Smile

Chapter One: Danny

   He wasn't a peculiar man, he was actually quite... stodgy, you could say. Every day was the same for Daniel Pike. He would wake up at 5:45am and watch the news for fifteen minutes, then he would proceed to get dressed and eat breakfast. By 6:15am, Daniel was out of the house and on his way to work. Daniel didn't have a glamorous job. He worked at a phone company, in customer service. For eight hours a day, Daniel got to work with a series of yelling, disgruntled customers that just loved making their problems Daniel's fault.
    He wasn't happy, but he wasn't unhappy either. Daniel just kind of existed. His whole world was monotonous. There was so little change in his life that the days just blurred together. His whole life was just this big smudge of grey on a canvas of color. It was almost as if he didn't know how to see beauty. Daniel was a boring man, with a shitty job and a blurred life.
    After work, he'd drive home and make dinner. He had a talent and passion for cooking, but he never put it to work. Daniel treated cooking like it was a chore of sorts. He made bland food, neglecting to add spices or flavor.  He'd clean up and then would read a book or watch some local television. He had a stack of movies but hadn't touched them in years. He'd occasionally glance at the stack, thinking about how he should wipe the dust that had collected over years off of the DVDs. He never did get around to it, he would much rather admire how clean and pristine he kept the rest of his house. Around seven in the evening, he would start getting ready for bed around seven in the evening. And then the routine repeated.
   Dawn struck along with the loud ring of Daniel's alarm. He swung his feet off of his bed and onto the ground. Daniel wiped his eyes and made his way into the bathroom. He neatly combed his hair to the side and looked into the mirror. He didn't have any distinct features. Daniel was of average height and build. He had brown eyes and short brown hair that had been cut recently, clean and sharp.  His face didn't express feelings well, maybe because that's just how he was, or maybe because he kept it hidden and forgot how to feel.
   He made his way out to his car, a green 1997 Ford Aspire that smelled like smoke, from the previous owners. Daniel pulled up to his office building and sighed as he grabbed his name tag out of his center console and pinned it to his shirt. He wasn't quite sure why he needed a name tag. It's not like he actually saw customers, he just talked to them over the phone. Daniel stepped out of the car and shut the door as he started walking towards the building. He stuck his hands in his pockets and watched his feet move beneath him and then it hit him. Well, she hit him.
   A girl, shorter than average with wavy dark blonde hair and stunning blue eyes. She was wearing a short yellow dress and bright red lipstick. Her short legs were moving quickly beneath her and she ran right into Daniel.
   "Oh! I'm so sorry-" she paused mid-sentence to look at his nametag. "...Danny! Can I call you Danny?" Her voice was full of life, of excitement.
   "Most people just call me Daniel." He said shyly.
   "Well, I'm going to call you Danny" she smiled as she patted him on the back.  She stuck out her hand and flashed a big, dorky smile. "My name is Paige." She smiled again as Daniel shook her hand. "I am sorry about running into you. I should pay attention more."
   "Oh, don't worry about it" He mumbled.
   Paige made him feel odd, like he was going to be sick to his stomach. When she laughed, his heart fluttered and his heart felt warm. She made him remember what it was like to feel.
   As soon as Paige had bumped into him, she was gone again. He watched her dress sway back and forth as her small legs carried her to her destination. As he walked into the building, the excitement drained him, and his life was once again dull and mundane.
   The rest of the day was the same. Daniel drove home, ate dinner and laid in bed, but tonight he couldn't sleep.       All he could do was think about Paige. Her eyes, her smile, the way she carries herself, her giggle, her goofy smile, the life in her. He yearned for her presence.