She laughs at something the customer says to her as she waits on him. Her blue eyes light up as her grin appears and jealousy grips his heart. He can't interfere. Her happiness is all that will ever matter to him. If he were to enter her life it'd only bring trouble and confusion.
In his world, monsters from mythology exist. Shapeshifters, werewolves, either word could describe them. Everyone is born with a soulmate they'll seek out in their lives. Most of the time, they'd be if the same species but sometimes a human would be pared with shifter. Humans can't feel the connection and don't grow up with the expectation of finding a mate. They grow up, fall in love, marry, and have kids. Such is his curse.
The man at the counter takes his coffee and cigarettes and leaves the store. She spins around going back to stocking the cigarettes behind the counter.
He shouldn't be here but he lives for this. These small moments of watching her though the peace and happiness he feels is short lived knowing she'll never be his in the way she was meant to.
She'd built this life for herself. At home, she had a human man she loved, Mark, who she married three years before. They'd met at her former place of work. A slaughterhouse where she'd worked in a department that made hamburger. They'd eventually fallen in love and married. He made her smile and laugh in a way no one else did. She'd once told someone he was the one who made her soul happy.
After a year of marriage they welcomed their first daughter, Maddison, whom they affectionately called Maddi. She was now a sassy stubborn 2 year old who was a mama's girl and Tom boy all rolled into one. Miko had often seen the tot with her mother at the park. Niki chasing her from sand box to swings to slides and back again. Shortly before Maddi's second birthday and shortly after Miko had found her, Niki had given birth to a second daughter. Everly, Ever, was just as adored by her mother as her sister.
Her job was one she'd said she works because she wanted to and not because she had to. Mark made enough to live off but she'd missed life outside of home while being a stay at home mom. She'd said she liked the people.
This life made her happy. As much as Miko wanted to make her his, he wouldn't ruin her happiness. He'd known the moment he'd seen her in that very store, waddling around heavily pregnant wearing that wedding band on her hand that she'd never be his.
With a sigh, he stands and tosses out the wrapper from his bagel and his empty coffee cup. He'd lingered as long as he dared. Any longer and people would question the strange man in the corner who watched the young cashier a little too closely every shift.
"Have a good day," she calls smiling as he walks through the door his heart breaking as he goes.
Her happiness is all that matters.
