Fix your face, fix your mood, and smile.

I pushed out of the kitchen and hurried over to the shop's front door. Without missing a beat, I shut the lock and pulled each of the blinds down, blocking the view of the streets outside. When I turned around, Brian laughed and wiped his hands with his precious towel. "Never seen you move so fast," he said, lifting his eyes to look at me. "In a rush?"

"No, no." Shaking my head, I looked around the shop to keep my mind distracted. "You... you called me out here to help, so I did, and—"

"I know," Brian laughed again. "I was joking."

"Aha." I tried to laugh with him as I approached the front counter. He wiped at it with his towel, flicking away crumbs leftover from the cupcakes near the register. Knowing I had to do something, too, I reached for the front display and made sure it was properly sealed so we could store it in the back.

"Sorry if I'm a little scatterbrained." I wanted to be honest because I knew it just had to be all over my face. The conversation with my mom just had me ugh. "Busy day, trying to help you clean up. That's all." I shot him a smile, a little forced, but there. "Trying to do good by the boss, that's all."

Brian's eyes shot up as I moved the cupcakes out of the way, then opened the plexiglass door protecting the doughnuts no one purchased. There weren't many, but the few that were there couldn't be left out.

"I appreciate it." Brian smiled as he leaned against the counter. "Did you want to talk about it?"

I hadn't even had the chance to walk to the kitchen with the sealed leftovers in my hand. My foot had inched towards the door, but my eyes were on him. "What?" I gulped. "Talk about what?"

"Nevermind." Chuckling, Brian tossed his towel on his shoulder and turned towards the register. With a quick tap of a button, the til opened. His fingers counted the cash with ease. "Shouldn't have asked."

"Asked..." Still holding the container, I faced him. "Ask what?"

He gave me a side-glance; a small one. I saw the shimmer of his golden eyes catch the light from the hanging fixture, but he said nothing to me. He kept counting until he had enough to seal in a bag.

Placing the container on the counter, I inched closer to him. The awkward tension in the air between us was the same I felt in the back while I talked to my mom. Had he sensed it? Heard me? Oh my God, was I loud? Such a baby...

I frowned. "Did you hear my conversation back there?"

Brian cringed. He shrugged. He forced closed the register and reached for a backpack tucked away nicely beneath the counter drawers. "Don't worry about it," he said, securing the shop's deposit within the bag's largest pocket. "It was wrong of me to ask, intrude. You don't know me and I don't know you. Sharing personal issues is a bit much, I would know."

Without meaning to—or maybe I did—my eyes trailed over to the scars on his chin, down his neck. I followed the line until it vanished underneath the collar of his shirt. And while I stared at him, I wondered if that was what he meant—the scars on his body. Had to be a personal issue, right? Couldn't have been serious, considering he built a business for himself and seemed like a perfectly fine, and beautiful, adult.

"Right." Brian adjusted his shirt and broke my stare. And I felt awful.

"Oh..." Biting my lip, I looked back at the package of doughnuts as I wracked my thoughts. Think, think, think, you made this awkward. "Fix it..." I muttered.

Brian had already walked towards the kitchen, but when I spoke, he stopped. He inched back a step to look at me. "Fix what?"

For a second, I was a deer in headlights. "I, um..." My fingers tapped along the counter. "I'm sorry. Again—"I pointed at myself and awkwardly laughed. "—mood. I didn't mean to make this awkward. I just..."

Brian waited, looking at me with curious eyes.

I gulped. "I just have some suffocating parents, that's all." Shrugging, I continued, "I love them and all, but they just don't get that I'm on my own now. I don't need them. I'm working, I'm surviving... And they really need to just let me breathe."

I stretched out the last words in my sentence. I let the emotion run through them. My hands went up into my curls as I sucked in a deep, long breath. Breathing was something I should have been able to do freely because, well, poo, I'm a human being, right?

It's just so hard with them...

When I looked back at Brian, his expression had softened. There was a small smile tugging at his lips. With one hand, he hoisted the backpack's strap on his shoulder. His other hand scratched the side of his head, ruffling his short, brown hair. "I know that feeling, Kay. But can you breathe now?" he asked.

And it was such a simple question. So simple, I sort of froze up. I mean, yes, I was breathing. But I couldn't help but feel like there was more to his question. More meaning.

Yes, I can breathe on my own... Nodding, I smiled at him. "I think so."

"Cool." Brian smirked, and that single dimple brought every inch of me back to life. He glanced at the back door, then at me, before he shrugged. "Let's keep the tension winds far away, hm? I'm good at distractions."

My hands twiddled nervously in front of me. "I like distractions," I said. Like a dog chasing a squirrel.

He chuckled. "Did you finish cleaning in the back?"

My smile faded as I cringed. I hadn't finished. My plan of helping Brian out front before I returned to my own task failed. Miserably. "No...." I squeezed my eyes shut.

"No worries, Kay." Brian touched my shoulder and gave me a playful shake. "Let's finish this up together so we can head home, sound cool?"

Opening just one eye, I melted as I looked into his. "Cool," I swooned.

|||

What normally took us just half an hour, took an hour-fifteen. And the moment we stepped out into the night air to close the shop, I slumped against the window. Beside me, Brian locked the door with his oversized key.

"Where's your car?" he asked, looking up and down the street.

"Car?" I blinked at him and pointed down the street. "I don't live too far, remember?"

"Kay." Brian pushed his keys into the back pocket of his jeans and zipped up his jacket. "This is the city. It doesn't matter how close you live. It's night."

"I'm fine," I said reassuringly. "I've walked home every night this week."

Brian looked at me like I'd committed a crime. "By yourself?"

I nodded. "Mhm."

"And you haven't said anything?"

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know I had to tell him I was walking home. Back home I hadn't bothered to tell my parents that, so I never thought to do it now. You know, I was a big girl, adulting and all. Besides, what could go wrong?

He didn't ask and before I could object, he tugged my arm gently by the elbow and turned me down the street to cross it. "This way, right?"

"W-Well, yeah, but—"

The look he gave me said no buts, so I shut my mouth tight.

"I can't have you walking home alone, Kay. From now on, I'll walk you, if that's all right. If not, I'll call you a taxi."

"You don't have to, Brian, really. It's—"

I'd never seen that look in his eyes. Their golden-brown hue darkened, almost black against the moonlight. His body tensed, his breathing stopped. He looked dangerous, but not in a way that endangered me, but the night around us.

Swallowing my nerves, I inched back, looking him up and down once before saying, "It's okay."

"It isn't, Kay, and I don't mind walking you home. All that matters is that you're safe."

How could I say no? It wasn't like he was threatening me. And honestly, the city streets were scary at night. I got my nightly leg workouts walking home because I didn't quite walk...

I sort of ran really slow, if that made sense.

"Look, I'll call you a taxi—" He took his phone out from his jacket pocket. "—and I'll let you key in the address, so I can't see. I know I said we'd leave the awkward tension air back there, so if me walking you home weirds you out, I get it. Here."

Brian had already opened the ride request app on his phone. The bright menu screen seemed to glow in the night. Shaking my head, I said, "No, no, don't worry." I pushed his phone against his chest. "A walk is okay. I'll accept it."

A switch went on inside him, bringing back that glow to his eyes that normally kept me mesmerized. His lip went up, bringing that grin I loved. Suddenly, the night didn't seem so bad.

"I'll lead the way?" I asked and hovered my finger over the cross-walk button.

Brian leaned back, cracking his back once, and smiled at me just as I did to him. "I'll gladly follow."

|||

Right, left, right, left.

I watched my shoes as they met on the sidewalk, unable to look up as we walked towards my house. My hands, firmly pressed into the pockets of my cardigan, made small circles with my wrists to keep focused—or, distracted. I like distractions, right? I'd be home in another fifteen minutes, and that'd be it.

Just a safe walk home.

"So, Kay," Brian's calm voice disrupted my thoughts, and my eyes shot up, looking at the empty crosswalk ahead of us. "I was thinking."

I kept my gaze on him, not blinking.

He lifted his hands defensively. "Not in a creepy way or anything. Just... it hit me, you know. We work together. Work colleagues eventually get to know each other. And... since we're walking—" He did a slow turn as we continued down the sidewalk. "—I thought we'd talk."

I like distractions... yes, yes. 

"I can talk." My hands spun in the opposite direction, still hidden by my pockets. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, nothing major." Brian smiled. "What do you do for fun?"

Fun? I bit down on my bottom lip and pulled my eyebrows in. Fun... what did I do for fun? Eating cupcakes was fun, so was staring at the blank screen on my TV because the ancient boxy-tube the previous tenants had left behind didn't have a converter box. You know, you could get a lot of ideas while staring at white snow.

Lies...

"Kay?" Brian bumped me slightly with his elbow. "Earth to Kay?"

"Oh, ah—" I forced myself to look up at him as he smiled at me, big and bright. The invasion of butterflies found the empty pit of my stomach again, and I knew I would turn pink in seconds. "—I like books."

Ha, some truth.

"Oh?" He smirked, lifting one brow. "What kind?"

"Anything with romance." I stopped at the crosswalk and watched the streetlights change. "You know, rom-coms, sexy paranormal stories."

Brian chuckled, a deep sound that crept up his throat. I felt the little hairs on my arm stand up under my sleeve. "Like, Vampires?"

"Yes." I squeaked the word. Why did I squeak?

"That's cool," he said as he crossed and motioned me to follow—because, you know, I didn't move. I couldn't help but watch him. It wasn't like he was stiff as a board working at the shop, I'd already said he was a super-chill boss, but seeing him walking outside and under the moon, I got to really see him.

He seemed free.

"There's this bookstore right here." He nodded ahead at the closed shop when I finally caught up to him. We'd reached it in minutes and though it was closed, lights off, he still peered inside. "Maybe they have what you like."

"I'm sure they do," I said, sliding one foot in front of the other. "Do you read?" I asked him after a moment.

Again, he chuckled. And now I knew I was pink.

Brian turned to look at me, his eyes bright like the moon. "I mean, I know how to read, but just picking up a book and losing myself—can't do it. Nothing against books, but I'd rather watch the movie. You know, I'm a visual, hands-on kind of guy."

There was something about the way he'd said it—visual and hands-on. It made me step back, turn, and walk in front of him so he couldn't see my mind race. My thoughts ran without me, thinking of what sort of things his hands could do. Mentally, I smacked myself five times because... hello, Kay, it's just a walk home. What the hell?

Was this what deep attraction was like? I mean... I liked Mario, my ex, and I'd even say I loved him for a while, but it was never like this. I used to see Mario, and I'd smile. But I'd look at Brian and see him. I saw inside him, around him, and felt that magical pull described in romance novels. The electricity, the fire...

I twirled my wrists in my pockets again.

"What about you?" I asked when he caught up to me, matching his footsteps to mine. "What do you do for fun?"

"Sleep," he said with a laugh as we stopped at the crosswalk just before where I lived. I looked at him as he pressed the 'walk' button and met his eyes with curiosity. "I mean, you're young, Kay. Can't remember what you put on your application... but how old are you? Twenty? Twenty-one?"

"Twenty-two," I said, lifting my chin.

He shrugged and clicked his tongue against his teeth, rocking back on the heel of his shoes. "Well, Miss Twenty-two, when you hit thirty, let me know how much you want to sleep—no need—over books."

Thirty? He was thirty? Jee, he didn't look thirty... not that thirty was old or anything. He just didn't have a single line on his face other than the scars on his chin, and the one on the side of his nose I hadn't noticed before. Maybe because it was a thin line and super faint, and...

I stared at him too long and he lifted both brows this time, blinking at me. "Something on my face?" he asked. "This isn't the first time I caught you doing that."

Oh, um, well... "I just don't see you as a tired person. You look pretty..." Beautiful, handsome, perfect. "Lively to me."

The symbol above us motioned us to walk, and this time, I followed without the creepy stalker-across-the-street stare.

Brian chuckled, shaking his head. "Tired comes in a lot of different forms. That doesn't mean I have bags under my eyes."

"Ah, well, yeah, you're right. Sorry." I kicked my shoe against the curb as we made it in front of the side door that led up to my apartment.

"Don't be," he said, looking at the door. "Is this you?"

"Mhm." I nodded, pressing my lips into a thin line. "Just above the shop."

"Oh, that's cool." Brian looked into the shop window. "It has to be convenient to live above a store like this. If you ever need snacks, just walk on down."

"Oh yeah," I said, looking through the window with him. Mr. Paul sat in a chair in front of the register with a newspaper in his hands. He flipped a page slowly while his other hand reached for the can of soda on the counter. "He's great. Really nice. Feeds me cupcakes."

"Oh?" Brian lifted his brow.

I giggled. "Yeah, he's got a kind soul. That's why I planned on helping out every once in a while. You know... return the gesture."

When I looked back at Brian, I saw that light again. I wasn't sure how it could have gotten brighter since the man was a walking, talking sun himself, but there it was. Happiness in human form. "That's really nice of you, Kay." There was a crinkle in the corner of his eye as he smiled. "You're a good person."

"I... Thank you." I knew I was beet red, I felt it. I was practically melting. Looking back into the shop, at Mr. Paul, I tried to find a way out before I fainted in front of this beautiful man.

Then it hit me. I stared at the small refrigerator beside the register, and thoughts rushed through my head. "You know, he's got those doughnuts they used to give out with school breakfasts. The super ones. I almost died when I found out he had them, and I think I bought the entire case."

Brian's mouth opened as he laughed and leaned against the window with just his shoulder. "Really? Shit, I haven't seen those in years."

"Me either," I giggled with a shrug, "so, it's nice to have with a coffee."

"I bet." He pushed himself off the glass and pressed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "Would it be wrong to ask you to bring one on Monday? You know, so I can have with coffee?"

Brian took a step closer to me after he asked, and the deep breath I took in mixed with his cologne. The smell alone warmed me, but his presence set me on fire. I swallowed the red before it hit my cheeks. "Just one?"

"I can have more than one?" he asked.

Slowly, I moved my hands from my pockets and fiddled with the zipper of my small bag, trying to find the keys to the door. Not once did I look away from him, my eyes locked with his. "Does anyone ever eat just one?"

My fingers wrapped around the key chain before anything else, but when I tugged them out of the small opening, I dropped them. Brian bent down to lift them before I did and wiggled them in front of my face. His smile caused the flirty butterflies to throw a concert inside me.

"I guess you're right." He grabbed my right hand in his and turned it so my palm faced the sky. With his other, he pressed the keys just near my fingers and folded them, so I held them tight. "I'll take two."

"T-Two it is," again, I squeaked, "coming right up."

"On Monday," he corrected, finally stepping away from me with his signature smile.

"Right, right." I slapped my forehead, squeezing my eyes shut for a second. It sounded like I offered to get them right then. Pressing the key into its lock, I gave it a turn and looked at him with a smile of my own. "Monday, bright and early."

"Afternoon," he corrected me again, this time waving his finger. "Remember, I'm a tired man."

You know, I thought this walk would make me red because we walked so close. Instead, I was a cherry tomato because I fumbled with my words, embarrassed. I bit the inside of my cheeks to keep from squeaking, or crying, or a combination of both. "Yes, afternoon."

"Yes." He laughed and moved away from the door, giving me the space to open it. "It was nice talking to you, Kay," he added, looking down at me. "Makes the time go by."

"It... it does." I smiled at him, quickly moving to open my door. Trying to stay composed at that moment was hard. "And thank you for walking me home. You didn't have to, you know. But I get it and—"

"It's fine." Brian moved around me in a way that was so close, yet so far, I caught the whiff of his cologne again as he stood on the opposite side. "Doesn't bother me at all."

I held onto the tone of his voice. Calming. Sweet. And I inched towards the open doorway, moving my foot towards the steps that lead up to my apartment. The dark hallway caught my attention.

"Have a good night, Kay," Brian said.

I meant to turn around and say it right back, but when I peeked my head out, he'd already turned around, walking down the street from where we came. I smiled as I watched him roll his neck and place his hands behind his head.

I can't be rude.

"You too!" I called out to him. "Night, Brian!"

He waved at me with just his fingers.