The Receipt
by
Robert Dominguez Jr.
July 14th,2005
She wore a midnight blue dress that barely came below her collar bones and slightly above her knees. She was elegance and perfection combined; pure soignée. She walked with confidence and the sound of her heels would make men feel below her. The streets were crowded with people of all races and sexes, but none could hold a candle to her; the woman without a name.
She stopped in front of a fruit stand and slowly leaned forward to catch the smell of a ripe cantaloupe. She closed her eyes and inhaled without regard to the rest of the world, as if time stood still just for her. She held the fruit within her hand and gently twisted it left to right, examining it for flaws. A hint of a smile ran across her face as she quietly took it to the checkout stand.
The Asian man behind the counter took the fruit and after ringing it up stopped suddenly as his eyes became transfixed upon the beauty that stood in front of him. She smiled at the gentleman as he stood silent with an open mouth. You could swear that drool was beginning to drop from his large gaping hole of a mouth. She took a credit card from her purse and smoothly handed it to the clerk. He motioned the process of completing the transaction without ever taking his burning eyes off of her.
A gentle wind blew through the street side store causing her soft brown hair to lift up just above her shoulders exposing her soft smooth skin on her neck. Every action she took seemed to pass by as if in slow motion.
The ticking sound of the credit card machine finally came to an end. The clerk tore off the receipt and handed the mysterious woman her half to sign. He took a red pen from his shirt pocket and passed it to her. During the hand off their fingers touched causing the hair on the man’s arm to stand on in. She quickly gave him a look as he withdrew his hand from hers. She then proceeded to sign on the dotted line as the clerk continued to stare in bewilderment.
As she finished, she laid the pen down on the counter and slowly turned to walk out of the store. Her hips swayed from left to right like a pendulum in an old grandfather clock. Then within seconds she turned to her left and disappeared forever. The Asian man took the receipt and proceeded to place it in the appropriate envelope when something caught his eye. He glazed over the receipt examining the signature, as if searching for something.
After closer inspection of the piece of paper; a look of surrealism washed across his face. Then after a few seconds it was gone and quickly replaced with a gentler and kinder face; one that resembles that of a man who doesn’t have a care in the world.
If one were to take a closer look at the receipt, one would see that she had not written a signature nor had she left some outrageous tip, but instead a message which read:
“Today I was supposed to kill you, but your smile was enough to change my mind.”
“Copyright © 2005 by Robert Dominguez Jr. All Rights Reserved.”