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“Good morning, everyone!—oh.” Pim registered the empty break room, and his cheery greeting faltered. He wasn’t late. Pim assumed he was running late, but he arrived earlier than expected. It looked like the blurry haze he woke up in meant he failed to read the clock correctly.
Oh, well. Being early isn’t a problem, Pim thought, and he sat at the table. After noticing a bowl on the table, he brought it closer and narrowed his eyes, scrutinising the contents.
Ah, it's a bowl of peanuts, Pim realised. He knew that the hurried piece of toast he had that morning wouldn’t suffice. A growl came from Pim’s stomach, and he eyed the bowl.
A few peanuts wouldn’t hurt.
Pim knew that he needed glasses. What he didn’t know was that he was snacking on Allan’s compost worms for the second time.
The break room door opened, and Pim turned around in his chair to see Allan walk in. He was wearing his gardening apron instead of his usual tie. “Good morning, Allan!”
“Morning,” Allan said, giving Pim a cursory glance. He went to the fridge and searched the top with his hand.
“Hmm…I usually leave it up here,” Allan mumbled under his breath.
“Did you lose something?” Pim asked.
“Yes, I lost my bowl of compost—” Allan turned around to look at Pim, and his eyes widened as he stared at him. “Worms. Pim, what the hell? You’re eating my worms again. Give that back.”
Pim looked at the bowl with wide eyes and let Allan take it. He turned a deep red. “Oh—I’m sorry! It’s just that they were on the table, and I thought—”
“That they were peanuts?”
“Yeah,” Pim said, looking down.
Allan sighed, and before he could say anything else, Charlie walked in with a yawn. Pim perked up after noticing Charlie and smiled.
“Good morning, Charlie!” Pim exclaimed, “Are you ready for another day of making people smile?”
Charlie pulled out a chair and sat down, wanting nothing more than to be tucked in bed. He looked at Pim, who was still smiling at him and scratched the back of his neck.
“Uh, yeah. I’m just really tired.”
“Speaking of tired,” Allan interjected, “I’m tired of Pim eating my compost worms. I’m going to go gardening now. Bye.”
And with that, Allan left, leaving Pim and Charlie alone in the break room.
“Wait,” Charlie said, “you thought the worms were peanuts again? You really need glasses, dude.”
“It’s not that bad, Charlie.”
“Yes, it is! How do you even mistake worms for peanuts?” Charlie sighed. “Alright, let me test you. How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Umm.” Pim squinted as he tried to distinguish Charlie’s fingers through the blurriness. “Is it four?”
“No, it was five. See, it is bad.”
“I mean, I was close enough,” Pim mumbled.
“Look, man,” Charlie glanced away for a moment, “I just…I don’t want anything seriously bad to happen, you know? Like, what if you were driving, and then—”
“You know I don’t drive anymore.”
“What if you had to because of an emergency or something?”
“I know, I know, you’re right,” Pim said, “I’ll book an appointment with the optometrist today after work, then.”
Charlie smiled. “Alright. Make sure you don’t forget, though. Should I, uh—should I send you a text after work to remind you or something?”
“I appreciate it.” Pim smiled. “But don’t worry, I won’t forget. Especially not after eating Allan’s worms for the second time.”
And just like that, Pim found himself sitting before the dreaded eye test. He failed, of course, and Pim was even sincerely congratulated by the weird optometrist for having one of the worst prescriptions he’d ever seen in his ten years of working in the field.
Pim swallowed hard as he sorted through the available frames, feeling hesitant about getting glasses, especially because he was bullied out of wearing glasses in his youth. It took a while, but Pim finally found a flattering frame he liked. Pim collected the glasses when they were ready, and putting them on was like an epiphany.
When Pim left the optometrist building, he stared at the trees, noticing how he could now see each individual leaf. After realising that he must’ve looked goofy staring at the same tree for a good few minutes, he made his way home.
The next day, after waking up, Pim put his glasses on, and as a result, he wasn’t too late to work—nor too early. Just on time. Perfect!
He stood before the closed break room door and sucked in a sharp breath. Why am I so nervous? They’re just glasses. It's not like anyone will care, Pim thought.
With that comforting thought in mind, he entered the room, and Charlie’s voice died down as he stopped talking to Allan, turning around to look at Pim enter. Allan was at the counter making coffee, and he looked at Pim with an unreadable expression. Even Glep looked up from his screen.
“Wow, you finally got glasses,” Allan said, breaking the short silence, “they suit you.”
Glep said something about the glasses looking good, and Pim smiled.
“Thanks, guys,” Pim said, but he noticed how Charlie kept staring at him. Does he not like them? Nevertheless, Pim sat down next to Charlie, and Charlie must’ve realised that he’d been staring as he cleared his throat and drummed his hands on the table.
“So, no more mistaking worms for peanuts, huh?” Charlie chuckled, and Pim laughed a little too.
“Yeah, I guess those days are over now.”
Even though Pim diverted his gaze to the television, he noticed Charlie’s small glances at him every now and then in his peripheral vision. It looked like he was about to say something, and he looked at Charlie.
“Hm?” Pim said, and after scrutinising Charlie’s face, he noticed that he was a little red. The blush was subtle, but Pim noticed it.
“Oh, uh, I wasn’t going to say anything,” Charlie said.
“Oh.”
After a moment of silence, Charlie piped up again.
“Well, actually,” he rubbed the back of his neck, “I was going to say that, uh…”
Pim waited, and Charlie glanced away again before continuing.
“I was just going to say that you look really great—good in glasses, man. I mean, you always look good, but what I mean is—” Charlie stammered as his voice faltered, “I mean, I think your new glasses look good on you.”
Charlie’s words made Pim’s eyes widen, and he failed to ignore the heat creeping up his face at the sudden compliment.
He expected a small indifferent shrug from Charlie and maybe a half-hearted comment about the glasses so Pim wouldn’t feel bad. He wasn’t expecting such a heartfelt compliment. Well, Pim wasn’t one to complain.
“Wow, th-thanks,” Pim said, “I wasn’t expecting you to like them.”
“Oh, uh, look,” Charlie said, changing the subject, “I think the alien is about to do that spin you’re always telling me about,” he said, pointing at the television.
“No, that happened a few minutes ago. You missed it.”
“How—what? How did I miss the spin again? Dammit,” Charlie said, and Pim stifled a laugh.
“Well, maybe it was because you kept glancing at me.”
“...Was it that obvious?”
“Yes.” Allan interrupted before taking a sip of coffee. “Even I noticed.”
Charlie stayed silent as Allan talked to Pim.
“It’s not surprising. Charlie’s ex wore glasses.”
“What the hell, Allan?” Charlie blurted, “What are you trying to say?”
“Well, what I’m trying to say is that you have a thing for glasses—”
“Oh, that’s it—”
Pim noticed Glep frown and put his headphones on when Allan and Charlie got into a heated argument about glasses, but he only felt relief despite the clashing voices. He looked at Charlie and felt glad that he liked his new glasses—it made his entire week. But Pim pushed aside the newfound fluttering in his chest to focus on the task at hand: breaking up a silly argument.