Perks of the Job

Chapter Twenty-Five

There's something wrong. There must be something wrong. There just has to be something wrong.

 All night. All night he was moody and annoying and just aggravating.

 From the moment I stepped into the store, I knew that something was wrong. He wasn't himself. It's not even as though I'd known him that long, but there was just something about him that night that told me he wasn't feeling like himself, or at least, he wasn't acting it.

 The Nick I knew was sweet and kind and found humor in everything, but this Nick was not even close. He seemed tense and as though something had been occupying his thoughts. I didn't want to take it too much to heart, the fact that he didn't even say hello when we walked in or the fact that he refused to acknowledge me when I passed by him, but I couldn't help it.

 I, in no way, was entitled to Nick pouring his guts to me; if there was something on his mind, he didn't have to tell me, but it made me feel horrible knowing that something was bothering him, yet all he was doing was bottling it up inside.

 And what made it worse? By the end of the night, he was back to his spunky, old self. It, for whatever reason, bothered me that he was able to just bounce back to normal again, especially since he'd been so cold all night. I couldn't help but wonder if it was me. I wanted to know if it was something I'd done, but I didn't have the heart to ask him. He seemed fine by night's end, so there was no problem, right?

 I didn't want to make a mountain out of a mole-hill and ask him, 'What's wrong?' or 'Are you okay?' especially if I wasn't even sure that there was something wrong at all; I mean, we all have shitty days, maybe this was just one of his.

 Still, I couldn't help but feel bad for him. What if he was going through something? What if he did need a vent?

 I contemplated texting him once I got home. I figured that even though nothing at all may be wrong, it might be nice to ask and offer support in case he needed it, but something was stopping me. I didn't have the guts to text him. I wasn't quite sure why, but something was telling me not to text him, to just leave it alone, and so I did.

 ...

 I went to school the next day having mostly gotten over Nick's behavior the night before. I wasn't about to spend my entire day dwelling on a problem that might not even exist, so I just went about my routine of showing up to my classes and keeping out of everyone's way.

 Spanish had been proving to be a total failure and I decided to drop it and replace it with a more laid back class: art. I'd always liked art and it was a pretty easy class to end my day with. It was where I could just relax and let some creativity out, and the fact that I had it with Cheyenne from work didn't hurt either.

 I didn't know Cheyenne very well, but she'd been friends with my brother before he graduated and she seemed very nice. She was lively and spunky and extremely hilarious. I wouldn't really consider us to be 'friends' but I liked talking to her and having someone in a new class was nice.

 "Hey," she said loudly and vibrantly as I walked into the unfamiliar classroom. I smiled to her and offered a more toned down, but just as friendly, "Hi."

 "Girl, you in this class now?" I nodded to her just as the teacher walked over. She introduced herself as Ms. Vogue and got me started on the project the class had been working on before I transferred in.

 As I mindlessly sketched in my notepad, Cheyenne started a conversation. "So, when are you going into work again?"

 "Saturday. You?"

 "Friday. I think I'm working with Erin."

 "Oh, cool," I replied, not really knowing what else to say. "She's nice." I think Cheyenne could sense the tension in my voice, but tried to keep the conversation going, which I was later grateful for, being able get me to open up.

 "I think Nick's going in on Saturday," she offered. Of course, being the absolute stalker that I was, I already knew this, but I responded anyway with, "Oh, really?"

 "Yeah," Cheyenne confirmed. "He's cool, kind of weird though."

In all honesty, I agreed with her. He had his quirks, but they were part of his charm and what made me fall for him in the first place, though I'd never tell Cheyenne.

 "Well, maybe. I -"

 "You know he asked out Erin, right?" Just as she said this, I felt my heart drop. He what? He asked out Erin? And all this time he'd been leading me on, flirting with me, making me believe that I had at least a hair-thin chance of possibly being his 'something more?'

 I was mad. I was hurt. I was upset. I was . . .

 To hear that he'd liked someone else all along made me feel, in a way, used. How could he possibly have had the audacity to be so kind, so nice, so - 

That's just it though. That was just Nick, the way he was with everyone. It had led me to believe that I meant more to him than 'just a co-worker,' but it seems as though I'm not as good at reading people as I thought, and now I just felt foolish.

"He, he did?" I managed to stutter out to avoid letting Cheyenne know what was going on in my head.

"Yeah, like four months ago. She said no though, said he wasn't her type."

For some reason, even after all my mental debate, I felt relieved to hear this. I was almost glad to hear that Nick and Erin had never progressed to anything more, and in a way I still 'had a shot' with him, though I'm not sure if I ever had one to begin with.

I smiled internally to myself. I was still confused as fuck, but in a way reassured to know that Nick was free, but just for good measure, I played along with Cheyenne. "Yeah, that's weird."

I decided that it was still probably best to give Nick his space though. I'd let him lead me on this far, and I wasn't about to let it get any further and get dragged along any more. I wasn't going to fall for him (any further) I would resist him and his charming ways. I would get over Nick Cartlan!