The Recluse
by Susan

E-mail: touchstone98@tx.rr.com
Classification: vignette, other POV
Spoiler: I Want to Believe
Archive: No archive without permission.
Disclaimer: On paper, Mulder isn't mine. However, 
the convenience store owner is.

Recluse: a person who leads a secluded or solitary
life

Notes at the end.

Summary: I have to confess he fascinates me.
****************************************************

~~~~

I have this habit of giving my customers nicknames.

Sure, I know it's kind of silly, but when you own 
a convenience store on the outskirts of a town in 
the middle of Somewhere-Out-There, Virginia, there's 
not much else to do to pass the time.

The Coffee King. The Smokestack. The Phone Lady. 
The Economizer. Those are just a few of the names 
I've given some of my regular customers during 
these first two months I've owned the store, and 
though they may not be the most flattering 
nicknames, I adore each and every one of them. 
After all, without them, I wouldn't even have a 
store to run.

Well, now I have another name to add to the list.

The Recluse.

It's not really so much that this guy fits most 
people's idea of what a recluse is, but there's 
just something about him that screams "loner".

I have to confess he fascinates me.

But wait. I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let 
me start at the beginning so I can better explain.

About three weeks ago, I was working the morning 
shift at the store when this tall handsome man 
with dark brown hair came in and bought a bag of 
coffee, a jug of milk, and a local newspaper.

Of course, that in and of itself wasn't really 
that interesting, but what he did next was.

He was about to leave with his purchases when all 
of a sudden he just dropped his bag of items on 
the floor by the door and headed back to the 
snack aisle. Since the store's fairly small, I 
can monitor every aisle from the register so it 
was easy for me to see exactly what he was going 
back for.

Sunflower seeds.

Now most people don't come in here to buy sunflower 
seeds or even peanuts, for that matter, but this 
guy picked up FOUR bags of them.

When he came to the register, I politely smiled 
as he set the seeds down on the counter. "Got
everything you need now?"

"Yeah, I think I'm all set. Thanks."

I checked him out, put the seeds in a bag, then 
watched as he picked up his other bag by the door 
and left. Since I didn't have any other customers 
in the store at the time, I nonchalantly followed 
him and looked out the door to see what kind of 
car he drove.

It turned out there was no car.

It was just him and his two bags of groceries 
walking down the road, to where, I had no idea.

~~~~

A few days later, he came in again, but he looked 
different.

Even though it had only been three days, his hair 
seemed longer to me, and unlike before, he had a 
fair amount of stubble on his face. He also bought 
something different this time. Three containers 
of vanilla yogurt, a Newsweek magazine, and a pair 
of scissors.

Since this is only a convenience store, I don't 
have room to offer my customers all the same 
things that a regular grocery store has, but I 
do have a little section with some basic office 
supplies and a fairly decent variety of magazines.
 
After all, what else can you do out here in the 
middle of nowhere except read?

Anyway, when I checked him out, he was even more 
gentlemanly than he was the first time he came 
in, and he told me to "Have a nice day" before 
he left.

Sure, I know it's just a friendly little formality 
to tell someone to have a nice day when you're at 
a store or restaurant, but when he looked into my 
eyes and said it to me, it felt like he truly 
meant it.

I replied with the standard "You too," as he 
walked out the door and couldn't help wondering 
if he'd come back again some time.

~~~~

The next time I saw him was two days later. He 
was wearing a wrinkled blue t-shirt and jeans 
and obviously hadn't taken the time to shave 
again, and yet he didn't seem to care.

Then again, he was so good-looking, I didn't 
care either.

Anyway, when he came in, it was shortly after 
I opened at 7:00 and I had barely had any time 
to get things set up. 

"Do you carry the New York Times?" he asked, 
running his hand through his thick brown hair.

"Yeah, I do. I haven't had a chance to unload 
it yet though. I don't usually have customers 
in here so early on Sundays."

"Need some help?" he asked, glancing over my 
shoulder towards the back room door.

"Anxious to tackle that crossword puzzle, huh?"

"You might say that."

"Just give me a minute to finish with this 
coffee and these doughnuts, and I'll get you 
a copy," I said as I walked over to the fast 
food area.

"I'd like a USA Today if you have one too, 
please," he said, grabbing a bottle of orange 
juice off the shelf, then pulling a few bills 
out of his back pocket.

"Sure thing." I quickly took out a handful of 
cups and put them on the counter, refilled the 
napkin dispenser, then went into the back room 
to get the newspapers.

"Here you go," I said, setting them down by the 
register. "Will that be all today?" 

"No, that'll do it," he replied, giving me the 
money.

I quickly counted out his change and handed it 
back to him, taking note of the fact that he 
wasn't wearing a wedding ring or a watch. "Thanks 
for the papers. Have a good day," he said, his 
warm hazel eyes looking directly at me.

"I will," I replied, reaching down to close the 
cash register drawer. "You have a good one too," 
I added, but he didn't hear me.

He was already halfway out the door.

~~~~

And so it went over the next two weeks.

Sometimes he was wearing heavy sweats and half out 
of breath from jogging when he came in. Sometimes 
it looked like he just rolled out of bed and threw 
on the nearest available shirt under his jacket.

And the dark stubble he used to have eventually 
turned into a beard, which was okay I guess, but 
I thought he looked better with just a hint of 
scruff on his face, not an entire forest.

He always bought the Times and USA Today on Sunday
mornings and the local paper on most of the other 
days, and every so often, he came to the register 
with his three containers of vanilla yogurt and
bags of sunflower seeds.

He was also one of my best magazine customers. 
Sometimes it was Time magazine and Newsweek. 
Sometimes it was Sports Illustrated and Popular 
Science, and one time he even bought a GQ Magazine, 
which surprised me.

I mean, come on. The guy never even wore a suit,
so why the hell would he want to read about men's
fashions?

Oh well, he must've wanted to buy it for some
reason, but I wasn't about to ask him what it 
was.

I simply smiled and put it in his bag with the
box of microwave popcorn and beer he also bought
that day.

~~~~

So I finally told my husband Dan about The Recluse. 

Told him about all the bags of sunflower seeds he 
bought the first time he came into the store. Told 
him about how he never drives a car to the store; 
he just sort of shows up every now and again. Told 
him that none of my other customers knew who he 
was or where he came from and how I thought that 
maybe he was just a guy who needed to get away 
from the rest of the world for a while.

And I told him about his eyes and how sincere he
seemed.

Of course, Dan told me to stop reading so many 
romance novels and start appreciating the fact 
that I had another regular customer pumping money 
into my store.

Playfully kicking his shin under the covers and 
pretending to be upset, but secretly knowing that 
he was right, I said, "I don't know, Dan. There's 
just something about him that makes me want to 
figure out who he is."

He put his arm around me, kissed my temple. "So
should I be worried about this guy, Joanie?" he 
teased.

Sliding my hand inside his pajama bottoms, I 
kissed him back and laughed. "Not unless you
suddenly start finding sunflower seeds in the
bed."

~~~~

The next time I saw him, the beard was gone. 

He was also dressed more nicely and seemed to 
have a sense of purpose and urgency about him 
when he walked into the room that he didn't 
have the other times he was in here.

I wonder what changed.

"Just a ham sandwich and some coffee for now," 
he said as he quickly placed both items on the 
counter.

"You're in a hurry today," I remarked, ringing 
him up. "Got someplace to be?" I asked, knowing
he wouldn't tell me where if he did, but asking
anyway.

"Yes, I do," he replied, handing me a five dollar
bill and flipping open his cell phone for a quick
check, then stuffing it back in his jacket pocket.

Surprised to see him using a phone, I counted out
his change while he grabbed his sandwich and
coffee off the counter.

So maybe he wasn't such a recluse after all.

"Save me a copy of today's paper, would you? I'll 
be back later to pick it up."

"Sure, no problem."

He nodded his head, then hurried towards the door.

"Don't you want your change?" I called out. 

He turned his head, looked over his shoulder. 
"Consider it a down payment on my paper."

~~~~

As it turned out, he never did come back for his 
newspaper.

Actually, he hasn't come into the store at all 
for the last two weeks, and I can't help thinking 
that something might be wrong. 

Or maybe he was just ready to move on.

Either way, I hope he's okay.

Of course, if Dan were here, he'd tell me to stop 
imagining things and worrying about someone who 
doesn't even know my name.

But I don't know...there's just something about
the guy that makes me want to root for him, you 
know?

So anyway, I was doing my usual Monday afternoon 
restocking of the shelves when I heard the door 
open. Standing up from my crouched position in 
the canned goods aisle, I let out a sigh of 
relief when I saw who it was.

"Mornin'," The Recluse said, walking past the 
aisle I was standing in and heading straight 
towards the snack aisle.

"Good morning," I said, immediately noticing 
the large cut healing above his left eye and 
the bandage on his hand. "It's been a while."

"Yes, it has."

"Out of sunflower seeds, huh?" I asked, desperately 
wanting to ask him what happened instead even though 
I knew it was none of my damn business.

"Yeah...and I need a few other things too." He 
tucked two bags of seeds under his arm and moved 
to a different aisle while I turned my attention 
back to restocking the shelves. 

Of course, I still wanted to know how he got hurt, 
but I kept my mouth shut and finished putting out 
the remaining cans of soup. Making sure everything 
was lined up correctly, I picked up the empty 
box all the cans came in and took it back to the 
storage room. 

When I came out, he was standing at the register
waiting for me, his purchases spread out on the
counter.

Two bags of sunflower seeds. Sunscreen. One pair
of sunglasses. Two toothbrushes.  Two cans of
shaving cream...one for a man, one for a woman.

A woman?

Ah, so the plot thickens...but in a good way, I 
think.

I started ringing up his items and putting them 
in a bag. "Is there anything else I can get for 
you today?" I calmly asked, though inside my mind 
was now racing with a million possibilities.

"No, this is all I need," he said with a gleam 
in his eyes I've never seen before. He took out
his wallet then, counted out the appropriate
amount of bills and handed them to me.

I put the money in the register, counted out 
his change. "Here you go," I said, placing some 
coins and a five-dollar bill in his hand. "You 
have a good one, okay," I added, though I got 
the distinct impression his day was already a 
good one.

Putting his wallet back in his pocket and 
scooping up his bag of items, he looked at me 
with those warm hazel eyes of his and smiled. 
"You too," he said, heading towards the door. 

I didn't see him the rest of winter.


~end~

I've always enjoyed writing stories about how other 
people *see* Mulder and/or Scully, and this story 
was no exception. I also like giving them a happy
ending, and knowing that Mulder was buying those
supplies for their vacation getaway gave me great
pleasure, and hopefully, it made you smile too.:)

Thanks for reading.


possibilities
http://possibilities.bravehost.com/