Excerpt of Fish Out of Water
“Why have you dragged me
into this strange place,” I mutter to James as he and I sit to the side
of the fitting rooms while a sales lady with a measuring tape carries a
bundle of clothes toward Astrid.
“Because
the young lady can’t live in your clothes forever,” he answers primly.
“Especially with your rambunctious friends coming this weekend. I won’t
open her up to their ridicule.”
I roll my eyes. “You make it sound like she’s going to be staying with us for a very long time.”
“One never knows.”
Astrid walks into one of the changing rooms and accidentally closes the door too loudly.
Spinning in my seat, I give James my full attention. “Seriously, man, what is going on here? You act like you know Astrid.”
“I don’t.” James stares straight ahead. “But, I once knew someone very like her.”
There’s a hint of melancholy in his voice that roots me in my chair. I didn’t know James could feel that kind of emotion.
Before
this moment, I always assumed James was born an adult, and never made a
mistake or had his heart broken in his life. But now I’m seeing
something beyond the constant suits and the beige walls in his bedroom.
“Who was she?” I ask.
“I
don’t know.” A dream-like glaze falls over Jame’s eyes. “Not things
like her name or even where she was from, at least. But I did see a
glimpse of her soul. She was kind in a way that is so rare among humans.
It made her ethereal beauty even more unworldly.”
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