Through the Ashes

Her Name is Slade.

The bus approaches Ping’s Tech, I grab my bag and hop off. The shop is only about a mile from my apartment but it’s in the opposite direction from school. I swipe my wristband to set up a bus ride for 8pm. I should be out of work by then. I’ll tell Ping I still have to do homework for tomorrow. I open the door and head to the back room, Brandon’s up front talking with a customer so I nod at him as I pass by. The repair area in the back is a garage attached to the storefront. Ping kind of remodeled it so that it had dividing walls for each area we can work on our repairs, and an additional area for breaks, which we didn’t take often. I walk to the break room, grab a can of cola from the fridge, and head to my pod to finish the repairs from yesterday. I drop my backpack on the ground and pick up a laptop labeled:

Battery won’t charge. Larry S. pick up 2/28 3pm.

Crap, 3pm tomorrow, I’ve gotta get this one done tonight. I place the sticky note on the desk and begin running diagnostics on the computer.

“Shade, how late you staying”, Ping's voice startles me from my work.

“Oh, uh, I got a project due tomorrow so I’m gonna catch the bus at 8 if that’s cool.”

Ping is usually pretty lenient despite his stern appearance. He looms over my desk and the shop lights reflect on his bald spot, making him look almost angelic despite his large frame.

“No worries Shade, just make sure you finish all the orders with pickups before 3pm tomorrow. Don’t want to upset any customers.”

He walks off quickly, probably to finish his own work. Ping’s always been cool, he doesn’t just have employees, he works with us too, and he is one of the only people I know that calls me Shade.

This laptop is gonna need a new battery and the charging port is fried! Is that cheese in there? Come on man. I mean, I get it, I’m messy, but cheese in the port. Disgusting. I let out a sigh as I went up front to grab the battery for this model. We don’t keep batteries in the back because it’s more likely a customer buys the replacement and installs it themselves. It’s a really easy fix and I’m surprised he brought it to the shop for this. When I walk through the door into the storefront, the woman from earlier is talking to Brandon. She cuts him off mid-sentence when she sees me enter.

“Oh, it's you. Are you okay? I mean, you look a lot better, but gosh, that was scary—”

“Nope, I’m fine, I just slipped is all. Sorry, I’m working on a repair right now but Brandon can help you with all your tech needs.”

I breeze past her, knowing Brandon would ask me about this when he got to the back. Why is she here? This can’t be a coincidence. I grab the battery from the shelf and rush to the back to finish working on the laptop.

A few hours passed and I realize its 7 o’clock, so I go into the break room to grab a granola bar to munch on. One hour until the bus arrives and I’ve got two repairs to finish. I’m on a roll. I turn around to see Brandon walk in and grab a bottle of water from the fridge.

“You gonna tell me what that was all about kid?” He chugs half the bottle of water before putting it back in the fridge for later.

“Oh, it was nothing. Just slipped on some ice earlier and that lady saw it and tried to help me up.” I’m being nonchalant but my brain is in hyperdrive at the mention of the situation again.

“That’s nice of her. But what a coinkydink, huh? She helps you and now you gotta help her. Funny. She needs a screen replacement on a tablet, manufacturers wore out. Doesn’t need it until Friday though.”

“No problem, put it in my cubbies, I’ll get to it. I gotta go get two more repairs done by 8, but I’ll see you later man.” He nods as I walk out to finish my work.

I finish the last two repairs and clean up my work station. I swipe the bus app on my phone to make sure they’ll be on time. Crap. I knew I shouldn’t have silenced my notifications. The buses have cancelled their remaining routes from 7pm-11pm because of the weather. I can’t believe it hasn’t stopped snowing all day. Oh well, it’s only a mile walk, and I’ve got my gloves in my backpack. I put on my warm clothes, grab my backpack, and head for the door.

“Hey, Shade! I need to run to the store for some energy drinks. We’re all out and Brandon’s going to be here most of the night. Want me to give you a lift?”

“Sure Ping, that’d be great. The buses aren’t running tonight. Can I tag to the store too? I can use a few things myself.” He nods his head in response and heads to the back for a moment.

Ping walks out with his coat on and keys in hand. He opens the door and we both walk over to his car. I needed some groceries anyway. I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I ran out of coffee. And we did get paid today. I swipe the banking app on my wristband and see I’ve got $987 in my account. Rent is due in two days, so if I take $700 out for that, I’ve got about $200 for the two weeks after I grab groceries. I don’t want to take up too much of Ping’s time, so I’ll make my selections in the store and have them delivered over. It’s faster that way.

“Hey, if you’re worried about affording groceries, don’t be.”

He swipes the screen on the dashboard and transfers $100 into my account.

“What. No, Ping, I don’t want your money, you pay me more than a fair wage.”

“It’s not mine. Some lady left you a tip earlier. Said she thought you’d need it.”

Some lady? The same lady? This is so weird. But I’m not gonna tell Ping about it. I don’t want him to worry. We pulled into the market parking lot and headed inside. Ping grabs a cart and starts his shopping. I grab an order tablet and sit in the small café area filling out the order form to have my groceries delivered first thing tomorrow morning. Can’t be late tomorrow if the delivery service is ringing the bell at 6:30am ha.

I finish processing the order and place the tablet back in its holder. I look around to see if I can find Ping and I spot him near an endcap of chips. As I head over to him, I hear a voice I recognize and I turn around. How is she here. Why is she here? This is insane.

“Look lady—” I began to ask her what the heck was going on but I couldn’t get the words out. Standing beside her was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. The light surrounds her like an aura of perfect white. Angelic, absolutely angelic. I stood there, staring, in shock.

“Oh, hello again! What’s your name? I don’t think I caught it.” The lady was as kind as ever.

“Uh, Shadeis, ma’am, my name is Shadeis.”

“Well Shadeis, no need to call me ma’am, my name is Elizabeth Feyrer. I sure hope you can fix my tablet by Friday.” I can’t respond to her, I’m lost. I nodded my head in response.

“Oh, manners, this is Slade, my daughter. We’re just doing a bit of shopping, but it was nice to see you, stay safe out there, okay kid?”

Slade. Her name is Slade. She has the greenest eyes I have ever seen. My God, she’s just gorgeous. The light bathes her skin in a beautiful glow as she looks back at me with a small smile. Her cheeks begin to flush as she tucks a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. Oh, her hair, it’s amazing. Long locks toned with differing shades of pink that just compliment her caramel skin so perfectly. And her skin. It’s absolutely flawless. She looks as though if I were to touch her, she might shatter into a million pieces, but my God do I want to touch her skin. Does she know? Can she see how beautiful she is? They turn and walk away, continuing their shopping, but the faintest scent of strawberries and spun sugar lingers in the air.

I stood there, shaken by the person who just stood before me. She seemed familiar, just like her mother, but in a different way. I could almost feel the warmth radiating from her glow, and I have never felt so drawn to someone in my entire life. Slade.

“Hey, ready to go?” Ping grabs my shoulder and I turn to face him. Shaking my head to clear the deja-vu I’ve just felt, I head out to his car with him.