Hush, Hush

"Is something wrong?" Stacy asked, her hawk-like face coming up from behind me. I winced when I heard her voice. Stacy was scary and it didn't help her case when she came up from behind people and spoke like Professor Snape.

"Uh--" I said, trying to think fast. It was useless though; I was never good with being put on the spot. So I just stood there with my mouth agape, trying and failing to reassure Stacy of my good service skills. For some reason Brownie laughed, holding up the two pairs of clothing he had in front of his face.

"If not knowing what to buy your girlfriend constitutes as a problem, then I'd have to say yes, something is very wrong." He gave off this cheeky innocent grin and I stared at him dumbfounded, my sea-green eyes wide and gawking.

"Well," she said, suddenly trying to burn holes in my eyes. "Lucky you have Chloe here to help, eh?" She gave me a firm look, smiling for a second at Brownie before stalking off.

Phew. I thought. Chelsea warned me about being evaluated to see how efficient I was because as hard as it was to believe; many people would kill to have my job. Well, not kill so much as maybe strangle but my point here is clear, right?

But I didn't think I'd get the stink eyes on my first day here.

"So, Chloe" I heard a voice say, "Run into many people lately?" I snapped out of my thoughts, blushing when what Brownie said registered in my head.

"No, not many." I replied, awkwardly standing in front of him. He laughed his carefree laugh again, holding up his arms higher.

"Well, can you run your opinion by me?" he asked hopefully, his eyes lighting up. I felt bad about what I was going to do next but what choice did I have? I couldn't lie. Lying was just not one of my best...skills, we'll leave it at that.

"I can't, for the life of me, know the difference." He went on and before I got to feel any more guilt, I cut him off.

"I'm sorry but--" I started to say, biting my lip as confusion surfaced on his face. My eyes tried to avoid seeing it but it was better than what I set my eyes on next. The other girl, who was busy punching numbers into the cashier in front of two satisfied customers, rolled her baby blue eyes, smirking to herself.

I didn't know what her problem was - did I do something to her ? - or what she found so amusing but something in me snapped and I turned my gaze back to Brownie, who looked more confused than ever.

"I don't think either of them is good enough." I said, going with my instincts because they proved to be better than my brain. Brownie's face fell and he slowly put them back on the rack. He stood there for a moment, defeat written all over his eyes before he nodded.
"Well, thanks for your opinion." he said truthfully, taking a step to the side. "I appreciate it." He walked past me, heading for the door, passing a smug looking girl at the cashier.

"Nice going, rookie." she remarked, her arms crossed across her rather noticeable chest. "You just lost us a customer."

I ignored her completely, walking past like she was the dark pink wallpaper behind her. I'm not going to lie, it felt good seeing her face, all shocked and taken aback.

"Hey." I called after him, giving Stacy a timeout signal with my hands. She shook her head but otherwise did nothing to stop me so I kept walking out. "Hey." I said a bit louder but he was too busy hanging his head.

"Brownie!" He turned slightly, looking around before he fully turned and locked eyes with me. I blushed when I realized what I had called him but quickly closed the distance between us, leaving a foot or two, mind you.

"What I meant was..." I said in a rush, trying to get his mind off of the corny nickname and focused on my words. "Your girlfriend would appreciate something more...I don't know, to her liking." I was rambling but Brownie was looking at me like he was following what I was saying, his eyebrows moving as he concentrated on my words.

"So what you're saying is--"

"To buy her something she personally prefers." I finished for him, watching as he thought my suggestion over.

"She loves clothes." he stated and I could tell he didn't think it helped; I already told him the clothes he was checking out earlier weren't good enough.

"Anything…else?" I asked, biting my bottom lip. He was hesitant at first but then he thought hard and I knew he found something from the way his chocolate eyes lit up.

"She loves jewelry, shoes, long showers--" He stopped when he realized that last one was pointless. I gave him a feeble smile and urged him to continue. "I don't know, she loves...animals...the color yellow...I'm sorry, what good does this make?" But before I had a chance to answer him, a solution hit me.

"That's it!" I yelled and Brownie staggered back, stunned. "Get her a stuffed toy! You know, like a teddy bear?" I could tell the idea stirred something in him and I felt obligated to keep throwing suggestions until one hit him too. "Or one of her favourite animal. Or a shirt with an animal in the center? Wait, how about a key chain with--"

"An animal on it? Yeah, I got you." He interrupted with a laugh and I couldn't help but giggling along too. I had a tendency to go on and on and on sometimes. He grabbed his chin and put on a thinking face before grabbing hold of my hand, a smile the size of my apartment stretching his lips.

"Let's go, let's go!" he exclaimed. I had no choice, obviously - what with him dragging me by the wrist?

So I went, not knowing where we were going.