Mrs. Spinster

THE sun was shining brightly today. Carmen squinted her eyes under the palm of her left hand as she waits for the traffic lights to turn red. In her other hand was a glass of hot caramel macchiato in grande size. The caffeinated drink will help her stay alert today. She slept late last night because of the book that she borrowed last week. She was so engrossed in the story that she was unable to put it down until its last page. She came to realized that it was almost two in the morning when she finished the book. To borrow a book has been her routine on Fridays when she clocked out of work. The book will be her date for the rest of the weekend. Often, she finished reading the book on Sunday night. Or the morning of Monday. She has been working in the public library of St. Louis County for two months now. She just earned her degree in the local college and she has been eyeing the position since she learned that the old librarian is retiring. The old Mrs. Lincoln has been her good advisor and friend ever since she lived in the small town. The old woman also vouched for her at the town mayor for the said post. Almost all her life, Carmen lived in the confinement of the orphanage in the nearby town. She was found in the church by the priest when she was still a few months old. She was told that she has nothing on her body at that time but the romper she was wearing and the thick baby blanket covering her. There was no letter nor an emblem in the blanket to trace who her parents were. Her picture was posted in the bulletin but no one has claimed her. Growing up, the nuns and the church staff has been good to her. It was unfortunate that she was not adopted into a family that she outgrown in the institution. At eighteen, just in time after her graduation from senior high school, she left the safety of the orphanage. She has a small bag in her hand with a few clothes on and a small amount of money.  She rode the bus to the next town. It was fortunate that she found a small room enough for her money. The little change of the modest amount she had, she used it to find a job. She worked as a waitress in the local diner. She asked where she could enroll to get a college degree. Her new boss, a kind elderly woman, told her to sign up in the community college which is a five-minute walk from the diner. With the support of Mrs. Spaniel, she inquired in the school the next day. A little stressed over the fees that she has to pay for the school, house rent, and her personal needs, she went back to the diner with her heads on the clouds. Carmen served the food to her customers that day mindlessly. It was late in the afternoon when an accident happened. The tray of drinks that she was holding slid from her hand. The cold liquid was poured on an old man that was already seated at their table. He was with his wife who was equally surprised by the incident. She was very apologetic and embarrassed. She already expects that she will lose her job. What she expected was a contradiction to what happened next. The kindhearted man was Mr. Falcon. He used to be a huge sponsor in the orphanage where Carmen came from. He recognized her almost immediately after the unpleasant episode. Instead of losing her job, Carmen got a scholarship when Mr. Falcon learned that she was going to in the community college. The owner of the diner let her mistake slide that one time.   That was three years ago. It jumpstarts her future. This small town helped her a lot. She found a family in the presence of Mrs. Spaniel and Mr. Falcon together with his wife. When she stepped foot on the stage to get her diploma, on the far side of the school ground, Mrs. Spaniel has the loudest clap when her name was called. With her was Mrs. Falcon who was grinning at her. Despite being an orphan, Carmen never felt alone when she moved to St. Louis County. The resident of the small town has been nothing but friendly to her. Holidays were not gloomy either. The Spaniels and the Falcons already scheduled the days where she would stay on Christmas and New Year. She was welcome in both families. Carmen’s reminiscence ended when a person bumped into her. With a smile, she walked into the pedestrian lane. The light has turned red and the people have started to march towards the other side of the road. “Carmen, do you have a new book delivered today?” “Yes. The one you have been waiting for has arrived yesterday. Come by later. By then, I already sorted it out.” She waved her hand goodbye at the female teenager. That was Alana. She was a regular in the library. An introvert at times but she was more of a shy girl that wanted to immerse her world into reading than spend hours fangirling and flirting with the boys her age. Since St. Louis is a small town with just a little more than three thousand residents, and everybody knows everybody, Carmen has been waving her hand and smiling with everyone else. Chuckling to herself after petting a neighbor’s dog, she turned to the direction of the library with the thoughts of the boxes of new books that arrived in the office yesterday afternoon. “Ooops!” With mouth ajar, her eyes went to the person she bumped into. A woman in the short side, her line of sight came across with the upper torso of the other person. She grimaced when she saw the white shirt in front of her. It was splattered with the brown coffee she was holding in her hand. She swallowed. She could almost imagine the hot liquid in her skin and how sticky it could be. Her eyes did not waver from the stained shirt. She was almost thankful that she only stood five feet tall that she was not able to meet with the eyes of the person she made a huge mistake of painting her shirt with coffee. “I’m really sorry.” She muttered. The tall woman did not utter a word. It remained still in front of her. Carmen is pretty sure that it was a woman. A really tall woman compared to her five feet. She could see the outline of her breast from the shirt that the other was wearing. The slope of the waist was also noticeable. Despite the lean arms, it was clear that those were the slender arms of a woman. Slowly, she raised her head to see the face of the person she poured half of the caramel macchiato. She was already expecting an angered human. She gawked. Carmen gaped into the most beautiful hazel eyes she has ever seen. Hers were more green than brown. Despite the frown marring her face, her beauty was alluring. When their eyes met, Carmen found herself not caring about her surroundings. The slow traffic has muted and she sees nor cares about other things but the person standing before her. Everything appeared to be in slow motion, too. She could almost imagine the leaves falling on the floor oh so lowly before they touched the ground. The story that she last read came into her mind. The romantic notion of being in each other’s arms has been very appealing. Carmen wanted to lift her hand and stroke her finger on the knots in between her eyebrows. She so wanted to trace her upturned nose towards the thin lips that were naturally pinkish. She sighed dreamily. Her eyes went back to the hazel orbs. Gone was the scowl on her face, the tall woman was looking back at her like she has brought Christmas in summer. Admiration and astonishment were now plastered on her tanned face. Carmen’s feet wanted to jump into her and fell those leaned arms around her back. Is she warm as she thought she could be? Her eyes went back to her pink lips. She swallowed again. She could almost imagine their lips touching. Shivers ran in the length of her spine. “Kiss me.” A smirk formed on the tall woman’s lips. Carmen’s eyes widen. Before she could take back the words that came out of her mouth, she was pulled closer to the length of the tall woman’s body. Damn, she was strong. Her eyes closed into their own accord when their lips touched. She shuddered at the warmth it brought. She could almost hear the proverbial sound of birds singing in the background. Her eyes shot open when she felt her tongue touched hers. She pushed the tall woman in surprise. She blinked when their eyes met again. The other woman is sporting a wide smile while Carmen touched her lips. She could still feel her mouth on hers. That was her first kiss!