— gastrell & butler —
July 18th, 1937
BACK IN HER sophomore year of high school, Giselle's former best friend, Lacey Thomas, convinced her to go to a senior party she had scored an invite to.
Giselle had been against it at first, wanting to spend her Friday night at home in bed binge-watching a good TV show rather than be crammed in a house with sweaty teenagers and rap music. But, Lacey Thomas was the type of person that didn't take 'no' for a answer, which led Giselle to eventually add the word 'former' to Lacey's title of best friend years later.
One thing Lacey couldn't convince Giselle to do was wear something skimpy, which was why the girl showed up at the rager in jeans and a simple blouse.
She remembered feeling very out of place as she walked into the dark room, sticking out like a sore thumb and getting tossed around by drunk teenagers and having to yell in order to be heard over the blaring music.
She felt similar to how she felt then as she walked into Gastrell & Butler's Department Store with Selene flanking her side. The store was located in a larger town named Frobisher, which apparently was the town everyone from Gentilly went to when they needed something.
Even though Giselle was dressed in era-appropriate clothes, she still felt incredibly out of place as she took in all that 1937 had to offer.
People passed her by without sparing her a second glance as she stared openly at them, their clothing, and gaped at the fact that most of them were dead in her time.
She was also taken aback by how nice and neat everything and everyone was. The shelves were stocked to perfection, everything perfectly straight and in place. People were dressed in their finest. All women wore makeup. All men wore dress shoes.
It almost seemed like a movie.
The remaining doubts that had clung to the neurons in her brain slowly faded away as her eyes flicked around the store. There was no disputing the time travel story. Selene was right. It was the truth, and there was no way around it.
She stopped when the gravity of the truth finally weighed on her.
"Giselle?" Selene questioned, slowing to a stop and looking back at her younger cousin. "You okay?"
Giselle nodded. "Yeah. I—It all just hit me."
She met Selene's eyes, finding understanding there. Of course she would. The women knew exactly what Giselle was thinking. She had done this all before.
"You'll get used to it," Selene assured her. "Just be lucky you're in a more modern time than where I ended up so many years ago. People traveled by horse and buggy, and I had to wear a corset. A corset, Giselle!"
Giselle felt her eyes widen, suddenly grateful for being dumped in the 30s instead of somewhere worse.
Selene waved her hand forward. "Come on, the women's section is over here."
Giselle struggled to keep up with Selene's long strides, the too-big heels the woman had loaned her making it a feat.
Selene had graciously given Giselle her clothes to wear for the time being, which made Giselle feel like a little girl playing dress up in her mother's closet.
Selene was tall for a women, with her lanky limbs and long torso. It made her clothes ill-fitting to Giselle's smaller frame, which, in turn, made the idea of shopping for new clothes all the more appealing.
"Ah, here we are," Selene said, stopping at a rack of dresses. "Important lesson to learn when time traveling to the the 30s—casual doesn't exist much here. At least, our casual, that is. Everyone here is always dressed to impress. The most casual you can get still involves curled hair and stockings if you want to avoid being the talk of the town."
Giselle frowned, missing the twenty-first century then more than ever. She shook off that thought and started going through the dresses. They all ended at the calf and had high necklines, but she managed to find a few in colors she liked.
"Giselle," Selene called out, voice hesitant. They were at the blouses now, Giselle pulling her eyes away from a pale pink one with flowers on it to look up at the woman.
"Yeah?"
"How is everyone? George and Maxine and—and my mum?" Giselle noticed the British accent accompanied with the word 'mom.' It seemed like Selene hadn't shaken the accent away completely, like the memories attached to the word wouldn't let her.
"Oh, they're all good. Um, your mom is in good health, and Mom and Dad are fine. Though, I'm sure my dad got the shock of a lifetime when he saw me disappear before his eyes." She tried to laugh, but it came out inauthentic. She was actually quite worried for her father. Seeing your daughter disappear without a trace could probably take a toll on a person, she was sure.
"You know, it's probably best that he saw that," Selene said. "Now he's more inclined to believe you when you go back." A frown crossed her face. "Mum didn't believe me when I told her."
"You told her about the tree?" Giselle asked in disbelief.
Selene nodded. "I did, right after Joseph and I got married. I thought it was the best time to tell her, even brought a picture and Joseph's journal back to her—to try and convince her. She just laughed in my face. Told me I was foolish for making up a story to cover my absence."
"Oh," was all Giselle could think to say.
Selene sighed, shaking out of her frown and managing a smile. "Sorry, this is not the place to have this conversation," she said. "I meant to tell you last night after dinner, but things were so hectic that I forgot."
Giselle could agree with her. Dinner was rather hectic.
Albert and Barbara were rather unruly with asking her question after question at the dinner table. Then, they had requested for her to play hide and seek again after they were done eating, which Giselle didn't have the heart to deny them. One round turned into four and then it was time for bed, which caused meltdown after meltdown. Even the baby, little Dorothy, started wailing with them.
Giselle hadn't minded the chaos. In fact, she welcomed it. It kept her mind off of everything she didn't want to think about.
Giselle and Selene eventually moved on to more items. They got skirts, hats, heels, gloves, and Giselle let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding when she spotted pants, though Selene told her that pants were worn casually and weren't necessarily popular in a small town like Gentilly.
That didn't stop Giselle from scooping up as many pairs of pants as Selene would allow. She didn't care if the small-town folk would look at her funny, she needed some sense of normalcy.
They were heading out of the store with plenty of bags in hand when someone swooped out in front of them, flashing a smile.
"Hello, ladies," the man greeted. "Would you fancy help? Seems like you've purchased the whole store."
Selene chuckled as Giselle stared at the man. He was a tall man, with dark blond hair and warm, brown eyes. He was also attractive, though not to the caliber she would say Will was at. Though he seemed older than Will, possibly in his late twenties or early thirties.
"Dr. Polk, it's lovely to see you," Selene said, letting him take her bags. "Ah, this is my cousin, Giselle Saunders. She's staying with us for the time being."
The man turned his eyes to Giselle, lighting up in a way that let her know he liked what he saw.
"It's wonderful to meet you, Miss Saunders," he grinned. "I'm Doctor Lawrence Polk, though, please, call me Lawrence. I work here in Frobisher, though I go to Gentilly often for house calls."
"It's wonderful to meet you as well, Lawrence," Giselle replied. "And you can call me Giselle."
"Will do, Giselle," he stepped forward. "I'll be happy to take your bags."
Giselle relinquished her bags to him, smiling. "Thank you."
"You're very welcome. How long will you be staying in Gentilly?"
"Um," she looked over to Selene. "I don't know yet."
"She and her father are moving from America to London for his business. She's with us while he handles the move, and will come stay when he travels for work," Selene told him, her lie easily passing as the truth. She started walking towards the exit of the building, waving a hand for the others to follow.
Lawrence fell into step beside Giselle. "Oh, well, I do hope the move goes well," he said, smiling.
"It's been a little rocky, but's it's been good so far."
"That's good." He looked down at the bags in his hands, holding up his right hand. "I assume these are for you, then. New wardrobe for a new city?"
Giselle grinned. "I needed a little something more England. I had to move schools once when I was little and learned some pretty good advice—things will go a lot smoother if you try to blend in."
"Well, I don't think you'll blend in. Beautiful women never blend in," Lawrence said smoothly.
Giselle felt the blood rise to her cheeks, the urge to flirt back taking over. "A handsome doctor with charisma? Gosh, your patients must love you."
"Oh, only all of them," he quipped. "Where exactly are you moving from in America?"
"Spencer City in Mississippi," she told him. "It's a rinky-dink little town, but it's got character."
It had five stoplights total, zero fast food places, and was miles away from any Walmarts or Targets, but she loved her hometown dearly.
I won't ever be able to go back there, will I? she suddenly realized. She kept a smile on her face as the thought cracked and shattered her heart, her eyes seeking Selene.
The woman looked away quickly, clearing her throat. "So, Lawrence, how has work been going?"
"It's been well," Lawrence replied. He looked back to Giselle. "Are you enjoying Gentilly thus far?"
"Um, yes," Giselle managed to say, brushing her roaring thoughts aside. "It's a beautiful town."
"That it is. I used to live there before I got a job here. My father worked with William's."
"Oh, so you're friends with Will?" Giselle didn't think Will was capable of such a thing.
"More like acquaintances," Lawrence corrected. "We never crossed paths much with him being younger than me, and he always kept to himself."
"Yes, Will has always been very quiet," Selene jumped in. "So studious and reserved, that one."
'Quiet?' Giselle scoffed to herself. Why was he never quiet around me? It would be nice to not be insulted by him for once.
"Yes, especially after—" Lawrence caught himself, his eyes glancing over to Selene's briefly before he looked back to Giselle, throwing a smile on his face. "Well, here we are," he motioned to their car. It was a little thing that uncomfortably sat six with very little leg room.
Lawrence set down the bags on the ground and opened the doors for the ladies before scooping everything back up and stuffing it into the backseat and bidding them goodbye.
"He fancies you, you know," Selene told Giselle as they pulled out of the parking lot. "You better get used to it. Men from around here flock to pretty American girls like moths to a flame. Don't be surprised if you get a marriage proposal or two."
"A marriage proposal?" Giselle gaped. "Are you kidding?"
"Nope. People don't beat around the bush in this era."
"Gosh, so now I have to worry about suitors and spontaneously time traveling." She shook her head. "What has my life come to?"
Selene laughed. "Oh, you'll get used to it. And, who knows? You might just find you someone that you fancy. It might not seem like it will work with that tree and all, but it can if you will it too."
Giselle thought of Will then, oddly enough, which then brought up another thought.
"Hey, what was Lawrence talking about?" Giselle asked, looking over to Selene. "When he was talking about Will."
"Oh," Selene said, her content smile shifting into something solemn. "He was talking about Will's parents." Will's parents. Giselle had been wondering about them, and why they hadn't showed up at dinner the night before. "They died within a few months of each other last year, shortly after Dorothy was born."
Giselle cast her eyes down to her lap, picturing Will and his herd of siblings and feeling sorry for them.
"Don't mention it around him," Selene said. "He doesn't like talking about it." She blew out a breath. "That poor boy has the weight of the world on his shoulders."
They didn't speak much the rest of the way home, the noisy hum of the car's engine drowning out the silence.
Giselle sat back, watching the trees dart by the window as she thought about Will and how she was beginning to see him in clearer focus.
• • • • • • • • • • •
Word count: 2,291 words.
Question: Have your ever been to a theme/amusement park? If so, which one?
I am currently driving back from a trip to Universal Studios Orlando/Epcot at Disney World with my family and boy oh boy am I ready to be home.
Going to a theme park is fun and all until you wake up after the first day and your whole body is sore from walking. I still had fun though.
PLEASE VOTE AND COMMENT TO MAKE ME SMILE!!!