Chapter 4: The First Time It Felt Like Something
828 Words
They started talking more.
After work, not just when she was locking up.
He’d wait for her outside sometimes.
Or come in a little early, catching her on break.
It was the second scenario that happened one day when Becca stepped outside the back door of her store.
“Do you live around here now?” She asked Lee absently.
He looked up at her from the bench he was sitting on. “Considering it.”
Becca crossed her arms. “You’re weird, you know that?”
Lee shrugged. “I know.”
“Everyone tells me that.”
He nodded. “Multiple people?”
She scoffed. “Yeah. So why are you here again?”
He patted the bench next to him. “Sit with me for a sec.”
“I’ m on break,” Becca replied.
“You are now,” he replied.
She hesitated, not sure what he wanted.
Lee gestured at the bench again.
Becca sat down next to him.
---
For a few minutes, neither of them said anything.
Then Becca spoke up. “You’re really quiet today.”
Lee nodded. “Just thinking.”
“About what?”
“You.” He glanced over at her.
She frowned slightly. “Do you have to lean in to say that? Cause that’s kind of creepy.”
Lee laughed. “Not like that.” He leaned back in his seat.
“How, then?”
“Just… talking to you. I like it more than I thought I would.”
Becca looked away. “We hardly know each other.”
Lee shrugged. “That’ s my point.”
She shifted in her seat. “What point?”
“I like it,” he repeated simply.
They sat in silence again.
This time, it didn’t bother Becca. In fact, it was sort of nice.
----
Becca was sweeping up after closing one night when Lee showed up earlier than usual.
“You’re early.”
Lee smirked. “Wasn’t able to wait.”
She put her broom down. “Wait for what?”
“To ask you something.”
Becca leaned on her broom. “You sound serious.”
“I might be.”
Becca bit her lip nervously.
Lee sat down on a milk crate. “So?”
“What is it?” she asked nervously.
He looked at her for what felt like several minutes.
Finally, he spoke up. “Can we go out?”
Becca blinked. “We are out. We’re here.”
Lee laughed softly. “Not like this.”
She scoffed. “As boyfriend and girlfriend?”
“Yeah.”
They fell silent.
Becca rubbed her hand along the broom nervously. “I don’t really…”
“Date people?” Lee asked.
“Yeah. Especially not customers.”
Lee nodded. “You work a lot. You’re not my customer.”
Becca scoffed. “That wasn’t what I meant.”
“I know.”
Another silence fell between them.
It was comfortable, but tense.
Finally, Becca spoke up again. “Why me?”
Lee paused, considering.
When he finally spoke, his words were simple.
“I like you. When you’re not trying to act cool and okay all the time.”
That struck a nerve with Becca; she didn’t know she had.
She looked away guiltily.
Lee watched her quietly for a few moments.
“…” He whispered.
“…” She murmured.
“…don’t,” Becca muttered quietly.
Lee c****d his head to the side. “Why not?”
“Because you don’t know anything about me.” She argued.
He leaned forward slightly, careful not to touch her.
“Then let me get to know you,” he said softly.
---
One Dinner, No Expectations
Becca almost didn’t go.
She stood in front of her mirror twice that night, tugging her hair back, letting it fall, tugging it back again.
“This is stupid,” she whispered.
Her reflection didn’t argue.
It simply stared back tired.
Someone knocked at the door suddenly.
Becca cracked it open.
Lee leaned there, hands shoved into his pockets. Casually, as he hadn’t just ruined her entire night.
“You’ re early,” she hissed.
He smiled. “You said dinner. I figured dinner time.”
“I didn’t specify a time.”
“You didn’t,” he agreed with her.
Becca groaned. “Fine. Give me five minutes.”
Lee nodded. “I can wait five minutes.”
---
Five minutes became seven.
Ten.
She took what felt like years to finally pry herself out from in front of the bathroom mirror and approach the door. When she reached it, she paused.
“You're still here,” she accused him.
“I said I would be.”
Becca narrowed her eyes. “Most people say things they don’t mean.”
Lee c****d his head to the side just slightly. “I don’t.”
She paused longer than she wanted to because of that.
- Writer
