New York City One Shots

There wasn’t even a chance to lie about my feelings. You know how people usually sometimes just feel those types of things coming? I really couldn’t, and to be honest, I would have been considered crazy if I did.
I stared at my phone screen for a little while longer before my break was over. I had 3 minutes left. He was so cute, especially with how he moved his eyes. They had brightness to them, even a slight boyish charm that made someone like me smile.
“A picture can’t just kiss.” I told myself, without trying to be too mean. I knew it was a long shot to run into him, but I also knew that it might happen. For some strange reason, I had the feeling that it was meant to be. I just had to listen to the signs.
I rolled out of the back office and faced the lovely number of customers looking at my coworkers as if they didn’t know what they were doing. Being a darker girl, working in retail, who can also be young—we’re objectified, marginalized, and discriminated against in every way society has learned to do those things.
But to be honest, none of them also knew that we are a team of Super Heroes, and keeping up a gas station is just a side job. Every single one of us understood the idea of loyalty to the people we work with, and if it meant saving a life, we would all team up together to make sure none of us were harassed, or hurt.
I helped with the line until it got down to two people. The customer in front of me inched her preciously chosen pack of gum onto the counter. I leaned all the way over to reach for it, with the prettiest smile I could measure up, “Just the gum for you today?”
“No,” she cut me off while staring right past me to the cigarettes. “I need a package of Traffic Red 100 shorts.”
I fought the urge to violently roll my eyes. “Did you want the smaller pack or the bigger pack?”
“Huh,” she muttered, “uhm the smaller pack?”
I picked up the shorts and showed them to her, “they’re considered the regular ones.”
“Okay,” she smiled embarrassingly, “I—I’m not buying them for myself. I’m getting them for my son.”
I swallowed a little, “where is your son now?”
She pointed towards the door, “He’s in the red suburban.”
I walked over to our windows to see into the car. To make sure he at least looked old enough to smoke. If I sell this pack of cigarettes, I could potentially lose my job.
I could see a figure in the red suburban moving around, waving his cell phone high and low while acting out. I sighed and walked back to the counter. As I finished ringing her up, I hear the door open.
“Hey, Mom!” The man said to the lady in front me, “don’t leave without me. I’m taking a bathroom break.”
He ran to the bathroom door and tried to push it open. I picked up the Men’s bathroom key and twirled it around, waiting for him to come back and ask for it.
“Is there a key?” He said, moving his hand as if he was holding a key that currently unlocked a door.
I nodded to him, “think quick.” I threw the keys over to his direction. He caught them and shifted off his sunglasses.
“Nice throw,” he smirked politely and headed towards the bathroom.
I chuckled to myself, and got distracted with throwing away receipt paper that people crumbled up and left next to the registers. I looked over to the clock and read the time. I was only going to be here for another 40 minutes. And the next person to come in usually comes in early half an hour to eat his breakfast here. I turned up the music on my phone while looking around to see if there were any other customers in the store. I started to dance when I realized I was alone. All out, fists pumping, lips mouthing out the words “And I need you now tonight! And I need you now and forever” with as much determination as I had.
I heard a chuckle behind me and it caused me to turn. His blue eyes were staring back at me, as his lips still carried a small smirk. “Bonnie Tyler? Don’t you think that’s a little too old for you?”
I laughed embarrassingly, rubbing the back of my head with my hand. “Yeah, well then call me an old soul. 80’s music really puts a lot of life into perspective.”
He nodded nicely and jingled the keys around in his hand. “Say, are you alone here?”
I raised a brow, “No, we’ve got two people in the back.”
He stared at me for a moment and shrugged off his cap, letting his curly hair move while his hand teased it.
I took another look at his jaw line, and paired it up with those blue eyes.
“What’s your name? Didn’t you have uhm, a metal arm?” Trying to hide the fact that I literally used all of my ten-minute break to look at pictures of him.
When he took in my words, he chuckled again, “I really hate that thing. But yeah, that is me.”
I shook my head slightly, “So, tell me again how you found your way to this small gas station?”
“Well we’re taking a road trip—me and my family, before my next project.”
I dropped my mouth open to ask another question but he interrupted me, “No, I can’t tell you what it is. And, I am sorry I cut you off.”
I laughed back politely, telling myself to keep it as cool as possible. “Well I hope your trip is totally worthwhile.”
There was a slight pause, when we both looked at each other without a sense of needing to worry about the strangeness of this encounter. Comfortability with a little electricity. That was nice.
My coworker barged through the door, letting the fans at the top turn on, moving me and Sebastian out of our moment. “Hey there, Alex. Still doing nothing I see.” He sauntered by and went into the backroom while holding his Subway Sandwich.
“I’m assuming he’s one of the ‘two people’ you have back there.”
I shrugged, “Who knows, anymore. That guy shows up everywhere, sometimes.”
Sebastian chuckled for a second then turned to me, “You ever thinking about leaving this place?”
I nodded, “All the time. I tell myself I could just grab $500 and a ticket to New York every night. But I come back every day I’m scheduled.”
He looked down at the keys in his hands and bit his lip. Smiling back up at me when he noticed me staring, he leaned in. His shoulders were teasingly great looking, and his smile only left me mesmerized for a short second. “Thank you for the keys.”
I reached for them and smiled, “Not a problem.”
As soon as my fingers laced around the keys, he held onto my hand. “If you ever think about traveling—going to New York, sometime. You find me.”
I grew flustered at his hand holding mine. It was such an innocent gesture, but something so alluring. “I, uh,” I cleared my throat and muttered, “sure, I’ll try to remember it.”
He smiled at me and pulled out a piece of scrap receipt from his pocket. I dug my hands into my pockets to find him a pen. He wrote down his number and handed it to me, wishing me a good night.
I nodded along and watched him walk out. As soon as I was fully alone in the store, I looked down to study the numbers.
“Hey Alex, you going to count out your register anytime soon?” My coworker chimed as he put down the “Closed” signs on my side of the counter.