Tea for Tat (Weekend Freewrite -- 12/21/2019)

unsplash-logoDan Meyers

Prompt First Sentence: Inside, the siren call slacked off, to be replaced by a single note of harmony

"Must have been the fire alarm or somethin'..." I muttered under my breath as I gave the small establishment another once over.

It looked different from its previous setup but still managed to keep its casual appeal. Just as I was about to step inside, a petite woman stepped out, she was slightly coughing before she looked up and noticed my presence.

She was still disarmingly pretty and I couldn't help but stare into her vibrant green eyes as they registered with shock, "Rick?"

Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

Prompt 2
"Yeah. Not renting saves me a bucketload of money."

I looked around the quaint little space that she converted the place into, "Looks like you did good with the place as well." I said as I took a sip from the teacup Dakota had served me.

Placing her chin in her palm as she leaned forward on the table across from me, "Cut with the crap, Rick and tell me why you're here. Honestly, you're like a bull stuck with all my china." she said with a huge grin on her face.

Playing along with her teasing, I cautiously adjusted my leg from under the small table but did a miscalculation.

"Yowch!" I shouted out and proceeded to pull out my leg, only for my knee to bump into the underside of the table, causing some of the tea to spill on the edges of my teacup.

unsplash-logoChris Liverani

Prompt 3
a broken toe

And probably a fractured kneecap later, Dakota took pity on me and finally led me to her more spacious living room.

"I'm actually here to ask for your help." I quietly said as she pressed an icepack on my knee.

"And here I thought you came back just to check on lil' ole me." she had a wistful look on her face as she said this.

I placed my hand over hers, "Henry... is he?" I dreaded to ask but Dakota hurriedly replied, "The things got to him too... I had to..." her eyes turned misty and I had to resist the urge to hold her close against me.

"Hey..." I held her cheek and tilted her head so she'd look at me, "I actually came back to get you to come with me."

Blinking her tears away, she suddenly looked at me with a confused expression on her face, "And hunt down those alien-looking things? Like some kind of Men in Black?" she asked and I had to lean away just to keep from laughing out loud.

"Exactly. So what do you say? Partners?" I held out my hand so we could shake on it.

She looked doubtful for a second which made me second-doubt myself in thinking this was best for her, but she slowly had a smile forming on her lips and was clasping my hand the next second.

"All right partner, where to next?"

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Author's note: The characters of Rick and Dakota were previously featured on Good Ole Pot of Joe (We-Write #7). The story is far from complete. I must admit that I've been exploring and expanding on previously written stories. Hopefully, I will come to a point when I could complete a full length story. Perhaps then, I'll get to fulfill my dream of being an author.