Unapologetically in Love

Opening Day

Today was the day you've waited for for a very long time. You were a small town girl, raised in the middle of nowhere Ohio and now you have worked your way up to opening your own little boutique in Los Angeles. It wasn't your plan to open your shop in the middle of a pandemic but nothing ever seems to go right for you in life so why would this be any different. You stood at the front window, looking up and down the road to the empty side walks. You tried to pass out flyers on parked cars, did some promoted tweets and stories on instagram, and even reached out to some influencers to try to get them to promote the opening, but the pandemic and the quarantine was keeping everyone home. 

After a while you started to give up the hope that you would even have your first shopper. You let all your staff go for the day which only consisted of one other person that spent most of the day tidying up the same stacks of shirts over and over. You started to pull down the shades of the window when the front door suddenly opened and you heard a bunch of commotion. A tall brunette came rushing into the store, slamming the front door behind her and locking it. 

"Excuse me? Can I help you?" you asked the brunette extremely puzzled. 

"Sorry! can you pull down more of the shades? the paparazzi have swarmed me and they won't get out of my face!" replied the brunette. 

You peer out the window and see 10 men all with the cameras trying to peak into the shop windows to get a photo of this mystery brunette. You hurry and pull down the shades and turn off the lights. You go over to where the brunette is crouched down and tell her to follow you to the back room. You lead her to the back office which has no windows and is safe from the mass of men with cameras. 

"I'm sorry to have barged in but it got to the point that I couldn't take another step so I just reached for the closest door." the brunette said as took off her sunglasses revealing beautiful brown doe eyes. You hadn't realized in the chaos that you didn't even know who came crashing into your store, but once you saw her eyes you knew exactly who she was. Her beauty stunned you and you stuttered in response. 

"N- N- No problem at all! My name is (Y/N), I own this shop."

"I'm Hailee. Hailee Steinfeld." the brunette introduced herself as if she didn't expect you to know who she was. 

"Yes, I'm aware of who you are. I would be a fool not to. Does this kind of thing happen to you often?"  you asked with a slight giggle in your voice from nervousness. 

"Not really no, I am use to crowds at events but I am normally pretty under the radar when I am out in public. I guess with covid there hasn't been much for them to report on so me walking from the meeting I was just at to go grab a burger because I am starving must be the biggest thing happening around here."

As she talked you found yourself just mesmerized by everything about her. You couldn't believe that she was sitting right in front of you. You traced your eyes along her long brown hair, the curve of her jaw line, her perfectly shaped full lips, and landed on her brown doe eyes. You were lost in thought of how she was way more beautiful in person than any picture could have ever captured. You didn't realize how long your mind had wondered off until you heard your name 

"(Y/N) you ok? hey (Y/N) you in there?" Hailee asked.

"oh uh yeah sorry I was just trying to imagine how life would be like with people chasing me with cameras, I don't know if I could do it." you replied trying to come up with something to distract the fact that you were caught just staring at her. 

"being in the business as long as I have, you get use to it, I guess I'm just out of practice since I've spent most of this year home with just my family." 

You both let out a little laugh. "There is a backdoor that leads out to a gated parking lot, I can drive you to where ever you need to go next if you would like. The men can't get to it since you need a code to get in." 

"Thank you but my mom is just around the corner, is it ok if I give her the code to come pick me up?" 

You give Hailee the code and take a breathe of relief. You offered her a ride to be nice, but you couldn't imagine actually being able to focus on the road with her in the car with you. 

"While I wait for my mom to get here, do you mind if I take a look around the shop? I never knew this place was here!" Hailee asked. 

"Of course! Today is actually our opening day but the virus kind of ruined it." you replied.

"and it doesn't help that I came crashing in too! while walking back to the office I noticed a few tops that I thought were super cute!"

You both walk out of the office and you watch as Hailee starts looking through the tops hanging up. You think of how amazing it would be for the shop if if she was to be photographed wearing one of your tops! 

"I will make you a deal." you say to Hailee.

"What's the deal?"

"To make up for all the chaos of today, you can have any top as long as you take a photo while wearing it and post it on your Instagram" you replied. 

"Deal! its the least I can do! Plus I am obsessed with this top!" Hailee says as she pulls down a hanger with one of your favorite tops. You go to grab a bag and fold the shirt up nicely in it when you hear a knock at the back door. When you open the door there stands Cheri, Hailee's mom. You hand the bag to Hailee slipping  your business card into the bag. Hailee gives you a small hug and thanks you again for saving her. You can't help but smell her perfume when she hugs you. 

"Don't forget to post!" you yell as she is walking out. 

"I won't! I promise! Thanks again!" Hailee replies as she gets into her mom's car and closes the door. 

You lock the backdoor and fall into your office chair. You can't put into words how incredible your day had become. You can still feel the tingle of where her arm wrapped around you in the hug and the her perfume still lingers in your nose. You take a deep breathe in through your nose to get a strong smell of it and close your eyes reliving the best moment of your life.