12Here, I found your heart.
Samantha stared. She did not see the little thing in time, laying on the ground, when she stepped on it. And for the first couple of minutes she could not figure out what it was. She kneeled and picked up the two little pieces off the ground and held them up with her fingers. It suddenly made sense.
It was a heart! A broken heart! It split unevenly down the middle. The typical way broken hearts are drawn on pieces of paper.
And she was the one who broke it. She couldn't help but feel guilty. What if someone lost this? What if they were looking for it? And she broke it!
She felt her face warm up, nervously she looked around. No one was paying attention. That was good. No one had seen her commit the crime. She then put the two pieces into her pocket.
I'll have to find a way to fix it, she thought, and then maybe post a notice asking who lost their heart.
She did not notice the irony of her thoughts, instead rushing to whatever destination she was headed to before.
It wasn't working. For the fifth time Samantha applied glue to the broken edges of the heart. But they would not stick together. No matter how long she left it alone to dry! The glue just dried up and the minute she picked it up it would break again.
Irritated, she carefully cleaned the glue off. Obviously tape would not work, and she couldn't sow it back up. She didn't want to play with fire, she didn't want to set the apartment on fire. Not that she was clumsy or anything, it just never hurt to be cautious. Especially when you didn't know what you were doing. Besides, she didn't want to melt the heart. That would be horrible!
She sighed heavily and set the two pieces on her table, the whole heart barely fit in her palm. She noticed when she was working on it how smooth the edges were. There were also slivers of gold among the red glass.
Samantha wondered who could have made it? Maybe some glass master decided to make it for his wife or his girlfriend, or his little sister, or his mom. Maybe it wasn't a he at all! A girl, who was probably frantically searching for it now!
She didn't want to admit that she broke it, so the notice would have to wait until she figured out a way to fix it. Although she could just say that she found it this way!
Samantha shook her head, she wasn't a liar. She would admit to accidentally stepping on it and the attempt to fix it!
Tomorrow I'll walk around the center of town, they have a bunch of shops there. I think they even have a vase store there! Sam thought, I'm sure they'll be glad to fix it for me!
Sam found the store, but it was closed. She didn't see a sign that said they will be back soon. It slightly irritated her! She wanted to fix this heart now! She didn't want to wait for people who thought it was more important to stuff their faces with food! Or what ever it is they were doing.
Then she noticed a sign:
"All request must be submitted for approval. Please describe your item as accurately as possible, and let the masters do their job. You don't have to purchase it if you don't like it. Multiple trials available."
It was written in blue sharpie, in quick handwriting. Samantha dug thought her purse to find a piece of paper, and pencil.
"I have a broken heart. It was stepped on and it cracked. It's made out of fragile red glass. My attempt to fix it went in vane. Can you help me? Please call: 442-8247. Ask for Samantha."
It made since to her when she read it, she stuck it onto the door, and went home to await for the phone call.
No phone call came. Sam waited though the whole evening, but the phone remained silent.
Perhaps they didn't notice it? Or maybe I wrote down the number wrong!
She couldn't stop thinking about it, and in the end decided to return to the shop the next day. Maybe this time it will actually be open.
The shop was open. Suddenly nervous, Sam shifted her feet uneasily to the door. She saw several people inside and one of them appeared to be dancing. She couldn't quiet figure out the expressions of others.
Taking a deep breath she pulled open the door, and heard a bell ring. Everyone turned to look at her and she felt herself blush.
In a moment of silence they stared at each other. Samantha noticed that the girl that was dancing had a piece of paper in her hand. It was her paper!
So they have found it! So why didn't they call?
"Hello, how may I help you?" a man in an apron asked, he was smiling in a friendly way at her.
"It's about the heart," Samantha almost whispered. Usually brave about things, she felt a little silly now, perhaps it was the guilt of braking it.
The group exchanged looks.
"I'm sorry, but I'm a glass maker not a therapist." Said the man sincerely, Samantha's face boiled.
"I know that!" she snapped, "I have glass heart, that, ehm, someone stepped on! And it broke in half! Here I'll show you!"
Samantha reached into her pocket.
"You carry your heart in your pocket?" asked the dancing girl. Samantha gave her a look before moving into the store toward the man in the apron.
"No, here!" she showed the heart to the bunch of curious faces. "See?"
"We know this heart!" Exclaimed a woman who previously said nothing. "It's Sergio's!"
Sam stared at them, "Really?"
"Ahh, yes!" said the man in the apron, "I recognize it now!"
"Oh, how cute!" sang the dancing girl. "You found his broken heart! You know he made it for his girlfriend, but she broke up with him on the day he was going to give it to her!"
"Yes, you'll have to talk to him. It's his work, and I'm not sure he will want anyone touching it."
Samantha frowned, she did not like this. Some poor boy got his hear broken by some evil girl! She did not want to remind him of it. She especially did not want to show him his work, that she ruined!
"Here he is!" cried the man, alarming Samantha. "Sergio your heart has been found!"
Samantha turned to see a startled young man, perhaps of the same age as her, looking down directly at her. Well, at the heart in her hands anyways.
"Ah so someone found it!" The boy said, in a what Samantha thought was a sad tone. "You can toss it."
"But my boy! She came here to fix it!" The apron man was winking. Samantha's face flared red, and she gave him a dirty look. He made it sound like she came here especially for this guy!
"Why would you want to fix it? It's just a piece of glass." Sergio asked in a quite tone, his features somewhat bewildered.
"I thought it was special," Samantha said softly. His girlfriend broke up with him, she remembered, and it was only a few days ago. She didn't want to stir any feelings.
"It's not," Sergio said, walking past Samantha and the others.
"Wait," she said, when he turned she somewhat angrily added. "Here, throw your own heart out!
She dropped the two pieces into his hands, and quickly left the store.
"Hi, is Samantha there?"
"This is she."
"Hey, it's Sergio from the glass shop."
Silence.
"Yes?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to meet for some coffee."
"Why?"
Silence. Then broken voices: "Tell her!" "Go away!" "He likes you!" "Stop it!" "Lila come away!"
"Hello?"
"Yes?"
"Sorry about that, so how about it?"
"Why?"
"Do you still want to fix my heart?" silence.
"Okay."
"Meet me at the Red Rose café shop tomorrow at seven?"
"Alright."
"See ya there!"
"Okay."
"Oh, and thank you."
Before Samantha could answer the line became silent.
The End.
AN: Critique and response is welcome! I've never been to a glass shop, so bear with me unless you know something.