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Part I Chapter 7

They walked silently down the hall to the pool. Everyone had since gone back to their rooms and AJ guided her along the side the pool and over on to the grass. The grass sloped down to a hill that over looked the city that was lit up and glowing in the darkness of the sky.
“It’s so beautiful,” Win remarked as she sat on the grass, AJ sat beside her gazing out at the city.
“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.” She said again.
“Not even looking in the mirror?” he asked edging closer to her.
“Oh you,” she laughing patting his thigh.
“How come you took off my hat and glasses?” he asked.
“Because I wanted to see you, all of you.” She replied, still looking out over the view.
“You can see me with the glasses and the hat on.” He retorted. She turned and smiled at him.
“I wanted to see your intent for me,” she said still touching his leg.
“My intent for you?” he asked with a slightly confused smile.
“The way a person looks at you, what they have in their eyes when they look at you, that’s their intent. I’ve always felt uneasy around people who wore sunglasses. I don’t know what you had to hide.”
“You can see that in someone’s eyes?” he asked interested.
“Yeah, like when Red looks at me, I know that he eventually intends to harm me in some way, he wants revenge against me. When I looked into Nick’s eyes I saw an interest in getting to know me. That type of thing.”
“So what do you see when you look into my eyes?” he asked turning his body so that he could look at her dead on.
“Well, let me look,” she replied placing and hand under his chin to bring her gaze up to his.
“I see a definite interest, and interest in fidelity, a very big interest in companionship. Also, very clearly, you want to show something to me, the something you hide behind your glasses everyday.” He quickly looked away.
“Do you think I’m weird or something?” she asked.
“No, no, it’s not that,” he said fiddling with a piece of grass in his lap.
“I certainly do. Carrying a rat with me where ever I go, cleaning out buses and delivering fast food for a paycheck, looking into people’s eyes to see what they want from me.” She said chuckling, AJ had to laugh.
“Where have you been when I needed a laugh? You are too funny Winnie, you really are.” AJ said leaning back on his elbows and finally looking at her again.
“There you go again, calling me Winnie.” She said leaning forward on her hands.
“You are a Winnie, you’re too cute to call Win,” he said laughing, throwing a piece of grass at her.
“There you go again. What does the AJ stand for anyways?” she asked, throwing a piece of grass back at him, hitting him lightly in the forehead. He chuckled again before replying,
“Alexander James.”
“That’s nice, I like that, Alexander James what?”
“McLean,” he finished. She nodded in agreement.
“Alexander James McLean, very nice.”
“What’s your middle name?” he asked, throwing another piece of grass playfully at her.
“Louis. Isn’t that sickening? Winifred, Louis, Caldon, sounds like a personal injury law firm.” AJ had to laugh again.
“What’s so funny?” she asked, although she couldn’t help laughing herself.
“You are. I happen to like your name, Winifred, it’s you, although I personally like Winnie.”
“Does your mom call you Alex?” she asked tauntingly.
“Yes she does. Does your mom call you Winnie?” He asked in the same tone.
“My mother never called me anything.” Win replied still laughing.
“What did she call you?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never met her.”
“Oh I’m sorry I didn’t mean to bring it up.” AJ said nervously.
“It doesn’t bother me. I never knew my mother or my father, any of my family for that matter.” Win replied as if she were describing nothing but the weather.
“That’s terrible, I’m sorry,” he said sitting up.
“Not really, I grew up fine without them.” She replied.
“So were you adopted?” he asked.
“No, I lived in an orphanage until I was eighteen.”
“That must have been hard.”
“It was a nice place actually, there were only twelve of us, it was run by this one old lady. We didn’t have much, no TV, or nothing fancy. Plenty of books though, I bet every one of us read at least thirty books a year. But Elizabeth was a great woman she did what she could with state funding. She was gonna help me go to college.”
“What happened?”
“When I turned eighteen, Elizabeth said I could stay on, and help her run the house. She wanted to get me into her old school, she used to be an English professor, she had laid plans for me to get a scholarship, but she died a month later. The house was closed down and everyone was shuffled out. I didn’t get the scholarship and had to get a job.”
“Oh my god, that’s some bad luck,” AJ said sadly.
“Actually it was good enough luck. The other three girls who were only seventeen were also shoved out and had to go out on their own. I wouldn’t have wanted to be one of the younger girls and gotten put in another home. At least I had Elizabeth while I grew up.”
“So where have you been living?” AJ asked, worried at the answer.
“Oh when I can I rent a room here or there, lived on the streets. I was really lucky to get this job. Plus when I’m finished here, I’ll finally have enough to go to college.”
“You have been so brave. How on earth did you make it?” he asked.
“Faith, looking for intent from people.”
“Faith in God?” he asked.
“No, the faith in the strength of my own two hands, my legs, my back. Getting me through whatever job I had to do to make a few dollars. Elizabeth always told us that we could believe in anything we wanted, but she also told us that the most logical belief is that of ourselves, faith that you alone are responsible for. That way you can bring about your own miracles and your own results without an intermediary.”
“Wow, that is incredible. You are incredible.” AJ said staring at her in awe.
“Not really. I could have gotten some kind of help I suppose, went and looked for my parents, but I never wanted to.”
“What happened to your parents?”
“I don’t know. I was found in a garbage dumpster behind a Chinese restaurant when I was only two weeks old, I think it was two weeks, that’s what they tell me. I was plucked out and that’s all I know.”
“I’m so sorry all that happened to you.”
“Don’t feel bad about it, I don’t.” she said with a sympathetic smile patting his knee.
“Can I kiss you?” he asked suddenly. She laughed and raised her eyebrows.
“No, you can’t. I don’t kiss on the first date.” She said smiling.
“So this was a date?” he asked leaning closer to her.
“What else would you call it?” she asked raising the corner of her mouth.
“A discovering of intents.” He replied, she laughed.
“Yes, that too. Have you figured out my intent?” she asked. He looked her in the eye and replied,
“You intend to make me work harder than I ever have for any woman to earn your respect, your companionship, and your affection. You intend to analyze me, and tear down something I want to keep to myself.”
“Hum, you’re good at this too.” She said not breaking their stare.
“So I’m right?” he asked.
“Just about, I’d say. It’s getting late, I should get some sleep, I’m sure Red will have me up at the crack of dawn just to yell at me.”
“Yeah it is after three,” AJ said standing up with Win. He put his arm around her waist as he walked her up to her room.
When they arrived at her door, he reluctantly let his arm fall off her waist as she turned to look at him.
“I had a wonderful time tonight. Thanks for inviting me.” AJ couldn’t resist and moved closer to her to clutch her waist between his hands.
“You are very welcome, I am glad you accepted.”
“Are you sure you want to go out with the garbage bag girl?” she asked laughing.
“For a garbage bag girl you smell pretty good. You think I could get your phone number?”
“You could if I had a phone, but I don’t have one.” She laughed.
“Well I’ll just have to take care of that too,” he replied.
“You don’t have to do that,”
“Unless you plan on moving on our bus I won’t get to see you that much, and I want to talk to you.”
“We’ll both just have to work it out is all, you don’t have to buy me things.”
“What if I want to?”
“Resist the urge. I want you to know that I am taking an interest in you for just you, and I want to know that you are putting an effort into this, not just paying me off to make it easy. Besides if you were just paying me off it wouldn’t work.”
“Okay, I’ll just figure out something. You free for lunch tomorrow?” he asked.
“What do you think? Red will have me working until the early hours of the morning.”
“I’ll take care of him. Can I please kiss you now?” he asked again.
“Not on the lips you can’t,” she replied adamantly. AJ leaned down and placed his lips on her forehead, closing his eyes and holding her for as long as she would allow him. After a few minutes she pulled away and wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezing him in a tight hug.
“Good night.” And she was gone. AJ pressed his head against the door and closed his eyes.