Chapter 54. Final Exams. (2/3)

Vrrrrrr. Vrrrrrr. Vrrrrrr.

Pulling me back to reality was a vibrating sound originating from the table beside us.

“My phone?” Rosa questioned. She looked to the side but had a somewhat surprised expression.

Did some boy call her and she didn’t want me to know?

“Ran… it’s… your phone ringing.”

“Huh? My phone ringing?” Who would call me? Hardly anyone had my number. I could count the people on one hand. Rosa. Definitely not her. However, there was that boy. Was it him? Had something come up? No… there’s no way he’d ever be willing to call me. The most he’d do was text me. It definitely wasn’t Alicia since I had only received her number but never contacted her or gave her mine. Unless she got it from her little brother. But… I’d told him through text not to do so. And I doubt he’d be willing to give it to her even if she asked.

Then… the only other person it could be was. Ah. This would be annoying.

“Ran, could it be you have another secret lover? I can’t imagine you have a friend who would call you.”

“Even if it’s true… you don’t have to put it like that. It’s not a secret lover though, you’re the only girlfriend I have.”

“Only girlfriend… A wife? You have a wife you haven’t told me about then, is that it?”

“No. How the hell would I be married at 15? Are you even trying to use your head?”

“Ah, you should probably answer it before they hang up.”

“They won’t hang up. I’m pretty sure I have an idea of who it is and they know me quite well. They know I wouldn’t want to answer it but they’ll keep calling until I do. The most troublesome person I don’t like dealing with is definitely on the other end of that phone call.”

I raised a trembling hand out to my phone on the table. 

“A person you find the most troublesome. Now you have me extremely curious. Who is it?”

“I have a feeling you’ll immediately understand.”

“What sort of person could possibly make you this shaken up?” Rosa couldn’t figure it out no matter how she thought it over.

I took a deep breath in and pressed the button to answer the phone. The instant the call connected two words came out, “You’re fired.”

My heart stopped for a moment when I heard that melodious voice ring out. When my brain registered her words the image of a violet-haired monster with similarly colored scary glowing eyes came to mind. A shiver ran down my back.

“Just kidding~ did your heart skip a beat when you heard my voice for the first time after so long~”

“Owner! Stop messing around! We’re not talking about heart skipping beats here. We’re talking about heart attacks! Heart attacks! You got that, you horrible mean-spirited woman!”

“How mean~ I’m not mean spirited~ it was just a little prank for one of my cute employees~”

“Wow. This is the first time I’ve seen you so animated.”

“Ah~ what was that I heard~ was that a girl? Heeeh~ a girl, a girl~ how rare of the cool-headed Ran to be with a girl~ do you have the hots for her~ tell me, tell me~ what’s your relationship~”

“I’m his girlfriend.”

“Rosa! Why’d y-”

The phone on the other end sounded like it dropped to the ground. Soon after it was picked up and an excited squeal came out from the other end “What! Heeeeh! A girlfreind~ a girlfriend she said? Is she okay? Is something wrong with her? Is she on the verge of death with one foot in the grave or something? Wait, Ran, you wouldn’t be blackmailing her, would you? That would be bad and I might get mad you know~”

“I’m not blackmailing her and she’s not a sickly girl with some strange disease in a hospital! Hah… hah… hah… Ah, I’m already tired. Too much talking. I feel light-headed already. What the hell do you want, Owner? Why are Oi calling me all of a sudden?”

“Heeeeh~ I just called to check up on my precious employee who I only just recently learned got punched in the face by some scum lord piece of shit I’ve banned from the store and will skin alive if I ever see him.”

“Scary as usual.”

“I’m just looking after my precious employees. But that’s just a side matter. The real reason I was calling was to notify you that Yuna will be moving over to the second store starting the first week after the New Year. I’ve finally finished setting up the new location and got it up and running steadily.”

“I plan to bring over some of the experienced employees there to cover some time slots I still need coverage for. Since Yuna lives a bit closer to that one, she’s moving over. But don’t be too sad, she’ll still work at the main store on Saturdays so you can at least see her then~ but it does leave a new problem for me. I need to get some pretty part-time girls as well. Preferably one who’s got a backbone and isn’t a pushover. A girl who can stand her ground. Do you happen to know anyone looking for a job that you can recommend?”

“Me! I’m looking for a job!” Rosa immediately took the opportunity to jump in.

“Oh? Is that Ran’s girlfriend?”

“Yes.”

“How old are you exactly?”

“I’ll be 16 on January 6th.”

“Oh! That’s perfect~ what a coincidence, right in time too!”

“It must be fate.”

“Hmmm~ fate, indeed. Are you able to work from 4-9 PM after school and Saturday?”

“Yeah, I can.”

“Will you have any difficulties with your studies?”

“Not one bit. I’ve actually improved quite a bit academically. I’m confident I can even get 100% on all my final exams this week.”

“Oh~ if that’s really true that would be impressive. Well, if you can manage that I’d definitely consider you after doing a proper interview to evaluate your interpersonal skills.”

“I’m pretty good with handling guys.”

“Oh! Even better~ that’s exactly the type I was looking for.”

“How does this sound? If I do hire you, I’ll let you work Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with your boyfriend. But you’ll need to work Tuesday at the second store with Yuna and Saturday will be with another new hire I’m still looking to hire to fill the remaining time slots. This would allow you to build up experience faster by working with different types of people. You’ll get Thursday and Sunday off. Oh, but I guess this arrangement depends on where you live, if you live too far away, then this arrangement would be inconvenient for you. Do you know where our stores are located?”

I opened up the map app on my phone and pointed the two locations out to her. She lived a little bit closer to the second store, but she was for the most part about equal distances away from them.

“Uh… let’s see. Yeah, I’m not too far from either of them right around the center. I’d be completely fine with it… though it’d be nice if I could have Ran to myself.” 

She tried to push for more, but the Owner chimed in, “I would love to do that~ but… that’s a no-go. I need you at the other store. Plus like I said I want you to work with different people under different circumstances to build up experience faster. But anyway~ all of this won’t matter if I don’t approve of you in person and hire you. I also need Ran to do his part in training the other new employee I’ll be looking to hire.”

“Did you already find someone?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Not yet~ I’m looking for another pretty girl. I want to get an army of pretty girls working to up sales. Just imagining the guys coming in droves to buy stuff as a result, heheheh, it’ll be great for business~”

Yes, this was the type of person the owner of the convenience store I worked for was. She put a lot of emphasis on looks.

“Oh, right, it slipped my mind, is your girlfriend pretty? If she’s not it might be a dealbreaker.”

She specially asked me rather than Rosa.

Rosa looked at me curious what I’d say about her.

I smirked and said, “I don’t know. Define pretty for me.”

“Does she make your heart skip a beat when you look at her?”

“No.”

“What~ aren’t you like the worst~ why is this pitiful girl dating such an insensitive guy like you~”

“What do you mean? You only said a beat.”

“Huh?”

“It might miss multiple beats, right?”

“Ohhhhh~ so that’s what you mean~ what a sly guy~”

Rosa kissed under my neck out of nowhere.

“Huuu~ could it be things are getting steamy on the other end of this line right now~”

“No. Nothing of the sort.”

“Awww~ how boring.”

“Still, is she pretty or not?”

“No… you can hardly call her pretty as her beauty far eclipses the lackluster term pretty.”

“If you didn’t follow up, I was just about to fire you on the spot for real~ I don’t need such a brute working for me who can’t properly compliment his precious girlfriend~”

I let out a dry laugh, “Haha… It’s a relief I did then.”

“By the way, it almost went over my head, but I just realized it. Your girlfriend… I can assume she already knew you’re working part-time, but does she also know… when your birthday is?”

I gulped nervously when I was suddenly asked that.

“What’s wrong? Is she aware of your birthday coming up near the end of March or not?”

I noticed Rosa’s eyes flash for a moment but I didn’t have the luxury to pay attention to her.

“Well~ yes~… or no?” Her tone was more serious when she said no. The playful smile on her face on the other end of the line had no doubt vanished, only to be replaced by a cold look of indifference.

“She’s aware of the circumstances... but, she’s very trustable and tight-lipped. She wouldn’t let anything slip easily.” It was a fact that I’d revealed my circumstances to her previously. It was best not to lie to the Owner, she was sharp. She was one person I couldn’t afford to be caught lying to. My life was always in her hands. Her benevolence was what kept me alive. If I truly angered her, it wasn’t something I could laugh off as I did with everyone else.

To me, her words held the utmost weight as her every little whim of hers affected my livelihood.

“You know what that means, don’t you?”

My heart sank a bit inside my chest.

“Yes. I do remember my promise with you.”

“You’re like REALLY fired~, okay?” Her ‘okay’ was once again cold unlike the playful words before it.