Chapter 6: Job Searching and Annoying Cashiers
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“So explain to me why you don’t have a car?”

Harmony and I left the house five minutes ago and now she asks that? We’re almost at the grocery store, so it’s not like it’ll matter answering her now, but it is rather annoying. 

“I work from home and go shopping once every month. Explain to me why I would need a car?”

“Don’t you ever need to bring back more stuff than you can carry?”

I shake my head. “Not really. Remember when you joked about me jacking it for six hours straight?” I flex my right arm and pretend to kiss it. “I can carry eight bags with this one hand, no problem.”

“So could I?”

“Yeah, so I bet you’re - I’m sorry what?” I look at her wide eyed. Before she could explain, I quiet her by placing a finger on her lips. Of course, I look around to see if anyone else was on the streets, but there’s no one, so finger on lip we go. “Right, I nearly forgot you broke my door down.”

She ripped my hand from her face and I nearly screamed as she tightened her grip way too hard. “That was an accident and if you didn’t panic, then none of that would have happened.” 

I shake my hand and moan my pain away. I mean, what could I really say. Yeah, if I didn’t panic, I’d still have a functioning door, but she needs to be in my position once in a while. What was I supposed to do when the person in my house turned out to be a succubus? Smile along as they casually cut off my dick and used it as a fleshlight?

Before I go off on her like the man I am, I spot the grocery store nearby. Although I could barely call it a grocery store. In truth, it was just a rundown building on the side of the road that sold groceries right near the expiration date, but for a dirt cheap price. 

To be honest, I’m surprised the place stayed open for as long as it has. It breaks almost every health violation known to man, but the workers supposedly get treated fairly and the food’s technically still good, so the doors stay wide open. 

I always come by this place to shop since all a person needs to do to get their money’s worth is to buy the canned stuff, then for anything that can go bad within the week, stuff it in the fridge. Bread is notorious for perishing fairly quickly past its date, but putting it in the fridge can extend it by a day or even an entire week. 

Another reason I come here is because almost no one buys shit here. Usually someone’ll shop here once, realize they were practically scammed, then never come back again. Because of that, there’s usually only two or three people in the store at a time, not counting the employees, of course. 

“We’re here.” I announce, but before we can head into the parking lot, Harmony touches my shoulder. I look at her and see she’s pointing toward the building on the other side of the street.

“That place is hiring.” Harmony says.

I look at the window and see a help wanted sign taped inside the building, its bold red letters sticking out compared to the white cardboard. At first, I didn’t recognize the place, then my headache sprung back into action and the store came back to me.

“That’s an antique store. I got an anime figurine from there once.” I still have it sitting right next to my computer to this very day. She is truly best girl, even if the author of the light novel is going a different direction with the love interest.

“You think they’d hire me?” 

“Depends on the position. It’s an antique store, so you’d likely have to judge items for their value.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” I could tell she wasn’t listening to me. Her eyes locked onto the help wanted sign and refused to look away. “Why don’t we meet up later. I’m going to check the place out.”

She looked both ways down the street and booked it before the nearest car ran her over. I stand frozen and see her enter the building and disappear as soon as the door closes. Shrugging, I make my way into the grocery store and begin my pillaging.

***

The door closes behind me, separating me from Ty for the brief instant. I didn’t know how he would behave doing something he’s uncomfortable with, but this isn’t his first time leaving his home. He should be fine. 

Inside the store was shelves upon shelves of little knickknacks, trinkets, and whatchamacallits. Paintings hung from the walls with a price stickered underneath and pottery lay in protective cases away from the prying hands of children.

“Welcome. How can I help you?” I turn toward the voice and see a woman standing behind a counter. 

She wore a vest that was coated in some sort of chalk, and underneath that vest was a white shirt that exposed a bit of her cleavage. Long, blond hair dipped all the way to the base of her neck and her breasts, I mean, her breasts, I mean, come on, look at those things!

I haven’t eaten in so long my brain was having a hard time looking away from those walking tumors that swayed around, taunting me, begging me to grab them and plunge my face in between those beautiful mounds. 

“You okay?” 

I shake my head, my hunger episode fading away. “What?”

“You were staring off into the void of space.”

“I’m good.” I’m not good, not good at all. If my hunger damages this for me, for the love of god, I’ll just let myself go insane. “I just saw the help wanted sign and wanted to know if I could apply for the position.”

“Oh, you’re nervous.” A grin shows itself as she leaves the comfort of the counter and oh my lordy, Jesus. 

She was wearing pants, but not the bad pants that flattens everything or too baggy to show nothing. It was the type of pants that was soft to the touch and designed in a way to accentuate the buttocks in the most alluring way possible. She took off her vest and laid it on the counter, making it even harder to keep my hunger in check. A slight, but not too showoffy, camel toe pops off between her legs. She had to be aware of this. There’s no way she’s not.

“Wow, you're way more nervous than I expected.” 

I take a deep breath and look at her straight in the eye. “Sorry ma’am.” I could have sworn I heard my voice deepen.

“No worries.” She holds out her hand. “The name’s Miranda Vinkle.”

I take her hand and we give a slight shake. “Harmony Wright.” As Ty and I walked here, I ran through all the potential fake last names to give myself. I don’t know why I chose Wright, but it just sounded right to me.

“Can we go in the back for the interview?”

“Already? Wouldn’t I need to wait for you to check a resume first?”

“Normally, yes, but we’re just looking for a cashier. It’s just me here and when things get hectic, it’s hard for me to appraise and check them out all at the same time.” She held a finger to her chin for a second, then looked back at me. “Can you count?” 

“Yes?” I said, not knowing where she was going with this.

“Can you use a computer and cash register?”

“Yes, and yes.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Want the job?”

“Wait, you’re seriously just gonna give me the job like that?” 

“So you don’t want it?”

“Yes, I do.” I yell before she can change her mind.

“Can you start tomorrow?”

I nod my head, and she returns with a warming smile. “Nice.”

She walks away and I realize that I’m now left with all this free time. Ty’s definitely not done shopping yet, and it may be a good idea to get a look around the place I’ll be working for the next coming days.

“You mind if I look around. I’m waiting for someone.”

Miranda nods. “Sure, knock yourself out. Just don’t break anything. Some of this stuff is worth more than your organs will sell for.” 

***

I walk up to the cashier with a full buggy of a variety of different groceries. Normally I wouldn’t splurge so much, but with Harmony she could help me carry back some of this stuff with that super strength of hers. All I have to do now is get by the cashier without any problems arising. 

Pay and leave. Give my money and proceed. Exchange of goods, and get out the hood. Break the bank, then leave the skank. 

As I’m waiting behind the only person who was shopping in here besides myself, I notice something interesting about the cashier. I usually remember faces decently well, but this girl was someone I’ve never seen before. 

Her tanned skin and slight latino accent were completely new to me. The last time I ever saw a latino girl was in a porn game, so every time she talked to the person in front of me it reminded me of when I ground that 8-bit latino pussy to dust. I mean that in the most literal sense. It was one weird ass game.

And she talked a lot too. She talked to the man as if she had known him from birth, but from his mannerisms, I could tell he was off put by her, even if slightly amused. I’m going to have to deal with that next, and the dread just piled up more and more the more she talked.

“So I told her she ain’t gonna talk to me like that, and she had the gall to slap me.”

“That sounds like a rough night.”

“Yeah, but one make-out session later and we became friends again.”

“You need to invite me to one of your parties then if that’s the stuff that happens.” 

Slowly but surely, the man was getting into the groove of the conversation. Before, when he would go half a minute without speaking, now he was interjecting with his own thoughts and stories to tell. Can those two just get a room and get an actual employee out here?

The woman rings up his last item and repeats the total. He pays and they both walk away, new phone numbers in each hand that they will probably use to hook up later from the way the conversation was going at the end. 

I walk up to the cashier and her dark brown eyes look straight into mine right off the bat. I break eye contact, but it seemed like she didn’t even notice.

“Hello, how’s your day been?”

“Fine.” Come on, Ty, just keep it to the small stuff. One-word answers are usually enough to tip a person off that they don’t want to have a conversation. 

She rings my first item and pauses before putting them in the bag. I look to see what the problem is and I see her glaring at me. 

“Have I seen you around before?”

“No.” How in the hell could she know me. Unless? No, a girl like her wouldn’t be one of them.

“What’s your name? I’m Karina Illia.”

God dammit. Now that she told me her name, I’ll just come off as rude if I don’t return the favor. I mean, there’s no one else around, but I shop here all the time. Who’s to say that this’ll be my last time seeing her.

“Ty.” That’s the strategy. Just keep it to my first name. There’s no way that she’ll guess my last name with a fairly standard first name.

“Wait, a second.” She paused before scanning the next item. Dammit woman, will you just do your job! “Is your last name Peon.” 

GOD DAMMIT!

“Oh my god, that’s why you seemed so familiar! You’re Ty Peon!” She squealed one of the most fan girly squeals I’ve ever heard in my life. I look around the store, and thankfully, there really is no one else here. “I can’t believe the Ty Peon is here.”

“Look, Karina, I get you must be a fan of my books, but can you please not just scream my name out like that? It’ll be really embarrassing if anyone were in here.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Her face flushed, and she began working again, this time going a million times faster. “I’ve just been a big fan of your books ever since I read your first masterpiece.” I wouldn’t really call it a masterpiece, but I couldn’t help but nod along in acceptance.

“I wouldn’t really take you as a reader at first glance.” I say.

“What, just because I talk a lot that means I don’t like to enjoy a good book? Extroverts can read too, you know.”

“Sorry.”

“No offense taken, sir. Let me get you out of here so you can get back to working on your second masterpiece.”

I sigh, wondering how she would react if I told her I hadn’t even begun the first letter of my third book. Then again, from how she’s acting toward me, she’d probably just shrug her shoulders and take it like an adult. Then again, a person never shows their true colors on the first meeting. 

However, she began working on the double, finally shutting up for once and doing her job. If she keeps this job, then I’m going to have to deal with her every single time and I don’t know if my little heart can take that.

She finished bagging my stuff, and I had a full buggy full of groceries. I checked my receipt, saw everything was in order, and went to leave. Before I could, Karina spoke up once more. Just when I thought I was out.

“Is your next book going to be like the first one?”

I look at her. She looks at me. We look at each other. I look at myself. I see my brain. It’s trying to find an answer that it doesn’t want to say.

“Maybe.” 

I leave the store and hope to whatever god is in the sky that I won’t have to meet her again. It was already enough dealing with a chatty girl, but her being a fan of my work is a huge problem. 

As soon as I leave, I’m home free. All I have to do is wait for Harmony and we can go back to my home and I can get back to thinking of dumbass story ideas.

I see a woman walking up to the store. She also reminded me of someone I’ve seen before. It wasn’t Harmony. Harmony doesn’t have blazing red hair and eyes that are the same color of summer grass. 

We both meet eye contact and the world falls before us as old memories start flooding back to me. 

“Ty?”

“Jessica?”

GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!

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