Paint Girl

“No. no, no, no. Please tell me you’re messing with me,” pleaded JR to Brick in aisle 11 of the department store where they are coworkers. 

Both employees were fairly new to the company. So they were still meeting others there on a daily basis. The first time JR laid eyes on “Paint Girl” he honestly did not really notice her. He kept his head down at first for most of the workdays. JR can get nervous with first impressions. He tries to keep low profiles but can never stay away from himself for too long. 

JR noticed Paint Girl up close one day and thought she was adorable. The name Paint Girl came about as a way for JR to reference her for the sake of telling these stories to his mom on the phone at the end of the day.

“I just don’t understand why you won’t talk to her; or even say hi to her.” JR’s mom would proclaim constantly.

JR was once an esteemed ladies man. In time however, he has become dramatically different. At ages 19 through 25 he’d march right up to her with confidence and charisma. Now he is timid and shy. It has been speculated by professionals that this is due to his poor view of himself. 

JR hates the way he feels around the Paint Girl. He wants so badly to just say words, but cannot even look her way. What if she gets freaked out and then not only would he feel awkward around her; but his name could be slandered throughout the store. JR does not belong in his head and he will think to the point of delusion. It's difficult for him without a way to quiet the noise.

He kept his crush a secret. Did not tell a single person. Finally one day JR was having a conversation in the break room with Brick when Paint girl wandered by. Her and Brick had an exchange leading JR to realize that Brick had become acquainted with her. Brick was about a generation older than JR and Paint Girl but young at heart.

After the young woman had begun back to the paint department, JR made a crucial error. He told Brick that he liked the girl. 

Later that day JR whacked himself in the face with the cardboard he was holding upon Brick sharing the fact that he spoke to Paint Girl about what JR said to him. JR was 50/50 on whether to believe this. JR’s face was dark red and veins popped from his neck and forehead. Things like this are this young man’s absolute worst nightmare. JR has dealt with things most couldn’t handle in life fearlessly. And none of it intimidated and scared him more than scenarios like this. 

JR made every excuse in the book not to talk to this girl. Brick was trying to help out his friend but did not know of JR’s mental hardships. Brick saw this all as such a small thing.

Things just got more and more cringey. Every time JR walked past her he’d trip over himself, drop things, dart in the other direction; and could not be any more obvious about it. JR immediately would check the daily line-up as he came into work. If he saw her name his heart would sink to the floor. The paint desk was right in front of the customer service desk where most employees stop by fairly often in order to help the desk representatives with endeavors related to their department and to get returns. This is a typical thing to happen in JR’s life. Overtime he has been taught to embrace such obstacles as opportunities to grow; but in the moment he struggles sometimes. This is the first time he’s really had a normal life with normal opportunities. It’s not that he doesn’t think any good at all of himself; he just literally doesn’t know what to do.

To JR’s dread, a friend of his in the lumber department who knew Paint Girl decently well found out about what was going on. Some workers did a 2 week overnight thing and yup, those were 2 of the workers. So take a wild guess what happened. When Lumber friend texted JR that night, JR nearly had a stroke at the ripe age of 27. JR did his best to say things for him to tell her, but definitely over thought it. Days of this went on, but he still ignored her. His fears were realized when he freaked her out by saying something stupid to someone. They had a silent fight; a cold war. They disliked each other despite never having any interaction. JR can be odd like this. 

More weeks kept going by and JR had started to really adapt. He always adapts to everything, but can never notice how quickly he's adapting when it's happening. He was climbing the ladder fast. Became full-time, gained accolades. Most of all, everyone now knew and loved him. He was now very popular. He started lifting weights everyday and the physical work in the lumber and hardware areas was making him even more handsome than he already was. JR has tremendous abilities to make things happen fast; proving to be his biggest strength in life, it is also a root of his greatest downfalls. So he's careful.

Despite all this, he still never got to know to the Paint Girl. He became unafraid of her, he just no longer cared about all that happened. His head cleared and he was able to see that things she said to the lumber friend towards me were unfair and stuck up.

JR noticed that she was now looking at him in a new manner. He had become an excellent reader of people throughout his experiences and was almost never wrong when it came to this. He keeps most of these kinds of thoughts to himself. Paint Girl was clearly starting conversations with whoever JR was near, and finding reasons to be around him, she’d even said a few one-liners to him. JR was always polite.

Paint Girl was a student who worked at the store during the summers. And quick note, her father worked there as well- Oh my god. Yeah. This whole time Paint Girl’s father worked at this store. Cannot believe I left that out. So add that to your perspective. Anyway, Paint Girl went back to school. JR doesn’t know how to feel, but he always tries to see the silver lining. 

JR plans to keep focusing on himself. She’ll be back. And by that time, if it’s in the cards; JR will be further into getting his life on track. He has learned the hard way that the only way he will have the life and the girl that he wants is to put personal growth above all else.

It is getting easier and more natural for JR to have positive outlooks and allow life to happen rather than force it. He loves his job and is building a great life, however he remains grateful each step of the way. He understands that all he can do is his best. And knowing that he gives his all, gives him peace of mind.