It's You 

Looking up at the clock for the seventh time in the last fifteen minutes you sighed. Time at work went by so slowly you worried you would grow your first grey hairs before getting out of there. 

Your part-time job was decently paying, working as the only employer at an art and music supply shop close to campus. The issue was that after lecture time hardly no one stopped by and so you were left to watch the empty store until closing time. 

Deciding you had done enough cleaning for one shift you pulled up your school work to take advantage of the free time. Studying Interior Design on the second year you found yourself stuck on a particularly nasty floor plan and with a fast approaching hand in date. 

After about an hour of silent work, with the low sound of the radio in the backroom as your only company you got up and stretched. Outside the rain was pouring down and an evening chill was creeping in from under the old shop door. 

    "Time for coffee" you announced loudly, mainly to check if your voice was still working after sitting so long in silence. 

It was while boiling water for the instant coffee you heard the bell from the shop door ring and you put down the water heater straight away to greet the customer. 

A tall guy with a drenched dark jacket and dripping hair stood by the guitar supplies looking at the strings. Decisively picking out the ones he needed quickly he hurried over to the check out where you were standing. 

The package with the guitar strings was damp in your hand as you scanned them and you noticed in your side vision drops of water falling on the wooden counter. 

Looking up to ask if he wanted the recipe you got the first proper look at his face. 

He looked really tired and obviously drenched from the rain, but his narrow eyes had an intelligent glint to them and the slightly puckered lips along with his sharp jaw pulled you in, making you wish you could have just one more look. 

What an interesting man, you thought as you handed over the guitar strings. A small part of you really didn’t want him to leave, if it was due to the loneliness of staying in the shop alone all afternoon or something else entirely you didn’t know, but thinking fast you asked if he wanted to borrow an umbrella. 

    "It’s a little too late for that I think" he said, spreading his arms to the sides to show exactly how drenched he was, but with a sincere smile spreading across his face while saying it. 

Feeling a bit embarrassed at the rejection of the offer you smiled your best smile back at him, but you secretly wanted to hide in the backroom for the rest of the shift. Waiting for him to leave for you to dwell on your own embarrassment you grabbed onto the counter struggling to keep the smile up. 

    "You know what, yes! Yes I’d actually like to borrow one" he said suddenly, just as he got to the shop door. "I’m meeting up with a friend at the station and I can bet you he sure didn’t think to bring an umbrella." he returned to the counter and you went to the backroom to pick up one of your own umbrellas to lend him.  

    "Thank you" he said and smiled that smile again and held up the umbrella as he said it, you smiled back, giving a small wave to his back as he exited the shop. 

Not sure what had just happened you walked yourself to the backroom, reboiled the coffee water and sat down to wait for the coffee to get to a drinkable temperature. 

From then on life at work got a tad bit more exciting because a small part of you kept hoping that he would stop by again. He didn’t however, and as the days passed you got more and more disheartened. 

By the third week you still thought about him now and then, but it was more like a daydream kind of thing. 

You were in the middle of just such a daydream when the bell rang at the shop front. Startled you bolted up from you spot behind the counter to greet the customer. 

    "It’s you" he said as soon as he saw you. 

    "It’s me" you replied flustered but in an equally enthusiastic way, but then feeling like an idiot as soon as the words had escaped your mouth. 

He came straight to the counter and began going through his lap top bag, musical notes and scribbles bursting out everywhere. In the end he got to the bottom of the bag and pulled out your umbrella. 

    "Sorry I didn’t return it before" he said apologetically while reaching it towards  you. Your hands brushed as you took it and you had to force yourself not to let the hand linger. 

    "Thank you for returning it at all" you replied honestly. It wasn’t that you didn’t think he wanted to return it, it was more that you had given up hope on him returning to the shop in general. 

    "Oh I was going to" he began, but stopped. "I’ve borrowed it on rainy days ever since, but being back here.." his voice trailed off. It almost seemed like he was flustered now. "It’s a good umbrella" he said finally. 

    "It’s a good umbrella for sure, but I have two more like it. So please take it" you said speaking the truth, but you also wanted to keep the conversation going. Because now that he was finally here you really didn’t want him to leave.

    "I can’t" he said, but you put the umbrella on the counter, nudging it once towards him with one finger and then watched him intently. It wasn’t hard to see that he was considering it and after a good while he replied "Okay then, but let me repay you somehow. What about coffee?" 

    "I’m at work so I can’t leave" you replied heart sinking fast. In none of your daydreams had you been forced to reject him. He looked even better than in the daydreams too and not just because he wasn’t rain drenched.

The circles under his eyes were gone, his outfit, a white t-shirt and blue jean jacket made him seem even taller and more broad shouldered and.. Your eyes lingered on the guitar strap on his shoulder. An idea sprung into your head as soon as you saw it. 

    "Why dont you play me something? All I got in this place is the ancient radio in the back room. My boss set the station and says it adds to the ambience of the shop so I can’t change it.. but I’m sure live music would be fine" you were the one rambling on now and you became aware of it mid-sentence, but you really couldn’t care less. 

    "This is an art and music shop after all" you finished, feeling slightly breathless yet holding your breath in anticipation of his answer. 

    "Sure" he simply said and took out his guitar. His confidence made him even more attractive and you couldn’t care less that he sat down on a washing bucket turned up side down before he began playing. 

His singing voice was a lot different than his talking voice. The range was really impressive and just within one song he went from a dark raspiness to the softest tones. His skill blew you away and when the room went back to only being filled with the low tune of the back room radio you sighed in slight disappointment. 

    "That was great, I’d have to give you a hundred umbrellas to repay you fairly for that" you mused and got to your feet, not that you remembered how you got to a sitting position to begin with. 

He only laughed at that and his laughter was really hearty, making you laugh a little at your own words as well. 

     "I really should get going" he said as you finished laughing and you could feel your heart sink before the last word even left his mouth. You watched as he packed up his guitar and put the umbrella in his bag. 

    "When will you be free to have that coffee then?" he asked after he was done with packing up his stuff and ready to leave.

Slightly baffled at his persistence you needed a moment to think before responding when you got of work. You decided on an afternoon two days later and when he gave you a small wave as he exited out the door you felt your heart flutter like you had never felt it flutter before.

The next couple of days left you more a mess than you would like to admit. One moment you were thinking about getting a new haircut, the other wondering if you should cancel due to the overwhelming nerves alone. 

It weren’t that you never dated before, but this was different. This was a first date with someone you had already grown fond of, admired for a talent he possessed and even the fact that he had thought to bring an umbrella for his friend the first evening you met.. Yeah, you really wanted things to go well, but your track record weren’t the greatest and so you were nervous. 

    "If I mess this up Pebbles, I don’t know what I’ll do" you told the grey Persian cat while getting dressed. She was your friends cat originally, but as she was studying out of the country for three years you had somehow ended up adopting her cat. 

Pebbles rolled of the bed like the carefree idiot she was and walked offended out of the room. As if it was your fault that she had fallen of the bed during her rolling session.

    "If that isn’t a sign I don’t know what is" you mumbled to yourself, "We all do stupid things out of habit don't we" 

You looked over your outfit one last time in the mirror before heading out. You felt confident enough in what you had picked out, it was flattering, but nothing too special. 

It was a shame that you had work before the coffee date, but at least it was a short four hour shift. At school you were between projects as the previous deadline had been the day before which gave your mind at least a bit less to worry about. 

You plugged in your earphones as you hopped on the first bus leading you to work, but didn’t pay attention to the music at all. Instead you thought about how great his singing had been. 

There were so many questions about him spinning in your head, starting with his name, because for now it was just handsome man or singing dude which really didn’t sit too well with the overall impression. Another was what he studied, assuming he did go to the university. The third was.. and there your bus stop went by the window. 

Jolting up from your seat you smashed the stop button on the bus several times, but it wouldn’t be stopping until the stop another block away. 

You barely got your of the bus before the heavens opened and rain started pouring down heavily. 

    "What is it with this weather!" you grumbled while rummaging through your bag for your other very good umbrella. You found it and speed up in a brave attempt to save your hair from being completely ruin by the humidity the rain brought with it. 

At work your boss had left you to unpack and display several boxes of books of different kinds. Work that meant heavy lifting, you took your sweet time with it, not wanting to get sweaty before your date, but you didn’t want to do a poor job either. 

When only half an hour was left until your shift was done you began packing away the empty boxes. You had your arms filled with cardboard when the shop door rang. 

    "Just a minute" you yelled and scurried to the backroom not wanting to leave the first customer of the day waiting. 

Arriving back into the shop in a hurry you froze to the spot when you saw your date waiting by the counter. 

    "It's" you began.

    "Me" he finished smiling heartily at you while giving you a small wave.

Ah yeah I know, what what.. this is definitely something else than what I usually write. I figured it be fun to give it a try. I did some research before starting this and some of these stories are so cringeworthy I wanted to run screaming.. I really hope this didn’t make you want to run screaming o.o please do let me know what you think about it in the comments, would you like me to write a part two?