Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC
As much as I loved working when no customers were there, it was always interesting when the shop was buzzing with life or rather buzzing with individuals, each secluded in their own space within the store. Those days were few and far between on weekdays but on days like this, or rather on the Saturday's, the store seemed brighter, even if the weather didn't reflect that.
I worked the afternoon shift on Saturday's along with my co-worker, Ben. He was a sweet boy. Ben was one of my younger co-workers, being only 17 and in his last year of high school. He was quiet at first but over the course of our many shifts together he had really opened up and we bonded over burning ourselves trying to boil water for tea.
While I was checking customer's out, Ben stood next to me, using the computer to put in Joe's order for new books; he was far more adept at using the ordering system than I was. As I began ringing up the next customer, the bell drew my attention, my eyes glancing at the entrance. I really wasn't expecting for Carlisle Cullen to walk through the door. My eyes followed him for a moment as he made his way to the shelves before I turned back to my customer.
"Have a wonderful day" I said, waving goodbye to the customer. There was no one else in line and my eyes wandered over to the rest of the store, scanning around the room until I saw the blonde head of Doctor Cullen. He was standing by the display of new arrivals, flipping through the pages of a book.
"Ben, do kids with the last name 'Cullen' go to your high school?" I asked, leaning in slightly to keep my voice hushed.
He nodded, "They're all in my graduating class"
"What are they like?"
Ben shrugged, turning from the computer screen. "They mostly keep to themselves, a few of them are in my history class, they're really smart" he whispered back. "Why the sudden interest in high schoolers?"
I shrugged, my eyes flicking over to where the doctor was still standing across the room. "I was just curious" He hummed, nodding as he went back to placing the orders.
I took one more look at Dr. Cullen before shaking my head. If I couldn't pretend that he was a bad person, then I could just avoid being around him. I'll let Ben handle the customer interactions for a while and I had books to sort in the back room.
The boxes were piled on the table in the middle of the room. I started on unwrapping everything, using a pair of scissors to cut open the tape. Organizing and labeling all of the books with different prices and names. I poured myself a cup of hot water, taking a tea bag from the box and submerging it into the cup. It was going to be a long hour or so of labeling, I needed tea for this.
I finished up an hour or so later, my cup empty and the books all properly labeled and priced in a stack next to me. They needed to be shelved and I grabbed the rolling cart to hold all of the books. When I went out, Ben was still behind the register, looking at the list of orders while chewing on the back of a pencil.
"Here" I said, taking a stack of books and putting it on the counter in front of him. "It's the orders from online" I explained before wheeling my cart off into the shelves. It seemed like much of the traffic from earlier had died down.
I grabbed a few of the books from the shelf, taking them down as I replaced them with the new one's that I had just labeled. Rolling the cart into the next aisle, I stopped as I stumbled upon a familiar face who had already turned at the sound of the squeaky metal cart. I thought he would have left by now.
"Dr. Cullen, if I could just squeeze past you here" I said, moving my cart slightly forward to indicate my need to get through the aisle. I kept my eyes on the cart.
"Go right ahead" He stepped out to the side, allowing me access to the other side. I smiled politely moving along to shelve the new books, trying to block out the presence of the man standing next to me innocently turning the pages in his book.
I looked in front of me, staring pointedly at the books in front of me. I wouldn't look at him, I wouldn't. I absolutely wouldn't. I grabbed the books off the cart, switching them out with some of the older books that had been on the shelves for a while. I almost congratulated myself for not looking when I saw Dr. Cullen walking up to me in my peripheral vision. I felt myself freeze and then without thinking I grabbed the handles of the cart, gripping it tightly before speeding off down the aisle and into the next one.
What was wrong with me. I hoped that I hadn't been too obvious that I was trying to avoid him. After all, he couldn't figure that out from me running away, right. At least I hoped not. Sighing, I went back to shelving books, my hands moving automatically. When I finished, I pushed the cart toward the front, the wheels squeaking with each move.
"Coraline" A melodic voice called out from behind me. I stopped, not turning around. Avoidance wasn't wrong. Avoidance is natural, fight or flight, those are natural human instincts. At least, that's what I told myself as I continued walking towards the back room without turning as if I hadn't heard my name.
Why was I like this? I wished someone would tell me. I'm not a shy person, I'm actually quite a good people person but what I just did probably wasn't the best example of that. Maybe, I really wasn't a people person or perhaps I was just too much of a Doctor Cullen person.
I made my way quickly into the back room, closing the door behind me. I could live here forever. I would just stay in here and pretend that I hadn't just obviously embarrassed myself and was extremely rude to Dr. Cullen who had been nothing but kind to me. I just needed to not have good feelings toward him because then I would develop a crush on him which would lead to feelings which would lead to me being heartbroken because of the reality that he was probably married, not to mention that he probably had a ton of better qualified people just throwing themselves at him. Avoidance was better.
As I leaned against the door, I could hear the conversation on the other side. Ben was checking the good doctor out, giving him his change for his purchase. At the sound of the exit bell, I peeked my head out.
"He's gone" I opened the door the rest of the way, sliding my way back into the main store area. "You have no subtlety" said Ben, swiveling the stool.
I groaned, "How much did you see?"
"The part where you ran away or the part when he called your name, you stopped, and then you ran away?" Leaning against the wall, I put my face into my hands.
"Do you think he noticed?" I asked, peeking out between my fingers.
"You graduated college, right?"
I shot him a look, putting my hands down. "I know, I know, I didn't handle that the best way"
He nodded in agreement. "You really didn't"
"How do I fix this?"
"You could apologize like a normal person or you could just continue avoiding him until the whole situation blows over"
"Right," I said, putting my hands on my hips as I stopped leaning against the door. I considered his words. "I'm going to choose the avoidance option, that sounds much better"
Ben looked at me incredulously. "That's not the poi-"
"No, no, I really think you were onto something with the avoidance thing" I said, nodding. "Thank you, Ben, I really do appreciate the advice" I continued nodding, opening the door to the back room again, heading inside.
"That's not what I meant" he yelled to me.
I didn't care. I yelled back with pep in my voice, "I know!"
Hello! I made another chapter. I'm so tired and sleep deprived but I really like writing this story. Let me know what you think of the latest chapter!
