Meeting Adam

Writer POV

**

The white man with the grey eyes was what Pionee had called him. Alexander remembered how she had almost laughed her lungs out at the name.

She had only met him once , at Hayley's house and she hadn't taken time to give him much as a second look before she stormed out in tears.

But now, Pionee had just received a call that he'll be managing the store from now on. Hayley was currently , indisposed.

"I thought he has a job"

Alexander stated , she couldn't believe their old cheerful Hayley would be replaced by her grandson.

"He does , that's why he'll only need around on weekends , Fridays to Sundays"

Pionee looked away from the telephone to the cash book .

Alexander sighed as she looked around the store.

"I just hope she gets well soon you know"

Her sad eyes looked down , focused on the brown carpet .

"I miss her" she continued.

There was a pause , then a long sigh before Pionee answered , " we all do Alex. But we can only focus on running her store really well so it doesn't fold up right? For her sake"

Alexander looked up at her. She was right.

Hayley wouldn't have wanted them sulking , but would have wanted them to be strong for her , for her business.

The telephone rang again and as Pionee moved to answer it , Alex replaced her on her stand , looking through the cash book and making calculations.

They were both engrossed in their work that they didn't notice the tall man standing at the foot of the door.

He continued to watch them , they both looked like they were passionate about their jobs. He took another look around his grand mother's sports equipment store.

Six wooden shelves . Badminton rackets , tennis bats , basketballs , hockey sticks , footballs , surf boards , roller skates , everything was just in it's right place.

Two customers stood by the badminton shelf , when one of them looked at him , he smiled and waved . The lady nodded and continued her keen search.

His eyes drifted to the counter , the blonde he always met at the stood when he came was on the phone. He watched as she talked and smiled , scribbling stuff on a piece of paper.

He looked away from her to the other one.

The dark one he had met at the doorstep of his grand mother's house that day.

She seemed lost in whatever it is she was doing.

Her dark hair was held up in a high pony tail , her eyes skimming through whatever it was she was reading and he continued to watch as she punched a calculator and made notes in a large book by her side.

He couldn't bring himself to take his eyes off her to something else in the room.

"Have a nice day , enjoy your badminton racket!"

He heard someone say, looking away from the dark girl , he saw Pionee smile to the customers as the walked away from the counter to where they stood.

"Mr Adam , you're here"

She added , bright eyed as she smiled at him.

He noticed the dark girl look up at him , her dark eyes narrowed for a split second before they left him , returning their focus to the book in front of her.

He smiled as he walked to the counter , Pionee gave him a wide eyed smile , but the dark girl didn't give him as much as a second glance.

Just the way she had done when they had met at his grandmother's.

"Hey" he started , smiling at Pionee.

"How's it going?"

"It's fine generally , I was just handling a couple of orders before you came in . Everything is going very well. Please take a seat"

She moved to where he stood and offered him a stool , he sat down in front of Alex , placing his hand on the desk.

He looked at her again, noticing how her fingers tensed as she furiously punched digits on the calculator.

Take it easy , he almost said , but decided to shut his mouth instead.

He looked away from her to Pionee.

"Your co-worker doesn't seem to be having a great day though"

Alex looked up at him , noticing the grey eyes for the first time.

His English accent was thick as well .

Her eyes looked him over . His dark hair ,to his grey eyes , overly pointed nose and pale red lips.

She forced out a smile as she spoke up.

"I'm equally having a great day , thank you very much "

She raised a brow as he glared at her.

They continued to glare at themselves until Pionee coughed.

Their eyes turned to her.

"Why don't I get you some coffee Mr Adam?"

Adam nodded , his eyes followed her as she stepped out of the counter.

His eyes returned to the dark girl.

"Would you mind telling me exactly what I did to you?"

He started , his left brow raised as he spoke.

Alex didn't look up at him , but she thought it fair to answer his question.

"Why do you think you did something to me? I've just met you"

Her reply was nonchalant , like she didn't know what he was talking about.

He let out a short laugh , "my point exactly , we've barely met and you're already giving me cold shoulders. I don't understand"

Alex smiled as she looked up at him.

She placed her pen inside the book and adjusted her glasses on her face.

"Okay , I'll tell you what you did.."

"Please do.."

He added , leaning towards her , fingers intertwined on the table.

His eyes bright and confident , as if asking her to hit him with the worst accusation ever.

"You kept Hayley's sickness from me . Or rather , asked Pionee to keep it away from me"

She blurted , still looking straight into his eyes.

Hayley was like a grandmother to her and what he had done was ...unacceptable.

Adam took in a deep breath and let it out almost immediately, he looked down at the table where she had placed her hands and managed a sad smile.

"Forgive me , but I had only thought it best not to bother you , Hayley said you were a final year student and I felt that you didn't need to be burdened with the news"

Alex's eyes and ears burned with rage as she listened to him and watched him speak.

"You felt ? Hayley was lying on her death bed , yearning for her last breath and you felt I didn't need to know? Who gave you the right to feel things Mr Adam? I didn't ask for your feelings not even one day ! "

Tears were beginning to gather in her eyes , she had always been a very emotional person. Sudden outburst like this were sure to bring tears to her eyes.

Adam's eyes softened as he looked at her teary ones. Hayley must have really meant a lot to her. He could see it.

"I'm very sorry , I shouldn't have , I guess I was wrong"

"You were wrong , don't guess"

She snapped , dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief she had kept in her pocket.

He smiled , " Yes , you're right, I'm wrong. Forgive me"

He waited for a small moment before Alex looked up at him.

"You're ...you're forgiven"

He chuckled as he looked away from her.

"I'm Alex, Alexander "

He heard her say , he took the hand she had stretched to him in his for a brief handshake.

"I'm Adam"

They both smiled.

"And I'm sorry for the way I behaved , I was pretty rude"

He could see her eyes clearly now that she had looked at him for more than ten seconds.

"I'm sure I completely deserved it"

She laughed .

It was a pretty nice sound to hear.

"You can come around the house any time you feel like Alex , you're always welcomed"

Her eyes brightened with a genuine happy smile.

"Thank you"

"Here's your coffee , steaming hot , double espresso"

They all laughed as Pionee placed the hot cup in a saucer in front of Adam, between their hands.

He brought the cup to his lip and took a sip.

"Some nice stuff"

They laughed again.