Ultima Thule

Chapter 1: Getting High

She kept running and running until the cul de sac was in full view, and then she collapsed on both knees and began to vomit. "Bloody murder! I can't believe he's marrying my sister!" She looked down at the Allen wrench dangling from her chain around her neck that she stole from the coffee shop where they first met. She mailed him a leather bible for Christmas with a love letter enveloped in different color kiss smudges that she tried to forget about. "He left this Allen wrench hanging beside the envelope for a reason, but I can't figure out if it's just a joke or if it really unlocks something I'm supposed to find."

"David, I don't know, it seems like a nasty prank to play I think.."

"Nonsense. She is so delirious I guarantee you she'll think it's the Ouellette dude. Besides, that's the one thing she left out of her book so she probably really likes him." They called themselves the notorious bastards who owned coffee shops and got together to try and make their own local tv shows. They never paid very much attention to her as she came in everyday with her laptop to write, but one day something about her was glowing as she walked in with her pink flamingo Spanish top and 70's bell bottom hip huggers that showed off her hourglass figure. The sun rays glided through her long blond locks like a figure skater gliding through the ice. She always tipped David a little extra because she loved his customer service and hippie nature, yet modernized style that his shop echoed. "Fuck my life." David shot a glare back at me as he was carrying a pitcher of water to his customers. "Excuse you," David winked back at me sarcastically. "Sorry, my parents are on my back again about catching me watching lesbian porn." David's eyes got wide as the full moon as he walked back to the bar snickering to himself. Rosa was tired of trying to be something she wasn't. She wasn't bi, but she wasn't a saint either and was sick and tired of trying to be a perfect angel for everyone just to keep the peace. "Ahhh, why does life have to be so damn complicated." She looked at the elephant ear leaves in the corner of the coffee shop and then became enticed with the warm glow of the light rays that made love with the veins in the leaves. Suddenly, she was spooked by the loud horn being blown by the train conductor in the front yard of the coffee shop. The train tracks were about 20 feet from the front porch of David's Side Track coffee shop and the entire room shook whenever the train whistled through. Rosa remembered the last time she hopped on a train and got all the way to California without a wink of sleep. That was the place she found real love and realized it was only love that she wouldn't trade for the world. "Hey David, who left that letter in the back room with the kiss smudges on it?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I saw that, but I think it belongs to Ampersand. Hey, you want to go in the back with me after work?" His dark brown eyes resized into a puppy dog shape that I couldn't say 'no' to.

In the back room was a gallery with the perfect lighting and plants that aired a marijuana chill spot to smoke a couple joints with a friend, which is exactly what we did.

After the first inhale of euphoric smoke I looked over at him with a seductive air that carried a hidden physical longing I kept a secret for so long. "Rosa, your book made me fall for someone I never thought was you."

"What do you mean? Who did you think I was?"

"I thought you were some high fashion snob who was honestly just boring and self-loathing." "Well, now what do you think of me?"

"I think you're utterly amazing and sad at the same time. Like the best drama film ever made. You blew my mind." I got lost in his deep brown eyes for what felt like eternity, yet was not as long as the THC made it seem.

"Tell me about the notorious bastards club."

"I can't I've been sworn into secrecy to not tell a soul."