Break Me Down

A week of working at Target and Michelle was ready to leave this life. People say don’t go into the light but she was searching desperately for it.

As she downed a Grande black coffee from Starbucks she walked to the break room and punched in from her half hour break.

“Four hours to go.” She muttered to herself.

“Talking to yourself?” Laughed her co-worker, Aidan. As he busied himself with punching in for his shift.

“I’m the most interesting person I know, so yes, yes I was.” She smiled and put on her red cardigan. Standing to face her handsome co-worker.

“I would have to agree.” He gave her boyish half smile and she turned on her heel with a bright smile to get back on the sales floor. “Michelle?”

She turned back to look at him and he was standing mere inches away from her with that grin still plastered to his face.

“Yeah?” Her eyebrows rose in question and a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

Aidan looked at her and inwardly commented on her beauty. She had dark brown hair, so dark it was almost black, her pale skin was flawless and her eyes we so full of expression he was almost at a loss for words. It was when Michelle cleared her throat that he finally zoned back in, pupils dilated and heart racing.

“Want to grab some lunch tomorrow?” They started to walk out of the back room together and he fell in step with her strides.

“I work every day, Aidan. You know that, I bitch and complain every time we work together.” She laughed and they stopped at a fork in their path as he was headed to the storage room and she had customers to help in women's apparel.

“Later tonight, then? I get off at eight.” He looked hopeful and though Michelle was dying to finish the painting she had started last night she figured she could use a night out of her house and Aidan was her friend so she smiled brightly at him.

“Sure. Eight thirty, then?” She asked walking away throwing a glance over her shoulder at him expectantly.

“It’s a date.”

She smiled genuinely at the customer who had walked around the corner, not because she was eager to help but because her shift was over in ten minutes and she would have given her left leg to be done her shift at that point.

“Can I help you find anythin - Oh, okay.” She had tried asking the blonde boy if he needed her help, but quickly stopped as her eyes widened in shock as he dove around her and used her as some sort of human shield.

“I’m going to blindly trust that you don’t have a gun.” She her mouth formed a mocking grimace as she craned her neck to try and get a good look at the boy who was cowering behind her.

“No gun. But equally as scary is the mob of girls trying hunt me down in your fine establishment.” His voice was deep and she tensed as his hands gripped her shoulders.

“I don’t think I have ever been this confused in my life.” She shivered when the boy blew some of her hair out of his face. His breath hit the back of her neck and she tried to step away but he held her place.

“Please, they will trample me.” He whispered in her ear. “I’m in a rather popular band, I ducked in here to loose some girls who recognized me. Could you do a handsome young man a favor and hide me somewhere? You’re on the petite side and I’m pretty sure this just looks weird.”

“I never would have deduced that.” She deadpanned reaching for her walkie talkie. She didn’t know how to approach this situation, they usually had codes for certain mishaps that could potentially happen in the store and this was certainly not covered in the Target employee handbook.

“Code . . . Uhm, Code - Whatever. I’ve got a celebrity here being chased down by a mob of preteens, permission to hide him in the stock room?” She clicked the button off and looked at the boy who had stepped out from behind her back as he laughed at her attempt to explain the situation.

That was when he got a good look at her.

She quite honestly one of the most beautiful creatures he had ever laid eyes on. Ross had always been a bit girl crazy and now he could see why, when they looked like this how could he not be obsessed.

He held out his hand like he was in a trance, “I’m Ross and I think I love you.”

“Michelle. I think you may be the most interesting thing that’s happened to me today. Let’s go.” She laughed, smiling brightly at him as she asked another question. “Should you get behind me while I shuffle backwards to the the stock room or do you think you can manage?”

He ruffled his hair, accidentally poking himself in the eye in his attempt to look cool.

“I think I got it.” He sighed, rubbing his sore eye and trying to hide the blush that creeped it’s way up his face.

She laughed and beckoned him to follow her, “This way.”