The day after her night out at Karaoke Roulette, Harlow found herself at work with both sore arms and a sore head. She felt that she couldn't handle the butter making any more at the current moment. Luckily for her, she was able to convince Gigi, another coworker, the night before to switch work spots with her. So while nursing her hangover, Harlow sat quietly by a rather warm fire, stitching in her hands. She had to give Gigi props- the careful, even seam stitching was harder to achieve than it looked. Though she wasn't the best, Harlow was pleased with her work.
On the bright side, it was the weekend of Ol' Hallows Eve at Old Dalton Village so literally every child from St. Dalton was dressed up and running around the made-up village. Harlow could hear the squeals and giggles from the distance as she continued her work. Old Dalton Village, as many tourist destinations, held special events to correspond to the current holiday. For Halloween Old Dalton village brought out their cobwebs and broomsticks to celebrate the fall harvest and ward away the evils stated to lurk in the town's surrounding forest. They also gave out candy to the kids during the celebration.
Her current quaint little cottage was tucked away in the corner of the re-enactment town, and candy-less; thus giving her a relaxing day. Which she was grateful for, since she couldn't nurse herself in bed. Both Danielle and Luke had the day off of work, and Harlow was sure that they were nice in bed rather than stabbing their fingers as they attempted stitch work.
Her whole body shuttered as the needle poked into the soft skin of her finger. Pulling it away with a small hiss, she shook it. "Damn it." It burned for a second, before the pain turned into a slight throb.
"Oh-in here- I love this one!" Harlow glanced up from her throbbing finger to see a little girl dressed in an outfit that was a mixture of a princess, unicorn and a ninja. Harlow couldn't help but to smile at the girl's uniqueness, the pounding in her head lessening.
"Good Hallows Eve young child." The girl smiled at her greeting, looking over the wooden barrier to the art in Harlow's hands. "Hi- whatcha making?" Her wide, hazel eyes studied the art. "I'm working on a stitching of a pumpkin; in honors of this coming Hallows Eve." Harlow held up the pitiful stitch work, putting on her best smile. The little girl gave a small gasp, a small finger pointing at the glittering threat.
"Kida- there you are..."Harlow looked up to the new visitor, and her smile faltered as the numbing dread spread through her body. It was him- the grey eye man from the diner. All the hairs on her body seemed to rise up as they made eye contact. In that moment, it felt as if he was bearing into her soul. She looked away, trying to focus on basic breathing. Harlow kept her eyes on the little girl, Kida, ignoring the man.
"Look Colton, she's making a pumpkin." He nodded his head, and looked between Harlow and Kida. "Kida, your dad is over at the cooking hut with a cob of corn with your name on it." Kida jumped up and down- gushing about her love for corn- before rushing from the room. "Goodbye sweet child!" Once she was gone, the smile fell from Harlow's face and the numbing feeling spread. She wanted to; no, she needed to leave. Unable to do that, Harlow tried to focus on her stitch work. After a few moments, the man didn't leave. Though Harlow had hoped he would follow after the girl.
"Hi."
"Good Hallows Eve to you sir." Her voice was emotionless, and from the corner of her eye she saw the man, Colton, run a hand through his curls with a sigh. Harlow fought her raising heart rate. "You're new here, right?" Harlow finally frowned, stabbing her needle into the fabric. "No sir, I've lived in Dalton Village since I migrated here as a young girl. Now if ye excuse me, I must finish my needle work 'for the night's dawning."
"Well, when you finish your needle work, would you like to go to dinner? Or get coffee?" Harlow could feel her hands shaking as she held her breath in an attempt to control her emotion. "Ye offend me, I must demand that you leave my home at once." Still refusing to look directly at him, Colton sighed, and left the cottage in a huff. Resting her work in her lap, Harlow angrily tried to control her shaking.Digging her cell phone from her dress pockets, Harlow checked the time. She was sure her Supervisor wouldn't mind her taking off from her shift a few minutes early. It was almost closing time anyways. Closing up her cottage, Harlow rushed to the staff-only area. She locked herself into a single stall restroom and called Viviana.
"Hey, what's up?" Viviana sounded relaxed on the other end of the line. "He came- the guy from the diner was at my work today!"
"What? Are you okay?" Harlow nodded her head, though Viviana couldn't see it through the phone. "Yeah, I'm fine, just super stressed and slightly shaky."
"Okay, well, what happened? Did he realize it was you?"
"Yeah, he did and get this- Viv, he asked me out on a date." A scoff came from the other end of the line, "A date, really?"
"Yeah, I said no."
"Good- that's what he gets for being a creeper."
"But- I think I learned his name."
"Really- how?!"
"Well, this little girl comes in and is totally into my bad stitch work. He then came in to get her. She called him Colton, so I'm assuming that's his name." The other side of the line got deadly silent. "Viv?" Harlow looked at her phone to make sure she didn't lose connection. "I'm here- you said Colton?"
Harlow frowned at the delayed response. "Yeah; why?"
"There's only one Colton in St. Dalton, Low, and I know him."
"What, how?"
"We, uh, we grew up together, you know. St. Dalton is a small town and all."
"So I shouldn't be worried?"
"No, you're fine. You have nothing to worry about. I, just, kind of burnt a lot of bridges when I originally left St. Dalton so if he's going to go crazy on anyone it'll be me." That scared Harlow. "Are you safe?"
"Yeah, totally. Don't worry about me, okay? You worry about yourself." Harlow nodded her head again, thanking her friend. Hanging up her phone, Harlow left the bathroom. She headed back into the change station and got into her own clothes.
Clocking out, she left through a side door towards the employee parking lot. As Harlow moved towards her car, a figure walking towards her made her stop in her tracks. Without a second thought, her hand gripped the pepper spray that hung from her key's lanyard. Gulping, she started away from the figure and towards her car. "Hey!" It was a male voice. She picked up her pace, ignoring the call. "Hey!" the voice repeated, as the man got closer. Glancing over and seeing it was Colton only made Harlow's brisk walk turn into a fast walk. He called out once more toher. "Please stop!" A rough hand gripping her upper arm stopped her mid-step and she let out a tiny shrill as she stumbled. Whipping her head around, Harlow tugged her arm. "Let me go!" She continued to tug, unsuccessfully.
"No- not until you talk to me!" Harlow looked at him like he grew two more heads. All her anxiety flew from her body and was replaced with rage. "Why the hell should I talk to you? I owe you nothing- now let me go!" She pulled at her arm again, the anger mixing with adrenaline. "Please, just hear me out." He begged at her, not releasing her. "Let me go or else!"
"Please-ah!" Colton's grip released Harlow's arm as the white stream of pepper spray hit his eyes straight on. A line of curses came out of his mouth as he bent over in pain. Turning, Harlow took off in the fastest run she could muster. It was a level of speed she hadn't gone to since her sophomore year of high school when Joey Jimenez challenged her to a mile run. Unlocking her doors as she ran closer, she fell into the driver seat and turned the car on. Without buckling her seatbelt, she peeled out of the parking lot.
~~~
When she got home, Viviana was at the front door to greet her with a bowl of candy in her hands. A group of children rushing from their front porch to the next house. Upon seeing Harlow, Viviana scanned over her friend. Viviana closed the front door once both were in the house.
"Low?"
"He followed me, Viv, and he grabbed me." Tears made Harlow's eyes shine. "So I pepper prayed him." Viviana sat the bowl of candy down, her eyes not leaving Harlow. "Colton?" Harlow nodded, her eyes falling. "You okay?" Harlow looked up to her friend. "I'm mad." Viviana wrapped her arms around Harlow. "You have every right to be. I'm glad you're okay." Pulling away, Viviana wiped the few stray tears that found their way onto Harlow's face.
"I'm going to take a shower, you still down for some scary movies?"
"Totally, take your time Low and I'll see to the trick-or-treaters."
~~~
The doorbell rang, interrupting the mood of the scary movie had created in the living room.
"I'll get it!" Viviana hopped up from the couch, and headed to the foyer. Harlow paused the movie and watched Viviana grabbing the bowl of candy before finally opening the front door. "Trick or treat!" A chorus of children's voices greeted her. The encounter in the parking lot with Colton earlier in the day had shook her up badly but she refused to allow it to ruin Halloween. After coming home, Harlow told her everything that had happened in the parking lot. After making sure that Harlow was okay, Viviana fell off of the couch from laughing so hard, claiming that Colton had it coming.
Hearing the door close, Viviana came back into the living room placing the bowl of candy on the coffee table. "Play the movie, play it!" She fell back onto the couch, just as the scary movie resumed. Harlow, who was selfishly holding the bowl of popcorn for herself, took a large handful just as the doorbell rang again. Setting it a side, she stood; "I'll get it." Grabbing the bowl of candy, she bounced into the foyer and opened the front door. "Treat or treat!" She smiled, looking down at the small group of children. There was a Buzz Lightyear, a fairy, Iron Man and hot dog. "Look at you all!" Harlow laughed as she held out the bowl of candy. The hot dog was defiantly the best costume she had seen all night. "Thank you!"
"You're welcome, be safe!" Closing the door, she locked it and sat the bowl of candy back on the stairs. Going back into the living room, where the movie had been paused, she fell back into her pile of blankets.