Winter Scarves [Mako]

03

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐔𝐍 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄 across the glass cases, nearly blinding me as I sat down behind my work station. I blinked out the dots that swam across my vision. My bag was weighing heavy on my shoulder, so I gently set it on the wooden table in front of me. There was a loud noise behind me, making my heart thud in my chest. My first thought was that someone had broken in and was in our backroom, but that couldn't be true. No one would break into this little clothing store, especially when they knew that Nora could kick their butts if they tried. Hopping up from my desk, I slowly walked toward the backroom. I glanced around to see if there was anything I could grab, but there wasn't. If there was a bad person in the store, I'd just have to hit them with my fists. I wasn't expecting the sight that I saw. 

Nora was standing in the middle of a mess. All of the boxes she had moved yesterday were laying on the floor, their contents spilling out. "What happened in here?" I asked, taking a step into the room. "It was not like this when I left last night."

Nora looked at me, her brown eyes big and wide in anger. She shook her head, her grey hair swirling around at her shoulders. "The one day that I enter through the back door, everything falls apart. I was trying to find something in one of the boxes so I could go put it out front and then I knocked into an unsteady box . . ." She trailed off, pointing at the mess around her. "And that happens."

A smile played on my face but when Nora's eyes sharpened, I pushed it away. Instead of saying the joke that was on the tip of my tongue, I asked, "Do you need any help cleaning up?"

"No," she said shortly. She spun around, her dress flaring out behind her. "You stay out front in case someone comes in."

"If you say so." I glanced around the backroom once more and said, "Good luck!" Before she could react to my words, I ran out of the room with a laugh. My boots tapped against the floor as I walked back to my desk, creating a melodious harmony. Even if the boots were severely uncomfortable, they made a nice noise whenever I walked across the hardwood floors of the clothing shop. Tahno tried to tell me to sell the shoes, but I haven't yet. He hated whenever I complained about my aching feet, but he always complained about his aching body after his pro-bending practices, so we were even. 

Sliding into my seat, I reached into my bag and grabbed Mako's scarf. I had tried working on it last night after my shift, but it kept unraveling on me. I don't have the proper tools at home to work on it anyway, so I didn't want to mess it up even more. I spread the scarf out on my desk and leaned forward, squinting my eyes. Usually, before I started my work, I would look over whatever I was working on to see if I could find out what was wrong with it. With this particular scarf, I figured that it was just on the older side, which was why it was unraveling. 

My mind raced as I tried to think about how to fix it. I could burn the unraveling ends, but I wasn't sure if Mako would be okay with that. He could come in any time and assume I'm destroying his scarf instead of fixing it. Plus, I wasn't a firebender and there weren't any candles around me to do that. I'd have to stop by a store on my way home tonight to buy a candle. 

Reaching into my bag, I grabbed my glasses. In the past few years, I had noticed that my eyesight up close was getting hazy, so I got my eyes checked out. Staring at small threads and fabric every day could damage my eyes, but I didn't care. They gave me special glasses that I had to use when working with fabric. I hated wearing them, but they were useful, I guess. They prevented me from getting headaches all the time, so that was nice.

Setting my glasses on my face, I allowed my eyes to adjust to the prescription. I picked the scarf up and ran my fingers along the threadbare parts, trying to find where it had first started unraveling. I could tell that this scarf was loved just by the way it was taken care of. Sure, it was getting threadbare now, but Mako must have done something to prevent it from getting more threadbare. The fabric was something different than the fabric that I work with, but I wasn't sure what kind of fabric it was. Maybe Nora would know, but I didn't want to bother her while she was in her rampaging mood. 

Looking at all of my tools, I wondered which one I could use to try to fix the scarf. I picked up my littlest needle and tried to thread the fabric at the end of the needle. Instead of threading it through the needle, I pulled the thread out from the scarf. My eyes widened when I held the thread in my fingertips. It should not have been in my fingers. No. No. This was not happening. Every little thread was needed to make this scarf, and now I was holding one in my fingers. 

"Are you close to finishing my scarf?" a male's voice said, snapping me out of my panic. My head shot up and I nearly screamed when I saw Mako standing in front of me, a hopeful smile on his face. I thought that my panic had disappeared when I heard his voice, but it came back when I saw him. 

My hands scrambled as I pushed the scarf away from his prying eyes. Jumping out of my seat, I ripped my glasses off of my face. Unfortunately for me, the hinges caught my hair and ripped a few dark strands out of my head. "I am not done with it yet," I said, hoping my voice wouldn't shake. "You gave it to me yesterday, so there's no way that I could be done with it today."

"I was hoping that you were close to being done," Mako said, the smile replaced by a passive look, "but I guess you are right. I'm sorry for scaring you again."

"You should wear a bell." I laughed, trying to make my nerves go away. I didn't want him to see his unraveling scarf on the table in front of me. "That way I'd hear whenever you come around."

"Do you know when it will be done?"

"No," I said, frowning. I glanced down at the scarf and let out a sigh. "Your scarf may be worse than what I originally thought, so it may take me a while to fix."

"Oh, okay." Mako crossed his arms over his chest, and I noticed that his sleeves her pushed up to his elbows. His muscles flexed as he shrugged, making the tips of my ears burn. "Well, that's all I wanted to talk about."

"Okay," I said, not wanting him to leave. "I'll try to hurry and fix your scarf, but I have no promises on when it will be done."

"It's alright." Mako gave me another heartstopping smile before nodding once. "I'll see you soon, hopefully."

"Bye!" 

I watched as Mako left the store, wondering why my heart was pounding in my chest. Sure, he was really cute, but I couldn't have liked him. I had just met him, for goodness sake! And there was no way we were destined to be together. Nora may have been right on many topics, but that wasn't one she was right on. He was just a customer with a really cute smile. Yup, that was it. Just to get him off of my mind, I busied myself with his scarf. I had to finish it soon so I could see him again. Not because I liked him, but because he was expecting his scarf to be done.