"I may not have been sure about what really did interest me, but I was absolutely sure about what didn't."
— Meursault
Today's trip home felt more boring than any other before it. He had his hands in his pockets and constantly fought the urge to count the steps he was taking as he was heading home from work. The sunset was beautiful that evening, yet he payed no heed. The large sea of humans in the ever busy streets of New York continuously brushed past him as he swam through it with his hands pocketed and his face lowered to a degree such that he could not look anyone in the eye but still see what's in front of him.
He hated most people he knew but he knew some kind ones as well so he decided to not care about the random ones instead of hating them too. That, however, did not mean he was comfortable among strangers as he often felt like breaking someone's arms when they bumped into him in the streets.
He had on a tight pair of black pants and an all-white long sleeved shirt which was now untucked. His dark nappy hair was neatly cut and he carried a black bag with a long strap which was hanging on his left shoulder with the strap across his chest leaving the bag leaning on the outside of his right thigh.
He had a weird facial expression that looked like an indifferent intermediate between a straight face and a frown. For an 18 year old who had a decent paying job, it was unbelievable how lifeless he looked sometimes.
He did not enjoy any TV shows, he was sick of the easily predictable crime novels being released nowadays, the internet and the pretentious people it is laden with disgusted him and he definitely did not enjoy going to work everyday. Computers used to be his only source of enjoyment but he was now growing sick of them too after landing a job at a software company. He thought how stupid it was that there are this many people in one area but no one on this planet could understand him. What was so wrong with him that he could not laugh and get enjoyment from the same stupid things as everyone else? Not that he wanted anyone to be sympathetic towards him but he felt like it would be nice to have someone who recognizes the struggle of a man who no longer gets enjoyment from life.
He had now taken 1453 steps from his workplace. He cursed how his brain unconsciously counted things he did not intend to and continued walking. A part of him thought taking a bus home would have been a better idea but that was the foolish part of himself according to him as he had never enjoyed being in crowds so the situation with the people on the road was already bad enough.
As he neared a particular grocery store, anyone could easily notice life coming back into his eyes. The entire day had been nothing but crap but everything was about to change. After walking a few more meters down the street, he paused and turned right swiftly while holding the strap of his bag with both hands. He looked up at the sign in front of the building which read "Mrs Miller's" in huge red letters which were now emitting bright light.
Mrs Miller's grocery store was popular among residents on this side of town. They did not only sell groceries but had an area on the other part of the store that was not in the line of vision of anyone standing outside looking through the glass where coffee or tea was served. This was very popular among the working class who had to buy groceries on their way from work. Also, Mrs Miller was his mother's friend. However, that had nothing to do with him coming here.
There was a shorter route home but he had purposefully taken this one for a certain reason, or more specifically, a certain someone. It was not Mrs Miller as that would just be disturbing because she was like a billion years old (actually 86). It was her employee, Risha.
He steadily walked to the glass doors and pushed them open as he walked through. Walking to the counter which was in front of him and to the left, he took a glimpse at the serving area on the far right and was delighted to see that his favourite table was unoccupied. He was extremely good at showing no emotion but even the untrained eye could notice that the sweat on his forehead was not due to the room temperature, it was rather cool in the store.
He Confidently made his way to the counter and found Mrs Miller but he payed no attention to her as his eyes were set on the beautiful young woman who was arranging some things behind the counter and had bent forward while doing it. Her appearance was on par with if not superior to the princesses from fairy tales hence his lack of adjectives to describe her in the real world. Mrs Miller eventually noticed where his gaze was directed and smiled ever so slightly.
"Good evening, Tyler." said Mrs Miller bringing him back to his senses.
"Good evening, Mrs Miller."he replied hastily.
"Your mother came here to do some shopping earlier, I assume you are here for your favourite coffee," she said with a proud smile.
"Yes, I needed it after a very tiring day of work," he replied.
However, this was a lie. He hated Mrs Miller's coffee and he believed he could make better coffee at home with his eyes closed and his mother's was even better. The only reason he always ordered it was because it was better than the tea they served which he wasn't even sure was safe for human consumption.
Tyler went to the serving area and put his bag down next to the chair he sat on at his favourite table which guaranteed the best view of the store's counter.
He sat down and took out his phone to play some chess puzzles as he waited for the coffee. He tried to adjust the length of his neck but he still couldn't see Risha at the counter, she was still in the back to his annoyance. Of all the girls he had ever seen, he felt like Risha was the only one worth his attention. She was an absolute beauty! Her skin was a thing to behold, perfect even without makeup and a befitting background for her pink lips. Her hair was long, brown and only slightly curled. He without a doubt appreciated all that but it was, at least to him, pale compared to her perfectly sized boobs which had to be at least E cups according to his assessment. Her hourglass shape was so deeply embedded in his mind he could easily create a three dimensional replica if given the resources.
It was difficult for him to understand what a young woman like her was doing working in a grocery store, she could easily become a model or some kind of public figure seeing how perverts love following such girls on the internet nowadays.
She moved to this side of New York City about 16 months ago and almost immediately started working here. Since then, he had found a reason to repeatedly visit Mrs Miller's and stare at her which he really enjoyed. He decided to use his computer knowledge and detective skills to dig around about her.
Risha Anderson, 23, was the daughter of Kayla Anderson, 51 and an unknown man, probably of Arab descent judging by her looks and her first name. She lived together with her mother but he wondered why she didn't use her father's name instead. They looked to be financially stable and were of higher class than most, him included, which caused him to wonder her reasons for working here. He knew a lot about her including her residential address which would probably weird her out as they had never talked to each other unless it was about groceries or coffee. She only worked the evening shift on particular days and those were the days Tyler would make sure to keep working till the sun started setting and use the longer route home which passed by Mrs Miller's. He had always wanted to talk to her and possibly ask her out but he always punked out in the last moment and that had been the story of his life for over a year now.
As he was busy looking at his phone some of the women started checking him out including two women who looked much older and sat together at the table furthest from him who even pointed a finger or two. Tyler definitely wasn't in the running for "most handsome man on the planet" but his looks were significantly better than the average guy. That, together with how smart he usually looked and his mature demeanor, would easily get him a nomination for "Sexiest man on this side of New York".
Turning a few heads every now and then was nothing new for Tyler, yet what he really cared about was at least getting acquainted with Risha. He finally managed to find the winning combination and solve the chess puzzle to his delight. Risha almost immediately appeared at the counter and he could clearly see her chest mountains attempting to get free from their confinement of the uniform. Mrs Miller and her employees wore white formal shirts, black skirts and red aprons as their uniform. Tyler recalled that they never used to were uniforms until they started serving Tea and Coffee a few years ago. This was because Mrs Miller noticed the one serving should have proper attire but then decided uniformity would be great as well. When he saw the string of the apron around her waist, he wished he was part of the uniform.
"Here's your coffee," said Kayla, Mrs Miller's other employee who usually came off as rude as she lowered the mug cup of black coffee, his favourite, at least, when done right.
"Thanks", he replied, hastily grabbing the cup and putting it against his lips. He couldn't believe he was about to drink another cup of coffee from Mrs Miller's. If only Risha knew how much he went through everytime just to get a chance of seeing her.
Tyler's nerves were as close to steel as any other person out there except when she got into the picture. He wondered why she never paid particular attention to him, his looks weren't half bad and he had visited the store countless times now. He knew this couldn't go on forever but he was afraid of losing the only place on this planet which he was not sick of. However, if she ended up getting married or something like that, he would only have himself to blame.
He was very surprised when he noticed that he had emptied the coffee mug and he had to admit that today's coffee was actually good. Either that or he was so lost in thought he couldn't notice how bad it was. He stood up, picked up his bag and went to the counter to get his card swiped as he had no cash on him. As he got closer to the counter, he started feeling the same way he always did and his forehead was sweating again. It always felt like the force of gravity was a hundred times stronger around her and he had to overcome it with every step. He still managed to keep a straight face and handed her the card. Without even looking at him, she took the card and swiped it charging him for the coffee. Could she remember what everybody ordered or was it just him, he wondered.
He made his way to the doors and the feeling of uneasiness started to lessen, being replaced by frustration and self hatred. Why couldn't he just talk to her like he knew he was supposed to. The feeling became anger at that point. He walked out the store, placed his hands back in his pockets and continued on his way home.
A few meters down the street, a huge muscular man bumped into him and the huge man was knocked backwards. This was surprising for the huge man and they both paused as they looked at each other with malice. The man was surprised and impressed by his strength but started sweating and almost jumped out of his skin when he saw the look in Tyler's eyes. Tyler shifted his gaze forward and kept walking and the huge man gingerly did the same. On any other day, that man's arms would be broken.