Familiar face

I was staring at him carefully and trying to remember where I saw him when a chubby lady jumped on me and the little girl and started thanking me with tears and wailing ... I was on the verge of breaking!

"Ma'am ... ma'am, please get up ... Ma'am, you're crushing your daughter and my friend! They need some breathing space, Ma'am!"

Harry tried to convince the worried mother to get up from us, and I tried to agree with him by giving him a thumb up, but I couldn't move a muscle! It took a while, but Harry finally managed to convince the lady to get up from me and gave her, her child and she finally decided to step away from me, after a lot of crying and appreciation. Jesus...my back was killing me!

"Louis? Louis ... My God, how are you feeling? Are you ok? Louis ... thank god! Get up honey...get up and let me see that you're ok! Oh my god..."

Terrified, Robin came forward to lift me, but Harry acted sooner and grabbed my arm and lifted me very easily as if I was a feather! As soon as he let go of my arm, Robin clung to me and began to check my body to see if I was injured or not!

All the first-floor sellers were there and the security guards were trying to dispel the crowd and I was embarrassed as hell, when I saw Ashton and Michael and the rest of my friends, trying to come forward anxiously. Everyone was worried, but Robin was in the worst condition, she was pale and clinging to me anxiously and terrified, so I tried to show her with a smile that I was fine!

"I'm fine, mom ... nothing bad has happened! Only my shoulder may get bruised a little, so if you please give me some space, I'll really appreciate it! Besides, you're worrying everyone. The whole store is watching...I'm fine, I promise!"

I whispered softly with a smile, and she quickly stepped away from me and nodded on the verge of crying!

"I'm sorry honey, I panicked! Are you sure you're fine? Do you want to go to the hospital?"

"No, mom, I hate hospitals and you know that! I'm fine, I swear I'm not hurt, thanks to my punctual friend, of course!" I looked at him with gratitude but he just shook his head with a smile.

"It was nothing, I'm just glad that I could help!"

Harry answered modestly, and I wanted to tell him that he didn't have to be so humble when Mr. Brown stood beside me and clapped my shoulder with a smile, and I held my breath, pain was dancing through my bones like a damn snake... Ouch...it hurt!

"Are you sure you're ok? Robin or I can take you to the hospital right now for a general check-up, you don't have to worry about anything, and the store will cover the cost." Mr. Brown offered sincerely and it warmed my heart, he was such a nice guy!

"Believe me, I am fine and I don't need a checkup or going to the hospital. I am just very tired and I need to sit down for a bit!"

When I mentioned that I needed to rest my legs a little, it was as if a new idea came to his mind because he took a step forward and stared at me with shining eyes ... He really wanted to help me in any way he could!

"You can go home ... The boss is not in the store at the moment, but I'm sure if he was here, he would give you a week off, because of what you did! You can go home, son!"

His offer tickled my shoulders and legs, which were begging me to accept his offer, and made me think about it for a few seconds, but when I did remember that if I go home alone, definitely all I do is to overthink about the recent events, my rare stupidity and what I did to Liam, I quickly regretted it and shook my head... fuck no!

"No, thank you! I rather stay in the store a little longer. I'm fine, all I need to do is to sit down and take a few deep breaths!"

With a kind smile, he patted my back and brought his head a little closer to mine, so I could hear his whispers.

"You can do whatever you want, Louis, because you're our favorite employee and you know that too! Besides, I never thought you would have such power! This amount of strength doesn't fit your body at all...It's quite true that no one should be judged by their appearance! They seem very heavy!"

All I could do was smile through pain! What was with the back-slapping? He was a really lucky guy that I liked him enough to hold myself back from biting his fingers off!

"Thank you Mr. Brown ... they weren't that heavy!"

"I should be thanking you! You can go now ... go and rest for a while, you can go home whenever you need to rest!"

By the time Mr. Brown left, the crowd around us had almost dispersed, and everyone was back to their work under the pressure of the security team, but Robin was still beside me... clinging to my hand and on the verge of crying!

Having Robin was my closest experience to having a mother, and seeing her concern about my health was the most lovable feeling that I could feel at that moment, but I didn't want her to worry about me for no reason, so I smiled a little and caressed her arm!

"Don't worry Robin, I'm fine!"

"You could've been crushed under those shelves! Wooden shelves are usually heavy ... are you crazy? What would I do if something bad happened to you?" She whispered angrily, and when I saw her wet eyes, my chest felt heavier, but if I didn't do something, that little girl would undoubtedly die!

"Calm down mom, everyone is looking at us! Can we talk about it later? I told you, I'm ok, and the shelves weren't that heavy. You saw it too that even someone as thin as me was able to hold them back ... Now I want to go up to see my colleagues and show them that I'm not dead yet! We will talk about it tonight. Deal?"

She nodded with a small smile, and I suddenly remembered why I had come looking for Robin in the first place! "By the way, why did you want to see me?"

"Go and rest, for now, darling ... we'll talk about it at home."

"You sure?"

"Of course! Go see your friends." She winked at me and her efforts to make me feel better, made me smile!

I kissed her cheek softly and went towards the stairs. It was a strange feeling ... I thought I got used to everyone staring at me but it still felt strange ... Maybe it was because no one was making fun of me this time!

"You're the definition of "Don't judge a book by its cover." buddy!" Surprised, I turned to Harry who was walking beside me. My brows jumped up...I didn't even notice his tall figure!

"They were not that..."

"They were...they were heavy! I was there too, so you don't have to lie to me. Ok?"

When I felt there was someone who could sympathize with me, I smiled deeply and glanced around to make sure there was no one that could hear us!

"You're right! They were so damn heavy! What do they fill those shelves with? Cement? I think I'm going to have a really hard time with my shoulder muscle cramp tonight!" When I nagged miserably, he laughed softly and put his hair behind his ear...

"My arm hurts a little too. Most of the pressure was on you ... you did very well, if you weren't there it wouldn't have been clear what would have happened to that little girl!"

I smiled with a good feeling ... I kind of enjoyed his compliment! I usually don't like anyone to compliment me, but ... his compliment was like a cool breeze blowing in your face in the middle of summer!

"Thank you ... if you weren't there, I didn't know how long I could hold myself. You were just on time... and like usual, no one knows where the hell the security guards are, whenever we need them! They're just good for dispersing the crowd! "

He laughed softly, but quickly bit his lips and scrunched his nose to stop his laughter, and his funny reaction made me laugh too...he was so cute!

"Go on like this, and you'll look like a forty-year-old man, in your mid-twenties! Laugh, buddy!"

He nodded with a smile and offered his hand to me." By the way...my name is Harry!"

I didn't like to touch other people but he saved my ass earlier, so I shook his hand and gave him one of my brightest smiles!" Louis, it's so nice to meet you but...mm...You look SO familiar to me! Have we met each other somewhere before?"

It was as if he was shocked by my question for a moment, but he smiled quickly and shook his head!" I don't think so...I mean, not face to face! Maybe you saw me in a mall or the subway?"

I thought about it for a few seconds and finally shrugged when my memory froze again! "Maybe! Come on, I work in this section...come and meet my friends..."

"Alright."

When we entered the hall and my friends noticed me, they left the customers in the blink of an eye and attacked me and hung from my head, face, and neck to make sure I was fine! Everyone was talking at the same time and expecting me to answer them all separately!

Sam:" Are you ok? I heard a shelf fell on you!"

Joanna: "Did you get hurt? What was going on?"

Michael: "Are you sure you're ok? Do you want to go to the hospital?"

Clara: "I heard a scream, Louis ... let me examine you, maybe you're hurt but you can't tell for sure where!"

Ashton: "Are you ok, boss? What happened? Is it true a shelf fell on you? So how did you not get crushed?"

I tried to explain to them with a smile and calmness, that I'm fine, but their voices were so loud that they couldn't even hear me!

"Guys...guys come on! You're crushing me...guys..." I wanted to shout to make them shut up, but someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me out of the circle of my worried friends! I felt dizzy for a moment by the pressure that was put on me, when someone grabbed my side and held me steady ...Oh ... my savior!

"Please stop. You are bothering him!" Harry's serious and firm tone made them back off and I nodded with satisfaction, sometimes you have to be serious to control them! I stepped aside from him and his hand slipped from my side. Ok...that was weird!

"Thanks, man!"

"Are you ok Louis?"

Surprised by her scared voice, I raised my head and my eyes widened! The girls were pale with fear and the boys were confounded and the customers were silent as a rock! Well...Harry's voice was a little harsh but...was he that scary? I raised my head and saw Harry's thick frown and got my answer ... Yup, he was scary!