You Can't Break Her

Chapter nineteen: part two | June

June 2009
Newbegins, Ontario

I walked to work from my parents' house on the outskirts of town one day. I had started purchasing scratch tickets to fill a void of yearning for past familiarity.

"I got these at a different store. Can I check them here?" I enquired sheepishly. With little understanding of the game I was playing, I looked up into the stunning hazel-blue eyes of the cashier.

"No, we don't take tickets from there, sorry." He chucked, stopping when I nodded and started to walk away. "I was just joking."

I shook my head and blushed, turning to face him. "I thought you were being serious." Continuing to look everywhere, but in his eyes, my vision stayed on my purse and wallet.

He checked my tickets, and I scrunched my fists in my pockets. Two minutes passed, and I couldn't tell if it felt longer because I was working up courage or that I was almost late for work. He turned back from the scanning machine, a smile on his face. My eyes met his for a brief second before I looked down again to hide the obvious attraction I had to him.

"Do you want to do something someday?" I blurted out in the most vulnerable way possible. Only after the words escaped my lips did I realize how many responses he could give that wouldn't agree with me.

"Yeah. I mean, yes." He scrambled to the counter and clinked items around, opening drawers and moving papers to find a pen. "Aha." He scribble his first name and phone number on a lined page from a spiral pad and ripped it off the binding. "My name is Malachi. By the way, what is yours?

"Ama." I spit out quickly. I grabbed the paper, turning to leave, still avoiding eye contact. I felt his eyes on me. He jumped up a bit and popped his head out from behind the counter. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know, you'll think of something." Smiling, I walked out of that store, not knowing that when I finally got a cell phone and texted him that we would be starting something special.