“Good
morning, ladies,” chirps an unusually perky Julia. “Meet Zach, your new
co-worker.”
Eryn, Morgan, and I all look up in unison
– a male employee? No wonder the boss
is happy this morning; she’s probably thinking this will be better for
business, since most of our clientele are women, but the fact that he is – hate
to say it, but it’s true – good-looking
is definitely a bonus for all of us. Not that I care, or am looking to date
again. At any rate, Zach will be a nice distraction from Eryn and her Curly
Head of Opinions.
“Hello,” he says softly. I detect a slight
southern twang in his voice, which is a perfect lead for Eryn to introduce her
loud, obnoxious self. “You don’t sound like you’re from here,” she says
brashly. “Did you just move here or something?” And then, as if she could
subconsciously hear her mother nagging about manners, she coyly added “I’m
Eryn, by the way.”
“I did just move here,” Zach answers.
Would it be cheesy to say that his voice is somewhat musical? Well, his voice
is somewhat musical. “From Mississippi.”
“Oh yeah? What for?”
His gaze drops suddenly. “It’s kind of a
long story.”
Eryn laughs. “Well you’ll notice we have
very long, empty shifts here. What’s the story?”
“’Long and empty’? Don’t believe her,”
interrupts Julia. “There’s always
something to do around here. Eryn, if you’d like to go run your mouth to the
woman who’s been meandering through the self-help section for the last twenty
minutes, I’d greatly appreciate it.”
With a devious grin and notorious clang of her giant hoop earrings, Eryn
saunters off. I have to hand it to Julia: she comes off as a little spacey most
of the time, but she does know how to handle Eryn well. But with what I’ve
heard Eryn say in her presence, I’m honestly surprised she hasn’t been fired.
Then again, it’s not like there’s much competition for a job like this.
As Julia explains the lay of the land to Zach,
I hear a bell ringing, indicating that someone has entered the store. I have
yet to see Morgan greet anybody – I doubt anyone would hear her if she did – so
I walk to the front with my prepared speech. “Welcome to Book Nook, can I help
you find –”
I
stop short, realizing I already know this customer.
“Well hey there, Anna-Kate,” Collin says.
“How ya been?”
I have never been Anna-Kate to him before.
He must really be pissed that his advances were rebuffed; this is the first
time I’ve seen him in over a week. “I’ve been just fine. How are you?” Why have you all of a sudden stopped talking
to me?
“I’ve been great. I didn’t know you worked
here.”
Knowing his gift for finding me anywhere,
I somehow doubt this, even if Book Nook is cornered in the only shopping center
this area has to offer. Collin coming here could
be just a coincidence.
I refuse to speculate. “Are you looking
for anything in particular?” A book of
scenes from The Lion King, perhaps? Given
that ridiculous tattoo?
“Nothing really, AK. Just browsing for
now. But thank you so much for asking.”
Using
my initials is somewhat of a relief; so we’re not total strangers after all.
Yet the lack of “47” following them is not what I’m used to from him, and I’m
embarrassed by how much it disappoints me that he didn’t say it.
He walks away from me, but then turns
awkwardly to add “Nice hair, by the way.”
I’m pretty sure that is not a compliment.
Tess doesn’t know anything about Collin. I
guess I was afraid to mention him, as if doing so would be prophetic and turn
our situation into something bigger than it is. Which is ridiculous, because he
never intended for anything concrete to happen: he proved that when he told me
he only wanted to “have fun” when he almost kissed me.
It’s still creepy to imagine what more might
have transpired if he had.
Returning behind the cash register, I
watch Collin as he wanders over to Fiction, where Morgan is stocking a new
shipment of New York Times best sellers. Fifty
Shades of Grey just happens to be sitting on the shelf above her head, and
I watch, incredulously, as Collin picks up a copy and appears to ask her about
it.
His back is facing me, so I can’t tell
what he’s saying, though if I know anything about that man, it’s probably
something snarky. Morgan, on the other hand, lights up like a Christmas
display, and giggles incessantly. Why on earth would she be giggling about
anything that has to do with Fifty Shades
of Grey? It wasn’t too long ago when she made it perfectly clear to Eryn
that the series was – how did she put it? – glorified sadomasochistic abuse. Yes, that’s quite a humorous subject.
He continues to talk to her, nodding every
once in a while, and Morgan is still smiling. Good grief, it looks like Collin
is flirting with her! Poor girl, this
may be the longest conversation she’s ever had with someone who’s not her boss
or fellow employee.
Okay, that was mean. Whatever the reason
for Morgan’s extreme introversion, she seems like she’s genuinely enjoying her
conversation with Collin. I wonder if he’s come up with a clever nickname for
her yet (“Mousy Morgan,” perhaps? No, again, that’s unnecessarily mean). Her
face has softened into an expression I’ve never seen on her before, but I know
it well.
It’s probably how I looked when Collin
first started flirting with me.
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