“Is there a reason why people are staring at me?” asked Chrissy as she scanned the diner. The minute people realized that Chrissy caught them staring, they returned their eyes to their table.
“Well, you are the most prominent citizen in this town. And the prettiest.”
Chrissy rolled her eyes at her boyfriend, David Angelo. They had just started dating; he was the town’s sheriff. It had been going well, or at least she thought. Edward, though, kept asking why they went to casual places for dates. Edward was old-fashioned and thought Chrissy deserved to be taken to a fancy restaurant. Perhaps, but Chrissy did not want to rush the relationship; she wanted things to go slowly and at an even pace.
When the waitress came by for their order, she said, “Don’t let that stupid column get to you, Ms. Thorpe. A lot of us in town support you.”
Chrissy and David frowned. “Column?” Chrissy asked.
“Oh dear, I should have just kept my mouth shut. Never…”
“No,” said David gently. “What column? In the town’s paper?”
The waitress hesitated. “Well…it was a guest…op-ed piece, by the manager of the local Wal-Mart. She wrote that…she wrote that as soon as the grocery store opens, she is starting a countdown clock for six months. She said you will fail.”
Chrissy took a deep breath and tightened her grip on the menu. “I see. Well, I’ll have to check that out. Thank you.”
The waitress took the menus and scurried away.
“You alright?” asked David.
She took another deep breath. “I suppose I should have expected this.”
“You obviously have ruffled some feathers. I think you’re going to have to be ready to be aggressive. It could get ugly; Wal-Mart is going to fight you on this.”
Chrissy nodded. “I know. I guess I was hoping they would be friendly competition. I did not think they would get so nasty.”
David took a sip of his coffee. “Wal-Mart is used to being the sole source of groceries in this town. Apparently, they like the monopoly. Are you ready for this fight?”
Chrissy smiled. “I might be disappointed with Wal-Mart, but I am nowhere close to giving up.”
David reached across the table and squeezed Chrissy’s hand. “Now, let’s take a small break from talking about the grocery store. Tell me about Emma.”
The waitress returned with their orders, grateful they had moved onto another topic of conversation. The people around them had stopped staring at them and thankfully were focusing on their food.
“Emma is about twenty years old. At eighteen, she decided to attend college here in the States. She was a student at Penn State at their main campus. She is a literature and business major; when she was a sophomore, she decided she wanted to live here permanently, so she is studying to become a US citizen.”
“Why doesn’t she want to go back to England?”
“Her parents are college professors at Oxford. Emma loves them, but she feels very stifled in England. She’s very disturbed that they don’t have a first amendment. So, she wanted to come here and have the freedom to pursue a variety of opportunities. Emma and Edward can clash at times, but overall, they get along and she really likes the States.”
“Why did she drop out of college?”
Chrissy frowned. “Edward did not go into the details about that. Knowing Emma, she’s probably disappointed. College was not what it used to be when I went. Robust debate is not always valued, and Emma really likes debate. She could also be itching to join the workforce.”
“Do you think you were too quick to offer her a job?”
“No, we hit it off last Christmas. Since I was short on staff over the holidays, I had her do some small tasks in the office. She was a hard worker. I think she’ll be alight. I’m more concerned about her study progress on becoming a US citizen.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s not good at taking tests. She’s going to need to set aside a lot of time to focus on the material. She cannot coast through this.”
David smiled. “I was kind of like that in college. Just get away with the bare minimum.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. College is not for everyone. It all depends what you want to do. I just hope she is clear eyed on what she wants.”
Chrissy grinned. ‘I guess that is one thing we do not have in common. I went to Ivy League—University of Pennsylvania—for both undergraduate and graduate.”
“You ever thought you would date a blue collar worker?”
Chrissy rolled her eyes. “There’s a reason my father established the headquarters of the company in a small town. He cannot stand urban life and the elite that resides there. Besides, I hate to break it to you, but I’m not dating you for your brains,” she said jokingly.
David slid into Chrissy’s side of the booth and gave her a kiss Chrissy knew would be the talk of the town.
* * *
This is the end of Part Two. Part Three will be posted tomorrow.