Conversations With The Moon (Bruno Mars One-Shots)

Lessons pt. 5

"So this, is my job," I say to Raine gesturing to aisle were standing at the very back of my parent's 'Elvis' store. "I have to stock the shelves with the new items we got in."

"All of this?" she looks over all the unopened boxes of product raising one eyebrow.

"It's not much," I say shaking my head. "Its easy. And if two people do it, it'll be done in not time." I open one of the boxes with nearby box cutter and start pulling items from it. She watches as I pull one from the box and carefully place the item on the self nearest to her. I nudge her shoulder as I step backward and glance a her.

"Help me?" Raine smirks and shakes her head then grins and ties her back back into a low bun. She pushes up the sleeves of the sweater she's wearing then then takes the box cutter I was using and starts opening all the boxes. For the next hour and a half, she and I stock the shelves and carefully arrange them so that they all are well set up for customer to browse. After breaking down all the boxes and taking them outback to the trash, she and I head back inside and sit on the floor in one of the back corners of the store.

"See it wasn't that bad," I say dusting my hands off. She nudges me.

"I guess." I glance at her and see that she's smiling at me. She seems to stare for a moment too long and I start to speak but instead, I choose to hold my words back. As she watch me, her features soften making the line and creases in her face---especially without make up disappear. Her long bare lashes move like a wave each time she blinks. Freckles I never noticed that she had are clear as day on her bare cheeks and tiny birthmark the left of her right eye gives her face more character than the make up ever did. She takes a deep breath then rests her head on my shoulder and picks up one of my hands from my lap. She pushes my fingers out from the relaxed curled position and runs her fingertips across my palm. She stops for a moment on each callous from guitar and ukulele playing, on the little lines and ridge of my palm and then across the little scratches and scars I have. Afterward she wraps her hand around mine and squeezes it. Elvis tunes play around us and for a few minutes all is peaceful and Raine is once again calm and quite as she was when she was asleep.

"Bruno!" Raine's head pops up off my shoulder and I see her watching me out of the corner of my eyes.

"Yeah?" I reply pulling me from my half doze.

"Can you come up. I need something from the back."

"Yeah, I gotchu." I sigh deeply and prepare to get up. I start to release Raine's hand but before she let my hand go she reaches across me for my cheek that's furthest from her her. She tenderly presses her lips to my cheek. As she draws away from me I look at her and she gives me a small warm smile. I feel my brows furrow and my jaw shift down as my chest starts to pound. She lets go of my hand.

"Go," Raine says gesturing with her chin. I do as I'm told and in not time, I return to the back, get the item for a customer and wait as Tahiti rings them up. After helping the person take the item to their car, I return to the store and lean up against the counter for a minute. Tahiti jabs me in my shoulder. "You ok?"

"Y-yeah," I reply.

"Did you but away all new stuff we got in? Mom expects them to be away by the time she gets in for the afternoon shift."

"Yeah, everything is shelved and the boxes were flatted and put out."

"Good."

For the rest of afternoon until mom shows up, Tahiti, Raine and I hold down the shop. When mom arrives, the three of us are posted in different areas near the front of the shop just sort of on stand by for customers. She gives us a little something to eat and then we move on to other things. She asks us to complete a few tasks like cleaning and tidying up then organizing some large orders that are set to be picked up. She releases us just before six in the evening leaving us just enough daylight to spend with friends.