Timeless (Enoch O Connor x OC)

17: I'm Not Peculiar

"Oh right!" I said, "happy birthday Millard."

"Thanks," he replied unenthusiastically.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy your birthday when you get one of Miss Peregrine's delicious cupcakes tonight," said Emma. 

"I suppose," he said with a sigh, "anyways, why are you to going to the village?"

"Uhhmm I- uh I just have to- uhh ," I stuttered. I hadn't gotten Millard anything for his birthday so I felt terrible telling him I was shopping for a gift for Enoch. After I had rejected him too. 

"She's going to buy a gift for Enoch's birthday tomorrow," Emma said without hesitating.

"Oh," he said sadly.

"And- and a gift for you too, of course, but goshdarn now you'll know about it," I lied. Usually, my lies were convincing but this time it came out a little flat. It was enough to convince Millard though. 

"I'll pretend to be surprised," he said joyfully, "I'll just stand outside the shop."

Now I had to find two perfect presents I thought dismally. 

We entered the town and as usual, the civilians gave us a wide berth on the street. We passed a fishmonger and an inn named the Priests Hole. What an odd name for an inn, I thought. Finally, we came across an actual shop that sold all kinds of knickknacks. 

I left Millard outside and Emma stayed with him to make sure he didn't follow me into the store secretly.

I entered as a little bell rang above the door.

"Welcome to Beryl's Boutique," an old lady announced. She had black hair that was going grey and a turquoise shawl wrapped around her neck with tacky big jewels on her rings. 

"What can I help you with?" she asked, looking me up and down.

"It's my friend's birthday tomorrow and I'm trying to find the perfect present," I told her.

"Well, what does your friend like?" she asked, "jewelry, books, art, music?"

"Uhhh," I said, unsure of what to say since I couldn't exactly tell her that he enjoyed harvesting organs, "I'm not very sure, I want him to love the gift though. Any suggestions?"

"So it's a he?" she asked wagging her brows, "well, we have several items of men's clothing such as scarves, hats, shirts, and so on. We also have records for a phonograph if you own one of those, and we also have an assortment of books, cookbooks to biographies to classics."

"Hmmm," I said wandering the store. There were so many choices and I was quite indescive.  I shut my eyes and spun in a circle and chose an object at random. What would make the gift perfect was not what it was but how it made me feel so choosing anything could work, I decided. I opened my eyes and saw what I had picked up.

It was a porcelain statue of a lion, its eyebrows were raised inquisitively and its face was much too human looking for a lion. I quickly set it down, it was too creepy to feel special.  

Once more I shut my eyes and walked up to an object. I opened my eyes to find a mirror in my hand. I stared at the reflection of myself, my hair in waves framing my face. The back of the mirror was a coral color with gold embellishments. I doubted Enoch was the type to look at himself in the mirror for hours plus I could never afford it if it was real gold. 

I shut my eyes again for the last time and walked in a different direction. This time the object I picked up was cold and smooth. I opened my eyes to find a beautiful brass heart-shaped pocket watch. The metal that wove around the watch grew warm as I held it in my palm. Its long chain moved around as I twisted the watch in my hand so I could see all of it. I felt in my chest a special connection to the pocket watch. It was a mix of Enoch and I, the heart for his powers and the watch for mine. It was perfect.