The Beauty Within (#OnceUponNow)

Chapter Three

During the morning hours, we didn't receive many customers, but that was to be expected. Today was Tuesday, and business was never booming during the weekday mornings.

Elliot was restocking the shelves for me, having caught my pathetic attempt to do so several minutes ago. My height prevented me from reaching the top shelves, and I suppose he must have noticed.

"I can help you that," I remembered him saying suddenly, causing me to shriek and drop the box of science fiction books that I was carrying. He merely got a nice laugh out of it though.

Sighing to myself, shaking my head at the brief memory, I hopped off of my chair and walked over towards Elliot, observing his work. "You were right."

He stiffened slightly before glancing up. "About what?"

"You're very organized. You stacked these books up perfectly," I admitted, glancing around at the perfect rows of novels.

He blushed lightly. "Oh, well. Thank you. It means a lot to hear that from my soon-to-be official boss."

"Confident that we're going to get the job, aren't we?" I couldn't help but to giggle out.

"I know I will. I'll prove my worth to you," he said, staring directly into my eyes before continuing to restock the shelves.

A blush made its way onto my cheeks, and I looked away slightly. "Uh, keep up the good work."

Walking away, I heard him take a deep breath, and my eyes almost began to water. I probably frightened the poor guy with my appearance. My scar had been known to make small children cry. That's why I made sure to keep my scar covered whenever I noticed children walking into my store.

My desk seemed cluttered, which was unusual for me, so I walked over towards a trash can that was beside the bookstore's front entrance. Carrying it towards my desk, I collected all trash and threw it away, stacking my books back into place. If Elliot was going to be very punctual and well organized, then so was I.

Taking the trash can back over to its original spot, I noticed that several people were making their way over towards the store, and a very slight smile emitted on my face. Despite how horribly the world treated me, I needed customers to make money.

Quickly, I sped towards my counter and walked behind it, readying my computer and other needed devices.

When the group entered, they immediately began staring at my scar, some wrinkling their noses up in disgust. I hid my scar as best I could, but it didn't seem to work that well. They were about to leave, until they saw Elliot that is.

He walked towards them, smiling. "Good Morning, and welcome to Dreamless Reality! We stock the latest literature hits, as well as other books of any genre!"

Instead of directing their attention towards my scar, they smiled at Elliot, thanking him and splitting off to browse through the store's large selection of books.

I noticed that Elliot was staring at me, and I glanced at him. He seemed sad, giving me a look of pity, and for some reason, I didn't really like it. He seemed actually sorry for me, which was something no other person had ever felt towards me, not even my family.

It frightened me.