The Pessimist

~Chapter 2~

Olive Gail

"Good morning Olive love. How are you doing?"
My boss, Ivy John was a kind woman. She was elderly and couldn't move very quickly but she was lovely. She told me of how she had bought the book shop with her husband before he died and I was always intrigued by her stories.
I smiled to her and nodded.
"I'm fine. I'm always fine" I shrugged and she sighed.
"I know I know" she said and I couldn't help but shake my head.
I turned as I heard the bell above the door jingle.
Nick Maine.
Nick was Ivy's other employee. He was tall, wore slightly rounded glasses, and had dark brown hair that usually lay flat on his forehead. He had a small amount of scruffy facial hair and always wore the same shoes and coat. Nick was in university and was a year older than I was, but he worked here to make some money. I smiled at the sight of him. 
If I didn't feel the way I did about love then I thought Nick would be a good boyfriend. But I wasn't changing my mind anytime soon about relationships, no matter how lovely he was.
He smiled at both of us and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
"Morning ladies. How are we doing?" He asked and Ivy smiled.
"We're both fine" she said.
"Ah yes. Because when is Miss Olive anything other than fine" Nick grinned and walked into the small kitchen we had.

I shook my head. I always said I was fine because it was the easier response to give and it's what people wanted to hear. Even if I wasn't fine I said I was. No one really wanted to know how I truly felt. It was just the way of society for me now.
"Nick is a lovely boy don't you think?" Ivy asked and I rolled my eyes.
"He is very lovely but I'm not going to date him. You know how I feel Ivy" I sighed.
"Oh but hes such a good boy" she said but I shook my head as Nick walked back into the room.
"So I need you two to be unpacking stock today. There's a hell of a lot of it" Ivy said and we nodded. "I'll shout you if I need you!"

We both walked up the stairs and into our storage room. I sighed and shrugged off my yellow rain coat.
"You wear that thing everyday" Nick said and I shrugged.
"It's comfy and I like it" I said and he shook his head as we both sat down in front of about fifteen boxes. It was going to take us forever to get through it all.
I cut open one of the boxes and marvelled over every book that came in. They were all so different and that's what I liked.
"So, what's new in Olive land?" Nick asked as he too started looking at the books and sorting them.
"Nothing is new. Same old me" I shrugged.
"Still got your fucked up opinions about love?" He asked and I rolled my eyes at him.

Nick and I never saw eye to eye on the subject of relationships. He had had four girlfriends before and insisted he loved all of them. I thought it was a load of rubbish really.

"They're perfectly reasonable."
"Olive you've never even had a boyfriend. How do you know relationships aren't a good thing?" He asked and I placed the book I was looking at down onto the floor.
"Relationships are just all about the sex and the break up, and both aspects usually lead to disappointment" I said and Nick laughed.
"You've obviously never had good sex" he said and I shrugged.
"I've not had sex. I've not even been kissed by a boy before" I said and I watched as his mouth hung open.
"You are a nineteen  year old quite attractive girl and you've never even been kissed?" He said and I laughed at the amount of shock that was evident on his face.
"Yup" I smiled.
"God Ol, I'll kiss you now if you want"
"No! No it's not proper. You wouldn't enjoy it and it's not how it should be done" I protested, although a part of me wanted him to kiss me just so I could see what it felt like.
"So you're seriously adamant about relationships?" He asked and I nodded.
"Certainly"
"So you never want to feel what it feels like to be kissed? To be in love? To have sex? To go on dates? You seriously never want that?" He asked and I swallowed hard.
I just shook my head and turned away from him. I didn't want to be hurt. Being in a relationship would hurt me eventually, and I was already hurt enough.