Roses Are For The Weak // Short Story

First Day At Izzy's {Chapter 3}

AUGUST 31

I walk up to the front door of my new job.

Izzy's Clothing Dept.
Open Hours:
Mon-Fri 9:00 am-9:00 pm
Sat-Sun 9:00 am-3:00 pm

Opening the door, every employee looked up from what they were doing.

"You must be Carmen! I'm Kayla, I'll be your manager," She said happily as she grabbed my hand and shook it with confidence. She had short ginger hair and brown glasses. She was wearing aprons that were uniform throughout the staff, a dark blue t-shirt and light ripped jeans. She wore diamond-stud earrings and black skate shoes.

"Hi, Kayla. Thanks for the job. It's really nice here. Lots of different clothes to choose from..." I said looking around the store, admiring all the options of clothing. There were chic summer dresses and halter tops ranging to punk band t-shirts and fishnets.

"Here's your apron, ma'am," Kayla said holding out my uniform with a smile. I grabbed it and tied it in the back.

"Like this?" I asked her looking at my back in a mirror. God, I looked like a slob today. Just a hoodie and ripped jeans with my worn out shoes.

"Oh my, you seem to need a little help. Have you never worn a apron before?" Kayla chuckled.

"Actually, I haven't," I laughed with her, feeling embarrassed.

"Here, I can help her. You need to get back to the back and sort out the boxes," I feel a hand in my waist as another tugs on the strings of the apron.

"I'm William. You can call me Will. I'm your coworker," I feel the apron move around.

"is it okay if i?..." Will points to my chest which is where the front of the apron laid.

"Do whatever you need to. I don't wanna look bad the first day on the job," I chuckle.

"Alright, sweet," He starts tucking the apron and adjusting it. He spins me around and finally tightens the back.

William? Didn't josh talk about a William earlier working here for about 3 months?

"There, that'll do you for today. Looks good if i do say so myself," Will prides himself while admiring the apron.

"Thanks so much, Will. How long have you worked here for?" I asked. He knew exactly what he was doing with the apron.

"I've been working here for about 3 months. Surprised I've kept the job this long to be honest. It's hard for me to keep a job sometimes. People say I'm too bouncy and too erratic to work there. You know ADHD does that to you; sometimes I can't control my volume when I get excited, and I can just ramble on and on. Oh, see, I'm doing it right now," Will stopped himself.

"Oh my gosh! I totally get it. I have ADHD too. Mine usually makes me really frustrated over small things and it puts me in a bad mood for days. And speaking of this job, do you know a Josh?" I asked him hesitantly. I didn't wanna have the wrong guy.

"Josh who?"

"Oh sorry I should have specified. Josh Grimm? He lives about an hour away or so?"

"Oh... yeah I do know him. Unfortunately," He said sadly looking to the front door then back into my eyes.

"Why is that?" I asked him. Josh said almost the same thing about Will.

"Oh... well I'll just tell you that he did something really bad. I will also tell you that I don't know the whole story, but what I have heard wasn't good. Now that I really think about it, it could easily be a rumor...."

"Oh... that doesn't sound good whatever it is," I replied blankly. What could Josh ever do that would be that bad? He's such a good guy. He's carried me to bed, done my dishes, and told me not to worry about buying him clothes from the store. How bad could he be?

"Yeah... It was upsetting to hear. But like I said, now that I think about it, it was probably a rumor," He starts walking towards the checkout counter.

"Uhm, you wouldn't happen to know what I should be doing right now, do you?" I asked. God, that was dumb.

"Oh, well for now I would say organizing the clothes in smallest to largest size order on the racks would be good. If you see anything out of place I would say to move it back where it belongs. If you need my help I'll be up here; Clover can take my spot in the meantime." I started looking around the clothes racks. Josh. I left Josh alone. At my house. I met this guy when, a DAY AGO? What was I thinking.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" I hear someone say behind me. I put the shirt back on the rack that I was handling and turn around to face her. A woman not much older than I was standing there looking up at me. She wore a tiny summer dress with a sun hat.

"Yes? What can I help you with?" I asked nervously.

"This dress. I wear a small. This dress says it's a small. You see?" She said shoving the tag in my face. "I know goddamn well this isn't a small because I couldn't fit my ass into it when I got home. Whoever sold me this should be sorry," The woman was screaming at this point.

"Ma'am I'm sorry Carmen is new on the job, I'll help you today," I hear Will's voice coming closer to the commotion.

"No, I don't want any mans help. Why are you here anyway, faggot?" She asks him. I jumped back a little bit at the harsh word.

"Ma'am I can assure you I will be able to help just like anyone else here. Now, what is the problem?" He starts to take the dress from the woman's hands.

"Don't touch my dress! I just need you to refund me so I can get out of here. I've had such a shit day, all I need is a refund and to go home," She yells at all of us. "You. Help me," I follow her as she points at me.

"Work the damn register and get me out of here," Will comes up behind me to help.

"Okay, it was $15.99 so count that much back to her," Will tells me as he starts to walk away. "Oh, and don't forget the 'have a nice day' as she walks out," Will chuckles as he whispers in my ear.

"...and 99 cents. Thank you, ma'am have a nice rest of your day," I tell her as she groans at me and rushes out the door.

"Sorry that was probably really stressful for you today," Will apologizes, shutting the register. "Oh, I know! Wanna go out for some drinks tonight? On me? that'll loosen you up a bit, eh?" Will asked me, smirking.

"Yes. One thing though, and not to be a pushover, but Josh is staying with me right now and I wouldn't wanna leave him alone at my house again. Is it alright if he tags along?" I asked, scared of what he would say. I have never been asked to get drinks before.

"Of course. I may be able to catch up with him and restore things that were once lost," Will said holding a fist to his heart and grazing the air with his other hand poetically.

"Sounds good to me. What's a good time? 9?" I inquired.

"9 it is."