minute trip in normal time as he parked behind the row of businesses that lined the main street of Hicksville, Ohio. Hicksville is a sleepy little mid-west town, population of about 3700 in the upper western part of the state near the Indiana border. He worked at "Leslie's Book Store and Gifts", a medium-sized shop that had done reasonably well in the five years of its existence. Leslie Steele, the owner, would already be inside getting the store ready for the day. Jason had offered to do it for her on numerous occasions, but she never took him up on it and the matter was eventually dropped.

It was a quarter before nine o'clock when Jason let himself in the back door. He closed it quietly behind him before hanging his light jacket on the hook in the storeroom. In spite of the predicted rain, it was unusually warm for early April, but no one was complaining. No one liked the northwestern Ohio winters in these parts and any temperature in the sixties or seventies was a rare treat indeed for that time of the year.

Jason walked to the front of the store where Leslie was at the cash register counting money and filling the tills. She looked up briefly and smiled, a wide toothy grin that was pleasing to the eye of every customer or friend who was the recipient. Leslie was well-liked in this town and was a friend to everyone whether she knew them or not. Jason had been her first and only hire when she started her business that lonely, sad spring of 2000. It had been only a few months after the sudden death of her husband and it had been six months since Jason lost his job due to down sizing. It had always been a dream of Leslie and her husband, Charles, to own their own business and Leslie wanted to keep his memory alive with that dream. She and Jason had been good friends in high school and continued to be friends thereafter. He was a natural choice to help her since he needed a job and she needed someone she could count on.

After five years of working closely together, they could honestly say they loved each other as best friends, but that was as far as it ever went. It seemed odd to everyone who knew them that they did not date, but that was the way Jason wanted it. Jason had already been married and divorced twice in his thirty years and had no intentions of making another mistake. In fact, his friendship with Leslie led to his second divorce because his wife could not handle their closeness, professionally or otherwise.

Leslie, on the other hand, felt closer to Jason and credited him with keeping her sane after Charles' death and the first few harrowing months of starting the business. It was she who invited him over for dinner once or twice a month hoping he would get the hint that she wanted to take their friendship a little further, but he seemed completely content with their relationship as it was and made no attempt whatsoever to read anything else into it. They were still young, she kept telling herself, hoping to convince herself once more that anything was possible. Even a second chance at love.

Leslie continued to count the bills as Jason found the new shipment of books that had arrived the day before. He would have just enough time to sort them and place them on display before they would open their doors to the public. He did not expect a large crowd that day because it was a Friday, but they could expect a few sales. Even if he did not have everything done before they opened, he was sure to have it completed by nine-fifteen or so and that had never been a problem before.

A few minutes went by before he heard the cash register close and the combination of keys click to signal it being locked. Jason could almost feel Leslie's warm gray eyes boring through his back as he took the books out the box and placed them on the floor next to him. He peeked at her from the corner of his right eye and smiled to himself. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she had a whimsical look on her face. Jason went back to his job of stacking the books. When the box was empty he discarded it to his left and looked back at Leslie.

"Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to help me?" he asked indignantly, but smiling.

Leslie broke into a grin. "Standing here sounds like a good idea." She pushed away from the counter, however, and moved to his side.

"Nasty sky when I came in," he remarked when she picked up a stack of books and placed them on a nearby table.

"Really? It was clear when I came in." She glanced out the front window and saw the gloom. "I guess itis looking pretty bad," she added. There won't be much business today, she thought to herself.

"Do you want anything placed on sale?" he asked, changing the subject.

Leslie broke from her thoughts of a low sales day. "No," she replied, "we'll keep everything as is. I'll go over the books this weekend and see what's selling and what's not. We can adjust on Monday."

"Okay," Jason replied as he straightened up and brushed his hands against his khaki pants. "Come on, I'll help you put these away."

With that, they busied themselves with placing the newly arrived books on the shelves and rearranging other books to make room.

As they worked, Leslie asked him, "Got any big plans this weekend?"

"Nothing in particular?" he answered. "You?"

"Same thing. Why don't you stop by for lunch Sunday? We can watch a ball game or something afterward."

Jason smiled knowingly to himself. "That sounds great. What time? Noon?"

"Make it eleven. I usually skip breakfast before I go to church."

Leslie was never a particularly religious person, but since Charles' death, she made it a point to attend as regularly as possible. Somehow, she felt that if she was in church, perhaps she could get closer to her husband's spirit. Sometimes she needed that comfort.

"Eleven it is," Jason agreed.

The first hour or so of the workday went by slowly as a steady rain pelted the streets. A few customers came in; some were the regulars who always looked for a certain author whose newest submission was due to arrive. Others merely wanted to chat and catch up on the latest news or gossip about anyone and anything. Jason tried to steer clear of most of the conversations, leaving it to Leslie to deal with them. She was always better at small talk and did not let any rumors or half-truths affect her in one way or the other. He usually made himself scarce by going to the storeroom or helping other customers.

By ten forty-five, the sky turned an ugly shade of black and gray as angry lightning bolts electrified the skies overhead. The rain was coming down harder, the wind was blowing, and the sewers began to overflow sending the excess water spilling into the streets. Storms never bothered Leslie. In fact, she always liked a good rain. She always thought it was God's way of cleansing the Earth. It was another story for Jason, though. He was always wary of threatening weather and would be very happy if and when the rain stopped.

Thunder blasted loudly overhead and the store shook from the force of it. Jason glanced out the window and saw how dark it had become. If he did not know better, he would have thought it was nighttime instead of morning. Rain pounded relentlessly upon the street, making it look like a black river as streaks of lightning flashed overhead.

When he saw that the store was empty of customers, Jason headed to the storeroom to watch TV. "I'm going to check the news and see what's going on with the storm," he called over his shoulder to Leslie as he made his way back to the storeroom.

"It's just a storm, Jason," Leslie said, trying to convince him. "It'll be over soon."

She felt sorry for him thinking he was that upset about the rain, but she knew how he was when bad weather was around. It was one of the things she really liked about him. Most of the time, he was the strong person, her best friend who had helped her through that awful time five years before. But, she saw his weaknesses, too, and that made him all the more special to her.

"There's a tornado watch out for this area," he called from the storeroom. There was just a hint of panic in his voice.

"So what?" she answered back. "We've had tornado watches before. It'll pass."

"I don't know," he called back. "It's pretty nasty all around us."

Curiosity got the best of Leslie, so she went back to the room to look at the TV. She, too, saw the column of storms over and around Defiance County. It certainly was not going to end anytime soon, she thought grimly.

She glanced at Jason, whose ice-blue eyes were fixated on the screen. He was barely taller than her five foot nine frame, but he was reed thin and wiry strong. Things she could barely lift, he seemed to have little trouble moving. It amazed her at times. His wavy blond hair appeared to always be in disarray, but there was always warmth in his eyes behind those wire rimmed glasses he wore.

Leslie reached out and touched his shoulder to try to help calm him. He looked up to her face and tried to smile, but she could see the fear in his eyes.

"Looks like it'll be here for a while," she said quietly.

"Yeah," he sighed.

Leslie poked her head out of the storeroom and looked for customers. There were none. They probably wanted to get home and out of the way of the storm, Leslie thought to herself. She almost wished she could do the same. Just curl up on the sofa to some hot chocolate and a good book. That sounded lovely to her right then.

Leslie leaned against the door frame and pushed her straight brown bangs away from her face. At thirty-one years old, she was considered quite pretty, but she never thought of herself in that way. Charles would always compliment her on her looks and she was almost to the point of believing him when he was suddenly taken from her. He had been shoveling snow one January morning when he collapsed and never regained consciousness. An autopsy showed he had an abnormal heart valve that had never been detected and probably never would have been under normal circumstances.

Sometimes, Jason would tell her she looked pretty or what she was wearing looked good on her, but she never took it seriously. Maybe if they were dating, she would have believed him more, but it saddened her to think he did not want to get close toany woman, including her. Subtle hints from her about dating did not go anywhere with him and from their discussions, he had made it quite clear he never wanted to marry again.

One time, she playfully batted her eyes and asked, "You wouldn't even consider marrying me?"

"As tempting as that would be," he laughed, "I couldn't bear for you to be my third ex."

"How do you know I'd be a third ex?"

"I'm very unlucky at love," he replied sadly and let the matter drop.

Leslie reluctantly pushed her thoughts aside and looked at the screen once more. Nothing but storms all around. "I'm going back up front," she announced as she turned and walked away.

"Okay," he replied absently as his eyes continued to be riveted to the TV.

Leslie looked at the water streaming down the front window. It seemed to be coming down even harder than ever and for the first time, Leslie started to become uneasy. The wind was picking up even more and the rain appeared to be almost coming down sideways at an extreme angle. At times, the wind could be heard whistling between the buildings and through the street.

The rain continued for the next half hour or so at more or less the same intensity. Trying to busy herself at the front desk, Leslie looked up periodically when the wind and rain beat upon her window at its fiercest. It was very dark outside and the street lights had been tricked into turning on hours before their scheduled time.

Streaks of lighting blazed across the sky and the thunder was deafening at times; even bringing Jason out of the storeroom for a look.

And then it was quiet, eerily quiet. The rain still fell into the streets, but it was as if someone had turned down the sound of the storm.

Seconds later, Leslie heard the rumble of the B & O railroad just a few blocks away. It always came around noon and Leslie was used to its noise by now. But something was not right. She looked at her watch and it was only a few minutes past eleven-thirty. The train was never this early.

Leslie frowned at the thought and could not understand why she was uneasy. She just could not place her finger on it.

"The storm's quieted down," Jason said behind her, making her jump a bit.

"Yeah," she replied softly, distracted by her thoughts.

It was at this moment when they both heard the shrill, high-pitched sound of the tornado siren from just a few blocks away. The rumbling suddenly became louder as Leslie and Jason looked at each other, the realization hitting them at the same time.

Leslie darted from around the counter to the window and peered out.

"NO!!", shouted Jason. "Get away from the window."

Quickly, he moved to her side and grabbed her hand. "We have to get downstairs." Without waiting for a reply, he pulled her towards the door to the basement.

Thousands of thoughts raced through Leslie's mind as they headed to the door. Thoughts of her store, the books and the other things they sold. And thoughts of perhaps seeing Charles soon. The roar of the tornado was deafening by then and the last thing she saw before Jason pushed her down the stairs was a row of books to her right falling from one of the shelves.

Jason did not mean to push Leslie, buthe was pushed from behind. The door slammed into him, pitching him forward into Leslie who was just a few steps in front of him. The door crashed behind him, but they could not hear it over the destruction above them.

Leslie toppled down the stairs with Jason right behind. It was not a full basement and had no windows, but they used it for extra storage such as holiday decorations and the like. Leslie landed with a thud on her knees and hands and pain shot through her right shoulder and back when Jason fell on top of her and stayed there.

"Oh shit," Leslie groaned when Jason's full weight was on her. She could barely hear herself think as the storm raged above. She pushed against an unmoving Jason and she knew at once he was injured. Darkness enveloped them as she thought of her friend. She tried to wriggle from underneath him, but pain shot through her as she did.

"Jason, Jason," she said as she shook his shoulder from below, trying to get some type of response from him.

He mumbled something incoherently, groaned, and slowly turned and rolled off her landing on the dirty cement floor with a thud. Leslie tentatively reached out with her hand and found his forehead. She scooted closer, not paying attention to anything else.

"Jason," she said while brushing his hair with the back of her hand. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I got hit from behind," he mumbled. He groaned again and took her hand in his.

The rumbling from above was still loud as glass breaking and shelves crashing could be heard.

"How about you?" he asked, trying to catch his breath.

"I was fine until you landed on me," she replied squeezing his hand. "I'm okay. Really I am." Her pain was starting to abate a little.

Jason raised up on his elbows and cocked his ear towards the ceiling. The storm still raged angrily above them. "I wonder when it'll stop."

"I hope it's soon." All she could think of was her store and what the storm was doing to it. "My God, will there be anything left when it's done?" she wondered aloud.

The next few minutes went by as if timed by a sundial. When the storm finally moved on, Jason said, "It's over."

"What?"

"I think it's over," he replied.

Leslie listened in the darkness for a second or so without speaking.

Slowly, Jason got up and tried to move toward the stairs. Instead, he bumped into Leslie who had stood also. Stumbling, he grabbed onto her to keep from falling.

"Easy there," she said, holding him until he was steady, her hands around his waist. Without warning, she hugged him tight to her, not wanting to let him go and wanting him to know how much she cared for him.

She almost forgot the storm and what might be left of her store when Jason was in her arms. They had hugged before, but it was not as close as this. Maybe she held him longer and tighter than she should have because she was scared and thought perhaps he was really injured, but it was not something she was going to debate now.

As he steadied, Jason noticed the difference also. Truth be known, he welcomed her arms around him then. Everything they had gone through over the last half hour had scared him to death and he really needed her. In fact, he needed her more than he cared to admit. After the first few times at her house, he realized there was more to her actions than just dinner between friends. It did not escape his attention that she was more than a little interested in him romantically and that was something he just could not handle. He could not get involved with her; it was that simple.

But now with her holding him, his resolve was melting away as it had been for some time now. He truly was afraid of getting close to Leslie and then seeing it fall apart; something that seemed to happen all too often in his love life. Sure, he loved her as a friend and would do anything for her, but falling in love with her had not been an option before.

He could see the puzzled look and disappointment in her eyes when he would avoid or laugh off her gentle advances. He really did not want to hurt her, but he was starting to realize how selfish and silly he had been. From being with Leslie almost every day for the past five years, Jason could confidently state that he now knew her better than he knew either of his two ex-wives. That realization had hit him during a recent evening together when during a conversation, he almost knew what she was going to say before she said it. He was reading Leslie's thoughts and actions with more regularity and it saddened him a bit to think he was beginning to get close to someone again. But, it saddened him only because he did not want to hurt her.

It hit him hard, that revelation, and he was very quiet for the rest of that evening, something that was rare when he was around her. He kept his thoughts to himself for the past month, hoping perhaps his feelings would change or he could at least push them aside for the time being, but that had not been the case. He thought of Leslie often when they were away from the store and Jason contemplated their relationship all the while.

Jason tried to act as natural as possible at the store whenever he was around Leslie, and for the most part, he thought he succeeded, but it was becoming harder for him to act as if he was not falling for her.

Now, in her arms, he felt at peace and was thankful for her being there. Jason hugged her back and held her close, noticing for the first time the light, airy perfume she was wearing. Several seconds went by before Leslie released her hold of him. In the pitch blackness of the cellar, Jason could not see the smile on the face of his best friend, nor the tears that began to well in her eyes.

"I think we better see if I have a store left," Leslie said softly. She wiped her eyes silently with her hand.

"Leslie?"

"Yes."

Jason hesitated for a second.

"Thanks."

"For what?"

Jason shifted his feet nervously, not knowing what to thank her for. For being his best friend when he feared his life was falling apart during and after his second divorce? For perhaps loving him? For too many innumerable things of which he could not possibly count?