“Boulder?” he almost seemed to yell.
“Colorado, by the way, if you didn’t know the state either.”
What happened to him last night? Last night was a puzzle, and he had too many missing pieces to put it all together. “How in the hell did I get here in this hippy infested land?”
“How should I know?” she laughed. But she stopped and asked herself, “Infested land?”
He went on, worrying about his problems. “I was in downtown Denver last night! Where the hell . . . No how the hell?” He ranted on, his sentences not making sense anymore. She was studying him like an old book at a yard sale.
“What’s wrong with Boulder?” she asked, not seeming too offended.
“Crazy damn hippies here, that’s what’s wrong. I need to get home.”
“So, why don’t you call someone up to get you out of this, what was that, ‘infested hippie land’,” she mocked him, starting to walk pass him.
“I don’t have anyone,” he blurted out.
She stopped, looking ahead for a few seconds before turning back around at the poor sight of him. “What?”
He shook his head. “I mean, I don’t . . . . I meant to say, I don’t have a cell phone. You know, someone stole it.”
If you were to look in her eyes, you could see the thoughts spinning around in her head. Ethan even felt a little bit nervous with her staring. Finally she smiled. “I have a cell phone you can use if you want. It’s dead, but I’m going to the Laughing Cow to charge it up.”
“I’m sorry, the what?” Ethan asked, wrinkling his nose.
“It’s not a real cow, though that would be a sight to see a real laughing cow. It’s just a coffee shop, though. They have fried chicken lattes. What do you think of that? I wouldn’t personally try it, and in a town that’s half vegan, I don’t know how they stand in business. But they have vegan cookies. Do you like vegan cookies? It’s gluten free too, and no nuts. . . .”
She was still talking. Ethan turned around, looking up and down the sidewalk, looking for a hiding camera, thinking that this is a prank. He cut her off, “Are you playing with me right now?”
“No, it’s real. I know it’s strange but-“
He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyebrows. “Did Tom set you up?”
She gave a long blink. “Who?”
“Like, someone pulling a prank on me right now? Robert? Jim? Those guys at work, are they doing this to me?” he asked. He was getting red in the face. Her big eyes showed him that she had no idea what he was talking about.
Many moments had passed by when she finally spoke. “They do have fried chicken lattes,” she said in a soft and tiny voice. “That’s not a prank. I can go show you.”
Ethan rolled his eyes. It didn’t seem like this was a prank after all. “It seems like a type of Boulder thing, doesn’t it. Someone high must have made that shit up. I’ve never heard of it.”
She smiled, and for some reason, he thought it was a stunning smile. “Well, you’ll never forget it. They have great coffee there, without chicken in it. If you’re having trouble with a hangover, it will help you out big time. You can use my phone if you feel like it.”
Ethan almost laughed to himself. Didn’t know either to go with the girl or not. He thought maybe finding someone else that was normal.
He got a good look at her. She was slim, average height, but her blue skirt made her look slightly stocky. Her Mary Janes shoes looked odd on her; she seemed like a big child. Her t-shirt was either a band or TV show shirt. He couldn’t tell.
The bag had that big fat yellow Buddha on it. She must have done that yoga shit or something. He knew she would probably be one of the nicer ordinary people in this town.
“Sure.”
She smiled and said, “I’m Aspen, by the way. Aspen Grover.”
Of course, she was named after a damn tree. Ethan tried his best not to roll his eyes. “Ethan Sullivan,” he mumbled. She held out a hand. He looked confused. “What?”
She looked to her hand, and to him, “It’s a hand. You usually shake people’s hands when you meet them for the first time.”
He took a moment but ended up taking her hand and shook it. She smiled, light flicking in her eyes.
“Nice to meet you.”
Ethan couldn’t help to laugh. “Yeah, sure, you too, I guess.”
They let go, and Aspen lifted her umbrella so that he could fit under. He felt embarrassed a bit, but he tried not to think about it as they strolled down the sidewalk to the coffee shop that was sounded odder than her.
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