Even though I hated my job, there were some things I loved.
For instance, listening to Amy talk about her crocodile wrestling days or watching those three high school boys who always came just to drool over Stacie. I simply loved how they always started stuttering when she asked them what she could do for them.
I loved Aubrey's facial expressions when she was listening to Amy and Stacie's stories (mixture of disbelief and disgust) and I loved having Chloe around, the only person I could call a friend. I would probably lose my mind without her.
And now maybe, just maybe, I liked when Jesse came every day. Maybe.
"Morning, sunshine," he said cheerfully one day as he entered the bakery. I automatically started preparing his order. "I trained you well," he added looking at me putting the donuts with the most sprinkles in the box.
I didn't say anything so he continued, "You know, I don't think it's fair that I come here to visit you every day and you've never come to visit me. I work just across the street you know?"
"I do."
"So why do you never visit?" he asked. He was completely serious, not a hint of his smile. That fact alone left me speechless and also the fact that he wanted me to go to the video rental store. Why would I go there? It's not like I'm a movie buff. Even if I was, I wouldn't go to video rental store to get a movie. Does anyone even go to those places anymore? And just when I decided to tell him all that, I saw that hopeful look on his face – that look he wasn't even aware of – and I just couldn't tell him that. God, I was becoming such a softie. Pull yourself together, Mitchell.
"I, um, – "
"You don't have to come just for me," he added quickly, probably hoping I wouldn't get the wrong impression or something, I don't know. Dorks aren't exactly my area of expertise.
"But, maybe you'd like to visit Donald, Unicycle and Benji?" he asked.
And that's when it hit me. Perfect lie why I don't have to go to that geeky place across the street. I inwardly thanked Aubrey for dating Unicycle. And for breaking up with him.
"Aubrey doesn't let us," I lied. He blinked in confusion, so I continued:
"She dated Uni several months ago and that didn't end well."
Okay, so this part was true. I didn't even know they were together until they broke up. I didn't know what exactly happened – no one did, except maybe Chloe – but I'll never forget seeing Aubrey so broken. I actually felt sorry for her.
"She doesn't let you to come to our place because she used to date with Unicycle? That's crazy!"
"Well you know Aubrey, she has crazy written all over her," I shook my head slightly as if I couldn't believe how insane Aubrey can be when I actually couldn't believe that this dork believed me. I almost smiled.
"You know what?" he asked looking very determined, "That is not okay. I will put an end to this. I promise you Beca Mitchell, you will be able to come to our video rental store again."
And then he left leaving me completely speechless once again. One big sarcastic yay was all I could think of. And how did he know my last name? I never told him that.
Creepy dork.
"Here you go, kid," I said as I gave some guy his coffee and change. The queue was now longer and Chloe was helping me serve the customers. I smiled when I saw who the next person in line was.
"Hey, Lily. How are you?" I asked the quite girl with long black hair and big eyes as I started making her two coffees. I never heard her speak as her voice was quieter than a whisper and I guess that was why I really liked her. She never annoyed me with her detailed stories about how she spent her weekend or a description of a really cute guy she just saw (I only tolerated Chloe's babbles because she looked so funny and adorable telling those stories).
I saw Lily opening and closing her mouth which meant she said something. I tried to look very happy about that even though I hadn't heard a single word she said.
"That's great!"
By the look on Lily's face I knew whatever she said wasn't great so I erased the smile off my face and handed her two cups of coffee. She said something, again, too quiet for me to hear and turned to leave.
"Tell Cynthia Rose I said hi!" I yelled after her.
"Such a sweet girl," Chloe said looking at Lily.
"Uh, Chloe?"
"Yeah?"
"You have customers," I said looking at the not so very happy old lady.
"Oh, right."
I focused on my next customer when I heard Aubrey's angry voice from her office.
"We don't deliver," she said firmly. After a few seconds she continued: "Well, that's just another reason why you should come here if you want to buy something. No, I – You know what, fine."
I heard her high heels approaching and I knew I was in some kind of trouble.
"Beca."
What did I just say?
"Grab some donuts and three lattes and take it to the boys from the video store," she said emotionlessly.
"What? Why? They can just come here!"
"Apparently they're very busy."
Yeah, right.
"Chloe can do it. Or Amy. Or you. You never do anything."
She shot me one of her scariest looks.
"I said you'll do it," she said before returning to her chambers.
I sighed and grabbed one box and put several donuts in it. While I was making lattes I remembered my earlier conversation with Jesse. How didn't I realize it before? Of course he had something to do with this.
I walked the short distance between the bakery and the video store and felt the frustration grow inside me as I stood in front of the small building with lame movie posters on windows.
I opened the door and walked into a labyrinth of shelves filled with DVDs. The video store wasn't very big, but somehow I still managed to get lost. Who wouldn't get lost in a freaking maze?
Just when I decided to leave the donuts and coffee on the floor in the middle of an aisle I was currently in and get back to work, I ran into someone. Fortunately, that someone wasn't Jesse. It was Donald.
"You lost?" he asked, mischievous smile on his face. Even though I didn't like to admit it, I kind of liked Donald. I talked to him like twice and was glad to find out that he had some pretty witty replies to my witty replies. (If that makes any sense.)
"Kinda. How do you even find your way out?" I asked.
"We leave a trail of breadcrumbs," he replied putting some DVDs back on the shelf. I knew he was kidding, but I still looked down just to be sure.
"I assume this is our lunch," he was looking at the food I was holding. I nodded. "Follow me," he said disappearing behind one of the shelves. I hurried up to catch him. I didn't want to get lost again.
He brought me to the counter where Jesse and another nerdy boy were watching a movie on a laptop. No customers.
"So are all the people who visit this place invisible?" I asked. Jesse looked up and put a huge smile on his face. Again with the smile.
"Yeah, you actually just stepped on Jim's foot. He's not looking very happy," Jesse joked, but before I could respond, the other boy interjected grabbing my hand and shaking it.
"I'm Benji. You must be Beca. Jesse told me so much about you."
"Oh really?" I raised my eyebrow and looked at Jesse. I expected him to feel embarrassed or uncomfortable, but he looked kinda proud.
"Yeah," Benji nodded, "Hey, do you want to see a magic trick?"
"No," I said without thinking, but when I noticed Benji's disappointed look I quickly changed my answer, "I mean, yes. Yes, I wanna see it."
My words put a huge smile on Benji's face and I couldn't help but smile as well. I realized Jesse was looking at me and his look wasn't cheerful as always. It was thankful.
Benji did a quick move with his hands and a small hedgehog appeared in them. I just hoped he didn't keep the poor animal in his sleeve or wherever for too long.
"Wow, Benji! That was … great!" I said. Benji looked even happier.
"Hey Benji, where did you put Harry Potter movies?" Donald asked.
"Oh, they're right here," Benji disappeared behind one of the shelves. Jesse was still staring at me which made me feel a little uncomfortable.
"Thanks," he said completely serious.
"You're welcome. You know how much it costs so just give me the money. I have to get back to work."
He handed me the money.
"I meant, thanks for being nice to Benji."
"No problem. He's a nice kid," I replied and the silence continued. It wasn't awkward silence, but it felt like something remained undiscussed.
"Aren't you going to thank me?" he asked.
"For what?"
"I did it, I brought you here! Just like I promised," he grinned and old overly excited Jesse was back. I didn't have the heart to tell him I didn't even wanna be here.
"You know what? I'm going to do you a favor. I'm going to let you borrow any movie you want without making an account," he said smiling like he has done the most amazing thing for me.
"Thanks, but no thanks. I don't like movies."
He looked a bit taken aback. "You don't like movies?" he repeated, confused, "How can you not like movies?"
I shrugged. "They're boring and predictable."
He was looking at me like I said I hated puppies.
"Come with me," he said and led me to one big shelf that didn't look anything different than all the other shelves. He let go of my wrist and took a movie from the shelf.
"Breakfast Club, 1985, one of the best movies ever. You must watch it."
I looked at the DVD.
"Movie about five teenagers? I don't even like them in real life, so I definitely don't wanna watch them if I don't have to."
"But that movie is timeless."
"So is teenage drama. What else do you have, dork?"
He took another DVD from the shelf.
"Titanic?" I asked raising an eyebrow, "I don't do romance."
He didn't give up. He showed me another movie.
"Rocky? Yeah, I think I'll pass."
"Come on, Bec. There's gotta be at least one movie you wanna watch."
I was about to shake my head when I noticed something interesting on another shelf. I headed there and stopped to look at the DVD's titles. After couple of seconds I came back to Jesse holding a DVD in my hand.
"I wanna watch this movie," I said smiling mischievously. Jesse frowned.
"I meant a classic or something."
I did my best to look serious.
"This is a classic. A bad student and a naughty teacher," I waved with the porno in front of his face.
"Beca, Beca, Beca," he shook his head slowly, "You really need a movie education. You need a moviecation. And I'm gonna give it to you," he exclaimed happily.
"Only if we watch this movie first," I said decisively.
A/N Thanks again for all the reviews and follows and favorites, it's very much appreciated :) As I promised Donald, Benji and Lily are in this chapter as well, although their appearances are brief. But you haven't seen the last of them.
I'll try to update every week, but I don't know how that will turn out cause I'm writing two other stories as well.
And finally, I hope you all had a great Valentines Day (even though I personally hate it, I would rather celebrate Forever Alone Day)!
