Sympathy

At our small grocery store, a new hire appeared. A stocky, brown-haired young guy with a crooked smile named Harry. He was loud, way too forward and obviously bad mannered. The manager had asked me to help him adapt to the new environment and show him how tasks are done. Reluctantly, I walked him through the basics of restocking items and how to work at the cash register.
Despite being a little awkward at first and making small mistakes, Harry learned fast and was already getting used to working with the rest of the colleagues. For some unknown reason there was never a dull moment when I was around him, quirky events seemed to follow Harry’s heavy steps everywhere he went. It delighted him greatly.
During lunch breaks his laugh was echoing throughout the small backroom; others seemed to find him amusing and even funny. But me? Not so much.
The way Harry munched on food with his mouth open or tapped his big foot on the tiled floor repeatedly every so often would get on my nerves. We would exchange a few pleasantries here and there, but I prioritized my duties more than making new friends at a place that I did not plan on staying for too long anyways.
After a few months of working beside each other, the tension between us two shifted into something different. I could not pinpoint what exactly, but there was a different feeling mixed into the already existing cocktail of confusion, indifference, and aversion.
Every time Harry was in my field of vision, my gaze would unknowingly drift towards his sturdy form. His presence stood out like a sore thumb amongst others, distracting and latching onto me like an annoying leech. I wondered how such a loudmouthed guy with no manners dug his way into every nook and cranny of my mind so suddenly.
When Harry noticed me looking at him during work, he smiled widely, all his attention on me in a second. His crooked smile never brought any good feelings within me; there was a dangerous edge to those sharp teeth. I never knew what he was really thinking about.
I ignored Harry’s staring, turning away demonstratively, and detoured towards the cash register to replace my colleague.
While at the register, a man approached me, holding only two cans of beer. He was unsightly and hunched over, in gray plain clothes, eyes dark and empty. While I was checking him out, he was quiet and kept staring right through me, eyes never leaving my form. I tried to bury the uncomfortable feeling his gaze stirred in the pit of my stomach. I hurriedly put his beer in a plastic bag and gave him the receipt hoping he leave. He slowly looked down at the bag and then back at me, his hollow face squeezed out a weird smile. Unnerved, I immediately shifted my focus to the next customer.
By the end of the day, as the grocery store was closing, we had to clean up before our shifts ended for good. Gathering all the heavy trash bags, I went out to the back where the big metal dumpsters were. As I approached the dumpsters, I noticed a long dark shadow standing right beside them. I narrowed my eyes. The man’s features were obscured by the poor lighting in the back, but by the hunched over silhouette, it was apparent that it was that strange customer from before. He came closer and the same smile was plastered across his face.
“Can I help you?” I asked tentatively, slowly backing up from the man subconsciously.
“Hey, pretty thing,” he crooned, shortening the distance between us. “I really liked you. Do you want to have a cup of coffee together?"
The man got too close for comfort, and my back hit the brick wall behind me while trying to get as far away from him as possible. He reeked of alcohol. I got cornered in the dark alleyway by a dangerous-looking person with no one around to help, the situation did not look good at all. “Sorry,” I mumbled, terrified.
“What?!” The man screamed with anger, slamming his arm up against the wall, trapping me from any possible escape.
“You think you are better than me?!” He spat in my face. I looked into his red furious face and begged him not to hurt me.
Almost as if Harry felt that something had happened, he appeared in front of us, his eyebrows furrowed in a deep frown. For the first time ever, he did not give off an impression of a simpleton but a serious threat. He noticed the fear in my eyes and came closer, looming over both of us.
“Hey! What do you need from her?” Harry bellowed, his tone was full of irritation, voice sharp and strong. But this time the excessiveness was not misplaced.
“Is this how you talk to a customer?” The strange man asked, leaning back from me ever so slightly. His hand was still dangerously positioned right besides my head, forcing me against the cold brick wall.
“You already got your groceries, now go away. Do not cause any trouble or I will call the police.”
“Ha! You don’t have any evidence. There are no cameras!” The man got even more agitated and suddenly punched the wall, scaring me even further. Harry’s eyes widened and he got closer in an instant, going for the man’s arm. As Harry grabbed the man’s arm, he twisted it back rendering the strange man to the floor with ease. As the man fell, his head collided with the concrete with a resounding thud.
“You are right. No one would know who beat you up!” Harry taunted, clearly now angry himself, as he stepped on the man’s torso to make him squirm in pain. I ran up to Harry, holding him back.
“Okay, okay that’s enough.”
“I do not want to see you around here ever again, you hear?” Harry hissed, retracting his leg. The fallen man seemed to be half conscious but nodded, before slowly rising up and leaving, cursing under his breath on the way.
As we watched him leave I sighed heavily, glad that my clumsy colleague was there to help me out. My body was shaking from the whole ordeal and Harry, noticing, patted me with his heavy hand.
He was someone who laughed when faced with danger, ferociously fought, and never gave up. As much as I disliked his company, it was hard to deny the thrill it gave me being close to him, like standing too close to an edge.
I observed Harry from the corner of my eye while we walked back to the entrance together. When he noticed my gaze, he grinned, his bright eyes watching back intently, as if to say, ‘Challenge me, I dare you’. Embarrassed, I instantly looked away, and he laughed at me, almost triumphantly.
The sense of unpredictability, pure wildness, and force ran through his veins like hot lava currents. Somehow, this all managed to burn right through my skin, even though I was but a mere witness to such behavior. I felt my face heat up for the entirety of our way back.
“Thank you, Harry.”