Chances

Chapter 1

"Thank you for shopping at BAM, sir and have a nice day!" I said to a rather rude man. This is what my day consisted of. Hell, this is what my life consisted of day by day, 24/7. I barely even made a living at BAM. Books-A-Million, that is. It was almost time for my lunch break, so I let Derek have the cash register while I walked over to the breakroom.

"Not so fast, little lady." Said my boss, Henry. I rolled my eyes and turned around. "What is it, sir?" I said, giving him a sarcastic smile. He pointed to the magazine shelves up front.

"Those shelves need to be organized." Well, that looked easy enough.

"Not a problem, Mr. Kench". I said. "Emma, how many times must I ask you to call me Henry. I'm not that old." He chuckled, I gave him a fake laugh back, then made my way to the magazine shelves. There wasn't much to really organize, so I just put the magazines up and fixed some of them.

I heard someone walking toward me, so I looked to my right. A pair of black, knackered converse stood before me. I slowly looked up the lengthy figure. He was probably 6 ft tall. A jean jacket formed around him perfectly, his hair sort of long, kind of greasy. He was wearing a Camel shirt. I think it's a cigarrette company.

"H-hi, can I help you, sir?" I stated nervously, standing up to meet him at his torso at least. He scratched the back of his head and messed with his hair before he answered me.

"Yeah I'm just looking for a Pearl Jam book if you've got one." He replied casually. I tried not to be nervous and stayed calm myself. "Alright. What kind were you looking for? We have a couple about Eddie Vedder, some just showing their albums and other stuff." I said, very casually. "It's actually for a friend so I'm not sure. Whaddoyou think?" He slurred. He didn't sound drunk, maybe high, but he was just really laid-back. I started looking through the magazines. I pulled out one that had a little bit of everything about Pearl Jam. "This one looks pretty good. It's got alot of stuff about the band, their latest albums and whatnot." I said, handing him the magazine. His hand was huge. "Sure, thanks." He said and shot me a smile. I smiled back. He had a gorgeous smile. "Do you need help with anything else? I have time." I said. He scratched his forehead and cleared his hair out of his face, looking for inspiration.

"Uh, no I think this is it for today." He said, slightly frowning. I pointed to the cash register in the front. "Derek will help you check-out over there." I said, smiling. "Thanks for helping me." He said smiling back. I bit my lip as I walked to the breakroom. That guy was really.. cool, I thought. He was hot. But waaaay out of my league. I shrugged it off and pulled some money out of my purse. "Hey Mr- I mean Henry. I'm going to McDonald's. You need anything?" I asked.

"No thanks, hun." He replied. I quickly strutted out of the bookstore and walked toward my run-down camry. Piece of shit, I thought. I clambered in and put the key in the ignition. The A/C didn't ever work so I rolled my window down. I turned the key, nothing. "Shit!" I exclaimed. I looked around, no one here. I kept twisting and turning, still didn't turn on. The gas tank was full, battery charged. What the hell was wrong?

"Fuck. My. Life" I said. I stepped out of the car and walked toward the engine, seeing a '92 Cutlass, with green-grayish paint. A familiar face rolled the passenger window down. "Car troubles?" He asked. The guy that I just helped! The hot one, I smirked to myself. "Uh, it's nothing I can't get fixed." I said.

"Come on, I'll take you to lunch." He said, patting the seat next to him. I smiled and grabbed my purse, heading to the old car. I awkwardly got in and sat down in the car, the inside much nicer than the outside.

"So what's your name?" He asked, his voice low and sexy. "Emma." I stated, giving him a quick smile. He smiled back and said "I'm Julian. Friends call me Jules." He said. "Alright, Jules. What kinda music do you have?" I asked, shuffling through the mixtapes in the glovebox. "Ah you know, the usual. Guns 'n' Roses, some Def Leppard, Zeppelin." He said. I picked up the Def Leppard one and stuck it in the radio. We both sung along to 'Love Bites' and laughed as we pulled into McDonald's. We walked together inside and ordered a burger for ourselves. When the woman told us the price, I pulled out some money. Julian gently pushed my hand back and handed her his money. "My treat." He mouthed to me. I said nothing, he was just so..ugh. So perfect.

We took our food and sat down in the back. "Julian I was going to pa-" He cut me off, holding his hand up. "No, don't worry about it. I have to get gas after this, I can take you back to the store and pick you up when your store closes." Shit, I forgot about my car. "You don't have to do that." I said.

"I know I don't have to, I want to." He said. His smile was so convincing. "Thanks." I said. So we sat there, talking about music and other things while eating our junk food. "Where do you work?" I finally asked. He kind of looked embarrassed. "I bartend. It's not the most high-end of jobs, but you get a hell of a lot of money." He said. I nodded while taking a sip of my soda. "That's awesome. Probably better than working at a bookstore." I added, we both laughed it off. "So how old are you?" He asked. I quickly replied, "I'm 22." With no hesitation, he said "Me too." We both smiled at each other, only it wasn't awkward. I glanced nervously down at my hand when he placed his large one over it. "I guess I should get you back to work. What time you get off?" He said. "Er, I get off at 6 today." I said.

"Perfect. I'll come get you then." He said.

So we left, he drove me back to the store and I worked my ass off the rest of the day, keeping Jules in the back of my mind the entire time.