Twenty-two-year-old Joshua Jones doesn't have much going for him. He's a shy, soft-spoken introvert who, for years, has had a massive crush on the popular fitness YouTuber, Rory Carter, who just so happens to frequent the grocery store where Joshua...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
.❤.
03. THE INVITATION
20 MINUTES LATER
Even though Joshua considers himself to be an introvert, that doesn't necessarily mean that he hates interacting with people.
He can be social when the situation calls for it, and he knew by working as a cashier he would have to interact with multiple people eight hours a day, five days out of the week, sometimes talking nonstop. Joshua knew exactly what to look forward to when taking this job, which is why he trained himself to master the art of faking it until you make it.
There are days where he hates having to clock in, but Joshua never shows such negative emotions on his face. He always comes to work with a positive attitude and a bright smile. Because of this, the regulars love him, and his supervisor and co-workers never have anything bad to say about him. However, where there are good days, there are also bad days.
And days like today where Joshua wishes Lucas was around to do his own damn job.
Currently, in his head, Joshua is cursing out his latest customer for all the junk that she has in her shopping cart. Joshua feels like it will take forever to scan and bag everything himself, thanks to Lucas having gone on another unnecessary break.
Joshua wants to get rid of the old woman as soon as possible because standing behind her is Rory Carter, looking magically delicious in his fitted black tank top and basketball shorts, his muscles out and on full display. Joshua is so distracted by Rory's presence that he can barely keep up the conversation that he's having with the old woman.
"Yes, ma'am. We recently moved the cat food to aisle thirteen. Now, will this be all for you today?" Joshua asks, trying to be polite. The woman nods and thanks him for being patient with her. Joshua helps her load everything back into her cart after she pays, and then finally, she heads toward the exit. "Hey, Rory." Joshua smiles at his next customer after stepping back behind the register. "I totally didn't mean to leave you on read earlier. Things suddenly got very busy around here and... yeah. Sorry about that."
"No need to apologize. We can always pick up where we left off later." Rory smiles while unloading his groceries, making the simple act somehow look sexy as hell. "Shouldn't there be someone else here to help bag the groceries for you? Seems like you're doing a lot of work today."
"Um, yeah actually," Joshua says, slightly caught off guard. "Wow. You're like the first person that's noticed I'm here alone."
"I'm attentive when I want to be." Rory winks.
"Noted." Joshua blushes.
Rory Carter is one of the few shoppers that treats Joshua like a human being, actually acknowledging him and caring enough to make small talk when in Joshua's checkout line instead of treating him like someone whose only purpose in life is to scan and bag groceries.
