Mike’s eyebrows rose with a look of surprise when he heard that Mr. Baker was going to let him go home early.
“Must have had a good day on the stock market,” Mike said, chuckling to himself as he hoisted another heavy box of brand new records through the back door and into the stock room.
“That’s the last of it,” he said to himself, catching his breath, wiping his brow and straightening his brown tie.
Glancing at the clock, he saw it was only 4:30.
“Dang it,” he said to himself. Mike grumbled and leaned against the wall. He had been hoping the job would have taken him a bit longer so he could avoid the task he had been commissioned by his friends to do.
“I don’t know why Kat couldn’t of done it,” Mike thought as he paced back and forth, looking for anything he could do to prolong his leaving. “I mean, they live together. Why do I have to ask her to come to dinner?”
It had been four months since January Miller waltzed into his life. At first Michael couldn’t deny the attraction he felt to her. Well, even now he couldn’t deny that it was still there, but she had been about as welcoming as a rainy day.
Here he had been going out of his way trying to make her feel welcome, but nearly every time he’d try to talk to her, she’d take off like she’d just seen a ghost or the most repulsive thing in the world.
She hadn’t vocally communicated her distaste for him until the day an order of furniture had arrived for her bedroom around Christmastime. January, being the only one home, was struggling under the weight of a new mattress. Mike, being the gentleman that he is, saw her struggle and ran to offer his assistance.
His offer was met with an icy glance and a bitter sounding; “I don’t need your help.”
Those words echoed through his mind as Mike sifted through a box of jazz recordings.
“How could someone be so hard…,” Mike thought, thinking of January’s deep blue eyes and dark brown hair. Glancing in the full-length mirror that covered one of the walls he grimaced when he saw himself.
“Kinda like the pot calling the kettle black, huh,” he mused, remembering how often he’d been accused of being hard to get to know. But, not this difficult.
“Michael,” Mr. Baker said, walking into the storage room, “looks like you’re finished. You’ve done a fine job, son. You can go now.”
“Hmm, thanks Mr. Simms,” Mike said glumly as he strode past the middle aged man.
“No problem,” Mr. Simms answered. “Oh, and Michael?”
“Yeah,” Mike asked as he headed for the door.
“Cheer up, a lot can change in a weekend,” he said, lifting his hand in a goodbye wave.
“Yeah, sure, thanks,” Mike grumbled as he shut the door behind him, the tinkling of the bell on the door adding further to the annoyance he felt as he turned towards “The Sliver Hanger”.
“Oh! January! That is simply lovely dear,” Dawn exclaimed, walking around the main counter and examining the finished dress that January had just completed.
“You think so,” January asked, a small smile forming on her lips as she fingered the yarn.
“Turn around honey and let me see it all,” commanded Dawn, her arms wide in a sweeping gesture.
January blushed as she slowly turned so Dawn could view the dress from all sides. Catching a glimpse in the mirror, January’s smile grew a bit larger.
“It did turn out really well,” she thought, looking at the dress. The redish-orange crochet of the form fitting dress took her hours to do, but it seemed to have paid off. Underneath was a red mini dress that she had designed as well. It was a little more revealing than she would normally wear, but she didn’t feel as if she was designing for herself anymore now that she was working at “The Silver Hanger”. Dawn was giving her the opportunity to design for others too.
“I know April will absolutely love it,” Dawn said, clapping her hands together, “but we will have to make it a bit larger for her. You must keep that one for yourself! It fits you like a glove! Men will simply be knocking themselves over to catch up with you wearing that.”
January’s self consciousness caught up with her and she turned from the mirror, her cheeks blushing again.
“What’s the matter,” Dawn asked. “It is a simply marvelous work!”
“Nothing,” January said, shaking her head and heading for the back room to remove the dress.
“Wait,” Dawn said, taking January by the shoulders and leading her to the mirror.
“Look at you,” she said, “you’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about. You’re a beautiful young girl with her whole life ahead of her. What ever happened in the past is exactly that—the past.”
January looked in the mirror and she felt she could almost believe what Dawn was telling her. She did look a lot better than she had in months. The job was providing her with enough money for three meals a day, average clothes, and a place to live. Still, when she turned her head, the scar was still there. As noticeable and as haunting as ever.
“Thanks Dawn,” January said, glancing up at her boss trying hard to paste a fake smile on her face, “I’m going to go change now.”
“Oh, no you don’t,” Dawn commanded with a breezy chuckle. “I don’t want our new item hanging up in back where no one can see it. Leave it on.”
January hesitated, but reluctantly agreed and moved to the middle of the store where she began to unpack a new box of silk, tie died scarves.
Mike sighed deeply and opened the door to “The Silver Hanger”.
“Hello there,” a petite woman with short brown hair greeted him as he entered. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Um, no,” Mike said, glancing around the store quickly, feeling uncomfortable around all the women’s clothing, “I’m lookin’ for someone.”
“Really,” Dawn asked, an amused grin spreading across her face.
“Yeah, um, she works here,” Mike said, wondering why this woman was smirking at him.
“You must mean January,” Dawn said warmly. “I’ll go and get her for you.”
Mike nodded and folded his arms, trying not to look as out of his element as he felt.
“Oh January,” Dawn turned and called, “where are you?”
Mike watched as the lady walked to the other end of the store, bent over the counter and whispered loudly, “January, dear, there’s a young man here to see you.”
“A young man,” January asked shakily. Had Jim found her?
“Why, yes dear,” said Dawn, “you knew you couldn’t keep them away that long with that dress.”
Mike shifted uncomfortably as he listened to their “hushed” conversation.
Finally he saw January slowly rise from where she had been picking up the remains of a broken beaded necklace, hidden by the counter.
He saw her glance at him and then look in both directions as if she didn’t know weather to run or crawl back under the counter.
“Why don’t you go on home dear, you’ve worked enough today,” Dawn said, patting her on the arm and looking from Mike to January.
Mike watched as January made her way around the counter after picking up her purse. A new, determined look formed on her face as she strode in his direction.
He couldn’t help but gawk at how she looked in the dress she was wearing. She looked even more beautiful than ever. He had only seen her in jeans and regular shirts before then and he thought she looked wonderful, but the dress made her look so different. More feminine.
“Great,” Mike thought, while he watched her move, “as if she didn’t make things difficult enough for me.”
His hopes began to soar again as she got nearer to where he stood by the door.
“I--,” Mike started to say to her as she barely looked at him, waved to Dawn and breezed out the door.
Mike grumbled as he inwardly kicked himself for entertaining his hopes again. As he opened the door and walked out into the early evening, his temper replaced his former hopes.
“Who in the world does she think she is,” he thought as he began to follow her down the street towards their apartments. “Where does she get off treatin’ me this way? I haven’t done nothin’. I’m not gonna to take this anymore.”
“Hey,” Mike shouted, catching up to January.
January began to speed up her pace when she noticed how close Mike was getting.
“Hey,” he called out again.
January’s heart leapt within her and she took off in a wild sprint.
Mike shook his head and took off after her. She was tall, but Mike was taller, and he had the advantage. Soon he was standing in front of her in the lawn of her apartment, both of them out of breath and glaring at each other.
“What’s you problem,” Mike grumbled, trying catching his breath.
January just looked at him, breathing hard, not even sure herself why she was doing what she was doing. Her face was red, and all she could do was continue to glare at him and try to ignore the tears threatening her eyes.
“I don’t get you,” Mike spilled out angrily, “as far as I can tell, I haven’t done anything to offend you, but since we met you’ve been treatin’ me like the plague!”
January turned away and began to wrestle with her purse, fishing for her keys.
“I’ve tried to be nice, I’ve tried to be helpful, but you just keep givin’ me that attitude of yours, like you’re just too darn good or somethin’,” Mike continued, following her up the walk and to the apartment stairs.
“What do you want,” she asked after a moment, quietly, barely looking up.
“I was supposed to come invite you to dinner,” Mike said bitterly. “For some reason the rest of the guys like you and want to get to know you better. Kinda strange since you’ve been hidin’ yourself up in that room of yours for the last four months.”
January walked past Mike, unlocked the door to the apartment and slammed it shut in his face.
“Dangit,” Mike said, slamming his fist into the stair rail.
“I still like ‘Angel’,” Micky said, sitting on the couch at the Pad next to a very pregnant Adriana, starring at her stomach.
“ ‘Angel’,” Adriana questioned, setting the yellow notepad of paper on her stomach in defeat, “no way!”
“Why not,” Micky asked, feeling about fed up with the “Name the Baby” game they had been playing for days now.
“I don’t know,” Adriana said, with a groan. “It just doesn’t sound right.”
“Nothing I’ve suggested sounds right,” Micky complained.
“That’s because everything you’ve suggested is stupid,” Adriana exclaimed, rolling her eyes.
“Hey,” Micky said defensively, “I think Cornflower is a great name!”
“Uhh,” Adriana groaned, tapping her pen on the pad of paper, “why can’t we agree on something? How about Leah?”
“Nah,” Micky said, shaking his head, “too plain.”
“Everything I pick is too plain,” Adriana exclaimed, tossing Micky a dirty look.
“Hey guys, don’t fight,” Peter pleaded as he walked into the living room.
“I’m not fighting,” Adriana said, her temper rising, “It’s just mister ‘I’ve Got An Answer For Everything’ can’t think of a respectable name for his own child!”
“Respectable,” Micky asked, getting up from the couch. “Respectable is one thing. Square is another!”
“You think the names I’ve picked are square,” Adriana asked slowly, feeling hurt as tears formed in her eyes.
“Oh, man,” Micky exclaimed as he kneeled down beside her. “Nevermind. Let’s not worry about naming the baby now, okay?”
“But, Micky, we have to,” Adriana said, shaking her head and crying. “It could be any day now and we can’t have a nameless child!”
“Let’s at least give it a rest for awhile, okay, Adrian,” Micky said patting her hand and getting up to go to the kitchen.
“Okay,” Adriana said with a sniffle, tossing the pad of paper and pen behind the couch.
“Touching ain’t it,” Davy asked sarcastically as Katerina, who had just walked in, watched the end of the scene with him and Peter.
Micky mumbled something about “pregnancy hormones” as he walked by the group, causing the three to giggle.
Their laughter abruptly stopped as Michael came booming into the house, slamming the door and plopping himself down on a chair.
“I’ve had it with that girl,” Mike said.
“Where’s January, Mike,” Peter asked.
“Humph,” he grumbled.
“Couldn’t get her to come huh,” Davy asked.
“No,” Mike said, standing up and walking out to the deck, “but who needs her anyway?”
Peter and Katerina exchanged looks. Katerina nodded and she walked out to the deck.
“Mike,” Katerina said softly as she came up behind Mike. Katerina remembered feeling just a little intimidated by Mike when she first started to get to know him. Now she knew he was just a pussycat, but at first, he was extremely guarded. It was hard to know exactly what was going on inside his head.
“What,” he said with a sigh as she placed her hand on his shoulder.
Katerina turned Mike by the shoulder so he could face her.
“I know you like her Michael,” Katerina said slowly.
“She’s got…problems,” Mike said exasperatedly.
“Who doesn’t,” Katerina answered.
“I’ve tried so hard, but she just keeps pushing me around,” Mike grumbled. “I can’t put up with that.”
“What happened tonight,” Katerina asked curiously.
“Well, I asked her to come to dinner like you guys told me too,” he said gruffly.
“Yeah,” Katerina asked, “and it kind of went downhill from there I’m guessing?”
Mike sighed and turned towards the ocean.
“What,” Katerina said, prodding him to continue.
“I got real angry with her,” Mike admitted, “I guess I’m upset at myself for still feeling so drawn to her for some reason. She just hates me and it’s really frustratin’.”
“Hmm,” Katerina said, “so you yelled at her?”
“Kinda,” Mike said sheepishly. “But she deserved it!”
“Yeah, Mike, maybe she did,” Katerina continued, “but there’s something about January. Maybe something about her past that is really hurting her. I can tell. Sometimes is seems like she’s going to tell me what happened to her, but she just stops talking and goes to her room. You’ve seen that scar on her face.”
“Yeah,” Mike said softly, looking down.
“I don’t really get it all either, but we’ve got to keep trying,” Katerina suggested.
“I don’t know,” Mike started.
“Just keep trying Mike,” said Katerina as she turned to go back inside, leaving Mike alone with his thoughts. “She still might surprise us all.”
“Oh, no,” Adriana said later that night, lapping her hand to her forehead.
“What’s the matter,” Micky said, jumping up and running to her side. “Is it time?”
“No,” Adriana said, rolling her eyes, “I ordered a cheesecake from the bakery and I forgot to have you pick it up after work today.”
“Oh well,” Micky said, relaxing, “that’s okay.”
“No it’s not,” Adriana said, tears forming in her eyes again, “I’ve been craving it all day.”
“I’ll go pick it up,” Davy offered, “I have to pick up some new maracas at the music store next to the bakery anyway..”
It was the perfect excuse for going out. He had overheard Ursula telling Adriana earlier that she was meeting Brendon at the diner that night.
Davy rolled his eyes. Brendan Thorne was 6 foot 1, muscular, and as much as Davy hated to admit it better looking than he was. He would hate him, but Brendan was an honor student, president of the Fellowship of Christian athletes, and a very nice guy. In fact, Davy was the one who introduced Ursula to Brendan one night at the college coffeehouse.
A move that Davy regretted immediately.
“Just make sure they’re not red ones, okay,” Micky joked, playfully hitting his friend with a drum stick.
Davy laughed half-heartedly, grabbed the keys to the Monkee Mobile and headed out the door.
“Mike,” Katerina said, waking Mike out of his stupor, staring out at the ocean from the bay windows.
“Huh,” Mike asked.
“Do me a favor and take this plate to January,” Katerina started. “I’m not going to be coming home until late and I feel kinda bad that she’s probably eating a cold sandwich all by herself.”
Opening his mouth to protest, Mike soon stopped when he saw the pleading look Katerina was giving him.
“Okay,” he agreed, standing up and taking the plate from her hands.
Not more than five minutes later, Mike was standing on the porch of the apartment next door, lightly knocking.
He waited, but there was no answer.
Mike knocked harder, but still no answer.
Taking a deep breath he carefully opened the door and glanced around the apartment. It was dark, except for a small, blue lava lamp that Katerina kept on in one corner of the living room.
As he walked deeper into the room, he heard the faint sounds of a familiar tune coming from a room upstairs.
Mike gingerly walked up the stairs, the music getting louder as he neared Katerina’s room.
When he reached her bedroom, he saw her sitting on the floor of the mostly bare room. She wasn’t wearing the dress anymore, but a pair of black sweat paints and a grey/blue t-shirt. Her hair hung around her face, shielding 0her mostly from view.
She leaned her head on her arms, pulling her legs toward her body and Mike could hear her faintly singing along with the song.
Mike leaned against the door and couldn’t help but whisper the last lines .
A sniffle came from underneath the shelter of January’s hair, followed by a stifled cry and then sobs.
Mike’s heart fell as he set the plate down on the dresser near the door and walked over to where she was curled up.
“What are you doing here,” January exclaimed, jumping up and grabbing the nearest weapon she could find, a pair of knitting needles.
“Whoa, woah wait a minute,” Mike said, holding up his hands. “I was just…” Mike’s protest was interrupted by the sudden loss of lights in the room, then a shaking. It was subtle at first and he felt like he was just imagining it, but then the windows started to rattle.
“What’s going on,” January exclaimed, dropping the knitting needles as she fought to keep her balance.
“An earthquake,” Mike shouted over the rumble, “get over here! Stand in the closet doorway!”
Without time for her to argue, Mike grabbed January and shielded her in the doorway.
“Why won’t it stop,” January shouted, her voice quivering.
“I don’t know,” Mike shouted back. “Just hold…”
Once again Mike was cut off, but not by the rumbling of the quake. The floor gave out beneath them, and then there was blackness.
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