Things Unseen

Chapter One

*Author's Note* 

This will be the first thing I've published (other than blog posts) in almost two years. I began this book in 2011 (also the year the story is set), long before the Roman Soul Series. This was the story that the Lord used to call me to be a writer. This story is a piece of me. These characters have been a part of me for over seven years. This book is written to glorify Christ and no other. It is my goal to spread the hope of the Gospel through the following pages. May the Lord bless you all. :)

                                                                                         ~

The clicking keyboard under her fingers blended with the constant hum of the store. Alyssa Brenton paused only to brush the strand of auburn hair that fell out of her ponytail and glance up at the checkouts lined up less than ten feet away.  She could do most of it with her eyes closed, but she preferred to keep them open. She had intentionally rearranged the entire setup of the customer service desk so she could face the activity before her as she did her work. Life was happening around her, and she wanted to be a part of it.

"Lissie!"

A half-turn brought the big man into view, as he shuffled along the scuffed floor and approached the desk. He looked flustered; he always did. Even when he wasn't stressed his rosy Irish cheeks were always bright red, and Alyssa often wondered if he had problems with his blood pressure. He wouldn't admit so even if she did ask, so she never bothered.

"Hey Mr. O'Connor. What's up?" Alyssa hit save on the computer program and slid her chair out, facing her boss.

"Lissie, I need your help. You know I'm a patient man, but I think I'm all run dry." His accent rolled off his tongue as if he'd just arrived from "me blessed homeland," as he called it. His glasses perched on the end of his nose, and his wisps of hair were standing on end. "You know the new kid, Brian?"

"Yeah." She should – she'd hired him only four days ago.

"Well, he can't seem to work with the computer. I tried to help him, but you know I'm not that good at it myself."

Alyssa smiled, "And you needed a genius to help you?"

"No, I didn't want to go down to the computer shop. I was just hoping you could straighten him out." His eyes twinkled at her.

"Sure thing," she jumped out of her chair and came around the edge of the desk. The wooden half-door clattered against the front desk as she walked out into the store and faced the line of checkouts. There were only five, but it was all the store needed. The smallest corner of Boston only needed so many groceries, but Mr. O'Connor had managed to keep the place in business since his father had passed it down to him. The customers were the children of the customers before them. It was a steady pattern of those who never left, never changed, and were always steady. Unlike her.

She spotted Brian at the last register and strolled over to him. He was perched on the little stool each cashier was given, hunched forward, facing the computer with a cold stare. Alyssa chuckled and approached his register. "What's going on?"

"It's stuck again." He sighed, pushing his glasses up on his nose. "And I thought I knew everything about computers."

"Well, you can always learn something new. That's not a bad thing." Alyssa leaned forward and scanned the code that stretched across the screen. "Oh, that's what you did." She held down a combination of keys, and the screen went black.

"What?"

"You went out of sequence. What you're supposed to do is hit coupon, then vendor, then value. You hit value first and it couldn't handle that."