The Price of Love

11-Rules are Rules

"Hey Anna. What's going on?" Alex asked his friend, though that term was now much more complicated in his mind. Friend.

"Nothing much. What about You?" She asked him. He shook his head.

"Same old," he replied. He noticed no one sitting at the front desk as a client walked in. "Give me a minute." He walked over to the desk and sat down. "How can I help you?"

   "I need to cash this check in all ones," the man said in a bossy voice, handing Alex a check, which he inspected.

   "I'm sorry sir, we can't cash something this big in all ones," Alex said professionally. The man rolled his eyes, not liking what he heard.

"Just do it. It's not that hard," he said, and Anna and Alex had to force themselves not to roll their eyes.

"Like I told you, we can't do that. Rules are rules," Alex said again, slightly frustrated.

"Can I speak to someone higher up," he said. Alex rolled his eyes.

"Sure," he said, now completely irritated. He got Anna's attention and gestured to her to come closer. She then walked behind Alex.

"How may I help you?" Anna asked professionally. The man told her the issue. "Well, sir, he clearly told you our rules, which is the building policy. So if you would be kind enough to either ask for something more reasonable, or leave this establishment, that would be wonderful."

"Fine," the man said in frustration, turning around and leaving. Alex stood up, standing eye level to the girl.

   "That was impressive," he said. She laughed at the compliment.

   "Easy," she replied. They walked away and poured some coffee into their own cups.

"So..." Alex said, wracking his brain for a conversation starter that would distract his thoughts from how much he wanted to kiss her at the moment.

   "Stalks are up," Anna said. Alex nodded.

   "I saw that," he replied, mentally kicking himself. Was that really the best he could come up with?

   "Are you alright?" She asked him, leaning against the wall and holding her mug with both hands. He smiled at her.

   "Yeah," he replied. "I'm just thinking."

"I've been doing a lot of that lately too," she said, not knowing that their inner thoughts were so similar. She pushed herself off of the wall she was leaning on and walked towards her friend. He smiled down at her and she laughed.

"So hows that assignment going?" He asked.

   "Great! I'm almost finished," she replied enthusiastically.

"That's great. Don't think too much about it. It'll turn out great," Alex said encouragingly.

   "Alright. Thanks," she replied. "I think I'm gonna get back to work."

   "Oh. Ummm. Okay," he said awkwardly. She walked past him and walked through the doorway. Alex's eyes followed her. 'You are so stupid Alex P Keaton,' he thought to himself. He walked back to his desk and spun around in the chair, before turning his computer on and taking a look at the stocks. He wished that he was brave enough to act on his feelings. But he wasn't confident enough. Alex Keaton, master of the universe, had been successfully shut up by his feelings for a girl. That was not how he thought it would go.

"Hey Alex?" Someone said, bringing him back to the reality of his life.

   "Uh, yeah," he replied, looking up to see one of his coworkers standing in front of his desk.

   "Your pencils been sharpening for three minutes," he said, pointing at the electric sharpener that was making a strange noise. He took the one small pencil out, making the sound stop, and seeing the large amount of pencil shavings that fell out.

   "Thanks," he said, embarrassed that it had gone on that long without him noticing.

   "No problem," the coworker replied, walking away quickly. Alex forced himself to get back to work, doing odd jobs that didn't require large amounts of effort.

"Gee Alex, what's got you so down?" Anna asked, plopping down dramatically on a seat in front of him. He jumped slightly, startled at the voice.

"What?" He asked her. Anna laughed.

"Alright. Let's go for a walk," she said.

"Anna I've got work to do," he said.

"Well you're clearly distracted and I'm suffocating from the cigarette smoke in here. Come on," she said. Alex shook his head and stood up, following her to the door. They walked outside on the sidewalk, by the small buildings. "What's bothering you?"

"I'm just overwhelmed. Nothing to worry about," he said, tossing his arm around her shoulder.

"Whatever you say Keaton," she replied as they walked through the familiar area.