The Seven Wonders of the World

50. The Birth of the Spark! Next Stop, Highshore!

Merry would be in the kitchen along with a bunch of other workers, as he would be forced to wash the dishes by the manager.
"Damn manager," said Merry, "always has it out for me, can't even let me get romantic with a beautiful girl like Zoela."
The manager would chuckle as he would talk to Merry. "Oh come now, you should be grateful I'm letting you even get near any girls while on the job! A lot of places would have fired you for even trying!"
"A lot of places are boring, I bet you wouldn't get anyone to work here, were you not paying decently," said Merry, "you would just have a bunch of sour and angry waiters, instead of the nice people here who have a chance with pretty girls."
"Well, I suppose you are right," said the Manager, "I have to have some way to attract customers here. And people do love good romance."
Merry scoffed, as he scrubbed a particularly dirty dish, cleaning it. "If only I could get the romance myself, but I suppose I would just have to sit on the sidelines and hope that one of my coworkers succeeds in getting a girl."
"Well, I don't see why girls wouldn't be interested in you," said the manager, "you're a good-looking lad and quite charming, you just have to put more effort into finding the right girl for you."
Merry scoffed once again, "Well, I suppose I could give it a try, but I doubt I'd have enough guts to ask her out. And what if she already has a boyfriend? I'm not good with dealing with rejection."
"Don't think about those things, you're a charming lad, and I'm sure many girls would be interested in you. And besides, rejection is always going to happen, but it's nothing to worry about. If you don't put yourself out there, who knows if one of those girls will ever make the first move? Rejection is nothing to worry about, it is only what happens when you're putting in an effort to ask a girl out, so don't let that dissuade you."

Merry looked at the Manager, before turning back to seeing Zoela and her group at the table. "They will probably be leaving soon."
"Exactly," said the manager, "maybe the test worked then."
"What?" said Merry.
"I purposely interfered to see how you would react," said the manager, "so if I could see if you would sulk in vain by ruining your chances, and see for myself if you actually liked her or not. It seems you do, i hope."
"You knew all along?" said Merry, as he tried to stay calm, but he could feel his cheeks heating up. "You're right though, I did like her a lot, and you could only figure that out if you were watching how I acted around her. But what do you mean by 'if I actually liked her or not?' Does she actually like me in the way I like her? Did you figure that out?"
The manager would look to the side, with a slight smile, as he responded, "I can tell if a girl has an interest in a lad, that much is obvious."
Merry's heart beat fastened when he heard of this, as he became more eager to hear the information the manager had to offer.
"So, does Zoela like me back?" said Merry, "you're avoiding my question, I want to know if she likes me back."
"That I cannot answer," said the manager, "for I am not psychic, and I cannot read people's minds. You shall find out for yourself."
Merry would sigh, as he continued to wash the dishes, as he would then start muttering to himself, "How am I supposed to find out myself? I have tried before, but it didn't end well, there is no way I can muster the confidence by myself. I wish I can have someone ask her out for me instead, but that's not fair to her, she deserves to know that she has a potential suitor. But I just don't know what to do, I don't want her to like me and have my feelings not returned."
"I'll give you some wisdom," said the manager, "if you truly desire to be loved, all you simply need to do is to give love first. You are a charming lad, as I've said before, and you should not fear from giving Zoela some attention, as I doubt she would despise the gesture from you."
"But what if it doesn't work?" said Merry, "what if she dislikes what I do?"
"You can take that risk, but let me assure you this; she will probably like it, you're a charming lad."
"But what if I get rejected? How should I handle that?"
"By simply handling it like a gentleman," said the manager, "and move on like nothing happened, it is all just a part of life."
Merry nodded, turning to Zoela, as she sat there, talking to her friends. "I'm gonna ask her," he said.
The manager watched as Merry walked over to the table, hoping the best for him even if the chances were slim.