Deluxe Sausage Lover

five

Things progressed.

In Mackenzie's eyes, she was doing great and everything was falling right into place. But to everyone around her, she was falling behind in school while becoming more obsessed over this pizza delivery boy with every passing second. With only a week going by since that intentional mishap at the gym, Mackenzie had finessed her way into Tony's busy schedule, which she had pretty much memorized by now.

Now don't get the wrong idea, Mackenzie didn't get Tony to agree to hang out with her. Instead, she had to convince the school to let her get a work study job halfway through the semester. Mackenzie was one of the new fitness center's front desk receptionists, but only for a couple hours a day when she figured Tony would be there. She now didn't just see him when she ordered pizza, but now got to watch him for at least an hour more as long as he came in to work out.

Kolby, Mack's roommate, was excited at first to hear Mackenzie had gotten a job and wouldn't be stuck obsessing on the floor of their apartment. When she learned of Mack's true motive though, she started to fear her own best friend. Of course Mackenzie had crushes, and Kolby had helped her get over some pretty unattainable guys in the past, but this crush had reached a new level of insanity. Kolby wanted so desperately to help Mackenzie get back to reality, but she was afraid to confront her, afraid that Mackenzie would turn on her and she'd lose any chance of helping her.

So there sat Mackenzie, behind the front desk of the fitness center, occasionally peaking over at the students and staff using the machinery. THen just as Mack had expected, Tony and a few of his friends were walking towards her with their ID cards out, ready to be scanned. Mackenzie attempted to make small talk, but came off more creepy than she wanted.

"You guys are right on schedule today."

They all gave her a creeped out glance, pulling their IDs back as they walked at a faster pace into the gym. Before Tony could completely pass her by, Mack called out his name. Much to his disappointment, his friends had already left him behind to deal with the crazy girl. He turned swiftly on his heel, holding his workout bag closer to his chest. Mack pulled her chair closer to the desk separating the two of them, pulling on the sweetest smile she could.

"I was just wondering if you were free to hang out this weekend, maybe?"

Tony looked in his friend's direction, looking desperately for any excuse to just get away from Mackenzie and back to his original plan of just having a simple workout. As he glanced back in her direction, her facial expression did not budge and her eyes were locked on his.

"I'm busy this weekend, I have some studying to catch up on and professors to meet with."

Mackenzie accepted his answer, figuring he wasn't lying about his plans. So she went for another chance.

"How about next weekend? I could do most any nights of the week really."

Tony was beginning to feel even more uncomfortable now. He knew Mackenzie was starting to have feelings for him, but as of lately, he felt as though he was an animal in a zoo. He caught her on multiple occasions watching him or trying to figure out what his plans were and what his next move was. At first, he found it amusing that someone would be crushing that hard over him, but as the days went on, he was more on the edge of his seat. He tried to make his way out of the conversation without bringing more suspicion from Mackenzie.

"I just can't hang out with you, sorry." He tried to walk off after quickly ending his sentence but she appeared in front of him again.

"Why? Do you have a girlfriend?" Mackenzie leaned in ever so slightly, only hoping to hear one thing come out of his mouth. Her eyebrow raised as his lips parted slightly.

"Well, no, I just don't want to hang out with you. I'm sorry. Please, can I just go workout now?" Tony slipped by her, walking at a fast pace towards his friends who were gathered in the back corner just casually watching them.

Mackenzie let her shoulders drop slowly as she went to sit back down behind the desk. She rested her elbows on the space in front of the computer, placing her chin on the palm of her hand as she thought of ways to rework her plans. This was only a minor inconvenience in her book, one that she could easily overcome if she went about it the right way. The fact that he didn't have a girlfriend only made it easier for her.