30 Kisses Challenge
Theme #3 = Unexpected
Chapter One: An Unexpected Kiss
If there was anything Jackson hated more than working in a candy store it was cleaning up after the children who wandered in there, day after day, rubbing their grubby, sticky fingers all over everything they shouldn't be touching. Even worse than the little monsters were their parents. Oh, yes, the adult men and women who believed their precious child could do no wrong. Not even the one little boy who decided that he needed his doting parents to buy just the right one, and proceeded to tear off the wrappers of each lollipop and go for a taste. But, of course fourteen out of fifteen lollipops hadn't had "the right flavor," or "the right shape." Her personal favorite, however, was that one lollipop "was staring at him."
The parents had thought the whole display was cute while Jackson now found that the whole display was ruined. She'd had to throw out the whole batch, an action that had cost her. Literally. The big boss man, a pudgy mustachioed man with a fondness for fried chicken who looked remarkably like Theodore Roosevelt, had thought it only fair to take the cost of the ruined candy out of her paycheck.
The only safe items were those behind the glass counter at the back of the store.
What could possibly be even worse than the bratty fiends society called children?
Jackson's total lack of a social life.
Working in the candy shop took up most of her time, so most socialization with her friends was canceled in favor of gaining overtime. Her apartment, though small, was still expensive given the city environment and accessibility, so most extra money she made went to towards rent. Given that she rarely went out her only chances to associate with those of possible romantic interest were limited to her work hours. Needless to say, the majority of the candy shop's customers were either the aforementioned children, or their parents.
Not exactly a prime spot for picking up those of the opposite sex.
This being said, the occurrence of a young man her age walking into the candy shop was somewhat unusual. He had no child with him, nor did he look old enough to have a child of his own. Then again, people these days were less careful about such things. The combination of deep bags under his eyes, an extremely slender frame, and pale, almost translucent skin told Jackson that:
A.) This man didn't sleep enough;
B.) This man didn't eat enough;
C.) This man didn't go out enough; or
D.) All of the above.
Theory B was shot when the young man promptly ordered three full cheesecakes (one strawberry, one lemon, and one plain.) Shocked that anyone would order three cheesecakes at one time (too much of a flavor overload for her, and she was somewhat of a sweet tooth herself,. She did, after all, work in a candy shop) she stood speechless on the other side of the counter. Not that it mattered, because he continued on after a moment of indecision, and ordered, "Two of these, three of those, and…"
He paused once more. Half-turning to the right, he pulled his hand out of his jeans pocket, grabbed a handful of Hershey's kisses, and dropped them onto the glass counter. "And these, too."
Before Jackson had a chance to say anything, the young man reached into another bin and removed a handful of Fun-Dips. Tossing them onto the glass counter in addition the Hershey's kisses, he added, "And these, too, I think."
With a roll of her eyes, Jackson went to work preparing the man's order.
In the silence following, she heard him stroll the rest of the store. Slowly, methodically. Like he was looking for something, like something or someone was hiding behind the artistically arranged display of Twizzlers. Nothing was there, of course, except perhaps chocolate-y fingerprints left over from the child who'd been in the shop earlier that day.
Piling the cheesecake boxes on top of one another before gently placing them at the bottom of a medium-sized plastic bag, Jackson looked up and asked, "Are you going to be able to carry these?"
"Is there a reason I should be unable?"
"Uh, no, you just…" look really skinny. Like you don't have the muscle mass to carry a bag of cheesecakes, and various other candies, "look kind of, uh, tired, and I was wondering if you'd want these items delivered…"
He bit the end of his thumb. From the way he looked at her she could tell he knew she was lying. . The exact shade of dark chocolate, the man's eyes pierced her own even though her eyes had shot to the ceiling in an effort to avoid the man's gaze. After a moment of studious _, the man shook his black, shaggy locks, and said, "No, thank you. I'm perfectly capable."
Jackson swallowed, embarrassed. She shouldn't have said anything in the first place. Her mouth always got her into trouble. "Alright, well, your total comes to fifty-seven eighty."
The man dug into his back packet, pulled out a hundred dollar bill, handed it to Jackson and said, "You may keep the change."
With a shrug of indifference, Jackson entered the amount into the cash register before swiping the contents on the counter into separate plastic bag. She pushed to the two bags forward, expecting the man to take his items and leave the store. Instead, he reached into the second bag, shuffled around inside it for a few second, and eventually pulled out tootsie roll pop.
"Do you have a trash can?" The man asked, after unwrapping the lollipop and sticking it in his mouth.
Jackson raised an eyebrow at his actions, but nodded and held her hand out for the trash. "Sure; right under the counter here."
"Jackson!" Her boss shouted, waddling into the main room from his office. "I don't pay you to socialize with the customers. If the man is done, and there are no customers, then get to work cleaning up."
Strangely embarrassed at being scolded in front of the young man, Jackson ducked her head to hide both a blush and a roll of her eyes. Grabbing a rag from her apron, she diligently began scrubbing down the surface of the glass counter. Satisfied that she was doing her job, Boss Man returned to his office.
In her peripheral vision she could see the customer adjusting his packages before setting something on the counter in front of her. She glanced up, surprised at the action. What her surprised even more was the single, silver Hershey's kiss resting in the center of the counter. Reaching forward, she picked up the unexpected gift and met the man's gaze with her own.
"Thanks." Jackson said, noting the curiosity in his gaze and trying her best to ignore it. She licked her lips, tucking the candy in the left pocket of her apron.
Instead of saying anything, he cocked his head to the side, and shifted the lollipop to left side of his mouth. With one last, probing glance, the young man shuffled out of the shop, cheesecake and candies sturdily in hand. He had been able to carry them, quite easily, too, it seemed.
"Why aren't you working?" Jackson's boss snapped, poking his head once more around the door frame of his office.
Resisting to urge to say the snippy comeback that was crawling its way up her throat, Jackson returned to swiping down the counter until the boss had returned to his office. Only then, when she was sure he was busy, did she turned take out the Hershey's kiss. Only then did she unwrap the candy, and place milk chocolate in her mouth.
With a jolt, Jackson realized that she was blushing. She never blushed.
Tonguing the chocolate, Jackson found herself wishing the young man would come back, and say something to her as sweet as the Hershey's kiss in her mouth.
A/N: First ever 30 Kisses challenge! Woohoo! Anyway, I'm taking the prompts pretty loosely, as you can probably tell by my not-so-literal interpretation of Theme #3. No worries, for there will, of course, be actual kissing soon. Thanks for reading! Please review! I like knowing what I've done well, haven't done well, or what I could do better in the future. Corrections for mistakes are welcome, too, since I haven't really had a chance to edit this.
Thanks again for reading. :3