Free Guardian Attraction by Stacey Summers Page B

seen him since the incident, about a month ago. She would
often look when squad cars passed her to see if she could catch a glimpse of
him. She did not hear a struggle between Chandler and the bastard, or yelling.
Just the one gun shot. They were far away though.
          
The BAR exam was fast approaching. Jamie picked up the empty bottles of vodka
that graced her desk and put them in the recycling bin. The bottles made a
terrible noise, glass hitting glass, that told Jamie what she didn't want to
know. She never told her parents about getting mugged and almost shot. She
figured her mother would flip out and want to come interject herself back into
her life. She wasn't going to allow that to happen. She had gotten so far. Her
father would just worry, and she didn't want that for him.
          
Closing her textbook for the evening, Jamie resigned to the kitchen. Opening
her cabinets revealed them to be quite empty. Ramen noodles were not on the
menu tonight. She grabbed her keys off the kitchen table and headed out to her
car, a maroon Camry. She looked into her own blue, tired eyes in her car
mirror. Letting out a half sigh, half mumble, she said "Fucking grocery
shopping".
    She entered the store and grabbed a cart. Her eyes
scanned the store for people she knew. Sometimes, if she was swift enough, she
could spot people she wanted to avoid and turn down an aisle to avoid
detection. This is why she knew she would never be a successful lawyer. Instead
of facing up to people, she avoided them. She wanted to make her father happy,
ecstatically bringing him the acceptance letter to law school and seeing his
happiness and tears of joy.
    Neurotically walking down every aisle, Jamie's
eyeballs danced around, she occasionally taking an item off the shelf and
throwing it in. She made a left down the main aisle, and spotted the alcoholic
beverages. She made herself not go that way, heading steadfastly to the
produce. She took a deep breath, and smiled. Her father always told her that
she didn't smile enough. That she had a beautiful smile. She continued into the
produce and suddenly stopped in her tracks as if she had been struck by
lightning. There was Officer Chandler, examining cantaloupes, as if it held
some clue at a crime scene. The trauma from the first time they met left her
memory spotty about his appearance. Tall, maybe 6'3, broad shoulders, dark
brown hair. That jaw line. She didn't know what color his eyes were.
    "Pardon me!" said an old lady, waiting
to escape aisle five, but encumbered by Jamie's frozen nature. She slid out of
the way and debated if she should try to talk to him. She could feel the sweat
forming on her brow. She nearly turned and went down the way she came, but alas
her instinct propelled her forward. She pushed her cart, growing an intense
anxiety with each squeak of the cart's wheel. He looked up and made eye
contact. Green. Jamie flashed her smile, and casually said "Nice set of
melons you got there!".
    Officer Chandler smiled back with a laugh.
"Thanks! I remember you! How are you?"
    "I'm holding up, better than my friends. They
have resorted to locking themselves in their apartments and never coming out.
I'm not going to let that guy win like that."
    Officer Chandler had some stubble, suggesting that
he had not been at work in a couple of days. "What was your name? I feel
like we need to give ourselves a normal introduction. My name's Jason. Jason
Chandler."
    Jamie, who had not stopped smiling, introduced
herself and shook the hand of the olive skinned police officer. During
conversation, Jamie's eyes peered down at Jason's left hand. She examined his
fingers and saw what she had hoped for. They continued a conversation for
several minutes.
    "We should get lunch or grab coffee sometime.
I'm always in town," Jason said casually. He scribbled on a piece of paper
and handed her his number.
    "That would be fun. Here, I will give you my
number. Let me call you."
    Jamie fumbled with her cell phone