How many bags do i have to take?" i ask
"Eight, but i know you can do it." he says with glistening eyes. He takes my hand in his and moves my body so I'm now sitting in his lap. He moves my hair from my back and places his lips near the bottom of my chin and kisses. My eyes close and i start to breath heavily. I squeeze his hand and look at him.
"I love you." he says with a smile and waits for an answer.
"I love you too, Ashton. " i respond.
"You're mine, and you always be with me. Never forget that." he adds while moving his hands to my hips.
Im his.
+
My legs are starting to get tired from standing here so long. No one has come into this store all day. The only entertainment i have are the old magazines that i keep behind the counter. The 80's music still plays over the old speakers that hang loosely from the ceiling.
The familiar ring of the front doors sounds. I lift my head from my magazine and watch as the man walks through the aisles. Although i haven't seen his face yet, he looks familiar. He takes his time going down the chip section and glances to his right. He looks at me and smiles.
His smirk takes me by surprise and i look both ways to make sure it was sent towards me. He walks up to the counter with a bag go BBQ chips and places it on the counter.
"Hi. Will this be all?" i ask. I scan his face and realize that its the same guy that caught me dancing to my music the other day. Oh god.
He looks up from the counter, which he lays his keys on, and replies "Yes, thank you."
His hazel eyes look into mine and send a shiver over my body. They are beautiful. He is beautiful. Tan skin, dark hair thats styled in a messy quif. He smiles. He smiles because I'm starring at him...IM STARRING!
I quickly pull my eyes from his and look down at the cash register and search for the price of his chips.
"Uh, thats going to be 2.00." i reply.
He laughs under his breath and pulls out his money and hands it to me. Our hands touch and i pull my hand back fast. I drop the money and the strong blow of the air conditioner sweeps the cash away.
"Oh my god. Im so sorry." i say.
Really Peyton! Why now, at this moment? Good God!
I speed walk around the counter and crouch to the floor trying to get the dollar bills from underneath shelf. I stretch my arms as far as they can go but can't reach.
"Uh, its okay. Ill just give you another two dollars. Don't worry about it. " he says politely.
I stand up and brush the dust off my pants and arms. "No, no. Its all my fault. Please take another bag of chips on the house. Im so sorry about this." i say, motioning back to the chip aisle.
I start to walk back over to the counter where he is standing. Before i can apologize one last time he brings his hand up to my face and pulls a dust bunny from my hair. He smiles and laughs.
"Something in your hair." he says as he lift up the dust and shows me.
I move my hair from my face to behind my ear and smile at him. "Thank you." i reply and laugh,embarrassed once again.
"Well have a nice day Peyton." he says and grabs his bag of chips.
How did he know my name, i never told him. He obviously sees my confusion and says "Your name tag." and points to my chest.
I look down and see the battered name tag that sits on my shirt. "Peyton" it says.
I laugh and say "Right."
"Oh, i never got your name." i yell before he walks out the store doors.
"Its Carter." he replies with a smile and walk out.
The doors slam shut and two speakers hanging above the doors coming falling down. They crash to the ground and the music stops.
Well, my day is going great. "Make sure everything goes accordingly" my boss had said. What am i gonna do about these wires hanging from the ceiling?
I here the doors ring once again and see Carter standing there in a jungle of wires.
"I just forgot my keys on the counter." he said while looking up at the ceiling and observing the red, blue, and black cords dangling from the broken ceiling. "I see you're having a rough day." he adds and laughs.
"Yeah. Thats one day to put it." i say and put my hands over my face. I take the hair tie from my wrist and pull my hair up into a messy ponytail. I glance at the clock and see that its already 3:00. My boss will be here in about an hour or less. I have to make this place look like it did before.
Carter walks over to the counter and grabs his keys and walks out wont out saying anything. I walk over to the mess and start untangling the wires. I look out the glass doors and see Carter walking back to the store with a tool bag.
"Hey, i can help out." he says with a generous smile.
"Oh, you really don't have to." i say even though i need all the help i can get.
"I want to help. Its not a problem." he replies while putting his bag down and starts to help untangle the wires with me.
"Thank you so much." i say, extra embarrassed.
"No problem. So while we are doing this, tell me a little about yourself? What's your story?" he says. He sounds truly curious. I look at him, he's looking up at the wires and moving them left and right, carefully sorting them. His sharp jawline is highly visible and his muscle poke through his quarter sleeve shirt.
"My story? Don't really have one. All i really do is work to pay the rent and that pretty much it. Boring i know. But you seem interesting so what's your story?" i say trying to move the subject off of me to him.
Boy do i have a story, but i would never tell anyone. My life is already in enough danger as it is.
"Well-" he starts but his phone starts ringing from his pocket. He reaches into his pocket and brings it to his face , answering it. He puts his finger up to say "One second" and he walks into one of the aisles for privacy.
Hmm. Wonder what that was about. I hear the slight mummer of his voice from a distance. I look in the direction of his voice and see him pacing back and forth in an aisle. He stats to make his way back to the front door and i quickly look back to the wires.
"Yeah, yeah. Ill be there, don't worry. Im coming right now. Okay. Okay. Bye." he says with annoyance in his voice.
I look at him and say "Was that your girlfriend?" i say, hoping to crack a joke.
he looks up from his phone and replies "Ha. No, that was work. Im really sorry but i have to go. Ill leave my tool bag here for you to use and ill come bye tomorrow and pick it up." he says with sorry eyes.
"Oh, thats okay. Im sure ill figure this out." i say, waving m hand around the wires and the broken speakers laying on the floor.
"Okay, thanks for understanding. Ill see ya later then?" he says and smile at me.
"Yeah. Thank you for your help." i reply. and wave to him as he starts out the door.
"Bye" he says and waves back.
I watch him as he gets in his car and drives off. I watch until his car disappears into the distance.
+
