A woman strolled through the streets of West village. A gentle breeze caressed her shoulder length blond hair. West village was known for being a magnet for tourists. It was historically known as a center for American bohemian culture. There were vibrant artistic scenes with quirky consignment shops, and historic brownstones. The woman had come to realize that spotting celebrities was actually a norm in this part of New York.
However, she was not in town for sight-seeing. She needed to get something. She was relieved when she spotted the shop she was looking for. A bell rung atop the doors that she pushed open with her long slender fingers. The shop owner smiled upon recognizing her. It was finally his turn to be graced by the beautiful woman's visit.
"Mrs. Stanford, what can I do for you?" he said as he took note of the shiny gold ring on her ring finger. She smiled at him as she gracefully walked towards him.
"Please call me Emily. You must be Mr. Tiller", she said to the old timer whose face wrinkled when he smiled so happily.
"Please, call me Jim. How may I help you Emily? Anything that interests you?" he pulled on his apron as he walked towards her. Emily's eyes wondered around the flower shop before they landed back on Jim.
"Stella told me I could find a cactus here. A baby cactus", she said with a smile.
"I'll be right with you in a minute", he turned on his heels and rushed to a room she figured was the store room.
She looked around the shop and noticed the camera that rested on one corner of the shop facing directly at her. There was another one by the entrance that she took note of when she walked in and another close to the counter where she would need to make payment for her purchase.
She took out her phone and typed a few commands on it. She immediately retrieved the live feed from the cameras to her phone. She frowned upon seeing how well they captured her. She typed some more commands and the cameras turned away from her. Jim walked out with two potted baby cacti.
"I only have these two remaining", he said with an apologetic smile.
"That's fine", she said with a smile while her gaze immediately fell on the two pots. She stretched out her hand to point at the one she took a liking to.
Jim nodded in satisfaction. "Great eye. But why a cactus my dear girl?" he said while wrapping it up.
"It's very easy to take care of", she said.
Soon as she settled the bill with cash, she exited his shop. She erased all footage of herself before getting further away from Jim's shop. The old man did not even notice his cameras that had turned back to their original position.
Within a few weeks of moving to West village, everyone had known Emily's back story already. She was married to a man who was dispatched on a mission in the army. He was hardly home but made sure she was well taken care of. He purchased the two bedroom house that she or they had recently moved into.
Two years into the marriage and she was still not used to his absence. It was especially hard since she did not have siblings to keep her company during his absence. Although he could not do anything about her loneliness, he bought their house in her name because he loved her so much should anything happen to him. All of this was known around the neighborhood all thanks to Stella who fished the information out of Emily.
Emily waved at the folks who waved at her as she walked home. When she arrived at her door step, she took out her keys from her hand bag to open the door. An older looking woman, almost in her sixties, stepped out of the house right opposite the Stanfords'. She had on a pair of colorful clothes that complimented her bright personality.
"Is that you Emily?" she shouted from behind Emily. She stopped unlocking the door and turned around to greet her overly friendly neighbor. Emily saw the woman leaning on the railings of her veranda.
"Hey, Stella. How's your afternoon going?" she asked with a smile.
Stella scoffed, "It would be great if Richard could get his lazy butt up and TAKE OUT THE TRASH!" She shouted over her shoulder. The curtains were drawn and a man appeared by the window while his attention was on whatever it was that was inside the house.
"Stella we've talked about this! You can't disturb my game time. It's currently game time!" he snapped.
"Game time? It's a repeat!" she snapped back upon hearing his raised voice. He scoffed before disappearing back into the house.
"Chelsea lost! They scored one goal!" she shouted in irritation. What followed was the man's scream in annoyance and irritation. Not long after that did Richard grumpily march out of the house with a trash bag.
"I see you got that cactus", Stella spoke with a happy smile playing on her lips.
"I did. I have you to thank for it", she smiled back.
Stella waved her off in dismissal. "Was Jim nice to you? I told you everyone in this town is nice."
"Yes, you were right Stella." Emily chuckled when she saw Richard slam the trash bag into the bin. The happy smile on Stella's lips grew wider as her husband marched back into the house while glaring at her.
"Men! Have you heard from your husband today?" she asked with evident curiosity.
"No. Not today, no", Emily shook her head.
Stella nodded in understanding. "You probably will soon enough. I won't keep you waiting."
After bidding her good bye, Emily finally walked into the house and locked it behind her. She found a good spot by the window to place her cactus before rushing to her bedroom to wash up. She threw the clothes she stripped out of on her bed and placed the gold wedding band on the nightstand. She scoffed and muttered under her breath, "Mrs. Stanford."
She wrapped a towel on her body before walking to the bathroom to take a steaming hot shower. When she stepped out with a towel covering her body and water still dripping from her shampooed hair, she wiped the fogy mirror in front of her. The past three weeks had been exhausting for her. She hated moving but this time, she had to.
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