The Old Woman And The Bench
Chapter 1
Summary: Dan doesn't know what to think when an eccentric old woman takes residence on the bench in front of the flat he shares with his best friend, Phil. Through bizarre occurrences their friendship is changed forever, but what would Phil do if he knew how Dan truly felt about him?
Warnings: General spookiness, strange old people, mild swearing
Chapter 1 Word Count: 2536
Total Series Word Count: 7500
Note: This is Part 1 of a three chapter series (Links to the other two parts will be added shortly).
Click here to read Chapter 2 Click here to read Chapter 3
---
The old woman was sitting on the bench in front of our flat again. Every day, without fail, the elderly lady could be found seated on the splintery wooden bench from sun up to sun down. It wasn't until after several months that we moved in that she appeared. I first noticed her in mornings when Phil and I would head out to shop or grab some lunch. Each time I passed by the woman she locked her piercing gray eyes with mine. Her tangled white hair was peaking out from the withered and worn cloth she wrapped her self with. It was a faded crimson, adorned with golden stars and half moons that were disappearing with age. Beside her on the bench sat an old brown leather suitcase, which I never saw her open, not even once. Her face was worn and tired, but her eyes were so awake and alive.
It was about a week after we had noticed the woman that we first spoke with her. Phil and I were on our way to attend to some business at the BBC. It was a particularly chilly morning. I was wrapped in a plain black jacket, and Phil was taking solace in one of my old hoodies from uni. I wasn't particularly excited to get out of bed that morning. I must have snoozed my alarm at least a dozen times before Phil came into the room to wake me. He wasn't violent about it, which was nice. He calmly put his hand on my bare shoulder and said, “You have fifteen minutes until we leave, or else we're going to be late”. I turned to face him and all I could do was smile. The sunlight peaking through the blinds illuminated his face, and I couldn't help but admire his features. I sat up in bed, the blankets sliding down my bare skin and resting just above my waist.
“You are such a dork” I laughed after noticing his clothing choice for the day.
“What? I thought it looked comfortable” Phil said before sitting a hello kitty cup on my bedside table. “I brought you some coffee.”
“Thanks, Phil” I smiled and reached for the cup. “I really need this today.”
“You should probably get dressed we need to leave soon.” Phil said. He stood there quietly waiting for me.
I looked at him and then shifted my eyes down at my lower half a few times, covered only by the black and gray blanket on top of me, “Ahem”.
After a few moments Phil got the hint, “Oh right, sorry,” His cheeks reddened just a hint “I'll leave you to it”. It was one of those awkward moments that I tried to push out of my mind, but they were only growing in number by the day.
I wasn't exactly thrilled to be out and about on this cold morning, so I was more than a little annoyed when Phil wanted to stop and talk to the woman. He grabbed me by the arm and stopped me a few paces outside of our door. He was walking so close to me. So close in fact that are shoulders were rubbing against each other. I silently cursed the cold weather for such bitter-sweet torture. Phil pulled me aside and whispered in my ear. I could feel his warm breath on my neck, such a nice change from the frigid air.
“Do you think we should ask her if she needs anything?” Phil whispered, tickling my ear with his breath.
“I'm sure she's fine, Phil. She's here like everyday.” I said, finding myself both slightly annoyed and strangely turned on by his close proximity.
“But Dan, look at her, she has to be at least seventy.” Phil pleaded.
“Fine, I suppose you are right.” I muttered, feeling disappointed when Phil pulled away.
We approached the old woman, she didn't acknowledge us until we spoke.
“Um, Hello.” Phil said, the woman turned to face me instead of Phil. Our eyes met, and I couldn't escape her cold, and chilling stare.
“Hello young man.” She said plainly, her eyes still locked with mine.
“We were wondering if you needed something. Fare for a bus or anything?” Phil asked. His voice shaking either from nerves or the cold breeze, maybe both.
“That's very sweet of you to offer, young man, but I am fine.” She replied to Phil, but her eyes were still staring into mine. Something about her old, shaky voice sent a shiver down my spine. “Carry on, boys.”
We didn't know what to say, but I could tell Phil had the same uneasy feeling that I did. We turned to walk away when the old woman said something to Phil that I still can't explain.
“Oh young man.” She said, her eyes locked on Phil this time. “His sweatshirt, you wear it well.”
We paused for a moment, unsure of what to say next. “Thank you...have a nice day.” Phil mumbled as we turned to leave. His face was paler than usual, almost like he had saw a ghost. We walked in silence for several minutes before Phil finally spoke.
“How did she know I was wearing your shirt?” Phil asked, his face perplexed as if he was trying to solve a math equation.
“I literally have no clue, but we are not talking to her again.” I said. I wasn't as freaked out as Phil. I brushed it off and just assumed she was just another crazy homeless person.
As the next few weeks passed, the weather began to warm up. We hadn't spoken to the woman since the encounter, but she was still there, resting on the old wooden bench. Though she never said a word, each time I walked by her piercing gray eyes would meet mine. I tried to look away, but I couldn't, it was as if they were calling me in. As time passed we had forgotten about the incident and were getting used to the woman's presence. It was strange that she chose to spend her days on a splintery wooden bench, but we just assumed she had no where else to go. One day when Phil wasn't feeling well, I set off to the store on my own. I was going to retrieve some cold medicine for him, and wanted to pick us up some soup for lunch, since the chill in the air had returned once again. I was planning to ignore the old woman like always, but this time she stopped me.
“Young man, please come here.” She said with her shaky voice. I stopped and turned back to face her.
“Yes?” I asked, unsure of what was about to happen.
“Closer” She demanded. I complied and took a few steps towards the woman. “I want to ask you something.”
“Yeah?” I asked, assuming she was about to solicit me for money.
“What does a wise man understand when he is in love?” She asked, her old shaky voice sparking with whit.
I paused for a few moments. I was never very good a riddles. “I don't know. What?”
“What does a wise man understand when he is in love?” She asked again with persistence. Her old gray eyes were piercing straight through mine.
“I don't know.” I paused again. “I guess he understands that he is in love?”
“Does he?” She asked, her voice unwavering.
“I don't know. I guess.” I was unsure of the answer she was looking for. I just wanted to walk away.
“Carry on.” She dismissed me. I turned to walk away, not knowing how to make sense of this encounter. I only made it a few steps away before she stopped me again. “Oh young man.”
I turned to face the woman, praying I wasn't greeted with another riddle.
“Bring your friend a peach.” She said, her eyes locked onto mine.
“What?” I asked. I was confused. Why would Phil want a peach? I couldn't help but think this woman was absolutely mental.
“Bring your friend a peach.” She said it slower this time, her face displaying complete seriousness.
I turned to walk away without saying anything. I made my way to the shop and tried to push her words out of my mind. It was all so strange, the riddle, the peach, what was this woman's problem? I pondered all of these things on my walk. Upon entering the grocery store I was greeted with the produce department. The first thing that met my eyes was a large bin of ripe and delicious looking peaches. I've never been one to believe in fate, but I took it as a sign and retrieved a peach to take home. When I arrived back at the flat I got everything ready for Phil. I placed the soup on a tray with two tablets of cold medicine, and a large glass of juice. With the old woman's strange request swimming through my head, I decided to halve the peach and removed the pit and placed it on the tray for Phil. When I brought Phil his lunch I was glad to see that he was awake from his nap.
“Oh, Dan, you brought me lunch! That's so nice.” Phil exclaimed, sitting up in bed, taking the tray as I handed it to him. I smiled, hoping that he did not think I was completely mad for randomly bringing him a peach. I didn't want to explain the encounter with the old lady to him, he would probably think I was crazy.
“And your medicine” I added. I noticed Phil's face light up as he looked down at his tray. He lifted his eyes to meet mine.
“Dan, how did you know to bring me a peach? That's insane.” He said excitedly. I was very confused.
“I've been wanting peaches all day. I don't even really like them, but last night I kept dreaming about eating peaches and I have wanted one since!” Phil laughed, thinking this was all some strange coincidence. I tried to write it off as one as well, but the encounter with the old lady left me with a strange feeling.
“Lucky guess” I said nervously.
“Do you want to split it with me?” He asked looking up at me. He slid over in the bed, making room for me. “Here, sit down.”
I did as he said and climbed into bed next to him, our backs resting against the head board.
“Wait, you probably don't want to be close to me do you?” He said, turning to face me so his eyes met mine. I was stunned for a moment and didn't quite know what to say. Did he think I was being weird? I did want to be close to him though. I wanted to be much closer than this, and I just didn't know what to say. “I know you probably don't want to get sick.” My brain returned to me and I could breathe again.
“I'm close to you all the time, I'm sure being in your bed won't hurt.” I immediately cringed after the words left my mouth. I always found a way to make things unnecessarily awkward. Luckily, this seemed to breeze right over Phil's head, and the awkwardness went unnoticed by him.
“Here, have some peach.” He smiled handing me the other half of the fruit.
I thanked him and took the half. As I nibbled at my fruit I couldn't help but stare at Phil, who was sloppily eating the fruit and making a mess of himself. I laughed to myself.
“What's so funny?” He asked with peach juice all over his face. He even managed to get the fruit juice onto his glasses.
“That's not how you eat a peach, Phil.” I said, letting myself erupt with laughter. “You look like you are trying to go swimming in it!”
Without thinking, I reached my hand up and carefully wiped the juice away from his cheeks and the sides of his mouth. His blue eyes met mine. I paused, with the side of my hand resting on his cheek. I glanced down at his lips, they looked so soft, so sweet. I looked back up at his eyes, there was a spark in them, there was something different. It was like something had me in a trance. My heart was beating faster than it every had before, but suddenly it all felt right. I slowly moved closer, the space between our lips growing smaller and smaller. Time slowed down, almost to a standstill. In that moment I made a silent contract with Phil in my mind. I knew he couldn't hear me, but in my head I thought: Phil, if you don't want this then please pull away. The moment the sentence formed in my mind I saw Phil slowly close his eyes, the gap between us growing thin. In milliseconds our lips would be connected. I closed my eyes and braced for impact.
The second I felt our lips touch is a moment that will be frozen in my memory forever. His lips were everything I had imagined. They were soft, sweet, and sticky with peach juice. I slowly pulled away. His eyes fluttered open and met mine. I was lost for a second or two, just staring into his eyes. They were so beautiful, so blue, so full of life. Soon I realized what I had done. I recollected myself and looked away from Phil. I turned to face a picture of us he had sitting out. It was taken last year at VidCon. We looked so happy, like best friends. I hoped that what I had just done hadn't ruined our friendship forever. I cursed myself and my lapses of judgment. I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing. I stood up and left the room, closing Phil's door behind me. I was still in shock from what I had just done.
I retreated to my room to hide in my bed. Thoughts were pouring through my mind like a thunderstorm. I couldn't believe that I had just kissed my best friend. I also couldn't stop think about the old lady and what she had said to me, “Bring your friend a peach”. It was so strange that Phil had wanted a peach and that some how the old lady knew that. The even more bizarre thing was that if I hadn't brought Phil that fruit, I probably wouldn't have kissed him. I regretted listening to the old lady because I knew that I had to pick up the pieces and try to forget about the feeling of Phil's lips on mine. I told myself it was a coincidence and tried to forget what had happen, but I couldn't get it off of my head. I laid in my bed that night wondering what it all meant and if our friendship would ever be the same.
Click here to read Chapter 2