Romance, Pawn, Reading a Horoscope

Genre: Romance

Word: Pawn

Action: Reading a Horoscope

Story Size: 350 Words

The broken glass laid scattered across the pavement. His elegant storefront was now a scene of wreckage while the crowd gathered around. An old fashioned lamp post laid at his feet, his Gucci loafers crunched window fragments as he assessed the damage. It was a smaller store and he knew this added cost would hurt their quarterly goals significantly. He took his eyes off the lamp post to address the manager; that’s when he saw her. The big brown eyes of his past. She’d been looking at him, staring. Staring with wide eyed wonder. She’d always looked at him like he was more than a mere mortal. The wreckage forgotten he stepped out his store’s display to the street never looking away from her wonderful eyes.

“Hello,” The word was a dam stopping all others.

“Hi,” her voice shook a little, “What are you doing here?” He couldn’t answer, could only shrug. “I come this way nearly every week.” She pointed somewhere, “The pawn shop I go to is around the corner.” Her smile weakened as she took in his attire. “You look like you’re doing well.” Memories came in waves; Listening to her read their horoscopes aloud, holding her hand, kissing her, holding her as she cried because she was overlooked for a part. That sparked his voice again,

“Are you still acting?” The words came out in a rush, he wasn’t sure if she’d been talking.

“Yes,” she said. “I’m up for Dolly at Morgan Theatre, and I have some film projects in the works.”

“I saw Gladys,” he lied. He couldn’t watch her on a screen. He’d blocked her from his mind; she took up too much space. She was talking again but he interrupted. “Can I ask you something?” she nodded. “Do you miss me?” She nodded. “As much as I miss you?” Her breath caught. She nodded. The day they’d parted came to his mind, they’d agreed their lives were going in opposite directions, yet here they were. Next to the same broken street lamp. “We were wrong,” he breathed out. She nodded.