Author's Note: All characters are over the age of 18. This story is a work of fiction. please do not republish on other platforms without my express permission.
Ok, I broke my pinkie promise :(. So sorry, I've been pretty sick lately and I decided to shelve the Halloween story so I can tweak it more. This little piece came about as I performed my civic duty (yes, I got a sticker too).
I won't make any more promises, but I will try to continue my other series.
Constructive criticism welcomed. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!
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Election day is a beautiful day of unity, joy, and patriotism where people come together to fill out a piece of paper and dump it into a box. The results from which could change the course of history and to take part was the right of a sovereign, American citizen. Knowing this, Liam was taking this sacred duty very seriously as an election officer.
"Liam! Stop yawning! We have voters here!" A bald man with glasses snaps harshly as he elbows the Asian young man beside him.
The youth makes a face as he replies, "Ow! What the heck, Larry? I can't help it! It's just a natural reaction!"
The older man shakes his head and glares at him. "I swear. You kids these day...no regard for professionalism...so irresponsible!"
"Whoa, hey! Better turn that frown upside down. A voter's coming your way." Liam says, smiling sarcastically.
As an old lady walks towards their table, Larry checks her in, but not before shooting the youth a penetrating glare. While he processes her, Liam looks at his watch. An hour. It's only been an hour and he was already tired of having to put on a fake smile to greet voters. The smell of sweat, rubber, polished wood, and industrial cleaner was very comforting as he performs his boring job. He was so glad he took this position. It was definitely worth spending his day here for a paltry two hundred dollars. Unfortunately, he needed the money since he was still in college.
He didn't exactly leave a great first impression when he arrived a couple minutes late. Larry was noticeably angry when Liam came the door so casually which made sense since he sent an email the day before saying each officer had to be early or on time. Normally, he wouldn't care what the old man thought, but Lary was the chief officer which meant he was in charge of assigning people to their stations.
Since was on his shit list, Liam was stuck in the front table right next to his boss. The assistant chief was more chill, but he wasn't really a hands on kind of guy so Liam was left to fend for himself against this raging cueball.
There was a pretty steady stream of voters since it was a presidential election so at least he had something to keep his mind off of all this. Once he finishes processing a voter, Liam feels a presence behind him and the faint smell of lavender.
A soft, cold voice says, "56..."
Liam sighs to himself. They'd warn him there might be some poll watchers sitting behind him which was annoying because he wasn't a fan of someone looking over his shoulder like this. Apparently, these people came from the state political parties to make sure they were doing their jobs as officers and to get a tally of the votes. The lady who looked over his shoulder was from the Republican Party and she was totally uptight. She was the definition of no-nonesense, no fun which was a shame because she was pretty attractive. He wasn't really a political guy. In fact, he registered as an independent, but he guess there was some truth to Republicans being suspicious or paranoid about the election process.
Hell, he even tried to talk to her and she didn't really look at him, choosing to clutch her clipboard close to her chest. Truth be told, the petite woman wasn't bad looking at all. He couldn't really tell with the oddly oversized jacked and the long pants, but her pixie-cut, black-rimmed glasses, and stern look was really giving him a hot librarian look which she killed.
'Shit." Liam curses under his breath as he feels his pants tighten. Luckily, he had a desk to cover his rising boner and he was wearing some loose dress slacks which helped. If it was one thing he got right, it was the dress code. The young man was wearing a buttoned-up short-sleeve shirt which was a bit restricting. He wasn't really a business casual guy so he just got the first thing he saw in his closet which was an old shirt from his dad. His dad was five foot six and he was closer to six feet so it was really tight.
The voters themselves were nice enough so it was bearable. They all seemed to be very surprised to see a young person there and they would always thank him for volunteering. He wanted to tell them he was actually getting paid, but he wisely kept his mouth shut since Larry was right next to him. Thankfully, the other officers were pretty cordial and friendly, though they were mostly old people so Liam felt like he couldn't really relate to them.
As much as he wanted to remain in his thoughts, the old man cuts in. "Alright, slacker, shift is over. Go to your next station."
"Sir, yes, sir!" Liam says as he mockingly salutes his chief who scowls in response. The young man winces as he stands up too quickly, bumping his chub against the edge of the table. It was a bit awkward because he now had to walk past the poll watcher, but he just kept his eyes forward as he walks. Confidence was key. Thankfully it worked because there was no reaction from the stern woman and his journey was peaceful.
His next station was next to the voting booths where he was to guide and show people where the open spots were. Larry wanted at least two officers per station so there was another woman standing there. She was a bit shorter than him and looked like she was in decent shape for her age which he estimates is probably in the low forties. Her dark brown hair was pretty shiny under the sunlight and it accentuates her slim face and blue eyes. She looked like a nice little white mom from the suburbs with her cardigan which she would frequently pull close to her body. The woman's nametag read Suzanne.
"Cold?" Liam asks as he approaches her, trying to break the ice.
The woman nods. "It's always a bit chilly in the mornings. It should warm up later."
"Ah, ok. You want a jacket or something. You know, to keep your body warm? Wouldn't want you to freeze to death on my watch!"
She gives him a small smile. "Thank you, young man. I appreciate it, but I'm alright. It helps me to keep me alert and awake."
"Yeah, if that doesn't work maybe the coffee and donuts you brought will help. Thanks for that, by the way. I rushed out the door and completely forgot my cup."
"Hehe, I could tell! The important thing is that you're here now...to serve the people! It's inspiring to young folks like you out here preserving our democracy!"
Liam chuckles. He hoped she was joking, but she actually seemed enthusiastic. When he realized she wasn't laughing with him and her eyes had narrowed, he replies not-too-convincingly, "Yeah, sure."
He felt like she was a bit colder to him from that point on. What was up with these people? It was just a harmless laugh. Political people were weird!
The line begins to lull so he didn't have much to do as the day stretches on. He snaps out of his daydream when he spots an incoming voter. He didn't care who it was, just as long as he could finally do something. It looked like Suzanne was on her break so he was flying solo. The girl is a bit startled as he suddenly appears in front of her.
"Hey, thanks for coming here to vote." Liam says cooly. He realizes he was a bit too mellow so he adds, "Er, you a first time voter?"
Seeing that he was younger must have eased her shock because she smiles and nods. "Uh huh."
Liam didn't want to end the conversation because she was quite the looker, despite her messy dark brown hair and half opened eyes. She was still wearing her pajama pants and her t-shirt was skin tight, showing off her taut, skinny body. He gives her a welcoming grin which she was receptive to as she plays with a strand of her long hair.
"Haha, you look like you just rolled out of bed."
She chuckles lightly. "Yeah, well, it's because I did. My gran wouldn't stop calling me to remind me to do my civic duty so here I am."
"Well, since you're here, why don't I show you what to do." He says as he stands to the side, allowing her to proceed.
She nods in acknowledgement and leans towards his chest to read his nametag. "Sure. Uh, thanks...Liam. I'm McKenzie."
The youth takes and shakes her hand, feeling her cold, pale skin. "Hey, nice to meet you! Let's get you set up here."
He leads her to an empty booth, keeping a respectable distance. However, the young woman keeps engaging with him by asking questions about the ballot. When he would come close, she would lean towards him so he could smell her feminine scent.
Liam felt his pants tighten again and he cursed himself internally. Maybe it was an Asian thing, but he had hit puberty pretty late so his hormones have been going crazy. He was fidgety at times and his dad had to sit down to have the drug talk. It took him weeks to convince his dad he wasn't tweaking from meth.
"Is that your phone or are you just happy to see me?" She asks with a knowing smirk.
