Mercy || Whitey Winn

(3)

      I quickly entered the one of few stores our small town of La Belle had with a bright smile on my face. Smiling always gets people to do what you want them to and that's exactly what I needed in this situation. The manager has to buy the rest of these blankets that way my mom could rest more and worry less.

      "Afternoon, sir. I have the blanket you bought and more in case you want to stock up. They're very soft and will be a huge hit, I just know it."

I took a medium sized wool blanket out and held it out for him to touch.

"See, feel it."

The manager hesitantly touched the blanket and a look of satisfaction crossed his face.

"Nice and soft, right?"

He nodded his head and asked, "How much for 'em?"

"Oh, only fifty cents each. It's a real steal sir, if I do say so myself." I gave him my best award winning smile in hopes of winning him over. It didn't work.

"I don't know, miss. That seems like a lot to pay for a blanket." He gave me an apologetic smile, but I wasn't going to leave until he bought at least one.

"You see, these aren't just ordinary blankets. They're the softest and most durably made blankets you'll ever have the-" I was suddenly cut off by the chiming of a tiny bell, which meant someone had entered the store. Mad that I had been interrupted during my attempt at a sales pitch, I turned around with a slight scowl on my face only to find one of the last people I was expecting; Whitey Winn.

He had a look of fake surprise and a smirk on his face when he said, "Well, nice to see you too, Minnie."

I rolled my eyes at his little joke. He noticed my scowl at him.

"Good to see you, Whitey," I said with a teasing smile. "Although, I would've been a bit happier to see you if you hadn't interrupted my very important conversation with this kind gentleman," I added with a friendly smile in the store manager's direction. I saw his cheeks tint a light pink color and knew that I almost had him in the palm of my hand. I just needed one more trick and he was as good as mine.

      I glanced over at Whitey and saw him standing by the doorway smiling, knowing what I was up to. I'd been trying to sell my mother's pieces of art ever since we were eleven. Of course it worked better back then since I was cute, small, and innocent. Who could possibly say no to an adorable eleven year old? No one could and that's how I helped contribute to my family. It was a good system. Until I turned fifteen and I suddenly wasn't as cute, small, and innocent anymore. Now it took real work. And let me tell you, I would do anything to turn back into that adorable little eleven year old girl.

      Clearly seeing that the store manager needed a bit more convincing, Whitey came up to us and asked, "Can I see one of your, uh"—he quickly looked into my bag filled with blankets and a smile immediately lit up on his face, meaning he got an idea—"blankets? I could use a good new blanket. Mine's got a bunch 'a holes in it at the moment."

I shoved down my urge to laugh at his obvious lie and handed him a blanket. He inspected it with care and a small smile, once in a while commenting on how nice or soft it was. I thought he did an awful performance and that the store manager was going to see straight through his lie and lower my chances even more of him buying one, let alone four.

      Surprisingly, I was proved wrong when the manager said, "Oh, what the hell, I'll take 'em. Just get him—he pointed to Whitey—outta' here. He's starting to stink up my store." He then started fidgeting with the cash register, retrieving the money needed for the blankets, while I smiled wildly and looked over at Whitey triumphantly. He shared the same expression I did, not showing any signs of hurt by the rude comment made by the manager. I guess he was just used to being told that by now.

      He handed over the money due while I handed him the bag of blankets. I gripped the money tightly in my hand, as if I was afraid it was going to be taken away, which, in this town, isn't exactly impossible.

      "Thank you, sir. It was a pleasure doing business with ya," I said politely to the man as I walked out the small store with the money still clutched tightly in my hand and Whitey right on my heels.

     By the time Whitey had caught up to me, I immediately started talking. "Thanks for what you did back there, Whitey. Without you, I probably wouldn't of gotten him to buy 'em all. I owe ya." I looked into his eyes for a brief second and noticed that they were lighter than usual, most likely due to the sunlight shining on them. It made them look even dreamier, if that was even possible.

      "Why, your welcome, Minnie." He carelessly threw his arm around my shoulders, causing my cheeks to heat up and my heart to pound. "And there's no need to pay me back. You know I'd help you any day. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?" He lightly teased with his adorable signature smile.

I grinned back and jokingly replied back, "No friend of mine. Didn't you know that was part of the contract when you became my friend?"

       That caused Whitey to laugh, making me feel like I won some sort of competition with him; he laughs I win, he remains neutral I lose.

      Suddenly, a mixture of dread and sadness crossed over his features, and he said, "Well, it was mighty fine talking to ya, but I'm afraid I have ta' get back to work now. You know, keeping the town safe ain't no easy job. No time for slacking, especially with a beautiful troublemaker like yourself," he joked with a quick wink. It was so fast that I'd almost thought I'd imagined it. But I hadn't. It had actually happened. And that careless wink made me much happier and filled my stomach with more butterflies than I'd care to admit.

I was sad when he removed his arm from my shoulders and felt strange, like a piece of me was missing. I hadn't realised how much I was enjoying his body being so close to mine, but I did know that I didn't want it to stop. But all good things must come to an end.

"Y-yeah," I finally managed to awkwardly stutter out. A couple seconds later when I was as composed as I could be in a situation like this, I said, "See ya around, Whitey."

      He tipped his hat in my direction with a small smile on his face that made me want to melt on the spot. Then he was off, leaving me with a huge goofy grin on my face. I was falling him more and more each time I saw him. The worst part? I knew there was nothing I could do to stop it.

( ( (  ) ) )

      As I was walking home, replaying my encounter with Whitey in my head, I suddenly realised that he hadn't gotten anything at the store. He hadn't even looked at anything. Just talked for a little bit then left with me. At this realisation, my heart started pounding for the second time that day because of Whitey Winn.