Page 24 of It Started With a Scarf

She was wonderful.

He handed the striped scarf to her and he watched her face change from happy to serious to disbelieving to curious to… tears welled in her already shimmering eyes. Her face crumpled. The waterworks happened instantly. Suddenly, there was liquid falling from her eyes onto her cheeks. "I’m sorry," she said, covering her face and laughing and crying at the same time. She wiped her eyes. "It's just happiness. I'm so sorry. Hang on…"

She held the scarf close to her face and stared at it like it was unreal—like it was unbelievable. Then she placed it around her neck and looked up at him, their eyes meeting. Hers were full of tears—joy, relief.

She melted him… just the way she looked at him melted him.

"How do you have this?" she asked. She blinked and a tear dropped onto her cheek. She quickly wiped it away like it was nothing.

"It's a whole story. Do you want to take a second and then grab a burger? I'll tell you the whole thing."

"Yeah, sure," she said, easily getting herself together. "Have you been here before?"

"No, I've never seen it."

"Yeah, it's kind of hidden. It's delish, though. I work in this building sometimes."

"Sometimes?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

"It's a kids' clothing store upstairs," she said. "It's pretty big, actually. They hired me seasonally last Christmas. I was saving for a car. I'm technically not on the schedule, I’m a sub, but they call me just about every weekend because someone calls in sick. I had to come pick up my paycheck today, so I thought this was a good spot."

"Aren't you on lunch break from another job?"

"No, I worked yesterday for someone else, so I didn't have to… hang on…"

They were in line at the register by then, and she gestured in front of them. "Do you want to look at the menu?"

"I'll just have a cheeseburger and fries," he said.

She smiled at him and then looked at the lady behind the register. "Two cheeseburgers, one with bacon, and two orders of fries. I'll take a drink." She glanced at him.

"I'll take a drink also, and some bacon on that second burger."

"Oh no, the bacon one is yours," she said, causing him to smile.

"Oh, great. Well, that's it, then."

The guy at the counter gave them the total, and Marley reached for her purse.

"No, I've got this," he said.

Marley glanced at him with the most serious, impassive expression. "Oh, no, I wouldn't hear of it after you just gave me this. I owe you way more than lunch."

She was so certain of herself that Dominic just stood there and let her pay for the food. He didn't want to do it, but she took over and wouldn't let him approach the register. Dominic was significantly larger than her, and he smiled at her boldness and spunk. The guy taking their order was smiling at her, too.

They finished the transaction, and he handed her a number and two cups.

She and Dominic absentmindedly went through the motions of making their drinks at a nearby drink station. He thought about her ordering bacon on his burger, and he smiled at the whole interaction. She was too funny.

"What would you have done if I would have said I didn't want bacon?" he asked, thinking of her order.

She smiled at him, sitting on her stool. "I would have eaten it and given you the other one."

"You're funny," he said.

She grinned. "I think you're funny. What's the story with the scarf?" she asked as they finally got settled. "I feel like this is fiction, still. I can't wait to hear about how you got it."

They were sitting at a high-top table for three. It felt just like the first time they met, except there was no jazz and low lighting or ambiance. It was fast food, with fluorescent lighting, and she was still beautiful. She was glowing with that colorful scarf resting proudly over her shoulders. He didn't even care about the sweatshirt.

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