The First of June (standard:romance, 2502 words)
Author: BENTLINK	Added: May 16 2008	Views/Reads: 3526/2666	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
June loves books and authors.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

until the end of the Korean War.  Tight, neat and heart felt was how 
the dust cover had described his writing and so it was.  They might 
have also added moving, for the young author had infused his invented 
farm family with willingness for patriotic self-sacrifice that rang as 
true as any thing she had read in a long while.  She told her self the 
young mans strong writing was why she was so excited about his visit 
and would blush and protest if it were suggested the good looks of the 
handsome man smiling at her from the tiny photo played any part in her 
current lemon oil fluttering.... 

June had long ago accepted the facts; she was and would always be as
plain as her name.  For most of her preteen years, she viewed herself 
in her bedroom door mirror with a buoyant hope of seeing the emergence 
of the radiant vibrant young woman she longed to become.  It was never 
to be for she remained the same plain as her name graceless figure of 
un-remarkable stature and appearance.  In time, she acknowledged her 
plainness by giving favor to simple cut clothing in neutral colors and 
by learning to fade into the background at social gatherings.  She took 
little comfort from the reassurance given first by her very plain 
mother and then her even plainer grandmother that in time June too 
would find some one just as they had.  Their maddeningly confident 
reassuring accompanied by an ever present “We know a secret” smile only 
added to Junes' anguish.  Junes' last few years as a high school 
student were hell on earth as she watched one after another of the 
friends she grew up with change from girls to young woman with breast 
and boy friends, with frames and faces that attracted attention from 
young men.  It was not that Junes body did not like her friends' change 
with the coming of puberty but the change only added a thickness to her 
and did none of the hoped for things to her overall appearance.  The 
most hurtful and at the same time thought clarifying event from her 
high school days was when June overheard one of her friends saying 
“With her looks poor June is destined to be a worker bee, one of those 
steady dependable hard working plain people that always gets things 
done while no one notices”. 

A sharp tapping on the stores large plate glass window caused her to
look up from her dusting and there in the flesh stood Tony Smith.  The 
young author was pecking away at the glass with his wedding ring, 
several hours early, and looking a lot older than his dust cover photo. 
She went at once to unlock the door and motioned him inside. 

“Hello I'm June the store manager.  You're very early I don't have your
table set up or your books fully unboxed.” 

He laughed out loud “I know I'm early but the rental car company said I
might get caught in traffic if I stayed in the city and drove out here 
this morning so I decided to come out last night and booked a room at 
the bed and breakfast inn.  I'm early because the good folks that 
operate the bed and breakfast inn get up with the chickens and want 
everyone staying there to do the same.” 

He laughed at his little joke about the chickens, he had a nice
comfortable laugh and looked a lot older in person than he did on the 
dust cover picture and the wedding ring wasn't a wedding ring after all 
but instead was the backside of his class ring from Ohio State. 

June found herself lightly touching her hair and thinking very hard
about what to say next.  “Some Coffee?” she blurted.  Brilliant start 
June the store doesn't have a coffee pot and you drink tea just 
brilliant! 

“No I'm a tea drinker, I picked up the habit while in Korea,” he said. 

“We drink our tea in the back,” June said.  Still more brilliance June,
who in the hell made it we, do you have a mouse in your pocket or 
perhaps he will think you have a little invisible playmate? 

“Maybe I can help with un-boxing my books and doing the table after we
have our tea, it smells like you have lemon,” he offered. “No, no it's 
on the rag,” she said.  “I mean the lemon, is on the rag” Oh God June 
get a grip!  “Walk this way and we will get some tea” she managed to 
say without putting her other foot in her mouth. 

The water was hot and June without too much thought first rinsed out
with scalding water and then began to brew tea in her grandmother's 
vintage teapot.  Grandmother would be pleased, June was sure she would 
have approved of Tony and this one time use of her teapot.  Junes' 
grandmother swore the teapot was magic and jokingly said it was the 
only way someone as plain as she could have ever gotten so sweet and 
fine a man as her husband Junes' late grandfather.  Junes' mom referred 
to the magic  teapot story as being a lot of “hogwash” (she was from 
the Midwest after all) and instead gave full credit for Grannies 
marrying so well to her having nursed so many men including Junes' 
Grandpa back to health during the country's great flu epidemic. 

Somehow June managed to get Tony his cup of steaming tea with out
spillage of hot tea or any more of her brains.  They sat beside each 
other atop folding chairs in the narrow break room and she found 
herself looking at a dark handsome man about her own age.  As she 
unwound a bit she found him comfortable to be near.  He spoke softly 
about his life, his service in the U.S. marines, his college days, and 
his love of cats.  She told him a little about herself and her teaching 
job.  He seemed so open and honest she told him about the loss of both 
her grandmother and then her mom all in less than two years.  He said 
he was sorry it had to happen and understood how she must feel for his 
own mom had passed while he was stationed in Korea.  His pride shown 
through when he talked about his surprise at getting his very first 
novel submission published.  He talked about how tired of traveling he 
had gotten doing the long book tour and how happy he was that this was 
his last stop before going home.  They both laughed when she told him 
the story about what her mom said about the magic teapot.  Soon, far 
too soon the small bell on the stores front door announced an entering 
customer and their moments together ended.  She began helping the 
customers and he started un-boxing and setting up for the signing. 

He was just as relaxed and gracious with the stores customers as he had
been with June over tea and his reading brought several people near to 
tears as his deep baritone voice conveyed parts of the story of family 
sacrifice and lost young life sent to war.  His book sold well and he 
signed dozens of flyleaves with best wishes and warm regards.  He 
stayed till closing time and helped her return the table to storage 
before saying good night. 

It had been a long day and once in bed June should have fallen into a
deep sleep but the needed rest would not come.  She sifted, savored, 
and replayed today's events, realizing it had been filled with many 
things worth remembering.  Even though today's events had no practical 
use in her plain worker bee world they were just too rare and 
beautifully to discard and forget.  Today's thoughts, feelings, and 
images needed to be carefully folded and stored away as one would 
delicate silk handkerchiefs. 

Her time in teachers college brought intellectual growth for June but
had been nearly as emotionally painful as high school; her dates were 
unsatisfying clumsy things, a few dances, and teas with boys that were 
so nervous and unsure that just being near them made her uncomfortable. 
 She somehow not only survived college but also excelled, only once 
swerving hard away from her “worker bee” predestined life by drinking 
too much wine at a party sponsored by some students she did not know.  
She always thought the resulting date rape her own fault, reasoning 
that had she followed her instincts and used some common sense it would 
not have happened.  That incident was neither beautiful nor was it 
folded neatly and stored away but it persisted and always reintroduced 
itself to be relived in vivid detail when she found her self attracted 
to any man, as she finally admitted she had been with Tony.  But she 
had survived the date rape and would continue to survive in her 
lonesome life, as a proper worker bee must because without them the 
work of the world would soon grind to a stop.  “Tony” she whispered his 
name aloud in the dark then fell into a dream filled sleep. 

Her sleep had finally come seemly only moments before the alarm clock
insisted she must rise and again become the stable steady bookstore 
manager; alert to subtle detail, author, title, and subject fluent.  
She managed to open the store on time but with lemon oil rag in hand 
only sleepwalked through the stacks.  Two back to back cups of strong 
tea helped her only a little, however when Tony appeared again pecking 
on the store windows' plate glass half an hour after opening she was 
suddenly completely awake and fully energized. 

“What are you doing here I thought your plan was to drive part of the
way home last night?” 

“Oh that well I got real lost last night” he said “Got any more tea?” 

She got a cup and wet the tea bag before asking him “No really Tony what
are you doing here?” 

He looked straight into her eyes “As I said I got real lost last night,
I knew where I was and where I was supposed to be going but I was lost 
because I could not figure out how to leave this town without getting 
to know you a lot better.” 

After a long awkward silence, June said half under her breath “Must be
the Lemon oil.” 

“No I don't think it's the lemon oil,” he said smiling “But it might be
because of Grandmas' teapot!” 

They sat in the narrow break room and talked for hours and hours as they
sipped their tea .... 


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