The Love Clause | ✓

09. those oldies but goodies

"There you are!" Mr. Henderson chuckled, his head appearing through a crack on the door. He smiled, entering the boat house and closing the red old door behind him. "I've searched for you everywhere. Never thought I'd find you here, though. What are you doing?"

The old boat house seemed the perfect place to relax and stay away from her thoughts for a while. Inside Jane's property, facing the calm sea, the place smelled like dust, sand, salty water and rotten wood, but it was peaceful, and after that stupid dance class and her conversation with Nat, Alia was desperately in need of some peace of mind.

Sitting inside an old and creaky boat, the paperback copy of P&P on her hands, she gave him a feeble smile.

"Just... reading and thinking."

"About what, if I might ask?"

She opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say. Mr. Henderson waited, a puzzled expression in his face and a plastic yellow bag in his hands.

"Nothing important." Alia shrugged with a nervous chuckle. "What about you?"

"I want to show you something," he said in an excited tone. She closed the book when Mr. Henderson walked around the old boats and ropes, searching for something. "I knew it'd still be here."

She jumped off the creaky old boat right when he pulled a blue tarpaulin, revealing a dusted phonograph. Alia smiled, furrowing her brow.

"I didn't know you were a fan of... antiques."

Mr. Henderson's grin widened when he placed the vinyl. Quick jazzy chords, followed by harmonic female voices and trumpets, filled the old boat house.

"The Andrews Sisters." He sighed. "People don't make music like this anymore."

"So, you're a purist," Alia stated, crossing her arms with a playful grin in her lips. Mr. Henderson shrugged, sitting on top of some old ropes. "It feels like I'm about to jump right into 1945. I like it."

"That's exactly the feeling," he laughed, and after a silent gesture from his eyes, Alia sat beside him. "I found this vinyl under our bed. Can you believe it?"

The way he said our bed made her stomach twist. Uncomfortable, Alia smiled and tried to change the subject. "To be honest, I'm still trying to understand what a phonograph's doing here..."

"The old owner didn't want it." Mr. Henderson shrugged, admiring the phonograph with a nostalgic smile. "And since I love these old things, Jane kept it when she bought the house, but not in the living room. It was too old-fashioned for the decoration, I guess."

"So you put the phonograph in a boat house. That's quite... unexpected."

"Well, no one comes here." Mr. Henderson laughed. "Therefore, I could use this place as a refuge to listen to my old vinyls and to pretend I'm living in the 40's. Oh, and to get away from Dylan and May's loud intercourse."

They chuckled, and a small silence, guided by The Andrews Sisters' vocals, embraced them. Mr. Henderson looked at the old boat suspended, shaking his head to the catchy rhythm of the song.

"So," she said, uneasy with that lack of noise. Mr. Henderson faced her, his gentle brown eyes waiting for Alia's word. She smiled. "Who's your favorite character in Pride and Prejudice? You were about to tell me, but Jane came in and..."

"You really like this book, don't you?" Mr. Henderson chuckled. She shrugged, laughing. "I presume you're thinking Elizabeth's my favorite character?"

"You tell me."

"Right." He leaned back on his elbows and sighed, admiring the dusted boats with a grin. "I hate to disappoint you, Ms. Nazario, but my favorite character is Mr. Bingley."