Wind

The night is boring as always, with only the occasional late night worker coming and going. I slowly finish flattening a few empty boxes and set them in the recycling bin at the back of the store, before heading back inside. The doorbell jingles with someone entering, and I take a deep breath before going to meet them. As I turn the corner to the front of the store, I can’t help as a smile touches my lips, though I quickly stifle it. A woman stands by the entrance, glancing around, searching for something. She’s built slim, and dressed darkly with a plain black t-shirt and dark blue jeans. Her wavy black hair is pulled to one side, exposing a small silver hoop earring on her left ear, and when she sees me come from the back her dark brown eyes light up as she breaks into a wide grin.

“Hello Theo, fancy seeing you here.” The woman says cheerfully.

“Hey Sam. I’m here five nights a week, don’t act so surprised every time.” I say in a wry tone.

“It’s always a surprise how nice it is to see you, though.” Sam replies, still making eye contact with me as she makes her way over to the coffee machine. “Anything fun happened yet tonight?” She adds, her eyebrows raised in curiosity. I put a finger to my lips, pretending to think, then I snap my fingers and exclaim.

“Oh yeah! I had this really annoying woman come into the shop again. I think you’d know her, she kinda resembles you.” I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Ahhh…so she was gorgeous you mean.” Sam replies, with a smirk.

“I was thinking more weird than gorgeous honestly.” I say. Sam stops adding sugar to her coffee and contemplates for a moment.

“Weird is probably accurate,” Sam states, “though, you didn’t fully deny my beauty,” she finishes with a smirk. I raise an eyebrow.

“Who said I was talking about you? I meant the other annoying woman who comes in.” I say. “I seem to have a knack for attracting them it seems.”

“God truly has blessed you.” Sam says with a smile, as she places the lid on her coffee and snatches a muffin from the stand beside the creamer. Then she marches to the register and places her stuff onto the counter, while putting on a stern expression.

“What’s the staff doing just chit-chatting when I’m in a hurry?” Sam asks, her eyes bright as she attempts to suppress a smile.

“Ohh, I’m so sorry ma’am.” I say in an overly apologetic tone as I ring up the coffee and muffin. “There was a very needy customer just now. You know how it is; people aren’t patient nowadays,” I continue, “that’ll be four dollars and thirty-seven cents all together.”

“No discount?” Sam whines.

“I’m sorry ma’am, there aren’t any deals right now.” I say, overly-apologetic.

“Not even for me?” Sam says meekly, turning her mouth downwards and blinking her eyes in an exaggerated way. She only does it for a second before her face twists into disgust.

“Ew, nevermind. That made me feel gross.” She says with a smile. My mouth lifts in an almost unnoticeable way, but Sam sees it immediately.

“You smiled!” She exclaims, her grin widening as she points an accusatory finger at me. I feel the heat rise to my cheeks and quickly wipe away the smile.

“You don’t have to hide your smile all the time, it’s cute.” Sam says, then pauses with her mouth open for a moment, realizing what she said. My cheeks burn brighter and I notice a hint of redness in her face as well. Awkwardly, she hands me the money and I give her the change back. Once the money is in her hand, Sam seems to snap out of her awkwardness, as she gives me another big smile.

“Well, have a good night.” She says, taking her muffin and coffee and turning to head out.

She thinks I’m cute, huh? It isn’t a word I’d describe myself with, but nonetheless I can’t help but feel happy hearing a compliment from her. As I watch her leave, an unsettling feeling worms its way into my chest, and I take a deep breath.

“Wait!” I call out to her. Sam freezes and turns back to me, her head slightly cocked to one side in confusion.

“What’s up? Something wrong?” She asks.

What do I even say? What if I’m overstepping? Who am I to ask a woman this beautiful out on a date?

I feel embarrassed meeting her gaze, so my eyes drop and fall onto her coffee cup.

“Would you maybe wanna go get coffee sometime?” I ask meekly, before realizing how childish I must look and sound, so I quickly square my shoulders and look her in the eyes. Sam raises her eyebrows, her mouth slightly open for a moment, before she shuts it.

“Yes, yes I’d love to get a cup of coffee with you, “ She says with a smirk, then pauses before continuing, “and you know, I was starting to think you might be hopelessly dense.” she finishes, causing me to avert my eyes and clear my throat.

“I see,” is all I say. Sam bursts out laughing, a bright and soft sound. She reaches into her purse and pulls out a small notepad and pen, which she writes on swiftly and tears off the top page, before handing it to me. I stare at the numbers on it blankly.

“That’s my number, so we can decide when to go.” Sam says, and I can hear the amusement in her voice, which I can only think is because of my expression.

“Okay, sounds good,” I say as I pull out my wallet and carefully fold the sheet of paper in it.

“Alright, I'm actually headed out now,” Sam says with a smile and wave. I wave back, as I watch her leave, and even when she's gone, I'm stuck with my hand up; a blank expression stuck on my face.