Olivia

After figuring out that being a doctor isn't something I wanted to do we knocked all the jobs off the last that were similar to it. Which included pathologist, surgeon, and other careers that followed that path.

Charlie had looked at me as he asked about being a vet.

I told him to keep it. It wasn't necessarily about being a doctor. It is, but it's a doctor for animals and it seems like it would be different than working as a doctor. I mean, it would be easier to work with animals. I would probably enjoy it more.

All throughout the week after school Charlie has taken me to different jobs. I've tried hair styling, which did seem cool at first. But after the hairstylist let me try to cut someone's hair and it didn't go the greatest, I don't think it's cut out for me. No pun intended. I'd also shadowed an engineer. That had too much math for me. So after that we knocked off any career that included a lot of math, like being an accountant. Though that one never really did interest me that much.

Now I'm stuck with a lot fewer careers than I'd started with.

I glance down at the list as I sit at the front of the empty bakery.

Investigator

Vet

Librarian

Historian

Journalist

Horse Trainer

I sigh. Some of them seem so interesting. I'd love to try and train a horse but I don't know if I'd have the patience for that or if they'd listen to me. Or even how it would work. I jot down a quick note for Charlie that that's one career I'd like to try.

Being a librarian could be cool. I'd get to be surrounded by books the whole day. And it would be a quiet environment. But what would I even do there? I jot down the same note as the last one.

A historian? I tilt my head. That would just be looking into history and finding out what happened and when. Right? That sounds like it could be interesting but it doesn't seem like it would be for me. I'd rather not dig up the past even if it isn't my own. I find myself getting bored when I'm sitting in Social and we talk about the wars that happened or the way our governments were formed. I don't need a lifetime of that.

Being an investigator could be cool. I always find myself sitting on the edge of my seat when I watch mystery movies. And I always try to keep an eye out for clues as to who could have done it. I'm normally pretty good at figuring it out before the main character of the movie does. So maybe I'd be good at it. But what about the moments when they bust the guy? That normally ends with the bad guy having a gun and even if it goes well in the movie it wouldn't work like that in real life. It would be dangerous, especially if I'm on a cause of trying to find a murderer. I jot down a note that I'm interested in it but it might be too risky of a job for me.

"What are you up to?"

I jump out of my seat. I raise my hand around to smack whoever is behind me, but I freeze when I spot Nick and hear him break out into laughter.

I cross my arms and glare. "This isn't funny."

He shakes his head. "It is a little bit."

I sit back down and spin around so my back's toward him.

I continue down the list while I wait for his laughter to die down. It takes a good minute before it does and he goes back to hovering over my shoulder. "Sorry. I thought you knew I was here."

I shrug. "It's fine."

"What are you working on?"

"Just going through some more jobs and seeing if they interest me."

"Is this for this thing you have going on with Charlie?"

I nod.

He scrunches his face.

I smirk. "Jealous?"

He shakes his head, which gets rid of the look on his face. "Nope."

I nod. "Sure. If you say so."

Nick coughs. "So what are you doing with this list and Charlie?"

"The list is for him to take me to jobs that I can shadow and see if I'm interested in."

"So he's just helping you find a job?"

I nod.

"What about working here?"

I sigh and spin around so I can give him my full attention. "Don't get me wrong. I love working here but I can't see myself wanting to work here for the rest of my life."

He takes a step closer. "Even if I were to stay here?"

I try to laugh but it comes out dry. I try to keep my gaze focused on his blue eyes. "You won't be staying here though," I say. "You have your own career to pursue."

His gaze stays steadily on mine. "But what if I'm not sure about that anymore?"

"What do you mean?"

My eyes flick to his lips.

Shit. I lock my gaze back on his, but when I do, I find his is not meeting mine.

Ding.

Nick blinks and steps back. A grin flashes onto his face and his gaze snaps to the door.

My face is hot and flushed. I look down at my lap. Did we almost kiss? Is that what almost happened? Or was it all just in my head? But... No, there's no way I imagined that. He was staring at my lips and he kept coming closer and closer.

"Charlie!" Nick grins. "How you doing man?"

I spin around and plaster my best smile on. I have to act like nothing just happened. Nothing happened. We were just talking about our futures and how Nick might end up working here? Since when did he decide that? He's always wanted to be a chef and work in a fancy restaurant. So why would he downgrade to a bakery?

Charlie's gaze flicks between us. "I'm good. How are you?"

Nick leans against the front desk. His hand brushes against my leg. "I'm good. What brings you in today?"

I duck my hand and try to hide the blush that creeps up on me again. I need whatever is happening to stop. I can't deal with this right now. I take a deep breath before looking back up and keeping my smile plastered on my face. "Here for the list?"

Charlie's gaze slowly moves off of Nick and onto me. I squirm under it as though he can see right through me and knows what had just about taken place. But, why would I care if he knew? I shouldn't? Should I?

"Yeah. Got anything new? Or take anything off?"

I shake my head. "Besides the things we'd talked about? No. But I have made little notes beside some jobs and my thoughts about them." I hold the paper out to him.

He reaches out and takes it. "Really?" He raises an eyebrow before flicking his gaze down towards the list. His eyes move back and forth as he scans the paper. He scrunches his nose at some things, nods and hums at others, or his eyes widen. When he's done reading through the list he looks back up at me. "Luckily for you, two of the jobs that you want to know more about are up next on our schedule."

I lean forward to try and see the list and the comments I made so I can try and guess which two he's talking about. "Really?"

He nods.

"Which ones?"

He steps closer to the desk and I lean back so I'm not in the way as he places the paper on the desk. He points at one item on the left side and another on the bottom right. I tilt my head to be able to read them.

Librarian

Horse Trainer

I grin. I'd been hoping that we'd be trying those ones. Or at least one of them.

My gaze drifts to the top of the page as Charlie slides it off the desk. Vet. I can't help but keep seeing that one. Something about it has just been sticking with me, and I'm not entirely sure why.

Charlie folds the piece of paper into a tiny little square before shoving it into his jacket pocket. "So I was thinking we'd go to the library on Saturday and have them show us around and stuff. And then head to the farm after and spend the rest of the day there?"

I nod. A grin makes its way onto my face. "I'd love that."

Charlie grins. His eyes flick to Nick and his smile dims. He ducks his head and rubs the back of his neck. "I uh, should go now. I'll see you tomorrow?"

My smile drops and my eyebrows furrow. What happened? I glance between him and Nick but Nick seems to be his usually happy self. Did Charlie maybe remember something that changed his mood? "Yeah... I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

He nods and glances at me once more before his gaze shifts to Nick. He spins around right as his eyes seem to start to widen. I glance at Nick, who's already looking at me. He smiles and shrugs.

My brows furrow deeper as I turn and watch Charlie exit the bakery.

What just happened?