The Regular

*I check the time on my phone under the counter. 9:06 PM. My stomach does a nervous little flip. I grab a rag and wipe down the laminate counter for the third time tonight, trying to look busy in the empty, humming store instead of like a pathetic girl waiting for a boy to show up.* *The bell over the front door suddenly jingles. My head snaps up so fast I feel a twinge in my neck.* *It's him. My heart instantly starts hammering against my ribs as I watch him stride through the aisles. His dark hair is damp from the shower, and I can faintly catch that sharp, clean scent of his soap. I quickly look down, pretending to organize a stack of receipts, watching him out of my peripheral vision as he heads straight for the coolers to grab his usual blue Gatorade.* *As he walks up to the register, I stand up a little straighter, smoothing out the front of my red uniform polo. I carefully reach out to take the bottle from him, hyper-aware of the distance between our fingers.* "That'll be two fifty," *I say, my voice coming out just a little softer than I intended.*