I am not quite certain whether I have succeeded or not. If only it were easier to read this man!
For the entire first half of the soccer game, he sat watching quietly, no sign of excitement on his face at any point, not even when the would-be thief—whose name is Tucker—managed to block a shot at the goal when the keeper failed to catch it.[1] He watched carefully, except in moments of time-out, at which point he pulled out a book. At no time did he look around at the other spectators, much less talk to them.
I, however, did look at them. There were not many possible matches there—most of the small crowd was made up of families of the team members. But there was one young woman I saw who sat on the front row. She cheered loudly throughout the entire first half, encouraging several different team members, so it seemed that she was not there for any specific player.
I went closer to investigate. From the warm greeting she received from a player’s girlfriend in one of the quieter moments, I learned that her name is Lauren Isaacs, and she is the assistant choral director at the local high school. She was at the game to support a few of her students, but she knew the names of all of the players. From the reactions of other students and parents who stopped to talk to her, she is well-known and well-loved.
I chose to make her a candidate for Jonathan for three reasons. First, after struggling with Jonathan’s illegible aura, it was a joy to find someone whose nature bubbles out of them so easily. Lauren is a bright, cheerful person, someone who loves her students and will go well out of her way for them.
There comes the second reason, however. I have a theory—and it is difficult to confirm, but I believe I am right—that Jonathan has the same care for young people. He is willing to help them, he simply does not usually think to step out of his routine to help others. Perhaps, however, the impulse will be enough to form a connection with a kindred spirit.
The third reason is a bit arbitrary, I admit. Lauren has red hair, and while it is a carroty fuzz rather than the auburn flare that Freya has, she still reminds me a bit of my fire woman.
To get the two to speak was a bit of a difficult working of timing. At half time, however, I saw my opportunity when Jonathan got up to get a hot dog.[2] On his way back, he had to pass by Lauren, and I managed to draw Tucker’s attention to him when the two were standing close.
“Mr. Harris!” Tucker called, catching both Jonathan and Lauren’s attention.
Jonathan stopped, chewing a bite of hot dog, and waited while Tucker ran up to him. Lauren watched curiously.
“Thanks for coming,” Tucker said, a bit breathless.
Jonathan nodded and wiped his mouth. “Doing well out there.”
Tucker dismissed his team’s prowess with a shrug. “Hey, thanks for—you know, not saying anything about the other night,” he said.
Jonathan raised his brows. “Did you think I was lying?”
“No, I just—well, I could’ve gotten in a lot of trouble,” Tucker said, looking nervously past Jonathan to where his mother was sitting in the stands. His fear was warranted—I caught a glimpse of Mrs. Baldwin’s aura during the game and she is formidable. “So, thanks again.”
Jonathan shook his head. “No big deal. Just don’t be so dumb next time.”
Tucker grinned. “No chance. I told that girl to leave me alone.”
“Good. Maybe she’ll stop being dumb, too.”
“She’s a girl,” Tucker said, as if that made Jonathan’s hope impossible.
“Hey, nothing’s wrong with girls in general,” Jonathan said, taking another bite of his hot dog. “Just that one right now.”
Tucker nodded as if this were sage wisdom—which, perhaps, it was.
A shrill whistle called Tucker back to the sideline, though he waved and thanked Jonathan again. Jonathan watched him go with the faintest smile, then turned to head back to his seat.
Lauren, who had heard all of this with growing curiosity, asked, “What was that about?”
Jonathan stopped again and blinked at her. “What?”
“Tucker Baldwin,” she elaborated, gesturing. “What did he do that was so dumb?”
“Oh.” Jonathan shrugged—it is a favorite gesture of his, it seems. “Nothing much.”
“No, really,” Lauren said, a frown on her face that was also a smile.
“No, really. It wasn’t any big deal.”
Lauren considered him. Standish is a small town, but it still took her a moment to place him. She has not lived in the town her whole life, only the past few years since she got the job at the high school.
“You’re…Jon Harris, right? With that nice shop downtown?”
“Jonathan,” he corrected her.
“Okay,” she said. “How do you know Tucker?”
“Comes into the shop sometimes,” Jonathan said. “And it’s a small town.”
This shed no light on the connection between Tucker and Jonathan, which only peaked Lauren’s curiosity. “So what—”
“Look,” Jonathan said, losing his patience, “it’s none of your business, Ms. Isaacs. He was a dumb kid, but kids are dumb, and sometimes they don’t need to be punished for it. I didn’t out him to his mom, and I’m not going to out him to one of his teachers. Now if you’ll excuse me, I want to watch the rest of the game.”
He stalked off, leaving Lauren slightly in shock. She forgot to cheer for ten minutes of the second half. Jonathan, similarly, stayed only long enough to be reasonably certain that Tucker’s team would win before returning home.
It is a start, certainly, but I do not know that it was a good one. Jonathan’s sharpness did not make a very good impression, but Lauren did notice a few things past that—first, that Jonathan was trying to protect Tucker, and secondly, that he knew exactly who she was. This has intrigued her, but I am not sure if she will act on that. On Jonathan’s side, he was irritated by her, but I do not believe that those feelings last. Even if they do, it might be good for someone to irritate him out of his lethargy.
We will have to see how matter proceed in the coming days.
[1] I do not precisely know what this means—I am quoting one of the other spectators here—but that was a moment of particular excitement in the crowd, relating to Tucker, and yet Jonathan seemed unmoved.
[2] This is a food item, but it is not actually made of dog meat. It is simply a term they use for a snack commonly found at sports events.