Valentine melted into the crowd, dissolving like a sudden breath into a bitter December gust of wind as her wristwatch continued counting down from the start of those oh-so-precious seven minutes. She then summoned her bow and began to furiously knock arrows like a mad woman, first one and then two until her entire quiver of seven was ready to fire in one angry (he'll either love or die!) barrage. The last and only time in history some poor fool was hit with more than one arrow at a time. The event was recreated into a stage play and the whole thing ended in pointless tragedy.
"TAKE THIS!!!" Valentine's voice squeaked in a feverish pitch (not that anyone could hear her currently) as she let all seven heart-tipped arrows fly with reckless abandonment. The arrows launched from the wicked curve of her bow and magically began weaving through the dense crowd until they slammed into Oliver's chest. A direct hit! Thankfully his body was built for register duty and not for tanking love arrows. Valentine's nemesis doubled over mid-transaction and it was only once the unhinged screaming started that she truly realized the consequences of what she had just done as people began leaving the lines of the other open registers to join Oliver's. Unfortunately, as the line suddenly swelled things took a violent turn.
"Hey! I was here first!"
"I wish he'd scan me like those coupons..."
"Look at the way he's bagging those groceries! So forceful and direct..."
"God, I'd let him open me like he does that register..."
"What have I done?!" Valentine's hands began shaking as she watched the scene slowly devolve into uncensored chaos. People began punching, kicking, and biting each other until every eligible bachelor within half a mile abandoned all that made them civilized and bore down their unrequited love onto the poor defenseless dollar store cashier. Valentine had always wondered how harems were made.
"Oliver?! What the hell is going on out here?" Juan had popped his head out from the safety of the manager's office. He had to practically scream his voice hoarse to be heard over the crazed fawnings of the out-of-control rioters.
"The customers are thirsty sir! And I'm an unopened bottle of pure spring water!" Oliver's voice was colored with every shade of raw panic imaginable as he was violently pulled toward the unsatiable mass of morning shoppers. "Please, sir! Not like this! My mother warned me this would happen!" Oliver's voice screamed out hopelessly, reaching several octaves higher than ever before in his life as he was slowly dragged under. As Oliver disappeared from view Juan slowly shut the door to the manager's office. A soft click sounded moments later as he locked it. The rioting continued until the store's calming background music was drowned out by a crescendo of inhuman screams coupled with the sounds of unchecked wanton destruction. It only took mere minutes for the entirety of Buck and Run to be reduced almost entirely to rubble. A soft chime began to play from Valentine's wristwatch as her seven minutes of magic neared its end.
"I'd... I'd better reset and try again tomorrow..." Flames raced across the open wounds of what remained of the store as they danced in Valentine's eyes. She stared dumbfounded at her own handiwork and fidgeted with her wristwatch, turning the outside dial counterclockwise. Time began rewinding itself until it reached the point where she had activated her magic before the last of it died like her hopes and dreams. She walked away from Oliver's register again after just having handed him her application. She couldn't stop herself from thinking that she might have to take the idea seriously if her dad ended up firing her.
Valentine walked outside the store and into the rain, determined to try again tomorrow but almost certain she'd fail again.
"Eighty-nine days to go."
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