"I'm Nicholas. Though, I'm sure you know that already, haha," he said, brandishing the name tag on his sleeveless jacket. "But people call me Nick. Anyway, I didn't catch your name last time."
There was a few seconds of awkward silence, and then the female customer spoke, ignoring Nick's question and looking down at the items.
"How much?"
Nick's mind short-circuited; he was quite a bit stunned. 'Did she just… outright ignore me?'
He slowly turned to the monitor and stammered, "It's… It's uh…"
Nick was hesitant to say the price. If he did, she could just pay and walk away. He had to at least establish some rapport with her to make her stay and chat for a minute or two after she had completed the purchase.
'I can't let her leave just yet. I need more time. As long as I get her number or WiChat, I'm good. But I cannot just ask her for her personal contact so abruptly. I need a reason. Think, Nick!'
Nick didn't finish what he was saying earlier and made a complete tangent.
"Uh, I remember I asked you if we've met, and you said no, but I can swear I remember you from somewhere. I just don't seem to remember where from."
Of course, Nick already remembered where he knew her from, but he didn't want to be the one to reveal he knew her, as that would make the conversation seem too one-sided. It was proper to give the other person the chance to show their interest in having a conversation with you. Nick knew this very well… at least in theory.
The young girl just stared at him and said nonchalantly, "Okay."
'O…Okay? That's it?' Nick didn't quite understand her response, but he knew the underlying meaning. She wasn't reciprocating properly in the conversation.
Willing to give her a slight nudge (as his v-points banked on it), he nervously added, "Perhaps, maybe you have an idea?"
She looked slightly taken aback by Nick's question, but she calmly replied, "I don't think so, no."
Nick smiled as he scratched the corner of his chin. 'I didn't talk much with her years back, yes, but she definitely saw me quite a few times when she came looking for Lukas after school. Why does she deny knowing me so adamantly?'
Nick just replied sheepishly, "Th—Then, I guess I might just be mistaking you for someone else. Eh… sorry."
Trailing off, he took a couple of seconds to think of something to say.
"The total is three bucks, eighty-nine cents." He didn't want to over-stall for time.
The 18-year-old girl reached into her skirt pocket to take out the cash, and Nick felt the bells ringing in his mind to hurry.
He asked with a shy smile, "So, uh, can I ask you something?"
The female customer's eyebrows furrowed in perplexion and she paused. "What?"
"Uh, this might seem abrupt, but… can we possibly exchange contacts?" Nick was a bit tense, so much so that his palms began to moist. Things hadn't progressed towards a successful completion of the task so far.
The female customer just raised her eyes to meet Nick's gaze and asked with a deadpan expression,
"What are you trying to do?"
Nick was shocked by the cold response, unconsciously repeating her words, "What am I trying to do?"
He blinked. "Nothing. I just wanted to have your contact."
Nick saw her face contort into that of utter repulsion.
"Why?" she asked disdainfully.
He shrugged. "I don't know; I thought maybe I could try to get to know you better. Maybe we can go out for lunch sometime…"
Nick trailed off again.
For some reason, he thought it wise to take the chance to complete the optional task. He wanted to postpone getting her contact to be the last step, as it was proving to be significantly harder than he thought it would be. However, witnessing her expression crumple the more he spoke, he realized he might have been gravely mistaken.
"You couldn't let me buy a drink," she spoke matter-of-factly, "but you want to get my number and take me out for lunch?"
Her words posed a question, but Nick understood the subtext. They were actually an accusation. She was referring to Nick's actions as predatory.
Sweat emerged from Nick's forehead, and he frantically shook his head and arms, horror directly written on his face.
"No, no. I'm not that type of person, I swear. I said I knew you from somewhere, remember? I just wanted to get to know you more so I can pinpoint where exactly. You're Lukas' younger sister, right? I just wasn't sure. I-I'm just a very curious person, really."
The young girl held a slightly shocked expression for a second or two, but then coldly stared down at Nick.
"You're lying. You stalked me online, didn't you?"
"Eh?" Nick heard her declaration and his mind went blank. How did things get this bad? How did he portray himself to end up in such a scenario?
The young girl looked at him with disdain and took a step back, voicing out too, "No wonder you stripped for money, knowing we were teenagers..."
"What? No…"
She continued in horror, "You even kissed Johan's foot and barked like a dog, you're sick!"
"No, that's…" Nick tried to defend himself, but he didn't even know what to say.
Someone like him, who would strip for money, had the guts to ask for her number and wanted them to go on a date, she found this particularly insulting. Even worse, he knew she was young and still went ahead to ask, meaning he was a twisted person upstairs. What a creep!
Immediately, she took out a $5 note and smacked it on the counter. She clicked her tongue, grabbed the items, and quickly said, "Keep the change. I'm sure you need it."
Nick gnashed his teeth, stood up, and grabbed her arm.
"Wait! Wait! Please…" he begged.
Her disgusted expression turned into one of fear mixed with fright.
"L-Let go of me…"
"Just give me your number! Please! Even your WiChat is okay!" Nick desperately called out.
"W-What? No…"
"Just your WiChat! I swear I'll never disturb you ever again! Don't be so stuck up! I swear!" Nick didn't even realize how juxtaposed his words were. Wasn't he asking for her WiChat so he could contact her?
The young girl struggled to get her wrist out of his grip as it was beginning to redden.
Nick's attention went there, and suddenly, he froze.
Witnessing the fear written all over the young girl's face, he asked himself, 'What on earth am I doing?'
Nick instantly let go of her wrist.
"I'm… sorry about that," he apologized with his gaze down. And then apologized some more and even pushed the dollar bill back to her, saying she didn't have to pay.
She rubbed her wrist and said through gnashed teeth, "Disgusting creep."
With that, she turned and headed for the exit.
But just then, the door chimed and a young male held the door open. It was Johan.
He observed the scene and asked, "Lola, is there a problem?"
Lola didn't answer Johan and just hastily walked out of the convenience store.
'Yeah… her name was Lola,' Nick thought, briefly recollecting, holding an awkward smile because of Johan. Lola said she was alone.
Johan glared at Nick for a few seconds and waved with a fake smile. "Catch you later, Nicholas."
Gring~
Even after Lola and Johan left, Nick remained frozen in the silence.
Shortly after, the familiar voice in his mind uttered for the first time:
[Task failed.]
…
[Rule #9: Pointers must not speak out their given tasks to another. Violation shall be regarded as cheating and shall warrant a warning and an instant failure of said task.]