Free Forget Me (Hampton Harbor) by Jess Petosa Page B

week,
on one of your days off." Marie pats my hand again.
    "Do you need a ride
home?" Charles asks.
    I just shake my head.
    "I need to get back to
my tables." I stand and walk away quickly. My tongue is a lump in my mouth
and I'm having trouble swallowing. 
    Charles and Marie leave
while I am back in the kitchen, and I spend the rest of the night focusing on
my tables. Shelley closes my section early and I am cleaned up and done by
nine. After I turn in my apron and clock out, I rush to the office and pull out
a bag I stashed there earlier. I head to the bathroom and change into a white cotton
dress and comfortable sandals. I brush my hair and pull it back into a nice
ponytail; it is already too creased to be worn down. I also spray myself avidly
with body splash, even though I know that the smell of lobster is baked into my
skin.
    I'm going to meet Will
tonight, down at the docks. For some reason I'm twice as nervous as I was with
our first date. Maybe it's because we are moving forward with the relationship.
Maybe it's because we've already kissed. Maybe it's because my feelings for him
are stronger than I originally thought.
    I mentally tell my stomach
to stop the gymnastics routine and I stash my bag back in the office. I exit
through the back door of the cafe and walk around to the boardwalk. Another
warm, breezy night in Hampton Harbor. 
    The boardwalk is crowded
tonight, full of families, couples, and teenagers. An old man is playing a
trumpet along the ramp that leads up to the music store, and a clown is walking
around making balloon animals for children. I pass by each group, wondering
what their story is. Where are they from, why are they here, what do they do
for a living, and so on? If they are wondering the same about me, then I can
find comfort in the fact that other people don't know me either. I'm sure the
stories they come up with are far more interesting than I really am.
    By the time I get to the
marina, it's almost nine-thirty, long before I am really supposed to meet Will.
I told him that I could get out of work anytime between ten and midnight so he
said he would just be around. I decide that maybe
asking Charles and Marie to help me get a cell phone might be a good
idea. 
    I wander down Dock B
tonight, since I made it partially up Dock A last time. The further out I move,
the bigger the boats get. One particular yacht is lit up and music drifts over
the rails. I spot a couple leaning against the edge, a man in a tux and a woman
in an evening gown. I walk quickly so they won't catch me staring, and I pass
by yacht after yacht. At the very end of the dock I come to a small sailboat.
It seems out of place amongst the bigger boats. It has string lights wrapped
around the mast, and they are twinkling in the gray blue twilight.
    I hear quick, heavy
footsteps on the dock behind me and spin around. The bright light on the
lamppost above helps me to see easily, and I watch as Will comes jogging toward
me.
    "I thought that was
you I saw from my office window." He is wearing his usual jeans and
t-shirt combination, and his hair is brushed back nicely. "You know, it
isn't safe to wander the docks at night."
    He is smiling as he says
this and I give him a playful smirk. "Well then it is a good thing I have
you here to protect me."
    "I've already rescued
you once," he responds.
    "Girls like to be
rescued," I point out.
    He moves past me and jumps
into the sailboat. For a moment I think he is going to ask me to hop aboard,
but he leans down and unplugs the lights.
    "I keep telling Mr.
Hatchet to unplug those as night, but he believes that it sets an ambience for
couples wandering by."
    "Do many people wander
to the ends of the docks?" I ask.
    He shoots me a wicked grin.
"Frisky teenagers."
    I cover my mouth with my
hand and laugh. "I mean, for all we know I might be a
teenager."
    "God I hope not,"
Will says as he climbs back onto the dock. "I don't think you look
sixteen."
    "Are you calling me
old?" I say in mock