After Hours

sometime soon

"Do you bus everywhere?"

         NICK ASKED ONE day during another monotonous shift at the museum.

The two of them were currently at the reception desk, ears peeled for Jen to come by and check up on them as they each scrolled through their social media feeds on their phones. Occasionally, Nick would see a funny video and send it to her or they'd merely huddle close and giggle at it together on his phone.

"Yeah," Althea replied, placing her phone on the desk as she turned towards him. "I don't have my license. But," she said, feeling insecure at the mild look of amusement in Nick's eyes. "I'm totally gonna get it. I've already taken my written test. I just have to do the road test."

"I can help teach you," he offered.

Althea smiled slightly at the eagerness in his offer before she gently shook her head at him.

"No really, I'm a great driver. I've been driving since I was sixteen." At this admission, there was a genuine look of pride in his grin and it made Althea's heart swell with fondness.

She couldn't contain her small laugh. "It's okay, don't worry! I already saved some cash for the driving lessons. And I could never take up your time like that," she said, smiling.

"Do you even like taking the bus?" Nick asked.

"It's not all that bad." Althea pulled the lever to her chair until she was nearly a foot shorter than Nick. "It gives you time to think," she said, looking up at him.

"Why? You don't get to do enough of that already?" He smiled widely as if to let her know it was a joke. Althea rolled her eyes playfully at him.

"You know what I meant. Ponder about life—y'know, shit like that." She crossed her arms at him, aware she looked like a child what with the height of her chair and the sullen expression over her face.

"God Althea, you're so eloquent."

"You don't know me well enough to be so mean to me already," she huffed. Nick's expression morphed into one of genuine remorse, all traces of laughter gone from his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Allie. I'll cut back on the teasing."

"It's okay," she laughed, grinning cheekily at him. "I'm just kidding around. Feel free to make fun of me. I'm 20 years old and the most I've driven is in a mall parking lot with my dad when I was fifteen."

"Did you do well that time?"

At the memory of her father clutching his seat belt as she pressed the brake too many times and nearly hit a parked car, Althea suddenly frowned.

"No, I was shit." Her eyes flitted up towards Nick as she tilted her head in curiosity. "Would you really teach me?" she asked.

"Yeah, I would," he answered earnestly.

"Okay, then I accept. Although, I have to warn you. I'm embarrassingly awful."

"Don't sell yourself so short," he said, eyes twinkling and face calm. Althea felt suddenly vulnerable underneath his gaze, and so she avoided his eyes as she glanced towards the door.

The truth was she was always awful at accepting compliments. Most of it came from the way compliments in her household from her grandfather were given as she was growing up. Comments like she was at the perfect weight of 'not too fat or skinny' and that she should 'watch herself', or that her tight springy curls were very nice but odd considering her mother's softer curls, had done nothing for her self esteem as she grew up. As a result, Althea always felt slightly uncomfortable and suspicious over those that gave her a compliment, wary that they may be implying something else in their comment.