Tuesday Tales: From a Picture

Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales. Since our prompt is a picture, we’re limited to 300 words. I’m continuing with Royal Flush, my contemporary romance. Here’s the picture I chose.

Pearl liked finishing at three. It gave her time to explore the area before calling it a night. She’d picked up a used bike—only three gears—and often rode down to the creek as the locals called it. It was actually a small tributary off the Winooski River. There was a spot where a lot of the locals went swimming, and on a hot day like this, a swim sounded inviting. Maybe she’d been a small town girl in another lifetime, but as much as she would love to stay here, eventually, reality would intrude, her father’s mercenaries would find her, and she would have to go home.

Going into the breakroom, she stuffed her dirty apron into the laundry hamper, removed her uniform and hung it in her locker, slipped off her loafers, shoving the footies she’d worn inside a baggy and then into the side pouch on her messenger bag. After spritzing herself with a lightly fragranced body spray, she dressed in walking shorts, a sleeveless blouse, and sandals. She removed her hairnet, yanked the elastic from her hair and brushed out her curls before scraping them back into a high ponytail. She’d toyed with the idea of getting it cut short, but since she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had it short, it might not be a good idea. Grabbing her messenger bag and sunglasses, her mask still in place, she headed home for the day.

Finding Kyle sitting on the bench outside the diner was a surprise. He stood as the door closed behind her. She removed her mask and smiled.

“Fancy seeing you here,” she said. Was he waiting for her? The tiredness from moments ago vanished.

That’s it. Stay safe and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales