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Why don’t you just talk to her?
It would be nice to have some new blood here, you know?
With an attitude like yours, how else are you going to find someone who likes you?
Allen had heard it all, and everytime he heard it he had the same answer. He would look the offender straight in the eye and tell them where they should go and how to mind their own business.
Nora was an outsider, a mainlander at that, and in his book she wasn’t welcome. Returning the affection she tried so desperately to give him would only encourage her to stay and that was the last thing he wanted.
No, that was a lie. At least now it was.
At first Allen had hated the beautiful mainlander simply because she was a mainlander, and then because he overheard her talking about the Children of Atom as if they weren’t a problem. And then came the flirting.
It had caught him off guard at first, the comment about his beard looking thick and gorgeous, but he had recovered quickly and told her in no uncertain terms that the appearance of his facial hair wasn’t a concern of hers. But he did catch himself stroking it several times that day. It didn’t help matters that the mainlander would come by almost every day after that with some new compliment for him.
And it really didn’t help that he found himself actually looking forward to her visits. He looked forward to her flirts and banter. He looked forward to her winks and almost touches when she passed on the caps. He looked forward to seeing her again.
She’s cute enough, just go for it!
You have to be blind not to see it.
Just swallow your pride and admit you were wrong about mainlanders already!
Allen Lee would grumble and gripe, telling them to fuck off and get lost. But to himself, as he watched Nora walking away from his stand, he would tell himself that one day he would find the courage to really let her know exactly how he felt.