Wandering Spirits

Chapter 14

"Storm? What are you doing here?" A familiar voice cut through the muted buzz of the store.

With a jerk, Storm looked up, his clothes hanging dangerously on the brink of slipping down to the floor. It was Liam, standing there with a literal question mark written all over his face, eyebrows raised in mild confusion.

"And why are you holding women's clothes?" Liam continued, tilting his head slightly to the side, adding a hint of curiosity to his voice.

Storm's gaze flickered briefly to the left, then to the right, searching for an escape route that did not exist. Instead of words, he met Liam's gaze with an ambiguous smile that could be interpreted as either confidence or deep panic - with him, it was often difficult to tell.

Liam, who was always more observant than he let on, looked at the pile of clothes and waited for an explanation. But Storm, even though he was usually quick with a witty remark, found himself unusually silent as he balanced his magnificent load of satin and lace.

There was an undercurrent of humor in the whole situation, and even though neither of them said it out loud, they both knew that this would be a story that would be retold within their group of friends for months - maybe even years - to come. Storm's ability to end up in such absurd situations was almost legendary, and this would definitely be another gem in the collection.

His heart pounded like a wild drum in his chest, and he felt a warmth spreading over his cheeks. The flaming red color that usually adorned his hair now seemed to have infiltrated his face. He stared down at the pile of delicate fabrics that suddenly felt like lead in his hands.

"It's soon my sister's birthday and... well," he mumbled, his voice sounding unfamiliarly uncertain, and he let the sentence hang in the air, incomplete like a thought he couldn't grasp.

Liam raised an eyebrow, and Storm could almost hear the wheels spinning behind his friend's skeptical eyes.

He could imagine the headlines in tomorrow's imaginary newspaper: "Local man found redder than a tomato in the women's department." But there was something about Liam's gaze that made him know that this would not be the end of the world. Maybe just of his humility.

Around them, the busy life of the store continued. Other customers stared discreetly under half-closed eyelids while pretending to be busy with their own purchases, but their ears were tuned to the two men.

With a gentle tug on a lace edge, Storm managed to pull his thoughts back from the brink of disaster and back to the present. "It looks nice, doesn't it?" he said in an attempt to redirect the conversation, even though he felt that the words were just as loose in the air as his previous explanation.

Liam's voice cut through the air. "And you buy ALL of this for her? It looks expensive." A half smile played around the friend's lips, as if he was commenting on something more trivial than Storm's current crisis.

"It is... yes, it is a gift," he insisted with a tone that bore the mark of a rehearsed line from a play he had never wanted to be a part of. The store's neon lights flickered in his field of vision, like a reminder that he was in a far too public place.

"Underwear, really?!" Liam leaned a bit closer, eyebrows raised in a mix of astonishment and curiosity.

"Yes, she wanted underwear!" he replied, this time the frustration was more evident in his voice. His blue eyes shot lightning at Liam, as he tried to maintain the facade of a brother who just wanted to fulfill his sister's wish.

Storm let his gaze wander over the clothes hangers, where he caught glimpses of his own reflection - a young man trapped in a lie. He longed to be somewhere else, any place other than here. But most of all, he wished to see Freja's face light up again.