The next day, she practically drowned in the worries of her coworkers.
"How did it go with Sawyer, Ali?" Brady placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, his expression drenched with sympathy. "How fragile is your mental stability now?"
"The same as it was before."
He clicked his tongue. "Well, that's still questionable."
"What awful place did he take you?" Marina asked, already wincing in apprehension, while Brady shuddered.
"This nice little restaurant by the beach," Ali answered as she tied up her hair into a loose bun. "Then we went on the pier and talked for a bit."
"You...talked?" Marina repeated, blinking vigorously, and Ali nodded.
"Willingly?" Brady continued; Ali nodded again. Her coworkers exchanged baffled looks, then turned back to her. "That's, um, interesting. At least you won't be going out with him anymore though."
Ali shrugged. "Who said I wasn't?"
Before either of them could detonate at her words, a familiar pair of loud, strong footsteps resounded through the department store. All three of them immediately returned to their posts and waited for the two most intimidating men in town to appear.
Mr. Price was the first one they saw, greeting them all with a charming smile, which actually reminded her of his son's, but more genuine. His eyes seemed to instantly fall on her, and it startled her for a moment.
Then his son came into view, who also twisted his head in her direction, but not exactly meeting her gaze. Before his father could utter a word, he plastered on a small smile and offered her a wave.
"Hi, Alice. I had a great time last night. Hopefully we can hang out again soon," Sawyer said, and although she knew it was all a facade, she didn't stop herself from believing him.
"Yeah," she smiled. "Me too. It was fun."
Sawyer then made his way to customer support, while his father stayed back for a minute. He eyed her briefly before clearing his throat, tightening the tie around his neck. After the routine pleasantries, he hid himself away in his office for the rest of the day, leaving her in her coworkers' paranoid hands.
"You saw that? Even his father is creeped out that you two actually enjoyed yourselves," Brady remarked as he pointed his orange lollipop towards her accusingly.
Ali shook her head and gave them both a reassuring smile. "Listen, guys. Thanks to you two, I know to be careful around Sawyer, so just be comforted by that thought, alright? I have the situation under control. Don't worry about me."
"Oh, Ali, I'm sorry," Marina sighed, looking down at the floor. "I just don't want you to get sucked into his world like we all did once. Trust me, it's all rainbows and sunshine at first, but then you see his true colors, which aren't in the rainbow for a reason."
Ali stifled a chuckle when she realized how serious they were, and she cleared her throat. "I understand that, and I'm glad I have people like you watching my back. But I'm all good, I swear."
Brady narrowed his eyes at her while Marina tapped on her tablet anxiously. It was obvious that they still weren't satisfied with her words.
"Look, we probably won't be hanging out again for a while anyway. So save your stress for later," Ali said, and they instantly brightened.
"Music to my ears!" Brady sang before returning to his cash register, twirling his lollipop around like a baton. Marina gave her a happy smile, then went back to surveying the store with her tablet in hand.
Ali pursed her lips as she stole a glance at a particular customer support worker, but turned away before anyone could notice.
Except he did.