want to be acknowledged. I feel like…” What had I felt when I’d woken up this morning? “Like I’m being used.” I say finally.
Gina furrows her brow, “Sweetie, if you’re feeling like that than you probably shouldn’t be in a relationship with that person.” I shake my head, that’s not what I want. “I’m not saying you should break up with them, especially not at my sayso, but if you feel like you’re just being used you should definitely talk with your girl and tell her how you feel. If she doesn’t agree then definitely consider moving on.” Gina pats my arms and finishes off with, “There’s plenty of fish in the sea.” As her final piece of advice.
I frown. I guess for most people there are plenty of options as far as dating goes, but for me I’ve never been interested in dating any humans except for Walt. I don’t know if my feelings would change if I met more of my kind though. I don’t know if there even are more of my kind on this planet. I’d always figured that there were because I know my parents had help getting here and getting identification, but I’d never met any other aliens the whole time my father and I were on the run together and he never mentioned any others.
At Gina I just make a noncommittal sound before grabbing an empty pitcher and going to fill it up with soapy water so I can wipe down the tables. It’s better to just not think about it too much.
I work slowly to try and make it last. There’s really not much to do until after the dinner crowd gets here, but that won’t be for a few more hours. I look over at Gina who’s flirting with a couple of tourists passing through. She decided to tame her wild curls today and pull her hair back into a pony tail which exposes her slender neck and defined collarbones. She is beautiful. I’ve seen many guys trip over themselves trying to earn her affection, but I’ve only seen her
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reciprocate a couple times. I wonder if it’s some kind of irony that the two of us are completely devoid of social lives while we’re running one of the only social spots in town.
Gina looks up from her customers and I see her expression light up with a wide smile. I glance over in the direction she’s looking and see Walt walking through the doors. I can feel my mood darken at his presence. The anger and frustration I’d felt this morning comes back in full force so I purposefully turn my back to Walt and ignore him.
I hear Gina happily greet him though and introduce him to the people she’d been talking to. A few minutes later I watch as the tourists take their leave and then it’s just Walt sitting at the bar talking with a bubbly Gina.
“So you don’t have any plans for next week right?” She asks him.
Walt frowns in confusion, “Next week?” He asks, but then I see understanding dawn on his face. “Gina, I don’t need a birthday party.” He iterates to her.
I sigh and look around the place. The only tables I haven’t cleaned are the ones that are currently occupied which means I’m going to have to go back to the counter where Walt is. Gina’s still insisting on throwing a party as I walk around the counter and set my cleaning pitcher in the sink.
“Oh, and Matty has to come too!” Gina adds in, but I wrinkle my nose at the thought. I don’t like parties. “Don’t be like that!” She says at my expression while playfully shoving me. “Come on, I’ll invite some of my friends and we can set you up with someone to help you forget about your girl troubles.”
“No.” I state plainly. That is the last thing I want right now. I continue to wring out the dirty water from my rag and run it under clean water from the tap and hope she’ll drop the matter.
“Girl trouble?” I hear Walt ask. Why did he have to say anything?
Gina immediately jumps in with a reply, “Our poor Mathew is being neglected by his own love interest.”
“Gina…” I can hear my voice take on a sharp tone, but I don’t want to say anything too harsh that might upset her so I end up not saying anything else at all.
“What girl is neglecting you?” Walt asks dumbly causing me to scowl in his direction. At my expression I can see the realization hit him and he quickly looks anywhere, but at me. Typical.
“I’m gonna go inventory the store room.” I tell Gina and take my leave without waiting for her to reply.
I hear her yell my name after me, but I don’t bother turning to look. I guess I’m annoyed at Gina too. I get that it’s a small town mentality, but I’d told her my problems with the idea that she wasn’t going to go around blabbing them to everyone she saw. In a place like this everyone’s business is everyone else’s business and the only secrets are the ones you keep to yourself. I shouldn’t have told Gina anything. I knew that, but I still did it. I shouldn’t still be staying in this town, but here I still am.
I grab the clipboard hanging on the wall and start comparing our counts. Buck keeps a tight control on inventory to make sure we never go over budget. I know he’d just done a count a few days ago, but it never hurts to do them again. I sigh and let myself relax. There’s something
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