“Who is it they said you resemble?”
“Huh?”
“The famous guy those girls say you look like?”
“Uh, some guy in a boy band.”
“You have a doppelgänger.”
“I suppose so.” He shrugged.
“What’s the name of this boy band?”
“Toxic Shock.”
“I’m too old. I don’t know who there are.”
Jason smiled like I’d said something funny. “Stop saying that. You’re not too old.”
“I am, last boy band for me was NSync and the Backstreet Boys. I was completely done with boy bands when I took my daughter to see B2K. Have you heard of them?”
“Yes, I’ve heard of B2K.” He smirked like my question was absurd. “You didn’t bring your kids to Galena?”
“No, my sixteen-year-old son is too cool for Galena. I couldn’t bring him here to be miserable and bored. He wanted to hang out with his friends this summer.”
“So you left him at home?”
“Yes.”
“Does he have a car to get around? Seems like he’d be lonely.”
“He doesn’t have a car. He just turned sixteen. He’s not actually at home. He’s staying with his father.”
“Your ex-husband?”
“Yes.”
“And your daughter, she’s living with your ex too?”
“No, she has her own apartment. She has a job near campus.”
“Campus?”
“When school starts back she’s going to be a senior. She goes to the University of Chicago?”
“Oh, a college.”
“Yeah.” A college, the University of Chicago isn’t just a college. “Do you ever drive up to Chicago?”
“I’ve been a few times but you know, I mostly stay right here in Galena Illinoisss.”
“Illinoisss,” I repeated his mispronunciation. “Why did you say that?”
“Say what?”
“Illinois with the ‘S’ like you don’t live here. The ‘S’ is silent. Only people from other states say Illinoisss like that.”
“I wasn’t born in Galena or this state. I was born in California and I’ve just staying with my aunt and uncle for a while.”
“For a while?” Why? Was he running away from something?
“Just for the summer until I figure out some things.”
“Is your mother in California?”
“No, uh, she’s no longer with us. Dead, yeah she’s dead.” His voice trembled.
“Oh my God.” I covered my mouth.
“She died years ago.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have asked. I didn’t know.”
“No problem. I understand. It was a long time ago and most people my age have mothers so there’s no way you could’ve known.”
“Yes, but I was just being so Illinoisy.” I joked.
Jason cracked a smile. It made me feel better about intruding on this young man’s personal life. I was acting like those teens that were in here.
“Well I asked you questions and you asked me questions. That’s how you get to know people.” He was being nice and letting me off the hook for the meddling.
“Is it? I’ll have to remember that.”
“You can ask me anything. I love to hear your voice.”
Silence hit me. I didn’t know how to respond. “You’re good with the kids that come in here. Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“No, I’m an only child. I know you have a sister, Cherise.”
“Yes, and I have a younger brother too, Robert.”
“You’re the oldest?”
“Yes.”
“You look super young. I thought you were twenty-something when I walked into the shop and saw you for the first time.”
“Ha, that’s cute. You know you shouldn’t lie to your boss.”
“I’m not lying about that. I’m looking right at you. Your skin is beautiful, radiant. You glow.”
Why was this young man saying these things? He already has the job.
“My skin, it’s far from perfection. That glow is called oily combination skin.” I waited for him to say something. I was feeling uncomfortable and wanted to get away from discussing my looks. He was looking at me. It gave me a strange feeling. It wasn’t uncomfortable but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“I guess our eyes just see different things.” He tossed out the sentence like, I don’t know— casually.
“So, you have a driver’s license but no car.”
“Yea, I’m without a car.”
“Are you saving up for one?”
“Saving?”
“Are you going to go and get a car with the money you make over the summer?”
He chuckled. “I’m okay on my bike.”
“I know you’re only getting minimum wage here but by the end of summer it might be enough to get you some old beater.”
“A beater?”
“An old car.”
“You’re right. I may think about it, saving for a car.”
“I’m just saying. I don’t think you can put a girl on the back of my bike.”
“I prefer a woman and you’re right. I hope I can find a nice lady with a car. She can drive me around. I believe in equal rights. I plan on finding a woman millionaire to cater to me.”
“Good luck with that.” I teased.
“I aspire to be a male gold digger.”
“If you set goals I’m sure you can achieve them.”
“That’s the plan.”
“You think you can handle the massive crowd while I do a little inventory.”
Jason looked around the store at our zero point zero customers. “Yes, I got this. I’m here to help you in any way I can.”
“I wish my kids were this cooperative.”
“I have absolutely no problem being your slave.”
Huh? “You’re so funny.”
“Yes, I’m funny.”
Jason was smiling at me. As innocent as the smile seemed I felt a little uncomfortable. It wasn’t his jovial grin that gave me pause. It was his smoldering chestnut eyes. There was lust in his eyes. I’d seen it before in young men and old men. I’d seen it when my son’s little high school friend’s mouths would be agape when they first met me. My son told me I was a hot mom. He’d told me I didn’t look like the average high school mom. Jason reminded me of that conversation.
None of it fazed me because it truly was nothing to be concerned about. Jason was different because he was legally an adult. He was six feet four and had the body of a grown-ass man. He could grow facial hair if he was so inclined. I knew that the look in his eyes should’ve made me feel apprehensive. It just didn’t. But it should because he was a complete stranger to me.
As
