Crossing Paths Once Again (Angie)

[Delilah Pryce]

Delilah was in need of some new-ish clothes and while she could afford the name brand stores, she liked to shop the smaller ones. The clothes here felt more real. The atmosphere of the store was laid back and quiet to an extent. This suited Delilah as she preferred the quiet and stillness. She might have been a beast in a fight, but the real Delilah was timid as a mouse. She just wanted to live her life as normally as she could but part of her knew that her past would catch up to her and ruin all semblance of normality. Until then though, she would melt into the background of everyday society.

Delilah fit into the atmosphere of the store. She was dressed in a pair of faded jeans which rode a bit low on her hips. Her top was a gray sweater which was just a tad short, just enough to show her belly button if she raised her arms. Her hair was down as usual and fell all around her shoulders. She wore her trademark dark make up. Smokey eye and a light dark lip liner. Sort of goth looking but nothing too stand outish.

Delilah shifted her body weight back and forth as she browsed through the racks of clothes. There were several nice things she liked but nothing really caught her eye just yet. Not until she glimpsed a familiar figure just a few feet from her. It was Angie, the young woman who had showed her such kindness not too long ago. Not many people found themselves on Delilah's good side so to speak, but Angie had managed to make a positive impression. She offered no judgement on Delilah and showered her with kindness. Needless to say, Angie had unwittingly become the object of some soft desire.

Delilah stood still for a moment as she weighed her options. There wasn't any harm in walking up to Angie and talking to her but Delilah had some real trust issues. However, Delilah found it easy to push those negative feelings aside and slowly approached Angie. "This is why I love small towns. You always seem to find a friend no matter where you look," Delilah said with a forced sort of smile. Making small talk wasn't a strong point for her. Actually, Delilah was quite awkward socially.

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Angie wished she could go shopping more often, but quite frankly, she didn’t make all too much down at the diner. Sometimes she wished she could afford to take a better job. It would not only give her more to spend on herself, but also to spoil her little boy. But…Angie didn’t think she had the energy to do such a thing. She loved her gardening, and her time of rest, and Lord knows she’d never work on a Sunday. Her work at the diner wasn’t a poor wage, and it did offer quite a bit in tips. But sometimes she just wanted to be selfish.

Today was a day she wanted to be a little more selfish too. She might go to the mall sometimes and window shop, fawning over the beautiful dresses they had on display and maybe nabbing one or two that happened to be on clearance and in her size, but in the end, Angie usually just went to the thrift store whenever she had an itch for a new look.

That’s where she was today. Clothing Poverty was a place she frequented regularly, though only when she had the time. Donned out in a pretty pink and white A-line sundress, with her blonde locks pulled up in a messy half-bun, she sifted through a circular rack of pretty sundresses, wishing it was still the beginning of summer so she could wear them, when a familiar voice spoke up behind her.

Angie turned to look over her shoulder and her sunshine smile grew upon her face. “Delilah!” she exclaimed in her sudden excitement, turning around to face the brunette woman. “Oh my goodness, it’s been a dog’s age since I last saw you!” True to her friendly nature, the woman outstretched her arms to warmly embrace her friend. “How’ve you been, darling? You holding up all right?” Delilah hadn’t looked her best the last they met, so Angie hoped to God that her situation had improved since then.

[Delilah Pryce]

Delilah found people like Angie rather odd in nature. Not any any sense of it being wrong or off putting, but just in the fact that she couldn't relate. Being so open and nice just wasn't something Delilah could get behind. Not that she held it against Angie, she rather liked that about the other. The embrace was nice, it felt sort of natural. Angie had this disarming attitude that Delilah surmised could even make a bear want to be loved. Of course, there were always those few exceptions, but thankfully Delilah wasn't one of them. Everything about the embrace was enjoyable. The feeling of acceptance, the feel of Angie's body heat and even Angie's smell. Everything about the moment put Delilah at ease, even though social situations were so unnerving.

Releasing the other, Delilah stepped back just a bit and smiled ever so lightly. Angie was certainly pleasing to the eye and this only further disarmed Delilah's dark personality. Angie radiated kindness and it was a welcome change of pace. Not to say that everyone Delilah knew was ill mannered or twisted much like herself. Sean and Jade made Delilah feel safe as well, but Angie sort of took that safety further. "I'm doing better, thanks for asking," Delilah said, finding herself falling into that mountain charm and accent of hers with relative ease. "Sorry I sort of dropped off the reservation for a while. Been tryin' to get my life back to normal," she went on her face showing a hint of nervousness. "What about you? Been doin' well?," she asked, unsure of really where to head with all this. Like stated before, Delilah wasn't a social butterfly but add being stone sober in with it and things really were foreign.

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Angie was just a momma at heart. If she could make just even one person feel better and brighter with her smile or warm embrace, then she was pleased. It wasn’t even an arrogance thing, nor was it narcissistic like some altruists were. This was genuine, straight from the heart. Maybe there was some psychology behind it. The lack of a loving mother figure in her own childhood, or that she’d spent so many years subservient to a man who she still believed had a good soul inside, despite the hard times he’d subjected her to for so many years. Pleasing him was just matter-of-fact. So it was with others too. Being the person they could depend on, both physically(as in performing tasks for them), and emotionally. Everyone needed someone to care. If Angie could give that to someone who needed it, then why wouldn’t she?

Angie still wasn’t fully aware of Delilah’s personal history. She seemed to have lived a hard life, though. Perhaps that was why Angie felt drawn to her, as the look she often portrayed, the aura she gave off, were those she could empathize with very easily. “I’m glad to hear that, hun,” she said with a soft smile, lightly stroking the woman’s dark hair back behind her ear. Angie shook her head. “Don’t you worry none about it. We all just gotta do what we gotta do, isn’t that right?” Angie did the same for the sake of her son. It was never that she didn’t love her benefactor that she left…

“I’ve….I’ve been doing all right,” she replied with a sideways nod. “I’ve been busy. Glads has been getting more involved with school and stuff…” Angie shrugged up her shoulders. “I’ve become a soccer mom, it seems,” she said with a giggle. “Only instead of little tykes in soccer uniforms, my house has become a sorority for cheerleaders!” Angie had been having more and more after-game get-togethers at her place lately. Luckily for Delilah, Angie knew a few ways to make the brunette feel more included. She was already thinking up ways that they could spend the afternoon together, and 99% of that included window shopping.

[Delilah Pryce]

Angie gave Delilah his all familiar feeling whenever she was around. It was her voice, her accent. I had had that southern ring to it. Delilah couldn't remember where she was from thanks to Sean and his memory erase, but Delilah did know she was from the mountains somewhere. Her own accent hinted as much. However, it wasn't just that which made Angie desirable to be around. She accepted Delilah and that was enough for the dark haired young woman.

Delilah couldn't help but smile and giggle a little as Angie mentioned the cheerleader mom bit. All those young girls bouncing around and screaming about the house, it had to be hell. "Nothing like a room full of energetic cheerleaders to drive one to the crazy house," Delilah said with another giggle. Delilah was much more cheerful this time around than the last time Angie had met the young woman. Her personality was pretty much a blank slate after Sean and this time around, Delilah had chose to be a more happy person. It wasn't easy, but Delilah was trying. She was tired of being that dark creature she once was and while that raven lurked on her shoulder, she would be damned if it took over.

With a slight sigh along with a smile, Delilah looked Angie over again. So bright and full of life, a welcome sight. "You look good, I'm glad," she said sort of to herself but loud enough for Angie to hear. Then with a shake of her head and another small laugh, "Sorry, I'm total crap at small talk. You wanna go for a walk, maybe catch up some?," Delilah asked, thinking the open space of outside might free her cluttered mind up a bit more.