Okay, the rumor was false. While at my register when E was nearby, I told him I heard rumors about him leaving. His response "Well, I'm leaving tonight at 7..
" and I said "I meant leaving the store for good" and he said "As far as I know I'm not going anywhere, but <the assistant store director> is leaving. Even if I were leaving, you'd be the last to find out.. need to get as many donations out of you as possible
"
And no, I'm not embarrassed. I just wish I knew if it were him pushing me further and him doing his job really well, or if he really meant anything behind it. Why do you say he has a big crush on me? If he were, as guestfuse pointed out, just doing his job to get the best performance out of me, he may just be trying to improve my mood so I can do better at work (and thus, be a better manager overall).
Now, as for tonight's events (which only lasted from 5pm to 7pm, and I worked until 1am as usual):
As soon as I walked in to clock in for my shift, E tailed behind me and asked if I was 'ready to be the savior today'. Yeah, they're (the managers) seriously relying on me to get donations now. Particularly E, and he doesn't even manage the front end. When I did my 'I'm here to deliver World Class Service to the Front End" announcement after clocking in, E went over to me as I was signing the schedule packet (regarding my sign-in confirmation) and said "Hey Mr. Angel..", then had me go over my service routine (which the managers rarely do with me anymore since I tend to be practically perfect at my job, though E going over our service wasn't anything special). I was in a really cheerful mood today, partly because E was around (he brightens my day.. not even kidding). I went over my service routine as a cashier, and was super-enthusiastic about it - "Politely and happily greet the customer, ask if they have their reward card, ask for donation, ask if they need a carry-out if they have twooooo or more bags, leave a super friendly parting comment and thank by name!" I smiled while I spoke out my process, and E said "You got it..", then went over how many donations we had, needed, etc.
Up until he left for the evening, he and I kept close tabs on how many donations I made, how many we had to go, etc. I guess because I generally seem to care (and on top of that, do very well as getting them), he appreciates and focuses on me a lot more. He also invented this 'Power Hour' idea, what he dubbed our increase in business during an hour or two and trying to take advantage of getting more donations. He kept chanting 'Power Hour' to us, and I responded by shouting it back at him. He really seemed to like this, so we kept doing that. If he was way off in the distance and looked at me, he'd raise his arm in the air as a 'power hour' suggestion, and I'd do the same back to him; this made him smile.
In fact, the 2 hours I worked with him tonight, I was in such a great mood (to which I'm still unsure of why) that I kept my eyes on him almost constantly. Even if he noticed me looking at him, I didn't dare look away. Usually he'd end up staring back, or doing a 'power hour' motion with his arm raised in the air, or smiling at me. And of course, I smiled back.
When he left at 7, he told each person goodbye as he passed by. Though he didn't call me 'mr. angel', he said "See you later Michael.. you did a great job". I stared at him and gave a huge smile, said goodbye, and locked eyes with him as he was walking away; he kept his eyes focused on mine for about 3-4 seconds before I looked away to check and see if there was a customer in my line. He didn't smile back, but rather a blank expression.. almost like he was analyzing me. I was almost tempted to wink at him.. maybe I should have.
Despite all the 'what-if's' in response to things like this, again.. he may just be doing his job really well as a manager, and enjoying me as a somewhat favorite employee, but not necessarily 'interested' in me. It's hard to tell, and I can't simply ask him without risking sexual harassment. The dilemma....