They pushed and shoved and soon spilled into the huge Mall. Genevieve had never seen anything like it! There were all sorts of stores, clothing, footwear, a floral shop, even a lottery booth. And hmmmm she smelled food too.
She made her way to a coffee shop. Genevieve had often drank tea while in Tu Mani but the coffee aroma beckoned her. There were donuts too. Every flavour you could possibly want. And croissants and.... Oh my she couldn’t decide.
A young gal with very long ebon hair greeted her.
"Too much to chose from eh!"
Genevieve nodded. "I’ve never seen so much food in my life! Well for a very long time anyway. Oh I mean I’ve eaten before, good meals at the picnics and parties I went to in Tu Mani, but never here."
"We are fairly new up here." came the young woman’s reply. "Terry just opened this location."
"Terry? Not Terry Honeywell!" Genevieve gasped.
"Yes that’s him. He owns this place. Actually he hired me. Well a few years ago. I used to manage the coffee shop in Dolton." she replied.
"A coffee shop in Dolton!" Genevieve exclaimed rather surprisedly.
"You aren’t from Dolton then, are you?" the younger girl asked.
"Oh yes I am but..." Genevieve faltered. Should she tell this stranger about her past? She seemed so genuine.
"Come let’s sit down and enjoy our coffees and some refreshments. It’s not busy right now, so I have some time. My name is Nolee by the way. I moved here from Toronto, after Terry hired me."
"How did you meet?" Genevieve asked after they were seated at the counter."The Home Show a couple of years back. It was at the Dolton arena." Nolee told her.
Genevieve could not hide her surprise. "I have been away a long time" she started. "And I haven’t seen Dolton since I came back. Well..." she started to cry. "I’ve missed so much!"
"There there," the young girl stood up and put her arm around Genevieve’s shoulder. "You can tell me. That is if you want to."
Genevieve sniffled a bit and then started her story.
"I never finished high school as I always wanted to be a hairdresser. I had dreams of opening my own beauty salon in Dolton, since they didn’t have one. Oh I bet they do now, don’t they?" she was almost afraid to ask.
Nolee nodded in the affirmative.
Genevieve hung her head. "I was afraid of that!"
"But we don’t have one in this mall!" Nolee told her brightly.
Genevieve looked around. Sure enough she hadn’t seen one. Or smelled one. As salons often smelled, mostly from the perms they did on the women’s hair.
"So, why didn’t you?" Nolee asked softly.
Genevieve returned telling her story. "As I said, I quit high school after grade 10. I went to beauty school in Toronto. I would ride the Colonial Coach every day. Oh it was a long ride but I enjoyed it.
It was winter time," she paused. "Close to Christmas I believe, yes that is why I missed my bus. I had been Christmas shopping downtown. There weren’t anymore buses home so I foolishly decided to hitch hike."
Nolee gasped, for she knew the highway well from Toronto to Dolton having ridden the bus many times herself before moving to town. "It must have been very dangerous!" she said cautiously.
"Not really" Genevieve shrugged. "Most of the young men were away at war (WWII) and those that were left behind were older or married men!" she laughed. "But this night, a woman picked me up." She was a nurse, I think." Genevieve shook her head trying to remember the details.
"It was snowing lightly, so pretty. But the roads were slippy and well, we went off the road, into the ditch. I don’t remember much else after that. Lots of bright lights, I suppose they were flashlights and car lights. I was taken to the hospital in Oakville but it was just a community hospital back then. Later I was transferred to Toronto. I guess the shock and all the time it took to get me to a proper facility affected my injuries. I went into a coma or so I was told. I woke up about a year ago, now. I was so shocked to see my parents with gray hair." Genevieve shook her head with those memories.
"And the other lady, the driver?" Nolee was almost afraid to ask.
Genevieve gave Nolee a blank stare, as if trying to remember or maybe forget.
"I’m not sure," she faltered. "But I think she died." Genevieve softly said.
The two girls sat for a bit each deep within their own thoughts.
"Ahem"
They jumped at the sound of the man behind them.
"Oh Mr. Van Rose" Nolee quickly jumped out of her seat. "I was, well it wasn’t busy and...oh" she turned to Genevieve who also had stood up. "This is Sherlan Van Rose, the mall manager."
Nolee introduced the two to each other.
Genevieve smiled sweetly at the handsome man. "Your accent....ah are you American?"
His broad grin lit up the room. "Yes" he accentuated his southern drawl. "From Texas Ma’am. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Genevieve played along with his good humoured approach. "And what brings you here?"
"I own a string of malls across Texas and the states. I decided to branch out into Canada. This is my third mall. I also own the newly built mall in Dolton and...."
"Dolton!" Genevieve gasped. "That’s my home town! Oh my they have a mall there now! Where is it?"
Sherlan could not hide his surprise as this woman’s remark. ‘If Dolton was her home town, why then did not know about it’s mall?’ Instead he replied, "Well it is still under construction. It’s much larger than this one. It’s on Highway 2, behind the Drive - In and between the Textile Mill."
Genevieve was stunned once again to hear of these new places in Dolton. Suddenly she felt anxious to get home and see all what she was missing.
"May I show you around?" Sherlan suddenly asked Genevieve.
"Of course" she followed him through the mall.
"And what do you do for a living? Or are you married, perhaps?" Sherlan stopped as he asked the question.
"Oh no, I’m not." Genevieve replied. "Married that is. And I am a qualified hair dresser. That is if my license is still valid."
Sherlan looked at her quizzically.
Genevieve blushed. "I should explain. You see I was in a car accident over 10 years ago and have been in a coma up til this year. I have been away at a rehabilitation centre, where I learned to walk again. I have only just returned home now. That is why, you see, that I am not up to date on all the changes in my home town. Actually," she laughed. "I haven’t even stepped foot in Dolton yet!"
Sherlan had to laugh at that last statement. For such a sad event to occur in this young woman’s life and still she was not in the least bit depressed over her past. A thought suddenly occurred to him.
"Hairdresser hmmm. Come with me."
Genevieve followed Sherlan to a store that was covered over in brown paper. It had not been opened for this occasion. He stepped in and flicked on the lights. There before her stood a small but well equipped salon. All ready for the opening.
Genevieve looked at Sherlan. ‘What was he trying to tell her?’ she wondered.
"This was built, but we didn’t have anyone qualified to run it. So I think fate has intervened here."
Genevieve looked around the room. It was all there, as she had hoped or dreamed in her youth to have her own salon. She couldn’t believe it. Maybe she was back in that coma and dreaming. Could it be?
"What do think?"
"Are you asking me to work here?" she managed to squeak out the words.
"Well if you have a license, it could be yours. We can set up a rental agreement and...."
Genevieve’s mind was spinning fast. ‘Money, she needed money’ she thought. ‘Insurance, yes there was insurance money from the accident. But how much would be left?’ she wondered.
"I have insurance money...not sure how much but..."
"Oh I’m sure the Dolton Bank would help you out there." Sherlan continued to encourage her. It would be good to have this place opened. There was only one other store not open yet but he was sure it would be soon too. It was all working out according to plan. Another successful mall under his belt, then he could get out of this small town and back to city life.
"Come let’s go and get those papers signed." He urged Genevieve.
"Well as much as I would love to do this," she said cautiously. This was happening just too fast. Genevieve may have been asleep for 10 years but she was no fool. "I should get home and see if I can afford this first. I will let you know." She held out her hand to shake.
Reluctantly Sherlan returned the handshake and watched as the young woman quickly strode away. ‘Almost, he almost had her.’ he thought. He sighed as he flicked off the light switch and locked up the door.
No comments:
Post a Comment