Helplessly in Love: A Taylor Lautner Love Story

Chapter Three - Clumsy Idiot

I dreaded going into work the next day. Ryan and Sarah were flirting really hard; they were practically undressing each other with their eyes. I constantly fought off gags.

We were unusually busy. I left my counter to head to the back and check my phone while on my break. When I turned and faced the corkboard, I nearly screamed loud enough to wake the dead. I fumed in there for a minute trying to figure out why everyone was being asked to work overtime tonight. When I stormed past Ryan and Sarah’s erotic flirting, I heard a glimpse of “Lautner,” whatever the hell that was. I can’t work overtime tonight. It’s Friday night, and Nicky and I made plans to go see Magic Mike. The movie about male strippers! I’m not rescheduling on her again.

I headed right up to our manager, Patrick’s, office and threw the door open, still fuming.

“Hello to you, too, Rachel,” he said, typing something on his computer. Patrick was really good-looking to be middle aged. And he was normally a really cool guy, but not right now.

“Can you explain to me why we need to work overtime today?!” I nearly shouted. 

“Rachel, calm down. You are getting paid for every hour you work today.”

I calmed down a bit and evened my breathing.

“Okay. But why?”

“Well, we have some very important company coming tonight, and the bowling alley needs to be spic and span. Spotless. And free of crazy-stalkerish fans. I figured the best time to do this would be after we closed.”

“Patrick, I can’t work overtime tonight,” I said sternly. 

“I’m pretty sure you would mind getting fired, Rachel. If I don‘t have all the help I can get tonight, I‘m afraid I‘d have no choice but to fire you. And I really don‘t want to do that. You‘re one of my best employees.”

I stood silently while his words were sinking in. I couldn’t lose this job right now. It may be the crummiest job ever, but I get decent pay, and I had to have some way to pay rent at my new place. I can’t lose this job right now. Not today.

I growled and walked out, deciding to finish my break outside with a bag of chips. Nicky wasn’t as upset as I thought she would be, but I still felt awful. I don’t know what I’d do if she wasn’t such a great friend.

After angrily finishing my shift, I was ordered to wax all the lanes, and change any broken light bulbs. All our customers were leaving disappointedly. Some cried. Some were just angry. When the bowling alley was clear of everyone but the staff, one of the lights above my counter blew out. Crap, Sarah was using the ladder to clean the bathrooms (although I don’t know why she would need a ladder) and I didn’t want to bother her. The only other way to change the bulb was to climb on the counter itself. I swallowed my fear of falling and slowly made my way up. First I got on all fours to make sure no one was watching. Then I carefully got on my feet. 

“When you’d become a stripper?!” Ryan asked while bursting out with laughter. His sudden noise caused me to flinch. Well, jump is a better description. I glared at him as he continued to laugh.

As I checked to make sure I had my balance again, I tried to change to bulb. But as I bent over to grab the new bulb by my feet, Ryan burst out laughing again. 

“What is so fun--” I started to ask him, but in my haste to turn around, my foot slipped off the counter causing me to lose my balance and topple over. I hurriedly closed my eyes, trying to avoid the worst and a muffled scream escaped my lips. When I thought I was supposed to hit the ground, a pair of strong arms were holding me close to a sculpted, strong chest. I snapped my eyes open, thinking it was Ryan. That fact scared me enough, but it scared me even more as I realized I didn’t even know who these brown eyes belonged to. There were warm and sincere, and frantic all at the same time.