Break the ice

Chapter 2: Just colleagues

Huxley's POV

Fuck, fuck and fuck! I'm going to work with Estelle out of all people! Why. Her.

I'm freaking out on the inside but I can't loose my cool with her. I just can't. Alright Huxley, you can work with her. Don't get distracted by her beautiful blonde hair, which smells like strawberries, not that that's important. Or that the look in her eyes makes me go crazy. Or her sweet voice that just scratches the right parts of my brain. She's gorgeous . She's always been gorgeous. NO!

NO HUXLEY! She's annoying, remember that. She talks too much, she can't sit still, she's nice to everyone which is just weird and she has too much energy. Yes, keep thinking that! You don't have to like her. We can be colleagues, all professional. I can be professional and keep my distance. Just colleagues.....

"Huxley do you even understand what I'm saying?" Estelle must've noticed I was zoning out again. She's looking up at my tall frame with her pleading eyes, hoping I'm going to start paying attention.

"Oh yeah, press this button and then close the lid, right?" I'm bullshitting right now, and Estelle's not amused. She's actually getting irritated. I've never seen that happen before. Does that mean I'm the first one to see her annoyed expression? Does that make me special?

No! God, Huxley, get it together man. She's nothing special and you're no one special to her. Try to listen, keep this job, you need money. Right, the last thing I need is a distraction. I'm the captain of the hockey team, I have enough responsibilities and no time for distractions. I'm focused on getting drafted for the NHL. That should be my main focus. No girls. Estelle Simons is nothing but a distraction, that's why I needed to keep my distance, which isn't going so great right now. But I need this job. I can do this.

— 2 hours into the shift —

Alright I'm starting to get the hang of it. I'm stacking up the bookshelves, after I put price tags on them. Estelle is standing behind the register doing some paperwork while no costumers are in sight. While she's concentrating on her work I get the chance to sneak glances at her. Keeping a keen eye on her while she's so focused. Seeing Estelle in a serious mode made me curious about her. Outside of her bubbly personality, she's very serious about her work. She can be somewhat clumsy. Things like letting books fall to the floor, forgetting where her pencil is and forgetting what she's doing sometimes. But her customer service makes up for it. The way she handles customers is just amazing. She engages in conversations with them, she laughs with them. The costumers seem to love her. Most of the time I'm annoyed with her social personality but this time I'm actually in awe of her. After she's done with helping some costumers she calls my name. "Huxley can you hand over that book in your hand? I need to scan it."

I go over to her and while I'm almost done with handing it over to her, she seems to drop it. My hockey reflexes kick in and my hand goes for the book that's falling down. Estelle seemed to have the same idea, trying to grab the book. Now her hand is covering mine. Her warmth spreads over my bigger hand, as I cannot help myself from comparing our hands. I imagine that her hand would fit perfectly in mine. Her soft skin brushes over mine.

As soon as it starts to dawn on her that she's holding my hand she panics and quickly let's go of it. Leaving me with only the memory of her soft touch. While I stare at my hand she mutters a small thanks and walks into the office behind the register. I let go of the sight of my previously touched hand and go to stand behind the register. At the same time Estelle walks to the register almost bumping into me. I quickly put my hands on her shoulders to prevent her from crashing into me.

"Give me some space will you?" I tell her. I'm being rude and I'm aware of it. I just can't have her body pressing into mine at work. I'm already losing focus when she's near me. The last thing I need is her touch. I can't stand her because she's annoying, which is why I can't stand her touch. That's all. Nothing more.