New Purse

Our prompt for this week comes straight out of my own life:

Prompt:  She looked down and saw a black spider crawling across her new purse.

Enjoy!

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My response:

The whole lobby area smelled of rubber, grease, and compressed air.  The floor shuddered at the sound of power tools reving on the other side of the service doors.  She put down her book and pulled her phone from the outside pocket of her new purse, checking the time.  She'd told her boss she needed two hours, and when she came in, they said she'd be done in an hour, fifteen minutes.  It had been forty-five minutes.  She had a headache.

She'd been fine when she walked in.  She might have been able to withstand the fumes and noise, but she wasn't the only one in the waiting room.  The girl sitting next to her, in jeans and a worn sweatshirt, pulled out her phone and started chattering in a high octave.  Twelve chairs in the room, and the girl chose the one right next to her.  Still, if not for the volume of her conversation, it wouldn't have been so bad.

Then the older man showed up.  He took the chair on her other side.  She couldn't help but look up, and he smiled widely.  "Well hello!  We know each other, don't we?"

She furrowed her brow as she studied his face.  Solid.  Strong bones.  Brilliant blue eyes, for an old man.  Shiny bald scalp.  She pressed her lips together and shook her head.  "Sorry."

She dropped her eyes back to her lap, ready to pick up her book, and she saw it.  A black spider crawling off her leg and onto her new purse.  A curse slipped from her lips, and she swatted.  Then she grimaced.  Her aim had been spot on, and the spider was dead.  Her blue and white purse, however, was forever tainted.

She leapt from her chair towards the napkins by the free coffee and swiped furiously at the stain.  Finally, she gave up.  Checked her watch. 

She wondered how well her care would drive without tires.