Page 37 of The Good Char
He grunted in response before peeking at me through the side of his eye.
I chuckled.“What?”
He grunted again, moved the batter, turned on the fryer and the grill.
I wrapped my hair in a loose bun, ignoring his grumpy attitude like usual before manning the register.Leaning over the counter, I looked out the glass doors of the front of the mall and smiled brightly.
I had a good feeling about today despite how it started.The duality within me was caught between old fashioned cultural upbringing and new generation liberation.Being raised to think of the collective whole will never fully leave me, but ideals of individualism were slowly starting to creep in and my parents couldn’t blame me for the influences of our lives here in Nevada.
“Mr.Dzik?—”
“Dzik,” he grumbled.
“Dzik, do you live far from here?I don’t think I’ve ever had the chance to see you come or go.Every time I arrive and leave, you’re always just here at The Good Char.”Turning my attention toward him, I gave him a mischievous smile.“You don’t sleep in the back room do you?There are no showers and you don’t stink.”
I scrunched my nose playfully and I could have sworn I saw the corner of his lip twitch.It sparked something inside of me and suddenly I was determined to make the man smile.
“Do you have any pets?”I tried again, attempting to find a good opening to pry into his life like the nosy person I was.Well, I wasn’t—only for him.Who was this mysterious bad boy?I watched his tattoos flex with his arm as he began spraying the counter and wiping it down more aggressively than necessary.
“I don’t have time for that nonsense.”
I slid over and leaned in, blocking his wiping path while looking up at him.
“Is it nonsense, Mr.Dzik?Pets are great!They’re so cute and cuddly.When I see one I just want to pinch their cheeks so bad,” I explained as I pushed my face together, making my lips pout comically.
He scowled and I crossed my eyes.His only response was to glare and I bursted out laughing.
“Mr.Dzik, you are one funny man.Why are you like this?”
“What are you talking about?”he gritted.“Move, I’m trying to clean.”
“Make me,” I challenged, straightening with my hands on my hips.
His nostrils flared and my eyes widened when my body perked up.I didn’t know what it was about him that would elicit such a reaction to me but here we were, standing face to face awkwardly as my breath slowly came out in pants.
Pants.
I gulped.The other day’s incident flashed before my eyes and I whimpered, pressing my legs together.Embarrassingly, his eyes darkened as if he thought the same right before he flicked his gaze down to the exposed skin of my collar.
“Are you challenging me, Kimmy?Are you challenging your boss?”he let out huskily and my nipples perked behind my shirt.
“M-Maybe I am.Would that get me in trouble?”
I wanted it to be a rhetorical question but it slipped through my lips and now I was afraid of the answer.
He took another step forward, mindlessly wiping the counter with one hand while keeping his eyes on me.
“You, little human, have been nothing but trouble from the moment I met you.”
I didn’t know how to take his nonchalant tone.Was there an underlying message here because I wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad thing.
“I-Is that a bad thing?”I couldn’t help but ask, biting my bottom lip.
“It’s the worse thing?—”
“Um, should I, like, come back later or…” came a stranger’s voice.
I squeaked and jumped away from Mr.Dzik’s scrutiny, placing my hands on my cheeks to cool them down.“I’m sorry.I hope you weren’t standing there long.What would you like?”
