The Year of the Salamander - 5. Chapter 5

The car whined and stopped dead in its tracks the minute Sam pulled to the gas pump. “Desmond,” he muttered, pulling the keys out of the ignition. “One of those days...”

He shook his head instead of finishing the phrase, and got out of the car. When he walked inside the little store at the gas station, he thought that he’d better buy some sort of an air freshener – the inside of Desmond’s car stank of stale cigarette smoke. Everything else was fine – everything was clean, there was no mess, no garbage on the floor, nothing. Even the windows were sparkly clean. Except for that stench. Sam was used to that smell inside the house, it didn’t bother him; to be honest, he didn’t even notice it anymore. However, the car stank much worse due to the fact that Desmond never rolled down his windows when he parked the car; therefore, the smell just stayed inside, getting worse and worse with each passing day. Sam didn’t really care about that, but then he thought that for some reason (you never know, Gabriel was right), Eve might end up in Sam’s (well, Desmond’s) car and he had no idea whether that smell would make her green with nausea. That would be unfortunate, to say the least, so he decided to get some strong air freshener.

He walked into the back of the store, staring at the shelf with different air fresheners with great intensity, trying to figure out which one was the strongest. He moved sideways a little bit, somewhat jerkily, trying to read the name on the container on his farthest right, without looking where he was going (it seemed to become a habit of his lately), when he bumped into something rather hard, and then there was a crushing sound.

“Goddammit!” Sam heard, and realized that he didn’t bump into ‘something’ – he bumped into ‘someone.’ He blinked rapidly, feeling like an idiot (“Come on, Sam! You made the same stupid move last night! Some people learn from their mistakes, you know...”), and looked up.

Turns out, he bumped into some guy pretty hard because the said guy managed to drop a six-pack of beer, and now he looked murderous. He was almost a foot taller than Sam, was definitely older (he was at least twenty-seven), and the thing that scared Sam somewhat was the color of his eyes. They were light-hazel, but the minute he locked his gaze on the culprit of his beer demise, the color started to become lighter and lighter with each second; finally, his eyes became almost yellow, and for some reason, Sam could tell that it was definitely not a good thing.

“Sorry...” Sam said in a small voice, unable to blink. “I am really sorry...”

The guy took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut for several seconds. Finally, he exhaled very slowly, and when he opened his eyes again, Sam was enormously relieved to see that they were back to their original light-hazel color.

“Goddammit,” the guy said again with great feeling.

“Sorry...” Sam muttered again, still unable to blink.

One of the clerks popped his head above the shelf to see what all the noise was about. He glanced at the puddle of beer mixed with crushed glass, and quickly said, pointedly looking at Sam:

“You break it, you buy it!”

Apparently, Sam’s guilty and scared look was enough to convince the clerk that he was the one who dropped the beer. The guy with the scary eyes threw another murderous look, at the clerk this time, and growled:

“I know that!”

The clerk blinked very rapidly, and wisely decided to disappear behind the shelves. The scary-eyed guy took another deep breath and slowly shook his head.

“I am...” Sam started saying again, when the guy just waved his hand at him impatiently.

“Forget about it,” he said in an unexpectedly tired voice. “Just in the future...” he looked at Sam with narrowed eyes. “Watch where the hell you are going!”

“Sorry...” Sam whispered, and finally, he was able to blink. “I just...” he coughed. “I was looking at air fresheners... Trying to find the strongest one and...” he coughed again. “Sorry,” he finished with a small nod.

“Strongest one...” the guy repeated, his eyes squinted.

“I am...” Sam’s cough started to annoy him; it made him sound scared (which he was) and Sam hated that. “I am driving someone else’s car and it smells like something died in there,” he finished without coughing this time.

The hazel-eyed guy hemmed in a somewhat peaceful manner and reached out for something above Sam’s shoulder.

“Here,” he said a few seconds later and shoved a can of air freshener into Sam’s hands. “This one can cover up a dead horse.”

Sam blinked and looked at the can in his hand.

“Apple?” he frowned, not quite convinced that the smell of apple would be able to help with his particular problem.

“Not just apple,” the guy said unexpectedly patiently and blew a strand of light-brown, almost red hair off his forehead. “Winter Garden Apple...” He sighed after Sam just blinked at that. “Believe me,” he nodded. “You won’t smell anything but that damn apple after you spray it.”

Sam nodded tentatively.

“Umm,” he said. “Thanks...” He glanced at the beer, wondering if the clerk was waiting for this scary-eyed person to leave before cleaning up the mess. “Sorry about that again... I’ll pay for it!”

The guy just snorted and waved his hand.

“Don’t sweat it,” he grumbled. “I guess it was my sign for no more beer...” he sighed and fished his wallet out of the pocket. “Just for the future...” he sighed again and looked at Sam patiently. “Watch where the hell you are going, man!”

With that, he turned around, stepped over the broken bottles, and went to the register. Sam blinked when he said, ‘man,’ and not ‘kid’ as Sam expected him to. Finally, he shook his head and went to the register as well. The guy finished paying for the beer he never got to taste and was on his way out. He glanced at Sam before leaving the store, gave him a solemn nod, and disappeared behind the door.

After Sam refilled the tank, he opened the driver’s side door and looked at the can of ‘Winter Garden Apple’ in his hand with great doubt. Finally, he shrugged, and sprayed a decent amount into the car. Thought for a couple of seconds, and sprayed more. Then he threw the can into the back seat, got inside, and drove towards the Blue Rain café. By the time he got there, every single window in the car was open, and Sam hated apples with the passion. That guy was absolutely right – this smell could easily cover up a dead horse. At least it doesn’t smell like stale smoke anymore, Sam shrugged melancholically, trying not to imagine Desmond’s reaction when the man got into his car tomorrow.

****

He got to the café at 11:10, and patiently waited on one of the benches, wondering if Eve was going to be fashionably late. She was right on time, and the minute he saw her, he got off the bench and waved his hand. She saw him almost immediately and waved back, a wide grin on her face. Sam liked that grin.

“Hey,” she said enthusiastically when she got closer. “I am not late, am I?”

“Nope,” he shook his head. “Perfectly on time!”

“Good,” she nodded with relief. “I hate to be late, and my hair-dryer wasn’t cooperating, so...” She grimaced. “I wasn’t sure if I were late or not... My car clock is at least twenty-five minutes ahead, so...” she shrugged.

“You are fine,” Sam reassured her. “Hungry?”

“Hell, yes,” she nodded seriously, and he smiled at that.

...Two sandwiches and God knows how many cups of coffee later, Sam felt like he knew this girl for his entire life. It was bizarre – he didn’t really know that much about her (he didn’t even know her last name yet), but he felt at extreme ease around her.

“So yes,” she nodded after finishing the last piece of her sandwich and washing it down with coffee. “After my sister left that dead cat in my bed...” She sighed. “Let’s just say, we are not on speaking terms up to this day,” she nodded and drank more coffee.

“Oh my God...” Sam laughed softly. “How old were you?”

“I was fifteen, and she was seventeen,” she nodded once more, and Sam’s eyes widened. “Yeah,” she said energetically. “You’d expect something like that from someone who was ten, huh? Yeah...” she said again. “That’s my sister for you... Let me tell you, I freaked out every time I saw a cat from then on...” She shook her head after taking another gulp of coffee. “Not just a dead cat... A live one!”

“How old are you?” he asked before thinking. “Ummm...” he said after his brain kicked into gear.

Eve laughed.

“I am twenty-one,” she nodded. “You?”

“Twenty-two,” he said with a relieved smile. “What?” he asked after she let out a small ‘Huh’ sound.

“Oh, it’s nothing, really...” she said with a shrug, her mouth draining her coffee mug. “It’s just...” She shrugged again and left her mug alone. “You kinda...” She coughed. “You look younger,” she finished with a small nod.

Sam smiled at that.

“Yeah,” he said, reaching for his mug. “I know that I look younger than I actually am... It’ll come in handy in ten years or so,” he said seriously, and Eve laughed loudly, and immediately pressed her hand against her mouth. “Don’t worry about it,” Sam snorted. “It’s a café, not a library!”

“I know,” she breathed. “I guess it transformed into an instinct by now... See, I spend so much time at the library that it’s like a second home to me... And they have a special sort of a signal when I show up there, I swear!” She nodded darkly. “The minute I walk in, the person on the check-out duty says something into the phone... Like, ‘997, The Loud One has entered the premises!’... Or something like that,” she finished with a sigh and drank the rest of her coffee.

Sam couldn’t help it – he laughed again, louder than before. Eve watched him slyly from underneath her dark-bronze bangs for a few seconds, and then she smiled without baring her teeth, pushed her mug away, and got up.

“Let’s go to the Rose Park,” she said. “I’ve heard they are doing a show in there today...”

“What kind of a show?” Sam got up as well.

“Some play,” Eve shrugged. “You drive, okay? I forgot to stop by the gas station and really don’t want to do it now... Unless it’s not okay with you, then...”

“It’s fine,” Sam interrupted her. “A word of warning though...” he shuffled his feet somewhat uncomfortably.

“Don’t worry about the mess...” she shrugged.

“No,” he shook his head. “It’s not that... The car is clean... There is a specific smell in there...” He coughed softly.

“Oh,” she slightly squinted her eyes. “You are a smoker, huh? No worries, the smell doesn’t bother me!”

“No, it's not that, I don't smoke,” Sam sighed. “Come on, you’ll figure it out on your own... Who knows,” he added in a few seconds. “Maybe it’s not as strong anymore... I left the windows down...”

...Sam's hope evaporated as soon as he unlocked the passenger’s door – the smell was as strong as it was when he left the car. He sighed deeply, and immediately sneezed, choking on that damn apple scent. Eve’s expression was puzzled and thoughtful when he slid behind the wheel.

“Good God...” she said finally and rolled the window down all the way. “You like apples, huh?”

“Used to,” Sam said darkly. “Now I hate them...”

The breeze from all four open windows messed up Eve’s hair as soon as Sam picked up speed. She quickly ran her fingers through the dark-bronze mess without making even a slightest attempt to roll up the window. When they finally got to the park, both of them sighed simultaneously with great relief when they got out of the car.

“If the smell doesn’t disappear overnight, Desmond will kill me,” Sam said gloomily while they were walking towards the big stage in the center of the park.

“Who is Desmond?” Eve paused for a second to shake something out of her shoe.

“The guy I live with,” Sam sighed.

“Oh...” she said, and he frowned at the intonation of her voice. Then he realized how he sounded a minute ago, and blinked.

“We just live in the same house,” he said quickly. “It’s me, Desmond, and his mate... Well, the dog too,” he added with a smile.

“Oh, I see...” she said, and Sam liked the relief that he heard in her voice. “Why would he kill you though?”

“Because it’s his car I am driving today,” Sam sighed. “He needed his tank refilled, so he asked me to do it... He smokes like a chimney, so the car stank really bad...”

“Hence the apples,” Eve nodded with a ‘I-finally-get-it’ look on her face.

“Yup,” Sam nodded melancholically. “Where do you want to sit?” He glanced around, trying to figure out the best spot for them to choose to be able to see the stage.

“Somewhere in the middle,” she said, and Sam followed her when she started moving swiftly towards the chairs in the middle of the small auditorium.

“Do you want an ice-cream or something?” Sam asked, and she slightly shuddered.

“After all that food we just ate? No, thank you!” She quickly shook her head. “I’ll probably agree to that after the play though...” she added thoughtfully after they sat down.

“Okay,” Sam nodded with a smile and shifted his gaze towards the stage – the play was about to begin.