How it Happened

Six

Six

89 days until the wedding 

     Work has been so busy today I'm sure I have my own personal set of bowling pins tumbling down in my head. I guess it's not helping that me and the other guy working the cash registers keep bumping into each other in our frantic attempts to hand out shoes, collect cash, and charge cards. The constant nagging for bumpers to be put up and down also isn't helping the situation either, but this is all typical for a Saturday shift. 

     "Here you go," I say, placing a size seven shoe on the table for a girl who didn't fit into a five, or a six, and silently pray that it fits for both her sake and mine.

     The girl quickly slips it on to make sure, and sends me a grateful smile to confirm the notion before heading to her lane to catch up with her friends.

     I open my mouth to send the usual, 'hi, how are you?' greeting to the next person in line only to smile when I'm greeted by a familiar face. 

     "Avery!" Valerie, one of the teeny boppers that has been working here for a while, but can still be considered a newbie, practically cheers when our eyes meet. "Would you mind taking this pizza over to lane twenty-one for me? I would do it, but I drank way too much coffee this morning and I really have to pee, but my break isn't for another hour."

     "Of course." I almost laugh out the words as the petite brunette continues to stand there shifting from foot to foot.

     "Thank you so much!" she gushes, splaying her hands out on the counter for emphasis, before speeding away.

     My eyes quickly land on the pizza now sitting in front of me before flickering to the now diminishing line on the left of me, and I decide that taking a minute to deliver a pizza won't hinder the flow we have going.

     Having no waitress skills, or even just plain old walking skills whatsoever, I grip the round black tray with both of my hands as I make my way out from behind the counter and towards the bowling lanes. My eyes focus on the number twenty-one before giggling has me stopping and lifting the tray up, allowing a group of kids to scramble by. Once I'm in the clear, I bring the tray back down and continue to walk until I'm steps away from the lane. As I mentally prepare for the transition of plush carpet to hardwood floor underneath my feet something collides into the backs of my knees and has my unstable reflexes slamming me down onto the ground just before the two small stairs. The pain that erupts in my wrists is numbed by the fact that my fall left me face to face with a steaming hot cheese pizza. 

     I immediately lift my head up and catch a small blue t-shirt covered figure amid my sauce filled gaze and hear a quick apology from a mother as she pulls the small child away. I barely process the words because I'm still trying to process the fact that I'm on the ground, and the sputtering laughter I hear a few feet ahead of me isn't helping the situation. As I try to gauge the amount of sauce I'm wearing, two arms help lift me off the ground. 

     "Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Before I can even decide the same person gasps. "Avery James, is that you?"

     I finally move my eyes away from the sauce covering the logo on my polo and lock eyes with the girl in front of me. However, when I inevitably find a grand total of six pairs of eyes on me, my left eye twitches, and it's not just because grease seems to be dripping into it.

     "It is you." The girl in front of me answers her own question as her eyes continue to roam over my figure. "Oh gosh, here." As if on cue the audience she calls friends turn their attention away from me, and follow her as she turns and swiftly hands me a napkin. Their eyes land on me again and watch as I quickly wipe away at my eyes to at least rid myself of some of the irritation swirling around my head. "So, how've you been?" The girl casually chirps before she gestures around my form. "Aside from... you know?"