A/N: beautiful minimalistic cover by taketheavocado !
For the rest of the week, she was placed in customer support with him.
Marina apologized profusely for it, and Brady offered to sacrifice himself multiple times, but she willingly declined. Little did they know, she was actually enjoying herself in what they viewed as a nightmare.
Although they hadn't spoken since that day he helped her, she was still entertained by his everyday behavior. Watching him interact with customers was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen; it was almost like watching an animal in its natural habitat.
But as intriguing as it was, she still had the unfathomable desire to have a conversation with him.
Today, being the last day she would work with him before returning to the cash register, was her only chance. With the courage she had built up throughout the week, she waited till no customers were around to step towards him.
"Hey," Ali managed to utter, chewing the inside of her cheek nervously.
He paused from scrolling, but didn't lift his head. "Hi."
"This might be weird, but I just wanted to tell you that I think you're amazing at what you do. I've never seen anyone who could persuade people as well as you do," she admitted, which seemed to briefly interest him when he slid his phone back into his pocket.
"You think I'm amazing?" Sawyer questioned curiously, keeping his gaze low.
She hesitated, uncertain about how to respond. "Well, yeah. You have a talent, I would say."
"Most people call it a disease," he countered, his voice frosty yet soft.
"Oh," she swallowed back the lump in her throat, fidgeting with her hands. "Only if you look at it in a negative light."
"And you don't look at it that way?"
"No," she answered honestly.
For a minute, she thought the conversation had ended there already, but then he looked up. Her breath seemed to get caught in her throat as she waited to lock eyes with him.
Except the moment never came, and instead, his eyes landed on her name tag.
"Ali," he read, cocking his head. "That's a strange name."
"It's short for Alice."
He nodded. "I like that more."
She pursed her lips, not sure how to react to his words, then gestured to his own name tag. "Sawyer is a nice name too."
"Yeah."
As usual, he returned to his phone without another word, but she didn't mind. He didn't seem to notice, but a small smile had spread across her face afterwards.
That was their first conversation.