Aurora's Alpha

CHAPTER 3

Rory POV

Just another hour left of this shift and then I can get the fuck out of this building. I was 7 hours into an 8 hour shift. But need I remind you this is no ordinary shift, no this is a shift in retail. A shift no human should suffer unless served as a punishment. The work load itself isn't too bad it's the customers that have me wanting to blow my brains out - which yes sounds extreme but it's the little things that frustrate me. Like a lady asked me a couple of hours ago where our candy aisle was while stood with her back directly parallel to said candy aisle. The stupidity I witness on a daily basis in this store baffles me.

Just one hour, just one hour, jus-

I wasn't even allowed the privilege to finish my chant.

"Excuse me" I turn with a fake smile on my face to be met with a man a little too close to my liking so subconsciously I subtly step back to get my personal space back.

"Yes how can I help?" I said in a sickly sweet voice. God I don't even recognise it as me.

"I found this-" he holds up a jar of peanut butter "here" he points to an empty space on a shelf beside us "so I'm requesting that I get for the price I thought it was when I picked it up" my brows furrowed slightly trying to analyse the words he just threw at me. I turn to look at the ticket he was gesturing to and it read 'jet-puffed mini marshmallows $1.76' he's got to be joking. Looking at his face I can tell he's deadly serious.

"May I?" I hold my hand out for the peanut butter and he 'kindly' shoved it into my hand and if he wasn't watching me as closely as he was I would have rolled my eyes. I hold up my scanner to the barcode and the 'beep' noise fills the silence around us. Reading the screen I sigh knowing this was not going to go down well "this says that the skippy peanut butter is..." I read off the screen "$5.58 so I'm really sorry but I can't sell it for any cheaper than store price, I sincerely apologise for the inconvenience" I muster my most sympathetic facial expression I can despite the fact I couldn't give two shits.

"Where is a manager? I want to speak to the person in charge" a small unnoticeable smirk crawls up my face thankful I'm not the one who gets to deal with this

"I'll get her right away" I smile a genuine smile strolling through the back and to the manager office where I find 'the person in charge' Jackie. "Hey Jackie there's a guy in aisle 4 wanting a couple bucks knocked off peanut butter" the more and more I spoke I could see her face drop and I hate to admit it but it almost made me chuckle

"Ugh for the love of..." she trails off "fine but I'm not doing this alone you can be my backup" she smirks knowing that I've also just lost. This time my smile wipes itself clean off my face.

I like jackie she's really taken me under her wing, telling me about the town and where I should visit or steer clear of. And she makes working here a whole lot easier especially when it comes to situations like this one. I guess it's true what they say about work friendships, your age really does not matter as long as you have a shared hate for the job.

We both walk back to the shop floor and walk up behind the man and Jackie clears her throat to get his attention. "Hello I heard you were looking for a manager" she beams even though it's a facade.

"Yes I demand I get a discount on this peanut butter as I was led to believe it was cheaper than it is" he folds his arms over his chest still clutching the jar.

"It's a 4 dollar difference" I inform Jackie

"I'm sorry but we can't change the price of something just because it's been misplaced" Jackie states confidently and I sigh a breath of relief that she said the same as what I told him.