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"Hi!"
"Uh…um…h-hey!"
Was I really stuttering? I've talked to so many girls in my life and now here I am choked up from this girl in front of me. This was the first time she came into the store while I worked. Seeing her at a distance was a lot easier to handle but here she was, right in front of me and I definitely wasn't ready.
My pulse quickened as my hands clamored to grab the items she was buying and run them through the scanner. I didn't want her to think I was an emotional mess and slow.
As I scanned her items I realized that the silence was becoming eerie and it had just hit me that I wasn't talking to her like I would have if she were just any other customer.
"How are you doing today?"
I sounded so fake and monotone, she's probably going to think I didn't want to talk to her. Did I want to talk to her? I could barley form a sentence normally. Why am I getting so flustered? So many thoughts raced through my mind that assisted in making the situation more difficult for me.
She answered, but I was too in thought to even listen to what she said. I could tell she asked me something because of how she tilted back and forth on her heel and was staring directly at me with her lips pursed.
I had that same little tick when I was waiting on someone.
Daring to venture into danger, my eyes looked up and met her gaze again. Damn those eyes, I know its so cliché, but I've never been so mesmerized by something like this before. They weren't just blue, but they shimmered and had patterns that could only be fully appreciated if you looked deeper. It's probably because I've only really seen her at a distance and never got to see her face so close up that I was taken aback by this now.
"W-What was that?" I managed to croak out as I snapped out of my daze.
She tilted her head to the side and blinked as a smile grew on her face. God she was so damn adorable. I tried to look at anything but her eyes but I felt that everything else was too dull in comparison. Like when you look at a picture and the thing that you immediately look at is the most vibrant object and all the rest is insignificant.
"I asked how your day was." She answered sweetly, she didn't even sound irritated that I completely ignored her.
"Oh! Mine was good, thanks" I replied with a little more confidence.
She nodded when I replied and pulled out her phone from her pocket. It must have vibrated, or she just didn't want to continue this poor excuse for a conversation. I wouldn't blame her.
"Oh wait! I forgot something. Can I go grab it real quick!? I'll be fast I promise!" She leaned forward and placed her hands on the counter as she asked, almost begging me.
I tried to hold back a laugh at the fact she was asking me to do something that didn't require my permission, it was quite silly. "Yeah it's fine."
She darted to the back of the store and once she was out of my field of vision I exhaled loudly. I shook my head and tried to relax before I had to face her again. It was crazy how nervous she was making me. Maybe when she came back I could ask about something that would produce a normal conversation.
"Can you call for a manager please?"
Fuck my life, seriously?
I turned my head to follow the voice and my eyes met the old lady that now stood before me. I didn't notice her come up while I waited for my stutter-inducer to come back.
The lady was old as hell and had a permanent frown from her sagging wrinkly skin. She was probably one of those ladies that only bought cat food and had coupons stored for things she would never need.
"Yeah, one moment please." I said to her, but it might as well have been "Bitch wait" from the tone I used.
Before she could react to my sassy attitude, I turned and grabbed the phone and clicked the button to turn on the intercom.
Shit, what did she want me to do?
"Can I…uh..erm.." My muscles tensed at the embarrassment of my own uncertainty echoing throughout the store. I knew I was more nervous because Brittany was in the store and could hear me. It always ends up that way doesn't it? You can do something easily hundreds of times a day but right when someone whose opinion you slightly care about is around, you will almost always make a mess of yourself. Maybe that's just me.
"Manager! Mr. Schue! To the front please" I practically yelled when my brain decided to work.
She nodded to me and stepped toward the front door. It was more of a slither considering how damn slow she moved.
Exhaling loudly again, I looked down and closed my eyes. Even though there weren't many people in the store this early, I felt so embarrassed by my slip-up.
The sound of clattering items smashing on the counter caused me to jolt up and meet Brittany's gaze again. I didn't know which was scarier, the loud noise or the fact that her eyes pull me in the more I look at them.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to...interrupt." She said with a small smirk forming on her mouth. It wasn't fueled by any rudeness, she was genuinely sorry.
What was she interrupting? Oh right, I forgot I was looking at the floor like some pinned-up zombie. She probably thinks I'm a zombie considering how difficult it is to do such simple tasks like speaking.
"What!? Oh no I was just..did you find everything else you needed?" My face flushed again and I just wanted her to busy herself with her phone again so I had a moment to think.
"Yep!" she said as she rose on her tip-toes for a second and popped back down as she flicked her head forward, pointing to the pile on the counter.
Five cans of Arizona Green Tea, the extra sweet flavor, were lying on the counter. A smirk immediately grew on my face as I calmed down a little more. She was buying the exact same flavor I always got. The regular ones were just never sweet enough.
I ran them through the scanner and put them in plastic bags gracefully. I knew they weren't fragile but I felt a little pressured to be a better bagger while she watched me. I double bagged them and place them on the counter. If I was this slow and smooth with every customer I'd always have a line. Luckily there was no one in line behind her so taking my time was worth it.
"Seventeen twelve" I said after had bagged all of her items. She started fumbling with her purse, which looked like it was painted by a five year old in finger painting class. The base was white but it had colored spots speckled all over it. I couldn't help but smile as she stuck her tongue out of her mouth and furrowed her brows. Her determination was so tangible, which only made her more adorable considering how simple the task was. Finally she pulled out her wallet which was covered in unicorns.
Are you fucking serious?
She opened it up and pulled out a crumpled up twenty dollar bill. She unfolded it and tried to take out the creases before handing it to me. I assumed that since she worked at a diner, it was probably a habit to have straight bills - or it was just another adorable tick.
I gave her change to her and hesitated a little because I knew I would have to venture again into adversity by meeting her gaze. After grabbing the receipt when it finished printing, I took a short breath and looked up at her.
"Have a nice day"
"Thank you Santana"
She winked with a sly smirk and walked out with her things as I stood in shock, realizing what had just happened. I quickly looked down to confirm that my own desires weren't getting the best of me, and surely enough they weren't.
I wasn't wearing my nametag.
