Flowers and Filthy Poetry

2. Glistening piercings

It was half past 1 (PM) the next day and I had just gotten off my lunch break.
I know I could have easily just not bothered with running the shop what with my aunt being on holiday but there was this sense of dedication in me that wanted to prove to my family how capable I am of being responsible. And hence the painfully long and excruciating hours of sitting on the chair (that creaked) at the messy table with my '100 crossword puzzles for beginners!'

I sighed as I placed my head on my hands and breathed steadily.
' It's alright.  I can do this. I'm getting paid. I'm adulting. It'll be worth it in the end.'
I promised myself inwardly.

The bell chimed and my head shot up in desperate need of human interaction. My face feel when I saw Mr. Intellect walk in with confident strides as his long coat majestically followed in suit. Who even wore a coat in the summer, although it didn't get awfully warm up in the north I still didn't think a coat was necessary.

He shot me a smile that seemed somewhat forced which offended me to some extent, 'what? Two weeks of being each others only company isn't enough to earn me a genuine smile?' I thought bitterly.

As usual he sat by the dusty gramophone while I sulked at my messy table sipping on a bottle of apple juice.

It had been over an hour and the silence was killing me.

"Did that hurt an awful lot?" I asked casually once I made it to the oaky shelves where he now lived, looking straight at the nose ring he wore.

"Hm?" Mr. Intellect looked up in a daze as I brought him back to reality. "No, not really" he answered with a lack of interest and went back to his book.

We fell into a silence.

"Whatcha reading?" I asked tilting my head to maybe catch the title of the book.

Mr. Intellect looked at me sceptically, he narrowed his scrutinising eyes as he studied my face.

I'm sure he sensed the visible discomfort on my face because he shook his head and chuckled going back to his book without dignifying my question with a response.

I was a little annoyed. "You know, when we say you can browse books we don't mean you can lay a picnic blanket, have your lunch and finish reading the entire book in the shop." I say with my eyebrows furrowed.

"Do you want me to leave?" He asked looking deep into my soul with a melancholic look that ate at my very being.

I remained quiet, I didn't want him to leave but I didn't want him to stay if he was going to be difficult.

He sent me a dazzling smile that shook my inner peace when I didn't utter a word and went back to reading his book.

I stood there dumbfounded by his tactics, a wave of defeat washing over me as I walked back to my spot and slumped down onto the chair.

I simply picked up my '100 crossword puzzles for beginners!' And resumed my quest.

"You wanna get yours done too?"

I looked up from my book to find Mr. Intellect looking at me with a soft smile etched across his face, gingerly holding onto the big book he had been reading earlier.

"Get what done?" I asked in genuine confusion.

"Your nose pierced." He replied matter-of-factly.

"WHAT.NO." I whisper yelled, my eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.

He chuckled heartily as he pulled a stool over to the opposite side of my table and sat himself down.

The shop was empty as usual so it wasn't like he was being an hinderance to the sales.
I watched as he watched me, both of us raising our eyebrows at each other, clueless on what was happening.

He grinned slightly, "Francis."

"No, Daniel." I corrected.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Who?"

"Daniel, me. I'm Daniel." I said pointing to myself.

He let of a hearty laugh that made me furrow my brows in confusion this time.

"You new?" He asked vaguely once his laughter had died down.

"Yes, here for the summer." I replied still unsure of what was going on.

He nodded in understanding. "Do you get out often?" He asked as he looked keenly into my eyes.

"Y-yeah." It was difficult to maintain eye contact with someone who was devouring your soul with their stare. "Know a few people from around...will be needed for when I start university here." I was hardly making sense but I couldn't help it.

His face lit up. "So you'll be here for a while huh?" He added with a smirk.
I rolled my eyes at whatever it was that he had meant by those words.

"I didn't quite catch your name." I mentioned hoping I'd finally get a name to replace Mr. Intellect.

He shock his head with a silly grin plastered over his face, "Francis." He said.

The embarrassment-

"Oh." I replied with a straight face even though said straight face was probably a crimson red.

He smiled a little more and I wondered how he wasn't in any pain with how wide his grin was.

"You have a pretty nose though." he said with his eyes trained on my nose.

I was never one to be insecure about the way I looked but at that very moment I wished for the power to disappear into thin air.

I frowned at him, my nose crinkling in the process and my face turning a brighter shade of red if that was even possible.

"Still pretty." he said as he booped my nose and lifted himself from the stool.

"That's enough, I just...it looks cool, glistening under the dim lights and all...I'd look like a clown. Although, you pull it of!" I rambled on as I tried to maintain eye contact.

He smiled bashfully, a tint of pink over his cheeks as he looked away. Making me feel all warm inside.

"I'll be getting this." He cleared his throat as he placed the ginormous book on the table.
"As you mentioned earlier, I'm here to browse, not lay a picnic blanket, have my lunch and finish reading the entire book." He added solemnly, counting on his fingers.

'Oh way to go, you prick.' I internally cursed myself.

He quickly paid for it and made his way to the doors. I wanted to tell him that I hadn't meant for it to come out in an impolite fashion but my tongue was tied.

He halted at the door and redirected his eyes to me, "Think about it." He said with a teasing grin as he pointed toward the silver nose ring that sat on his perfectly sculpted nose.

I groaned. "Not happening. It'd look shit." I replied curtly.

"Nonsense." He frowned, taken back by my nearly nonexistent self esteem.
"Pretty boy." He added sending me a not so subtle wink alongside a not so subtle smirk.

By God was he a charmer.