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A.

"Whatchadoin?" She asks.
Just sitting. Following directions.
Puzzled, she walks away, then turns in a cute sort of piroutte kind of thing and steps back toward my bench.
"What directions?"
I try to keep a straight face (I had been hoping for her question). You know and I give her a Lassie head wave (lean to one side, subtle jerk). Over there She looks at the empty shop window and smiles. "OH"
"So, what now? " Hands on hips now, looking at me with an amused, OK-you got me kind of look.
Straight face intact, I look at her, then away. I guess we can do it together, no harm in that.
She laughs and sits down on the bench (not too close). "Any movement yet?"
You mean other than yours? We both burst out laughing.

B.

I take her hand and walk her up to the second floor of the mall. "Cover your eyes," and she does. We walk up to the doors of what used to be Kathy's fashions, which is gone. Mauve plywood in place of glass and chrome. "You can open them, now" She pulls her hands back, blinks and laughs- There's gone! "That's right, all gone" She is smiling now and tries to look between the locked glass doors and the plywood to see the inside. Nobody's home.

It's so cool, I am so glad they are gone- they were such meanies! She can get by with words like that because she is so earnest. With someone else it would sound silly, but she is not put-on. Alice had worked there for about 6 months before we dated and had tolerated an inordinate amount of small-town verbal abuse and minimum wage treachery. I knew she would be please to see them go under, but I also knew she had sworn off that mall and needed a bribe (Krispy Kreme) to even go to this part of town. Now I think she was glad.

Let's go look at the map!
pumped now, clicking across the floor in her little black mules. Awesome! she shouted- embarrassing me a little (she does this a lot, actually).

On the red and blue map (You are Here!) is the former shop

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