The Photo Girl

ღ Chapter 3 ღ

                             "You look dreadful today." observed Desmond, he walked inside the shop and took his coat off. "Don't make fun of me." I continued, "I had a lot to drink last night." Desmond shrugged, "Maybe I wanted to meet the cast of Pretty Little Liars." he slowly started to get off topic. I sighed, "I thought you didn't like that show." Desmond shook his head, "Never mind."

"Is Mere coming in today?"

Desmond slumped his shoulders up and down, "I dunno, I hope she is though. It's no fun without her." I pretended to look offended, "You calling me boring?" Desmond began grinning, "What can I say? You aren't exactly the type every guy wants. You just need to...loosen up a bit. And fall in love." I scoffed, "I would rather get injected with snake venom than to fall in love and get hurt again." 

He shook his head disbelievingly, "You're never going to change your attitude, are you?" I ignored him, he was right, I needed to loosen up a bit, but the truth was, I couldn't. It's mentally impossible to even force myself to love someone again, I just don't feel it anymore. "Here comes the shipping truck." Desmond walked to the back entrance and opened the door, a few workers carrying bins settled them in the lounge. 

"Thank you. I'll be sure to tell our manager how wonderful we think you are. Have a good day now." Desmond politely smiled at the workers and strolled back on the platform. "Oh I love this song." he commented when Sunday Morning by Maroon 5 came on. He began to dance slowly, "Wish I had someone special right now." he glanced at me, oh dear.

"Don't look at me." I chuckled, I'll admit, I thought Desmond was cute when I first saw him, his dirty blonde hair, green eyes, cheekbones, and gorgeous smile. I always thought Mere and him would make a great couple, but the feeling wasn't mutual between them. Desmond held out and waved it playfully, "Don't be scared!" 

"Fine." I laughed, walking down and clutching his hand. We both danced silently, "You dance like a fool." I said, breaking the silence. Desmond looked at me like I was crazy, "No no no, I think you do." he winked and twirled me. A few moments later, the door opened, "Sorry for ruining your moment." I expected it to be Mere, but instead, it was the hot customer from yesterday who I was shamefully taking photos of.

This time, he had dark sunglasses hiding his eyes and a hat covering his head. Desmond rolled his eyes and walked back up the platform to the cash register, "May we help you?" he asked. The customer nodded and faced him, taking his Raybans off and putting them inside his pocket. "Do you happen to have The Smiths album? They were supposed to ship them today." 

Desmond glared at me as he stood there, clearly indicating me to find the record. I obliged and went to the lounge, searching for the bins the workers were carrying in earlier. I found them and opened it, looking quickly for the album. Eventually, I saw it next to a Jimi Hendrix vinyl record. I grabbed The Smiths album and took it to the front where the customer was standing at.

"This what you're looking for?" I smiled and handed it to him. He grinned and grabbed the record, "Looks new. In fair quality. Sold." he dug in his pocket, got his black leather wallet out, and placed a $50 dollar bill on the counter. "It's only 25." I said, confused. "For you, my lovely lady." he winked and headed out the store, while putting his Wayfarers back on. 

Desmond sneaked up behind me, "Looks like someone has a new profound love." I wrinkled my nose, "I don't understand. Should I go out there and give his cash back? I don't deserve this." Desmond started laughing, "Of course you don't. But trust me when I say this, you need someone in your life. I know, you don't want to be alone." 

I shook my head, "I don't want to end up like Mere. Her boyfriend broke up with her. She got hurt and I don't want to experience that. Oh wait, I already did." I said, walking away to put away more of the newly shipped records. "Don't think like that, sooner than later, you'll find the perfect guy and you won't be scared anymore." he told me. 

I shrugged, "Yeah, but you don't understand. You'll never understand what I go through and what I went through during that relationship with Andrew." now my anger was really getting the best of me, it's difficult containing all these emotions you know. "Forget about Andrew, you're better than him and he definitely doesn't need you." Desmond said, before turning away.

I smiled and went back to work.

~

I arrived home, feeling better already after a long work day. I shut the car door and went passed the hotel lobby doors and up the elevator to the loft I resided in. It turns out that Mere didn't come in today, she called in, like always. She left Desmond and I alone together which resulted in a deep discussion about cats and love. It was awesome.

When I unlocked the door and noticed that Amari wasn't home yet from her job, I had a little fun and turned the radio on, singing loud and proud to all the hits. All of a sudden, I heard a loud knock coming from the walls. I froze and tried to turn the radio off, but the volume ended up getting louder than I expected. 

I heard a loud bang on the patio window, I stupidly unplugged the radio and looked around at my surroundings trying to figure out what exactly to do. It couldn't be Amari, if she was home, she would pushed the door open and scream at the top of her lungs announcing she was back from work. Then another bang was thrown towards the patio glass door.

I sighed and decided to be a little brave, I pulled the curtains back and just wait until I say it...the hot customer who bought The Smiths album a couple of hours ago at work. My face dropped, I wasn't the least bit impressed, I opened the door and went, "You followed me home?! That's a new low." I snarled. 

He shook his head crazily, "I live about 2 floors down. I was just climbing up the ladder to the top." he told me, pointing at the ladder that led to the top of the building. "Oh. Then why'd you scare me like that?" He shrugged and smiled, "Maybe because I can. And you were singing, so I thought I'd creep on you, but I didn't know it was you...the girl who works at the record store."

"My sister pays for the rent, not me." I quickly cleared that whole misunderstanding up. "And what do you do?" he asked me. "Don't worry about it." I replied. He smiled, "I'm Aven." I waved playfully, "Bailey." I told him. "I always liked that name." he said, his warm eyes melting me. I broke it, freezing myself again, "Thanks." I muttered.

"I gotta go." he said, walking back to the ladder and placing his foot on the first step. I smiled, "Bye." Aven's lips curved and then began climbing up each steps, I could hear his footsteps fading away slowly. I went back inside and layed on my sofa, waiting for Amari to come back from work. So I could tell her about Aven, she'll give me advice...that's what sisters are for.