Adam's Parcel

"Do you remember that summer, Adam?" asked Madelyn. "You tried to kiss me to make Roderick jealous. It worked; straight afterwards he proposed."

Adam didn't say anything. He didn't even look her way. His eyes were drawn to the slip of a girl waiting by the bus stop in the pouring rain. He could see her perfectly from the window-desk where he sat. The girl had no umbrella, no raincoat. No shoes even. She wore only a plain house dress with faint floral patterns. In her small, fair hands she held a parcel wrapped in brown paper packaging. Her mascara was streaming down her cheeks...

"Adam? Are you even listening to me?" Madelyn walked over to the right side of Adam's desk. She stood there watching him, waiting for an answer. Her eyes were were hungry, like two big beaked birds waiting to dive their beaks into the sand and catch their prey...

"Hmm? Oh sorry Madelyn. You were saying?"

Adam was listening, or at least part of him was. The girl in the rain demanded much attention from him.

"I was saying that Roderick proposed to me right after he saw you kissing me." Madelyn continued. "But I didn't accept it of course. He was far too poor and desperate for me."

"I'm poor too, Mad." Adam said. He didn't turn away from the window, his gaze still fixed on the girl in the rain. "And you don't seem to mind me."

"Of course I don't mind you!" Madelyn laughed as if he'd said something silly. "But you're interesting, you see. You are a poor artist with talent but no money. Roderick was an insurance agent, and a bad one too!" She giggled at this; though it were funny. "Which is why he couldn't afford me, I suppose."

Adam took a deep breath and said:

"Is that all I am? A poor artist doomed to die penniless and unknown? He was getting more and more annoyed by the minute. I never should have invited her in, he thought. I should've listen to my gut and known that she would drive me batty. Oh why did I need to kiss her. Why did I have to do that to poor old Rod?

"Adam," Madelyn was more serious in her tone now. "You know that isn't all I like about you."

But Adam wasn't listening anymore. His focus had drifted back to the girl in the rain, though his eyes had never left her. She was sobbing now. An old man standing next to her offered a handkerchief, but she politely refused.

Where is she going? Adam wondered. And what is in that parcel. Is it for somebody, or did she just receive it from somewhere?

From the colour of her hair, the shape of her eyes and the writing on the parcel, Adam guessed that she was Japanese.

"Adam," Madelyn's words interrupted his thoughts. "I think I love you."

Adam turned his head towards her when she said this. Madelyn was looking as beautiful as ever. Her golden hair was bobbed in its signature fashion, her blue eyes were sparkling beneath a lid of eyeliner. She was wearing that blue dress that he'd bought for her on Tuesday. The one that had cost him 800 pounds...

"I don't think you mean that, Mad." Adam could see the tears she'd probably practiced welling up in her eyes. "I think you're just saying that because you want to make feel bad for ending it."

Madelyn was crying now, her face buried in the palms of her hands. Adam offered her a tissue; she snatched out of his hands and blew her nose.

"Oh sometimes I do hate you Adam," Madelyn said, choking out a sob. "I hate how cruel you can be."

Adam found himself inwardly amused by this. How little can she think of me to even fathom that I'd fall for that old trick...

The screech of the wheels of a bus tore Adam from his thoughts. A silver Greyhound was parked in front of the bus stop. It blocked his view of the girl. He stood up, hoping that he might just be able to see over it.

"Adam-" Madelyn began to speak, but saw that there was no point in trying to talk to him.

The bus pulled away from the stop and disappeared down Main Street. The girl was still standing there. The rain had stopped. So had her sobbing. She was breathing heavily now though.

Madelyn knitted her brow. She did not understand how Adam could be focusing on something else but her. She sighed and looked around the room. It looked just the same as when she first slept over.

"Oh Adam!" she threw her arms around him and breathed in his scent. "Don't ignore me!"

Adam pushed her away; his face was twisted and sour. "Leave me alone Mad. Don't talk to me ever again!"

Madelyn didn't say anything. She simply stared at him, shocked and confused. He had never been angry with her before.

"Adam-"

"Just go Madelyn. I don't want to ever see you again." His chest rose and fell as he said this. Like an ocean full of waves.

"We are threw Madelyn. I never should have kissed you. It was all a mistake everything. Now please go."

Madelyn didn't say anything for several minutes. Then she began to collect her things. Adam sat down again, and placed his head in his hands. He breathed in and out, trying to calm himself.

"Goodbye, Adam," Madelyn said. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry."

He didn't say anything, and after a little while he heard Madelyn slam the door behind her.

He breathed a sigh of relief. knowing that she was gone.

The girl at the bus stop was still there. Her breathing had slowed significantly and she was looking at the parcel in her hands.

Adam grabbed a pen, and a piece of paper. He began to draw the outline of her figure. His strokes were quick and soon he was sketching the details of her face.

A splash from the street caused Adam to pause. He looked up from his drawing and saw that she'd dropped the parcel into a puddle. The girl turned her gaze towards his window, staring right at him. He felt himself going red in the face, but he dared not to look away from her. At last, she turned away, and began to walk down the street, her hands wrapped away in the folds of her dress. The parcel wallowed sadly in the puddle, destined to ruin.

He got up quickly and went to see what was in it.