A pain rang itself through Oliver's thick skull like the bitter ringing of a school bell. Hot searing agony nested behind his eyes and his brain felt as if it were melting. Memories of yesterday scattered like dust in the wind leaving behind only a strange and hollow sense of deja vu with the only solid recollection he possessed being that pink-haired girl's resume being handed to Brad, one of the managers. Brad hadn't even given it a precursory glance, instead being too engrossed in his phone responding to his ex who had texted him recently out of the blue. A classic case of rebound apparently. Oliver massaged his head as he walked down the last stretch of sidewalk before that beautiful right turn where Buck and Run came into view. Oliver's eyes narrowed at the desiccated parking lot where the rival dollar store also came into view, known as Buck Wild. Oliver was mostly sure it too was a dollar store somehow even more popular than the one he worked at, however, he was very confused as to why it sported blackout curtains in every window and had questionable music playing loudly until at least 3 A.M. Even more intriguing was the fact that Jessica had strictly forbade him from ever entering the building on grounds that it would be considered treason, yet Oliver often spotted Juan running across the street and heading inside during his lunch breaks. When asked about this Juan would usually smile (a rarity in and of itself) and simply proclaim that he was "scoping out the competition" whatever that was supposed to mean. Oliver gritted his teeth as he walked past the mysterious building. Today would be the day its secrets would be unraveled! He too would stop by on his lunch break. After all, what the hell could they possibly be selling in there that would convince anybody to listen to that loud music for hours on end?
Oliver waited patiently outside the locked doors of Buck and Run for Juan to let him inside. After getting settled, tidying up his station, reorganizing those damn candy bars again, and being disappointed that Jessica didn't get into a multi-car pile-up on her way to work. (There normal everyday pleasantries) Oliver began to count down the minutes anxiously until his lunch break finally arrived. His plans however were thwarted immediately, when Jessica grabbed the back of his shirt reflexively as he attempted to nonchalantly walk out the front store entrance.
"You never leave the building for your lunch breaks... What are you up to Ollie?" Jessica's cold analytical stare cut straight into him, hurting almost as much as the pet name she sometimes seldom used. Approximately two minutes and a confession later Jessica decided to suddenly take her lunch break as well. After practically dragging Oliver to the back room, past the Honor Wall, where the two sat in an almost awkward silence next to each other.
"I just wanted to see what they were selling! Juan goes over there all the time!" Oliver angrily unwrapped a homemade baloney sandwich as he ranted.
"You know Oliver..." Jessica's voice changed to a low tone that Oliver had never heard come out of her before and he thought he saw her cheeks turning slightly red. "We could go there together if you want, wouldn't even charge you for my time."
Oliver sighed and placed his sandwich down on the table with a dejected and dramatic motion. "It's fine, they probably just have normal dollar store stuff honestly, like candy."
Jessica brushed a part of her hair out of her eyes and tucked it away behind her ear as she looked away defeated and angry, not that Oliver noticed. "Oh, I'm sure they have Candy." Her voice seemed almost sardonic and adopted a harsher tone as she then uttered "Idiot." before biting into her store-bought sub sandwich. The awkward silence returned for a good ten minutes before Jessica broke it.
"Just so you know, that pink-haired girl starts tomorrow! Juan was very impressed with her resume. I guess he called her right after reading it and is rushing her hiring process." Oliver wasn't positive but Jessica seemed to be angrily choking the life out of what little of her sandwich remains. "The plan right now is that you'll be training her on register."
"We train people?" Oliver asked genuinely confused as he remembered his first day. Juan had given him a fist bump and then left him alone for four hours while an elderly lady tried to claim she had an employee discount because she had worked there forty-one years ago. It took Oliver three of the four hours to figure out that she was joking and he later learned the elderly lady was Juan's mother who loved stopping by to prank new employees. She even had a fake nametag and everything.
Jessica stood up and cleaned her side of the table before discarding her trash. "We do now I guess." She then walked out to spend the remainder of her lunch somewhere hidden. Oliver finished up his food and prepared for the rest of his shift. He couldn't help but feel like he had said or done something wrong, especially when he later saw Jessica coming out of the bathroom with red eyes, the small amount of makeup she wore had been smeared as well.
Oliver winced as she avoided him the rest of the day. He was never good at understanding other people... but something told him he was going to have to learn by tomorrow.
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