She always seemed in a hurry and there was no reason for her to stand in this line any longer than necessary.
“Katie,” Danny called again.
This time I glanced his way, but didn’t stop ringing up the groceries. “Hi.” He smiled wide.
“Uhh … hi.” Why he needed my direct attention for a hi boggled my mind. Not to mention he’d been bagging for at least half my shift, and we’d greeted each other then.
“Would you want to go grab something to eat after shift?” he asked.
My hand paused on the box of mac n’ cheese briefly. Danny was asking me out? On a date? In the middle of ringing up someone’s order and him bagging said order… Maybe I’d completely lost my marbles, but wasn’t that weird?
I looked up to the woman who raised her brows, waiting for me to answer. Was someone pulling a joke on me? Danny wasn’t bad looking. He had a dimple in his right cheek, brown eyes, and brown hair. His build was average. Nothing wrong with him, but … he wasn’t Dryerson.
“I … can’t tonight. I’m taking care of my niece.” God, please do not strike me down for lying. I already had Dryerson on my mind every minute of every day. I didn’t need another man even entering my thoughts.
Not to mention, I didn’t feel that way toward Danny at all.
He was someone I considered an acquaintance or co-worker. Not someone I’d go out on a date with. He obviously saw it a different way.
“That’s cool. How about tomorrow?” he threw at me as I went back to scanning, focusing on the canned goods a bit more than was necessary.
Please, Lord, please make him stop.
“Sorry, I have to work.”
“The next day.” He pushed, and I actually felt my temper spike a bit. I was trying to be nice here.
Without really thinking, I blurted out another lie. “I’m sorry, Danny, but I’m seeing someone.”
Lightning was seriously going to strike me down for these lies. He paused momentarily, then started bagging again.
“Never heard you talk about anyone.”
These words took me aback. Danny and I weren’t friends. We didn’t sit and gossip about our lives. We didn’t spend time together at all. And he was saying I’d never talked to him about anyone.
That creepy feeling ran up my spine and all the way to my fingertips. Before I could say anything, Mrs. Donaldson stepped in. “Danny, can you bring these out to my car for me?”
I could feel Danny’s eyes on me, but I cashed out her order and handed her the receipt.”
“Of course, Mrs. Donaldson,” Danny answered back in his polite tone.
When Danny’s back was turned, Mrs. Donaldson gave me a wide bug-eyed look that didn’t ease my soul one bit. Only ramped it up.
I let out a huff of air. “Thank you for coming to see us, Mrs. Donaldson.”
Danny was already pushing the cart out the double doors when Mrs. Donaldson turned to me. “If you have problems with him, let me know. I’ll give you some of my special drink I gave my husband.” She winked and took off.
What in the heck did that mean? Something told me I didn’t want to know.
I managed to make it through the rest of my shift without Danny being too much in my business. There were three other lines, and the manager wanted him helping over there. I had no idea if my boss had heard anything, but it was a nice reprieve.
It wasn’t until I was leaving out the doors that my reprieve was no longer, because Danny was there waiting for me.
My gut told me to turn around and go back inside. But my car was right there, and I could be far away from him in the blink of an eye if I could just get in. I was tired, wanted to go home, and didn’t want to deal with Danny.
“Hey, Katie. Was hoping you’d reconsider having dinner with me,” Danny said. This guy didn’t catch a single clue. I told him I was with someone, and he was still pushing.
I began walking fast to my car. “I told you. I’m already seeing someone.”
He kept in pace with me. His hands were in his pockets, and that worried me. “Nah, you’re not. You’re just saying that.” He persisted, and the creeps turned into serious unease.
A car pulled into the lot, and Miss Shelnutt got out of her car. She was a regular and I hated to do it, but I was going to use her for help. Hopefully she’d understand.
“Hey! Miss Shelnutt!” I yelled, and the woman turned to me a bit puzzled. Yeah, so was I. “I have that recipe you wanted.”
She looked between Danny and I, and whatever she saw, she went with my ploy. “I was afraid I’d missed you! The baby was fussy, and I couldn’t get him settled.”
“I’ll see you later, Danny,” I said, stepping far away and moving swiftly to Miss Shelnutt’s car.
Not even pretending to reach inside my purse to give her a nonexistent recipe, I whispered, “He’s freaking me out and won’t leave me alone. Will you please walk with me back into the store so I can get Mrs. Brashers to walk me out to my car?”
“Of course.” We turned and walked toward the store. “You’ll need to tell Ms. Brashers about him. She’ll help if he’s making you uncomfortable. You really need to tell her,” she repeated herself, letting me know how important it was. And I got it.
“I don’t think I’m going to have a choice considering I’m asking Ms. Brashers to walk me out.” Who needed this crap? Not me, that was for sure, and I didn’t want Miss Shelnutt any more involved than she already was.
What a mess.
Entering the building, I didn’t once look back as we walked. I’d hoped he went away, but there was no telling with him. It was like a switch flipped or something.
“Thank you so much for walking in with me, Miss Shelnutt.”
She patted my arm. “Any time. And where’s that recipe?” she said on a smile.
“I actually have one, and I’ll give it to you the next time you come.”
Miss Shelnutt chuckled as I moved to the manager’s station. “I’ll be ready for it!”
My smile died when I turned to Mrs. Brashers office. She was a wonderful boss and a nice person. With short blonde hair and brown eyes, she was my height. She’d worked here since she'd graduated high school and moved up the ranks to boss. I admired her.
I knocked once on the door, and she turned around with a wide smile on her face. Once she looked at me, her smile fell. “What’s wrong, Katie?”
“Can you walk me out to my car please?”
Her brows lifted. “Absolutely, but what’s wrong?”
She wasn’t a stupid woman unfortunately. I sucked in a deep breath and told her. “Danny asked me out to dinner tonight. I told him that I was seeing someone. He then came up to me while I was walking to my car and kept asking me about going out. He made me feel very uncomfortable.” Screw it. I said it. “It was like a creepy stalker feeling, and I had Miss Shelnutt walk me into the building.” I really needed to watch the latest Murder, Mystery, and Makeup Monday because that was what this felt like; only worse because it was me.
“I see. Yes. Let’s get you out to your car and home. Once you’re in your house, I want you to call me and tell me.” She grabbed a business card off her desk, flipped it over, and wrote down a number then handed it to me. “This is my personal cell. It’s always in my back pocket. If you don’t call within a half hour, I will be calling you.”