The Perfect Fan

" Hey, what do you need?" Leo asked when he picked up the phone later that morning.

" I want to know why you are talking so much about me." Paige hissed. She was at a store getting ready to buy the new glass for her store. She had left Norman and Hailey at the store, sorting the books so they could be put back on the shelves.

" What are you talking about?" Leo asked.

" Norman sure knows a lot about me and he said you were the one telling him. And why did you give him my number?" She asked, handing over her credit card for payment.

" Ah, maybe because he likes you and he asked for your number. It's Norman Reedus for fuck sakes. He wants your number, you give it to him." Leo said with a laugh.

" He does not like me." Paige said.

" Yeah he does. He was asking what kind of guys you like and I know he told you that you interest him. I heard him." Leo said. Paige filled the paperwork out, telling the shop when to deliver the glass.

" I can't do this, Lee, I'm not ready." Leo sighed heavily into the phone.

" Yes you can and yes you are. You can't just not date forever. Give him a chance, Paigey. He might be good for you."

Leo's words followed her the whole way back to the store. She parked in the back, right next to Norman's truck. She turned off her car and sighed as she gripped her steering wheel. She was so lost in her thoughts and memories that she didn't notice him leaning against the wall smoking. Paige was staring at her hands, forcing herself to take slow deep breaths.

Norman dropped his smoke and smiled. But the smile didn't last long. She was frowning hard. He pushed away from the wall and started towards her. She didn't even know he was there. He walked around to the driver's side of her car and knocked on the window. Paige jumped and looked up at him in shock. She shook her head and looked back at her car. She turned it off, grabbed her bag and opened her door.

" You alright?" He asked.

" Yeah." She said, closing her door quickly. She shouldered her bag and started pass him without looking up at him.

" Are you sure?" He asked, following after her.

" Yeah. The glass will be here in three hours so I guess we need to get those boards down." She grabbed the back door to the store and disappeared inside.

" Hey, did I do something?" Norman asked. He was quickly following her.

" No." She said. Paige went right into her office and dropped her bag onto her desk.

" Did something happen? Because you seem really upset." Norman said. Paige sighed and shook her head.

" I'm sorry. I'm not upset." She said. She rubbed her lips together then looked at him. " What is going on here?" She surprised herself by asking.

" Well, we are talking." Norman said with a smile.

" No, not here here. I mean, what is going on with you and me? Why are you here? Why did you show up at my place last night? Why do you keep coming around here? What is going on?" She asked every question quickly. He sighed and leaned against her desk with his arms over his chest. He looked forward and started to rub his chin with his left hand.

" Ah..." He laughed then looked back at her. " I like you. I told you that. I think you are interesting and I'd like to get to know you better."

" Why? Because you want to be my friend? Is that why?" Paige asked.

" Well, I was thinking maybe, if we both feel the same way, we could go on a date." Paige sank like a rock into the chair behind her, making him pause. He frowned and dropped his arms as he looked at her. "Did I miss read things between us? I kind of thought you felt the same way towards me." Paige closed her eyes.

" It's not that." She said slowly.

" Then what is it? If you don't like me then tell me." He said. Paige opened her eyes and looked up at him.

" It's not that." She repeated. Norman moved to the side of the desk and sat down. He reached forward and placed his hands on top of hers. She looked to their hands as she took a few deep breaths.

" I'm a big boy, if you don't like me, then tell me. It's going to suck but I can take it." He said gently. Paige closed her eyes and shook her head slowly.

" It's not that." She said for a third time. " I'm just not....I just don't know if I can do that. My last boyfriend wasn't that nice to me and it's been a long time so I just," She sighed and looked at him. He smiled softly and started to rub her hand with his fingers. " I just don't know if I'm ready for anything serious." She finished up.

" We don't have to be serious. We can keep things light until you're ready for more. To be honest, I'm not sure I'm ready for the whole girlfriend/boyfriend thing. I don't want to see anyone else because I do like you but let's just do this slow. We'll hang out, get to know each other better and see, okay? I just want a chance to see where this could go. Like I said before, there has to be a reason we kept running into each other." He said. Paige smiled slightly.

" You kept finding me. I wasn't running into you." She corrected, making him laugh.

" Yeah actually, that's true. I found you at the bar. I saw you at the subway. I found you at the diner and I found this place. Four times I found you and that has to mean something." Norman said. " So let's just take our time, really get to know each other then decided together if we want this to go any farther, if we want something more serious. Agreed?" It was Paige's turn to laugh.

" Agreed." She said. He squeezed her hand.

" So we won't worry about anything. We're just work on being friends." He said. It isn't what he wanted but if it was what she could give him, he would take it. Meanwhile, he would just have to try and figure out what it was in her past that was stopping her from dating him. He knew she liked him. Leo had told him.

" Well, I guess I need to get my lazy ass working." She said, making him smile.

" What time are they delivering the glass?" He asked, sitting back in his chair and letting go of her hands.

" Any time from 2 to 6." She said. " So I guess I should start pulling down those boards."

" Yeah, let's go. I'll help you." He said, leaning forward again. He patted her leg then grabbed her arm and pulled her up as he stood up.

Paige's heart was slamming in her chest as she followed him out of her office. She was going to the front of the store to tell Hailey they were going outside so Norman decided to wait for her at the back door. She felt like her legs were shaking and she knew she was blushing. She just couldn't believe she had just had the conversation they had.

" Hey, we're going around to the front of the store to take the boards off." She said. Hailey was looking into a box but manage to glance up at her and smile.

" Yeah okay." She said.

" What?" Paige asked. Hailey shook her head but continued to smile.

" Nothing. Nothing at all." Paige narrowed her eyes but Hailey just grinned. " We will talk later."

" I feel like you know something I don't." She said.

" That's because I do." Hailey winked then went back to the box. Paige shook her head.

" Why the hell does everyone know more about things involving me then me?" She muttered as she turned around and started to the back.