Tangled Luck Ch 5

I've heard it said that if you randomly encounter someone three times on three separate occasions by sheer chance alone, you're destined to know that person forever.  It always seemed silly to me.

Chapter 5 – Encountering Luck Again

Rapunzel's arm was healed, but it was stiff.  The doctor had given her simple exercises to do to strengthen the muscles again, but she was finding she had little time to remember to do them.  Her aunt had booked her solid all week with shoots.
"I do not want to hear any complaining.  I gave you a whole week off.  That should be plenty of time for your little sprain to heal," said Donna on Sunday as Rapunzel was serving dinner.  "You have yourself to pay for and if you want to keep going to that college, you need money for that too.  A stupid little injury like a sprain never put me off the job."  Her arm still stung a little, but Rapunzel didn't mind the pain.  It reminded her of Eugene.
Rapunzel last saw Eugene at school, when Pascal had interrogated him.  It had been nine days since she saw him.  She wanted to see him again.  And that one thought was driving her crazy!
"Why?  Why do I keep thinking about him?"  Rapunzel kept asking herself this with everything she did: cooking, cleaning, homework.  She even found herself doodling his face on her math notes, so when she went home and did her homework, there he was.
She actually had put his number in her phone like she promised; Rapunzel always kept her promises, but she hadn't yet worked up the gumption to dial or even text Eugene.  What would he think?  What would he say?  What would she say?  She thought about nonchalantly asking him to model for her, for school purposes of course, but how do you nonchalantly ask someone to model for you?
Rapunzel simply couldn't get him out of her head.  She'd never met anyone like him before; a real hero/prince charming type.  But Rapunzel could absolutely not, under any circumstances get involved with anyone, not matter how nice, charming, and/or handsome they were.  There were too many risks.
She kept telling herself that she should just forget about Eugene Fitzherbert.  After he paid for her medical bills, she'd never see him again.  He'd probably move on to the next girl he pushed out of harm's way.  He'd forget about her too.
Right?
Rapunzel hoped he wouldn't.
"Stop it, stop it, stop it," Rapunzel told herself as she walked down the streets of downtown New Sonnenberg.  "He's a guy and you know how all guys are.  Eventually, he'll want you.  Remember your chastity, Rapunzel.  Honor your vow!"  It was Wednesday.  Rapunzel only had one class that day; the rest of her day was for a photo shoot.
She actually didn't need to be there till one o'clock.  It was a little before noon.  She was dragging her feet getting there, window shopping at the new, pop up hipster boutiques.  She popped into a coffee shop and bought a white peach tea.  It was incredibly flavorless, but she needed something to warm her up that wouldn't stain her teeth before the shoot.  That was all she needed to hear from her aunt.
All the snow from last Friday's storm had managed to melt, but a system had moved down from the north and New Sonnenburg felt like the polar ice caps.
Donna had forced her niece to wear a skirt with boots and a thin, trendy coat, allowing only a gauzy scarf and fingerless gloves to keep her warm.  Her excuse was that Rapunzel needed to dress like a model right before her picture was taken.  After Rapunzel had left the house, she'd taken all her hair and stuffed it into her coat, just so she could have some insulation.  It actually worked fairly well.  At least she fit in at the coffee joint with her clothes.  No one gave her a half way glance.
She would have liked to have stayed in the coffee house, where it was warm, but she couldn't stand the music they were playing.  When she asked the cashier what it was he said:
"Indian throat singing."  She left as soon as her tea was in her hands.
Back out in the cold, Rapunzel wondered where she could stay until the 12:45 bus came.  She decided to head to the bus stop and see what was around.  Maybe she could hang out in a clothing store for awhile.  It'd please her aunt if she showed up with a bag from an expensive clothing store.
At the bus stop, there was Killer Sewing and Craft Supplies, Guntur's Interior Design, a convenience store, a liquor store, and a musical instrument store called Music's Dream.  Rapunzel also saw the Corona Enterprises' skyscraper just up the street.
Corona Enterprises was New Sonnenburg's largest company.  They brought in a lot of income for the city and offered many jobs.  They owned a little bit of everything: cars, household appliances, a fashion line, cosmetics, real estate, travel.  You name it, they did it.  The company also funded many charities and organizations in the city and around the world: orphanages, preserving wildlife and the environment, safe houses, shelters.  They even supported the arts and public spaces: museums, theaters, parks, schools.  Corona Enterprises had a hand in so many things, that people sometimes wondered how they could afford to run their own company.
The president and CEO of the company was actually pretty enigmatic.  He didn't appear much in public, even for press releases.  It was his wife that kept up face with society.  She appeared at dinners and publics affairs and even gave speeches on her husband's behalf.  Quite a few newspapers actually criticized the CEO for 'hiding behind his wife' as they put it.  But he didn't seem to care.  His wife was still his spokesperson.  
The office building was too far away for Rapunzel to walk to.  She thought she could sit in the lobby.  She considered loitering around the convenience store, but she figured she'd eventually have to buy something, and all she'd buy was a candy bar, which she could not justify.  She didn't need any interior decorating.  There was the sewing and craft store; Rapunzel hadn't sewn anything in awhile.  Maybe she could pick a pattern and some fabric.  But she was closer to the music store.  The other place was across the street.  She looked up at the sign for the music store and then in the window.  She saw someone behind the counter, cleaning a clarinet.
Her heart leapt.  It was Eugene!  He was there, in the store, behind the glass, perfect like a portrait.  Rapunzel quickly beat down her feelings.
How could she have found him without even trying?
"Knock it off, Rapunzel.  It's probably his job.  He'll get mad at you if you just walk in.  Don't associate yourself with him anymore.  It's better that way."  But there he was, just standing there.  She wanted to talk with him so badly.  She wanted to hear his gentle, carefree voice.  "Stop it," she hissed to herself.  "He'll think it's weird you just happened to find him."
Rapunzel turned away, ready to cross the street to Killer Sewing and Craft Supplies, then she remembered the last time she crossed a street when Eugene was nearby.  She figured she was safer in the music store.  Defeated, she walked in.
There were bells on the door that heralded her arrival.
Oh, crap.
"Welco- Rapunzel?"
"Hi, Eugene."  She waved sheepishly.
"Are you stalking me now," he teased.  "What are you doing down here?"  Eugene set the clarinet down.
"It's for my job."  Rapunzel paused.  "I'm a model."
"Glamorous.  I guess that explains the outfit," said Eugene as he looked her up and down.  "Only fashionable people don't dress for the weather."
"I don't hear the happy sounds of someone cleaning a clarinet out there," said a voice in a back room.  The voice was unbelievably deep, like he was speaking from way back in his throat and he  must have been grinding gravel between his vocal cords.  Out came a fat man, with bad teeth, bald head, a fumanchu mustache, and a….hook.  The man had a hook for a left hand.
"Oh, it's clean."  Eugene took the clarinet off the counter and handed it to the man.  "And I'm on lunch break."  Eugene smiled smugly at the man.
"Fine, but we've got a customer."  The fat man gestured to Rapunzel.  She realized it was yet another person from one of Eugene's photos.  The man wore a gray button shirt, with the collar open so his double chin wouldn't be squished.  He had on a pair of faded jeans and black tennis shoes.  There was a belt on his pants, pulled too tight.  His belly hung so far over his waist, Rapunzel was sure it hurt.
"Nah, she's a friend of mine.  Rapunzel, this is my boss, Brad Hook.  He owns this place.  Boss, this is Rapunzel Moore.  She's the reason my hand bit pavement a few days ago."
"I'm still sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it."  Eugene waved away Rapunzel's concern.
"So this is the girl you saved."  Mr. Hook extended his hand.  "Pleased to meet you.  Sorry if that boy over there caused you any trouble."
"Oh, I think I might have caused him more," Rapunzel said shyly.  Close up, the fat man was actually a pretty tall, fat man.  He was a whole head taller than her, yet, Eugene was still taller.  She made note of that.
"Come on, Blondie, why don't you sit in the back with me while I eat my lunch.  Mr. Hook'll watch the store."
"Eh, cheeky kid, thinking he owns the place.  Go on, do what you want."
Rapunzel followed without a word, nodding to Eugene's boss as she passed.
The back room looked like the musical version of Eugene's apartment.  Instruments, broken and in the process of being repaired, sat next to books and folders of sheets music.  A stack of music stands sat in the corner, as did a box of trumpet and horn mufflers.  On the work table was a guitar that had just been freshly strung.  Eugene cleared off seats for Rapunzel and himself and then pulled out a sack lunch from a mini fridge Rapunzel hadn't even noticed.  He reached inside and pulled out an apple.
"I ran into Max today and he gave me this.  You want it?"  Rapunzel took it without a word.  Eugene took out a meat sandwich and started to eat.
"I see your arm has healed."
"Yeah."  She looked at it.  "It's a little stiff and sore, but it's not too bad."
"Yeah, know that feeling."  Rapunzel scratched her face, unsure how to act towards Eugene.
"I see your hand healed," Rapunzel said, gesturing to the hand holding the sandwich.   Eugene looked down at it.  There was still a fresh scar of pink skin and the marks where the stitches were.  It covered practically his whole hand.
"Yeah.  Now it's just another story to tell."  Rapunzel didn't know what Eugene meant.
"Uh, your boss, Mr. Hook.  His name is 'Hook' and he has a-"
"Hook?  Yeah.  It's his own personal joke.  He lost it in a motorcycle accident actually."
"Oh, dear, Lord."
"Don't worry, the bike came out worse."  Eugene winked at her.  "He can actually still play the piano with that thing, if you can believe it.  It's sort of like the people who have lost all their teeth, but can gum a stake.  He can play it pretty well too.  He still get's asked to do the underscoring for shows and musicals.  He's actually sort of famous in the performing arts world."
"Impressive."
"Yeah."  Eugene finished his sandwich and brought out a container of potato chips.  He munched one, then offered them to Rapunzel.  She shook her head.  "So when you gotta be at this photo gig?"
"One.  My bus is the 12:45."
"Mm, you got some time."
"Yeah."  Rapunzel fixed her eyes on the guitar.  It was an acoustic and had a special design on it of birds and clouds.  She picked it up and strung a few cords.
"You can play," Eugene asked.
"I had a few lessons when I was little.  They stopped when I went to live with my aunt."  Rapunzel tried to play the first sixteen bars of Green Sleeves.  She was sort of close.  "I tried to keep up on my own, but I was only seven."
"Why do you live with your aunt?  Just asking," Eugene said quickly, "you don't have to tell me."  Rapunzel shook her head, not minding.
"My parents are dead.  I won't get into details of poor, orphaned Rapunzel, but… I've been with my aunt ever since.  She's really not as bad as she was when you saw her.  She had just had a bad day, really."  Rapunzel was always making excuses for her aunt, just so that people wouldn't pity her.  Eugene looked like he didn't believe her, but didn't press it.  Rapunzel played Green Sleeves again.  She got a few more of the notes right.  She tried it once more, humming out the tune.  Just then, Mr. Hook came in.
"I thought it wasn't Eugene who was playing that.  This boy can't even play his nose," he said to Rapunzel, grinning.
"Hey, you're the one who asked me to work here.  Get back to the store before someone steals something."
"Yeah, yeah, says the delinquent."  Mr. Hook shuffled out of the back room.  Eugene turned back to Rapunzel.
"He only treats me like that cause I've known him since I was little."
"Really?"
"Yeah, he and my dad were in the same motorcycle gang.  He's practically an uncle."  Rapunzel's fingers brushed the strings again.  "I'll string instruments with your hair."
"What?"  Rapunzel looked up alarmed, wondering what sort of pick up line that was.
"Eurydice, by Sarah Ruhl.  Good play.  Haunting.  Based off the Greek myth of Orpheus.  Guy went to the underworld to bring his true love's soul back, but he wound up looking at her and she had to stay there."
"He wasn't supposed to look at her," Rapunzel asked.
"Not until they both left the underworld."
"Oh.  I don't see many plays."
"Neither do I.  I read them.  I mean, I live above a bookstore, so, ergo, right?"
"Right.  What's your favorite play?"
"Don't have one, but my favorite musical is Into the Woods.  I actually have the original Broadway production on DVD.  You should watch it sometime.  Bernadette Peters is awesome as the witch."
"Maybe."  Rapunzel had heard of Into the Woods.  It was more fairytales.  She didn't want fairytales.  She also didn't know who Bernadette Peters was.
Rapunzel set the guitar back on the table.  She looked at her watch.  She'd killed thirty minutes talking with Eugene.
"You gotta go," he asked.
"In a bit.  We could probably discuss one more thing."
"Like what?"  Rapunzel shrugged.
"I don't know.  You seem to like to start conversations."
"Mm.  You start one."
"Uh…what's your favorite book?"
"Oh, Blondie," he chuckled, "really?"  Actually, Rapunzel couldn't believe she had asked that either.  It wasn't like she was curious about him or anything, and that sort of question was reserved for speed dating.  "Never flirt," he told her.  "My favorite book is anything that's a fairytale."
Are you kidding me?  More fairytales?  What sort of guy is he?
"What's your favorite movie?"  She asked another speed dating question.  What was with her?
"You want to keep this going?  Are you interrogating me now," he teased.
"You told me to start a conversation."  That idea was her only defense.
I am such an idiot, she told herself.
"Well, at least you're not asking me what my favorite color is.  My favorite movie is Court Jester with Danny Kay.  An oldie, but a goodie."
"What's your favorite color?"  That, she just did to tease.
"Really," he laughed.  Rapunzel couldn't help but smile too.  "Fine.  Last one.  My favorite color is the color of the sky and moon and sun, as the orbs sail overhead, casting their beams across the land.  The sun burns the sky.  The moon freezes the land.  The stars wash away the earth's pain.  I wait in my impatience for them to return, wishing to see the shades and hues again, reflected in your eyes."  Rapunzel blinked.  Her heart fluttered.
"Is that from something," she asked.
"Nope, right off the top of my head."  Rapunzel was a little impressed.  It was a beautiful answer.  "You probably should go now, right?"  Rapunzel looked at her watch.
"Uh….yeah."  Eugene stood up and led Rapunzel back to the store front.
"This was fun.  Best lunch break I've had in awhile, course, better company helps."
"Hey," said Mr. Hook.
"You should swing by my night job.  It's way more entertaining than here."
"Hey!"  Eugene patted his boss on the back, then took out a piece of paper and pen from under the front counter.  He wrote down the address and handed it to Rapunzel.  "Swing by sometime.  You can meet some of my other friends."
"Okay.  Sure.  I'll see what I can do.  Bye."
"Bye-bye, Blondie."  Rapunzel opened the door and stepped out into the biting February air once more.  Her bus came a few minutes later and she was on her way to another dreadful photo shoot, but her mind was back with Eugene.  She held the address close.