Until the Stars Fade

Until the Stars Fade - Chapter 1

I was folding towels when my life was forever changed. It was three weeks after my sophomore year ended and I had gotten my first job at a store called House to Home. Since I don't have a car, I was limited to someplace I could walk to, so that's how I ended up folding towels, among other things, at House to Home.

I have been training with Jean, a sweet, older lady who kind of reminds me of my grandma, Gogo. Jean is the towel folding expert and is teaching me everything she knows. I never knew there could be so many different ways to fold a towel. But what I have found is that folding towels is kind of therapeutic, just the monotony of it, I get lost in my thoughts.

"Kinsley, dear," Jean says as she lays her hand on my shoulder. "It's our break time. I'm headed back to rest my feet."

"Break time already? Wow, this morning has gone fast. I'll just finish folding these last few and then I'll be back to join you." Jean smiles at me as she heads toward the staff break room.

I quickly finish folding the towels I had in the box I was working on and as I turn around to put them away someone says, "Excuse me, can you please help me?"

"Sure, happy to," I say as I'm turning around, however, once I'm facing the customer, I find myself at a loss for words. Standing three feet away from me is the hottest guy I have ever seen in my life. He's the definition of tall, dark and handsome with his almost black hair in a messy but styled cut, perfectly tan skin and these beautiful grayish blue eyes. His smile is brilliant and it reaches his eyes which make them seem more blue than gray. He's wearing a solid gray t-shirt, low-cut jeans and flip flops.

I realize my mouth is gaping open, so I quickly shut it and he chuckles a little, like he knew I was checking him out. I just barely get out the words, "What can I help you with?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He quirks his head to the side and gestures around him with open arms. "I need some towels."

"Oh, right, of course, towels," I somehow get out. I could not be making a bigger fool of myself now if I tried. "What kind of towels did you need?"

Now he looks confused. "I need towel towels. You know, the kind you use to dry yourself off, typically after showering." I can feel my eyes get wide. Great, now I'm picturing him showering.

"Ok, well, we have lots of different kinds as you can see. There's Egyptian cotton, Turkish cotton, Organic cotton, Pima, bamboo, microfiber. Depending on how absorbent you want the towel would depend on what kind you get. Also, there's the preference of do you want a super fluffy towel or something a little thinner."

Oh my god. Stop talking about towels. My mind is racing. Apparently, I've really been listening these past three weeks when Jean was going on and on about the towels.

"Wow, you know a lot about towels," he laughs. "I just really want some gray towels, that's it. I didn't realize there were so many choices."

I start moving towards the towels displayed on the wall and pull out a gray one and hand it to him.

"How about this one? It's really soft, absorbs well and washes great. These are the ones I have, just not this color."

Dear lord, now I'm telling him about my own towels. Stop talking about towels. Oh god, what if he's picturing me showering now. I should have gone to the break room with Jean when she went.

"Sure, this is great. I'll take four," he says. The whole time he's been here, he hasn't taken his eyes off of me. I can feel myself getting flush and my cheeks pinking from the attention.

"Did you want 4 sets? That would include hand towels and wash cloths too."

He chuckles as he replies, "Um, yeah, four sets then."

I quickly pull everything off the shelf and hand it to him. His arms are so full, it will be a miracle if he makes it to the checkout without dropping something.

"Did you need anything else?" I ask.

"Nope, just the towels today. Thanks for your help. This has been quite...educational." He turns with his armful of towels and heads off in the direction of the checkout. "Maybe I'll see you around sometime," he shouts as he's walking away. I'm left, dumbstruck, heart pounding, surrounded by a million towels.

Shaking my head, wondering if that really just happened, I head off to the breakroom to join Jean. Too bad Jean wouldn't appreciate me telling her about the hot guy I just sold four sets of towels to! I pull out my phone and text my friend Hazel, she will definitely appreciate this.

For the rest of the day, as Jean and I keep folding towels, I keep thinking about the guy and how I couldn't have been more awkward. What 16-year-old talks about different types of cotton? I'm a lost cause.

The next day, I'm back at work, hanging with Jean, folding our towels, when the hot guy from yesterday appears in the aisle.

"Hi," he says with a wide smile.

"Hello there," Jeans says. "What can we help you with today?" I'm frozen in place, towel mid-fold, staring at him.

"Umm, your friend behind you," he says, gesturing to me, "helped me yesterday with some towels. And I was wondering if she could help me again?" This cannot be happening. He's back and even after all the ridiculous things I rambled about, he wants me to help him.

"Oh, of course, Kinsley can assist you with whatever you need help with," Jean says looking between me and the guy. She gives me a little nudge towards him and then she winks at me. She winked at me! Does that mean Jean knows this guy is hot too?

"Kinsley," he says my name like he's trying it out. "That's a cool name."

"Oh, um, thanks. What did you need help with? Did you need more towels? Was there a problem with the ones you got." He's staring at me and I'm beginning to feel self-conscious standing there in my House to Home uniform of black pants, white shirt and teal apron. Today he's wearing a different gray t-shirt, a pair of shorts and flip flops.

"No, no more towels. They're great though. I need some sheets for my bed that's being delivered today."

"Ok, I can help you with the sheets. Right this way," I tell him as I walk towards our bedding section. My heart is pounding the whole time I'm walking down the aisle.

"Here's the sheets," I gesture around me. "Let me guess, you want gray ones?"

He smiles at me, "No, just white I think. Oh, and I need king size." Great, now I'm picturing him in his king size bed. I really need to get out more.

"Ok," I say as I walk toward the wall of white sheets. "Here they are."

"What? No educational speech about sheets? You have a thing against sheets? You sure had a lot to say about the towels yesterday," he laughs as he says it. I want to crawl under the display bed and never come out. I can feel my cheeks blushing.

"Oh, well, um, I... The higher the thread count, the better the sheet." I pick up a package off the shelf and hand it to him. "These are the best, so I'd go with these."

"Sold."

He takes the sheet set from my hand and heads off towards the checkout as he says, "Maybe I'll see you around some time." It's the same thing he said yesterday when he left. Yesterday I thought he was being polite, but two days in a row, now I'm hoping maybe I do see him around sometime.