The Boy Who Didn't Love

1 - the boy

  It was her first day at her new job.

  She was a bit nervous, as anyone would be, but not completely terrified. After all, it was only a department store, not a fancy office.

  She walked into the store, already wearing the uniform, and searched for the nearest worker. Instead, they seemed to find her.

  "Hi! You must be Ali. I'm the assistant manager, Marina," the girl said, pointing to her name tag with a bright smile. "I'll be helping you settle in today. Follow me."

  Marina led her to the checkout section, stopping at an empty cash register. "This will be your usual workspace. Do you have any prior experience with—"

  "Hold on, is that a fresh employee I see?" a voice suddenly asked from behind them. Ali watched as a short guy with platinum blonde hair pushed Marina aside, almost tripping her over, before settling his eyes on her. "Now this is exactly what this place needs. Marina, as pretty as you are, you're officially old news."

  Marina scrunched her eyebrows, offended. "What—"

  "Anyway," he cut her off again, turning to the new girl with a friendly smile. "I'm Brady."

"Ali," she replied as her eyes wandered to his hand, where he held a red lollipop.

Brady leaned on the edge of his station, ignoring the annoyed Marina, as he spoke. "So where are you from, Ali?"

"The city not too far from here."

"The city?" Brady gasped dramatically. "No way we got a city girl working with us now. It's like all of my prayers are finally being answered. Where exactly in the—"

"Okay, enough of you," Marina interjected, sliding over to stand in front of him, then gestured to the cash register. "So do you have any experience with using this?"

  Ali nodded, glancing over her shoulder at Brady in amusement as he sucked on his lollipop. "Yeah, I worked in retail a few years back."

  "Oh, great! Then you can go ahead and start. If you have any questions, I'll be walking around from time to time," she said, giving her an encouraging smile, which dropped at the popping sound of a particular lollipop.

  "You can ask me for help too since I'm also a cashier, meaning I actually do something around here," Brady added, and Marina turned, tossing him a sharp look.

While the two of them began arguing, Ali's gaze roamed the quiet store until it landed on the customer support section across from her. Or rather, on the tall, dark-haired boy standing idly. She watched curiously as he helped a customer with an impassive look on his face.

Then, suddenly, his demeanor completely changed in a matter of seconds when a charming grin appeared on his lips. The customer, a middle-aged woman, laughed at something he said before walking away happily.

But as soon as the woman's back turned, the same cold expression returned, and he stared down at the floor blankly.

  She blinked, dazed. Who was this boy?