Jake here.
I am a 20 year old college student with a problem. Nothing novel in that I suppose but I will lay it out and you be the judge.
I am relatively well built, I suppose, as I have always liked sports, particularly soccer, and enjoy working out in the gym and swimming. Although no movie star I have dark wavy hair that I keep short and previous girlfriends and female acquaintances seem to think I am good looking.
Six months ago I had taken a job at one of those big-box stores doing inventory and stocking shelves to help bolster my relatively meager financial aid package. It wasn't a bad job, the store was relatively new and had a diverse clientele. It was one of those stores with an expanded grocery section in addition to the huge variety of traditional merchandise so it took a while to get familiar with all the products and the layout. I often had to help customers navigate the labyrinth of aisles and shelving to find some desired product so my knowledge from the inventory work was often of service.
My busy schedule had seriously interfered with my love life and as a result I had no steady girlfriend. In fact I hadn't been on a date in months, but had been too busy to worry much about it.
One evening I noticed an attractive young woman with a child asleep in a car tote wandering the aisles of the baby section clearly not able to find the object of her search. Despite being dressed in a nondescript and formless khaki button up dress and blue headscarf that seemed designed to hide every aspect of her figure it somehow only succeeded in accenting the hint of her bust in the slight tightness of the button down front and the bit of her calves that showed below the hem. At least that was how it seemed to me at the time.
I came up to her and asked if she needed help and she shyly, but clearly gratefully, made me understand that she was looking for pediatric water in somewhat inadequate English. Dark hair framed her face and her soft dark brown eyes expressed her thanks as I led her to the correct aisle and shelf. I told her to just ask any of the employees if she ever needed help with anything and thanked her for shopping with us. She seemed too shy to answer but I caught a glimpse of a slight smile and the sparkle of her eyes as I turned away and headed back to my tasks.
We had a large ex-pat population in the city, Iraqi, Iranian, Pakistani, Indian, and seeing women shopping in headscarves was nothing unusual. They were often reticent to acknowledge or speak to the staff and ask for help and her shyness was par for the course.
It was just another of hundreds of such similar interactions that occurred during work and I would have usually thought nothing of it and quickly forgotten all about it but somehow the sparkle of those dark eyes must have embedded itself in my memory, for a few days later I happened to see those eyes waiting in a checkout line and they were clearly fastened upon me. I returned the glance and there was that vague hit of a smile beneath the headscarf before the face turned away as the line moved forward.
I was headed away to take care of a stocking task had no time to devote any more thought to the matter and quickly forgot about it.
A couple of weeks later I was working a busy Sunday afternoon shift when I heard a soft "Sir, sir?" behind me and turned to find those same eyes looking up at me. Without speaking she motioned for me to follow her and she led me to the home furnishing section where, standing on tiptoes she reached toward a display end table on a top shelf. As she stretched upward I could see that I had been correct in my initial assessment of her figure. The otherwise loose fitting dress was pulled tight against an ample bust and significantly more calf was exposed below the raised hem of her dress causing an involuntary mental image to form that filled in hidden and imagined details beneath her clothing.
She was too short to safely reach it of course, and all the furniture items come disassembled and boxed. She turned to look at me, to see if I had understood her pantomime and I showed her the carton on a lower shelf with the piece pictured on the label noting the frown that immediately formed on her face.
"That?" she pointed back to the display. I shook my head and managed to communicate that the store staff could assemble it for her and she could pick it up the next day.
"You be here?" (Those eyes again)
"In the morning." I replied blushing a little as my gaze had strayed to her chest for some reason and I sensed she had understood this.
I noted the stock number and led her to the checkout area where we filled out the assembly request slip. She stood a little closer than she needed to and I noted the soft fragrance she wore and worried that the busy afternoon had done damage to my personal aroma. Her name was Anna. I wrote my name on the back of her copy and told her to ask for me at the front and assured her I would help her.
"See you tomorrow." I said as she headed for the exit and the eyes smiled briefly in reply, still with their habitual shyness.
Monday mornings were usually quiet and this one was no exception. I busied myself stocking shelves and straightening up to kill time but the morning seemed to drag and the page didn't come until my shift was nearly done.
I found Anna waiting at the front with her baby in the tote and got her shy, warm smile when she saw me. I greeted her and got a flat cart telling her to wait near the cashiers while I retrieved her table. She was waiting there patiently when I returned. I maneuvered the cart to an empty line and told her I would help her to the car when she had checked out.
I waited while she finished paying and followed her out to the parking lot pushing the cart. She was driving a white minivan and I opened the side door and waited while she secured the little one before moving to the rear to load the table. The rear seat had to be folded down before it would fit after which it slid in neatly. She thanked me profusely when I had finished, seizing my hand with both of hers and squeezing it. I asked if she would be OK unloading it by herself and she flushed nodding, her bright eyes shining up at me.
"Will you work tomorrow?"
Her question caught me off guard and it was my turn to flush. I nodded "Yes, in the morning till 11"
"You can help me shopping?"
"Yes, but if you come at 11 when I finish work it would be better. Otherwise I might be busy." We had a big shipment coming in and I knew it would take most of the morning to unload.
She smiled and squeezed my hand again and climbed into the car, leaving me standing there in a slight daze still feeling the warmth and softness of her small hands on mine.
The unloading did take all morning and I barely had time to think about Anna till my shift ended. We hadn't made any arrangement on where to meet so I punched out and then checked the area near the entrance without success. Perhaps she had changed her mind I thought, but decided to check the aisles once before giving up.