"So... uh, you're a mechanic, huh?" Jimmy barely whispers. He won't look me in the eye. He's fiddling with his fingers and looking down at his double chocolate and cookie sundae with his brows furrowed... he seems nervous. But when he eventually closes his eyes and shakes his head, the devastating realisation crashes down on me. I know what that look is. It's not nerves... he looks disappointed...?

Here we are, finally... months after he first came to the shop... and after all this time... all his persistence... here we finally are and he looks like this the last place he wants to be....

*****

After I'd turned him down the first time he'd come into the shop, he'd been coming in every single day "to see how the bike was coming along". But the way he would stand in the doorway of the workshop and just stare at me for what felt like hours told me the bike was definitely not the only reason...

Every time he left the shop, he'd ask to go for a smoothie or an ice cream. Even after the bike was fixed and he'd taken it home, he kept coming back to the shop. He was persistent. At first, his daily visits had been unnerving and I probably just should have kicked him out... but the truth is, I loved it. Every single day, he came in with muffins or coffee (Mikey was instantly sold), and lingered around the shop. Every time I looked up from whatever I was working on, I'd find him looking at me all dreamy-eyed with his head slightly tilted, sometimes licking his lips or nibbling on them. Whenever I caught him staring, my lips curled into a smirk and I raised an eyebrow. I loved how, every single time, it made him blush furiously, making him stagger off to the front of the shop to talk to Mikey or he would just pretend to check out the motorbikes.

Every single day. The lingering looks. The little smiles.

It made me feel like a hormonal teenager.

It felt great.

I loved it.

So, after a while, I eventually gave in... it was almost closing time when I got up from where I was working and walked over to him. "OK kid, just this once. Give me five minutes to clean myself up and change. Mikey can close the shop."

Jimmy looked surprised... or rather shocked - yeah, definitely shocked. He quickly caught himself though and smiled, nodding eagerly as I headed to the bathroom to get ready.

*****

Now, here we are, sitting in Mr Moo's Ice Cream parlour just up the street from my shop and he's barely uttered a word. He looks sick, annoyed, disappointed to even be here. What the fuck have I done now?

Here I am, sitting with the sweetest and most beautiful person I've ever met... and he looks like he is about to make a run for it.

I mean, it's probably for the best this way, right? We can't be together... I mean, I don't even know what he wants from me but I doubt he would have chased after me this long to just be friends, right?

So, the sooner he realises that he's much too goo - I mean young - for me, the better.

Yeah, that's it... it's all for the best...

But then why is the look on his face breaking my fucking heart?