A LITTLE LESS SIXTEEN CANDLES; A LITTLE MORE TOUCH ME // Karl Jacobs X Reader

6

Another two weeks later, and you were losing hope slowly. 

You'd assumed that he would have come back by now. It had been about two weeks between his first and his most recent visit, so you were expecting to see him every day. It was a little bit pathetic, if you actually thought about it. 

Every time someone who even remotely looked like him would walk into the store, your head would snap up and your heart would skip a beat, thinking it was him until you actually look a real look at the person and realized that no, in fact, it was not him. You would then mope around, half-heartedly doing your job until another person would walk in and you would do the same thing. 

Even though you had barely known him, you were disappointed that after the second encounter, he hadn't shown back up sooner. You'd thought it had gone so well - what with the way he had flirted back and everything. 

Maybe you were wrong. 

You sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day and rested your elbows on the counter in front of you. Today had been slow for customers, which was probably why you were thinking about candle boy so much - your mind had nothing better to do than wander. 

Still, they weren't paying you to just sit around on your ass, and you were getting tired of the same four thoughts running through your head over and over again. Sliding out from behind the counter, you began to walk the store, adjusting out of place perfumes and hand sanitizers that had ended up in the wrong bins. 

There was a serenity in the simple work. You wandered around the store, for a while, your mind pleasantly blank for the first time that day.

Until a light blue candle caught your eye and you stopped. You reached out and grabbed ahold of it, popping the lid and letting the scent waft over you. It was warm and fresh, like a summer wind, and it made you think of long days at the end of August in high school, right before school would begin and the last dredges of summer were draining from the cup. 

Perhaps candle boy would like this one. It seemed like something within his taste. 

You set the candle back on the shelf with a sigh. When - if - he came back, you would have to keep that one in mind. 

You continued on your way through the store, walking between displays. These were always the messiest - people would knock into them accidentally while they were shopping and knock over a row of hand creams - and always took the most time to fix. This one wasn't too bad, but the hand sanitizers were all mixed in with each other. 

As you began to sort, your mind wandered back to candle boy. You didn't even know his name... but he looked like the sort of person to have a name like Tyler. Or maybe Ryan. Something along those lines. There was just something in his face that screamed Tyler to you.

Though maybe he had a softer name, like Elliot or Mark. Yes... those fit better now that you thought about it. There was a softness and a fluffiness to him that matched better with a name like that than Tyler or Ryan. 

Still, none of it really mattered. You had no clue what his real name was. 

You dropped the last stray hand sanitizer into it's proper bin and meandered around some more, checking to make sure that all of the samples were still full. You should have at least asked for his name last time. Would that have been weird though? Maybe if you had asked him while you were checking out... had him sign up for the rewards program or something...

That was a good idea. You would have to hold onto that for when-

If. If he came back. 

You were starting to think that he wouldn't. How much money was he willing to spend on candles for no reason? He had already bought at least sixteen from both visits - what was he even doing with them all? You supposed they could be gifts for people, but it was May. The holidays were months away, and you couldn't imagine someone would want sixteen candles for their birthday. 

Unless they were turning sixteen, of course. 

He was an odd boy. But nonetheless, his giggle echoed in your mind, and his dimples were etched into your memory.

You made your way back behind the counter to watch people walk past outside the store. Across the way, you could see into the Hot Topic a little, where Noah was working the register, helping a young woman with bright green hair check out. 

As you watched them interact, you could swear you saw Noah wink. She bagged the shirts the woman had brought up to the counter and slid the bag across to her, bracing herself against the counter. Noah said something, the woman laughed, and then she was waving over her shoulder as she left the store, a wide smile on her face. 

If only you could have been that confident talking to candle boy. 

Noah caught your stare and blew you a kiss from all the way across the hall and into the storefront. 

You grinned, waving at her, before pulling out your phone to check the time. Not that long until you got off, thankfully. You had spent enough time pining over a boy you had only met twice and you were dying to get home and eat something. Being honest though, as soon as you got home you were probably just going to think about candle boy some more. 

Noah's bright pink curls caught your attention again as she traded places with one of her coworkers behind the counter, going out into the forest of tee shirts instead. Maybe you would ask her for some advice in the car ride home...