A Walk From Dunkin Donuts

My first ever job was at Dunkin Donuts, where I worked mostly on the grill, making egg and chees sandwiches and hash browns. Also, sausages and bacons and, at seasonal times, chickens. I didn't like making coffee, seemed too hectic for me, and come summer the cool drinks were too much. All in all, it wasn't a bad experience but in no way would I want to go through that again.

There was a convenience store by the corner of the dunkin, which I crossed every morning on my way to work. I walked to and fro from work, and in the summer as the sun kept pelting on our heads, I would go to that store to grab a cold drink. Dunkin Donuts had us pay for any sodas we took but everything else was on the house. So that also meant everyday I left work with a sandwich, and it would be some weird combination too. You do need something to wash down the stuff, hence me going in to the store to grab a drink.

A girl worked there, who I believe was the niece of the owner. She was short, stocky with a very cute face and a nice smile. The smile I remember because that's how I was greeted every time, not that she worked there all the time but whenever she did, that smile would welcome me.

By the register, they had a curious thing. It looked like a statue of some deity that escaped my knowledge, so one day I asked the girl who it was. She said Jesus, which surprised me. He never looked like that. Upon seeing my confused face, she explained further. An accident occurred last year, when a car swerved in the road and came crashing in through the store doors. Somehow, even with a dozen or so people inside at that moment, no one was hurt. The statue was damaged in the crash, but seeing how big a miracle this was, they put it up there as a sign of their faith and God's mercy.

She told me all that, which I found very fascinating. I remember telling her a joke about the idiot who crashed the car, who supposedly drunk at the time. I was saying how messed up would he be if someone had told him there that he had hit Jesus, which in that drunken state the idiot might have believed. She laughed at this, and a very pretty laugh it was too.

This small interaction escaped my mind completely, up until a week later I was in the store again with my Sunkist grape soda, and the lovely girl, whose name I have forgotten now but it was a long time ago, struck up a conversation with me. She asked me where I worked and if I liked my job, to which I replied negatively of course. I ended up telling her all about my sister and mum, and how much I liked soccer and writing. I asked questions too, which is how I got to know that she is the owner's niece.

It wasn't a long conversation, maybe 5 minutes or so. At the end, as I was about to leave, she asked me when I leave work usually. I said 2pm and thought nothing more of it.

Only after a couple of months later, as I still kept going to the store, did I realize what she meant by that question. However, by that point I was uncomfortable asking her out for a lunch, since too much time had passed by. Also, I am a very nice and charming person when unaware, but I am a total doofus and an idiot when it comes to asking someone out and going on dates. I said to myself to wait, wait for an opportunity to ask her that question.

Interestingly, that situation never presented itself again as I left Dunkin soon after, and I believe she left her job too. Once in a while I still think about the chance encounter and of what could have been if I was more perceptive, but as my friends say, the game isn't over yet. So let's what the end has to about this.