Pieces of Your Heart

Whiskey and Starlight

Elodie stood in front of the trash compacter at the back of the outdoor mall she worked at. The wind was blowing, making it difficult for her to empty the awkward trash bins into the compactor without making a huge mess. As she struggled with the garbage, her thoughts drifted back to all her past relationships. There was her ex fiancé, Noah who'd cheated on her after five years and married the other woman two weeks after meeting her. There was the guy she'd had sex and not much else with for two months. Then there was Noah again who'd broken her heart a second time and left her falling into the arms of the last guy, Psycho, who had abused her for years and frightened her into staying with him by isolating her from her friends and making threats against her family. And then there was everything else in her life that had gone wrong, leading up to this moment; Elodie Nixon, former 'cellist at The Juilliard School, emptying garbage from The Body Shop into a trash compactor behind a mall. She knew it was cliché and pathetic, but a part of her wished so desperately for someone to show up and tell her she was better than this, that she deserved more than an abusive boyfriend and a job that involved mopping and taking out trash.

As she walked down the long hallway back to the store, pulling the dolly with the empty trash bins behind her, she let out a long sigh. Hopefully things would change soon. Hopefully. Elodie washed her hands and went back out onto the sales floor to begin closing up for the night. Ten more minutes, she thought. She began washing out the sink when she heard the door at the front open and shut. Why was there always some last-minute customer, looking for a gift for her mother-in-law's birthday? Elodie put on her practiced fake smile and started to turn towards the door to scope out the customer.

"Can I help you find anything this evening?"

"Hi," Ian said. "I wasn't sure if you'd be here."

Elodie stood there for a few seconds, not sure what to say. "Hi," she finally managed to get out. "This is going to sound really weird, but I'm glad you're here. I'm sorry about ---"

"That's ok. I know what it's like to have bad days. Anyway the thing is...what you said to me in the store about how it was good to talk to someone --- I can relate. I know you think I'm just some uniform who was doing my job; but do you still want to maybe spend some time with me? I know I said that I couldn't but --- I mean, it wouldn't have to be like that. We could just go somewhere and talk. If you still want to."

Elodie pursed her lips and thought for a moment. "Sure. I have to finish closing up but I'll be done soon."

Ian nodded back at her. "Ok. I'll see you in a few minutes then." He turned and walked out of the store, feeling slightly nervous. What would they talk about? He was clearly much older than she was. He wasn't sure what they could possibly have in common or why she'd wanted to go out with him at all in the first place. All he knew was that he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her since she'd come into the station the other day; and when he ran into her at the store, he'd seen heartbreak all over her face and all he had wanted to do was make it better for her somehow.

He paced a little outside the door of the shop, looking through the windows every once in a while, catching a glimpse of her mopping up, counting out the registers with her supervisor, and finally taking off her apron and walking towards the door after the lights had been turned off. She looked as weary as he felt.

Elodie walked outside, stood in front of him and closed her eyes briefly as she breathed in the cool night air.

"You ok?" he asked her quietly.

She nodded slowly, saying nothing, a smile dancing at the corners of her red lips.

He held out his hand to her and felt his knees buckle slightly as she laced her long white fingers with his own.