History of a Sofa

            Jay was used to receiving odd looks when he entered, well, just about any store. On his own, he stood out, a six foot tall black man with dreadlocks tied back in a tail, a pair of shades, a decent sized peace sign around his neck, white shorts, a pressed white shirt, and a red sash serving as a belt. Most of it seemed fairly clean, the sandals being the exception. They looked like they'd been around since the Crucifixion of Christ, and like they might fall apart at any moment. This was partially true.

          It didn't help that Jay had his arm around a lovely woman who appeared to hail from the Middle East (she did) with lighter brown skin then his, and pitch black hair done up in a braided bun. She looked a bit more reasonable though, dressed in a white sundress with a red ribbon around the middle, and sandals that were far better off. The woman had gone by Maggie since almost as long as Jay had known her, and she was the love of his life.

           The fact that they were cleanly dressed and of darker skin tones did raise eyebrows at times, but that day was not one of them. There were relatively few snobs in the discount thrift store they walked through the aisles of, and the crowd was vastly diverse. This was part of why Jay loved to go to thrift stores with Maggie when he had time off.

“Okay, but what about this one?”

            Maggie picked up a white dress from a rack, an abandoned wedding dress, while Jay examined white party dresses. He lowered his shades and dark eyes peered over them.
“Arranged by the families. Green card marriage. Shockingly, the bride and groom were smitten at first look.”
“You know that?”

“It's pretty plain, though obviously a wedding dress, and very basic. No blood stains, but,” Jay smirked, “It was torn off the bride that night.”

“You're good,” Maggie laughed and moved forward, “Jay, my darling, that dress will never fit you. You need something that allows for a bigger torso.”

             An announcement suggested the store was closing soon, and people began to leave. Maggie began to push their cart, now filled with a few white dresses, some push up bras, and some peasant skirts and blouses for her, before she realized her love had wandered off.

“I swear he is such a child sometimes,” Maggie shook her head and moved along, beginning to search for him, “Jay, you have a conference tonight, don't forget! Jay…?”

           She sighed when she eventually found him, half sunken into possibly the ugliest sofa she had ever seen. Jay was sprawled across it, face buried into the cushions as she approached.

“I need this,” Jay proclaimed, “For the office.”

“Jay, it looks like somebody killed their grandmother and stole her curtains to make this.” Maggie folded her arms.

“Well, the cover did used to be curtains,” Jay reached out to take her hand, tugging her gently, “I have never found a piece of furniture so full of love, Maggie.”

“Ew.”

“Not like that,” Jay sat up and laughed, patting the space beside him in invitation.

            Maggie gave him a look, but shook her head. When her lover got like this, there was no stopping him until he saw it through. She smiled as she sat down, because that was one of the things she loved about him. He could see a person's history, or a thing's history, not just what they were. That was how he had found her.

“Tell me about it.”

“Post World War II,” Jay hummed, “She was a girl who survived the camps. They met because he was an American GI who liberated the camp she was trapped in. They didn't have a lot, of course, so they made the best of what they had. For a long while this sofa was all they had to live on, to sit on, to sleep on. Then they had children, and by then they had more. But the sofa, this sofa here, became a centerpiece of the household. Its where they'd listen to the radio, dance, play games, or read. It was where she helped her children with their homework. Where he'd applied band aids on scrapes. Their son had his first kiss on this couch. When the kids moved out, they snuggled on the sofa every time, occasionally falling asleep on each other. When the cover finally began to give, she tore down the curtains and made a new one. And years later, they passed away together, peacefully, asleep on this sofa.”

          Maggie listened, leaning on his shoulder, and she smiled more the longer he told her the tale. Some people had that problem, they could only see a thing for what it was. They couldn't notice if an item, person, or place was haunted. Nor could they tell if it had been filled with wonderful energies, or that someone had fought every step to survive. Jay was special, he could always sense it.

“That's beautiful, Jay.”
“You're more so.”

Maggie felt blood rush to her cheeks and she giggled as he began to kiss her neck.
“Jay, they're trying to close up.”
“So they won't notice us, and I'll buy the couch anyway,” Jay murmured softly, “I just...want to celebrate.”

“Celebrate what?”

“Life. Love. Existence.”

“You big sap,” Maggie murmured as she turned to catch him in a kiss.

           It was several hours later one of the thrift store managers was surprised to hear a knock on her door in the office. She raised a brow and double checked the time, and yes, it had been three hours since they closed. She was just staying behind to finish up some paperwork. The woman sighed and stood up, taking another swig of coffee before she moved to the door.

“Hello, can I help you?”

            The women before her surprised her, partially because both were dressed in gray suits, white shirts, and golden ties. Then again, one of them had rosy fair skin, brown hair, glasses, vivid purple eyes, and was missing her right arm. The other had copper brown skin, was wearing an eye patch, and her countless braids were in every color of the rainbow.

“Hello there,” The purple eyed woman spoke, her brown hair in a loose braid, “I'm Agent Drake. This is my partner, Agent Danan.”

“We represent a private security group known as the Nevaeh Agency,” Agent Danan began to explain, “We believe one of our people may have been stuck in the building and didn't want to inconvenience you to let him out. We got word he missed a meeting, and we spotted his vehicle in the lot.”

“What?” The manager turned and spotted it before making a face. It was a tie-dye painted micro bus with eight windows or so, and a personalized plate reading “HolyH20”.

“If it isn't any trouble, we can handle extracting him, let you get back to your business,” Agent Willows produced an ID, and so did Danan after a moment.

          The manager examined them both. While she'd never heard of The Nevaeh Agency, or what they were-Sky Darts-but their ID's seemed to be legitimate, and much more notably, there a notation in the corner about INTERPOL. That she had heard of. The frazzled woman sighed and nodded, looking up at them.

“Very well. I'll get the lights for you.”

           Agent Danan whistled as she began to walk with her partner down the rows of used merchandise.

“What is it with the VP and thrift stores, anyway?”

“He can tell you the history of a person, place, or thing, with a single touch,” Agent Willows replied, “What say you, Kelsey? Should we split up?” She added.
“Sounds good to me, Violet.”

            Kelsey Danan nodded and looked around as Violet Willows took off toward the store front. Kelsey suspected her partner would turn up nothing. From her lone green eye, the rainbow haired woman spotted a cart filled with garments by the furniture.
“Bull's eye,” she grinned and began to cross the sale's floor.

           About the time she reached the scene, she heard a loud noise, like something falling over. She raised her eyebrow as she closed in, hearing giggling and chuckles as she found and overturned couch.
“Hello?” Kelsey called out, and then Jay stood before her abruptly, almost completely naked, aside from a single carefully placed floral cushion before his nether regions. Behind him, Maggie was more discreetly concealed beside the overturned sofa.

“Greetings, Agent Danan,” Jay laughed, “Uh, help me find my wallet?” Kelsey couldn't help but howl with laughter as she turned her head to called out.

“Violet, call off the search! I found Jesus, he was behind the couch!”