Cringeworthy

Matthew always considered himself to be a verbal ninja, but every time I heard him talk, all I wanted to do was cringe.  I had trained myself to stay away from the full body cringe. 

“You know, I’d never thought I’d see you in a place like this.”  I heard Matthew’s voice from behind me and I hoped my reaction wasn’t too obvious.  I couldn’t help but have a negative reaction every time I heard his voice.  Now he was here.  In my bookstore. 

“I own this store.  You know I do.”  I turned to face Matthew and hoped he would just disappear.  “What can I do for you today?” 

“I’m just here to look around.”  Matthew casually looked around my small bookstore like he had never read a book before.  I’m still not sure why he picked my store out of all the booksellers in town.  I know he’s here for something else.  There has to be a reason he is in my store.  I just needed to figure out why. 

“Let me know if I can help.”  I turned around and tried to get away from him as soon as I could.  I hoped he would either get the hint or get bored and leave.  When I turned the corner ten minutes later, I had a split second to stop myself from running straight into Matthew.  By the smile he had on his face, I knew he was turning on his charm and age-old bullshit.