A boy wearing a black woven hat with a white pom-pom on the top entered the shop, his cheeks lightly flushed pink from the cold outside as he made his way to the counter. He looked around, as if surprised to see Will there. "Oh, um, hi. I think Rachel had an order ready for me. I asked for it yesterday." He paused, as if waiting for Will to answer before adding, a little confusedly, "It should be under the name Nico di Angelo, I think."
Will blinked before clearing his throat. "Hi, how can I help you?" he said, like an idiot, his voice coming off higher than intended. The boy—Nico, he presumed—gave him an awkward smile, raising an eyebrow. "Right. Sorry. You're the first one here today."
And, quite possibly, the most beautiful human being Will had ever laid eyes on. He didn't say that out loud though, obviously.
He smiled sheepishly before ducking into the back room and eventually finding a basket of scented candles with the word 'Nico' printed on the front in Rachel's handwriting, written in big, thick letters for his dyslexia. Aw, she was so sweet.
Will came back outside and put it down in front of him, drumming his fingers on the table as Nico looked through the basket. "So," he said, examining a peppermint-scented one. "Just wondering, are you new here or am I just stupid?"
"I'm that bad at this, huh?" Will said.
Nico covered up his laugh with a free hand, which Will thought was kind of pointless. He had a cute laugh. (Oh god. He needed to chill.) "No, no, sorry. It's just that I come here pretty often. I don't remember seeing you around. I think I'd remember." He tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, the pom pom on his hat bouncing happily as he did so, probably much like what Will's heart was doing at the moment. "So, are you?"
He may have blanked out for a second, his brain picking up on the faintest hint of an accent in Nico's words. Of course, his brain cells would have to actually function for him to try to figure out what accent it was, but they had decided to go on a paid leave, which they tended to do whenever Will was in proximity to a cute guy.
"Oh, yeah," Will said, remembering that he was kind of in the middle of a conversation, "Um, Rachel, I'm assuming you know her, asked me help out during the holidays." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, well, I guess the 'come here often?' line isn't gonna work now that you've already answered it, huh."
Nico looked like he was trying hard not to smile. "Guess not. It's the thought that counts, though."
Wow. Cute and not immediately running away after Will's first bad pick up line? Maybe he should ask Rachel for more shifts.
Shifts... oh yeah, he was supposed to be working. "Will that be all for you today?" he asked, putting on his best customer-service smile, which Nico seemed to find amusing.
"Could I get another two of these?" Nico held up a pine-scented candle.
Will turned to the shelves and looked through them, plucking two candles and placing them on the counter. Nico put them in his basket. "Can I just ask why you have so many candles? Planning on summoning the ghost of Christmas past?"
Nico laughed again. "Tempting, but, no. It's for the bookstore. My sister insists it look like it got hit by a tornado straight from the North Pole. And this is the closest seasonal shop, so here we are."
"She sounds fun," he noted.
Nico rolled his eyes, getting out his wallet. "Don't get me started. The half of the money from sales that doesn't go towards snacks goes towards decor. I'm honestly surprised at the fact that we aren't on the street somewhere, with nothing but Christmas cookies and Pinterest mood boards."
He handed his credit card to Will, who swiped it in the card reader.
"Well, I'll be here, I guess," Will said, giving the card back to him, "to provide you with all the decor you need for your holiday summoning rituals."
Nico put his card back in his wallet. "I'll keep that in mind," he said, giving him one last smile before heading out the door
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