The One That Got Away

The snow was falling so heavily she could barely see three feet ahead. As she looked about the deserted room she noticed that the space was dusty and the furniture in disrepair, but it was warm and dry. A voice piped up from behind the bar, "Can I help you?" Behind the bar stood a curly haired blonde woman. "Uh, uhm, sure. What can I get?" Eliza stuttered. She was caught off guard; she could have sworn that woman wasn't there when she came in, and she hadn't heard the door behind the bar open. "We've got different kinds of coffee and pastries, great treats for a night like this." Eliza ordered a hot coffee and a croissant. She neared the counter to pay and noticed that the girl had very pale skin and freckles littered her face. Eliza was struck by how pretty the girl was, which only made her more flustered "Excuse me miss, you, you've gotta swipe the card."
"Oh! Yeah! Right!" Eliza laughed nervously. The girl smiled and Eliza thought she would melt. A few seconds of awkward silence passed before the girl said "I'm Penny! Who are you? Oh! Sorry that sounded rude, uhm, what's your name?"
"I'm Eliza"
"That's a pretty name! It's nice to meet you Eliza."
"Likewise" said Eliza who was thinking 'Who says likewise. No one! Zero!'
"Earth to Eliza, you there? Your croissant."
"Oh! Oh jeez" she laughed "sorry uh the cold must still be muddling my mind" 'gah why do I keep talking like a Victorian scholar?? '
"No worries, cold weather messes with me too. I dont know why I don't move somewhere warmer. My mind would be so much clearer in the winter."
"I guess we'll just have to wait for retirement, then we can snowbird down to Florida or something."
"Yeah," Penny laughed "I guess we could" Penny's laugh made Eliza's head swim and heart flutter.

Another silence fell between the two. Eliza muttered some words and made her way over to a table cursing herself all the way about her awkwardness. She began to eat her crossaint and relished the taste of the warm buttery french pastry. She jumped when Penny spoke from beside her. "This is super unprofessional but do you mind if I sit?"
"No. No! Not at all! Sit away!" Eliza cringed at her choice of words... again; but Penny didnt seem to mind Eliza's awkward words. She was actually quite endeared by the girls mannerisms, she thought Eliza was quite pretty too with her long braids and dark skin. Penny realised that she was still standing and staring. Eliza cleared her throat, "maybe we should put on some music?" Penny nodded her agreement. Eliza pulled out her phone but the screen stayed dark. "Sorry, do you have a charger?" She asked.
"I don't think so. Sorry!"
"It's all good, we'll just have to talk to each other like it's the 90's or something."
"I suppose so, but they did have boomboxes and stuff so technically they didnt have to talk either." Penny said. She sat down across from Eliza and they looked at each other shyly while another silence fell. "Maybe we could play a game or something? Like uhh, never-have-i-ever!" Penny said with a bit too much enthusiasm.
"Ooo it's been forever since I played a game like that. Can I go first?" Eliza said with a smile spreading across her face.
"Sure!"
"Ok, um, never have I ever... eaten a cricket."
Penny put a finger down.
"Eww, why? Why would you do that?" Eliza laughed.
"I didn't know that there was a cricket in there! I just thought it was a bit of chocolate!"
"I'm sure."
"It was! Either way it's my turn, never have I ever climbed a tree."
Eliza's fingers stayed up-right.
"Cheater! Put your finger down." Penny exclaimed.
"I have never ever climbed a tree, it never sparked my interest."
"Seriously? Oh my god that's crazy. D-did you even have a childhood?"
"Of course I did! I had a fine childhood. And a safe one I might add. Now now no more stalling. Never have I ever visited Montana."

And so the game went on for hours. Eliza won four games while Penny won seven. The snow stopped during their sixth game but to ensure the snow wouldn't start again they kept playing. At least that's how Eliza justified staying at the cafe for awhile longer. As 11 o'clock neared Eliza concluded it was time for her to make her way home. "Sorry Penny I've had a grand time but I've really got to be getting home."
"Oh jeez it's already 11. Uh let me call you a cab, it's dangerous out there alone with all the creeps and the cold."
"Thank you."
"Of course! I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to my new favorite person."
Eliza blushed a deep red and looked away. No one had ever called her their favorite person before.

As Penny was dialing the number for the cab company she was marveling at her own courage and worrying if she had been too bold. She glanced over at Eliza and saw that she was blushing. Penny figured that maybe her boldness wasn't a mistake. The cab was ordered and for the first time in hours there was another awkward silence. Penny told Eliza the cab would be there soon and the minutes passed. Both girls kept glancing at each other, each one too nervous to say anything. Any ounce of courage in Penny had flown off. The cab pulled up to the curb outside and Penny walked with Eliza to the door, each looking at the floor. Eliza pushed open the door and was about to step out but she turned and kissed Penny on the mouth. Before Penny could kiss her back Eliza had run to the cab. Eliza was shocked at her boldness. Penny was shocked she'd been kissed and disappointed that it hadn't lasted longer.

Eliza smiled in the back of the cab. She could still feel Penny's lips on hers. It occured to her after a moment that she didn't have a way to contact Penny! Then she worried that maybe Penny wasn't gay, and even if she was gay that wouldn't mean that she liked her. When she exited the cab Eliza decided that tomorrow she would go back to the café and apologize to Penny and possibly get her contact information and hopefully be able to kiss her again. Kiss her longer. Thoughts of Penny turned into dreams and Eliza slept peacefully through the night.

Eliza braved the bitter weather on her lunch break to see if Penny was at the café. She asked a barista if Penny was working that day. He said no. She asked if she would be in later, he looked at her strangely and said no. She asked when she would be working again and the barista asked her to leave as there were other people in line. This surprised Eliza but thought she would do the same if some random person started asking her a bunch of questions about a co-worker. She left work as quickly as she could and went back to the café. It was closed. She looked at the hours sign on the door and realised that it should have been closed last night too. That unsettled her so she decided she would just have to do a bit of cyberstalking to find Penny.

Eliza pulled out her phone and started searching. She found Penny's social media page! All of her posts were quotes and photography she assumed Penny took herself. Her instagram was so aesthetic Eliza was in awe. She wasn't surprised either, Penny seemed to be a rather tasteful lass. Looking at her bio Eliza noticed a link, she assumed it would lead to an etsy account or a petition but instead it led to an obituary. The obituary wasn't for a friend or a family member, it was Penny's and it was dated 2018. 'No, no this can't be. I talked to her last night, I kissed her. This must be some sick joke. She couldn't have died two years ago, I was with her yesterday!' Eliza went back to Penny's profile and opened up a private message. She was going to ask Penny what the hell was going on, but a thought occurred to her. Last night when she walked into the café no one was inside. Penny herself was pale, so pale she could have been translucent, and when she had kissed her she was overcome with chills. She thought it had been from a breeze outside the door, but thinking back, there had been no breeze. Eliza looked behind her at the café, thought again of the deathly pale girl and the obituary claiming she had died, and ran.

~the end~