Superhero

Chapter 19

"Yay, you came!" Jeff cheered as soon as Addison entered the shop half an hour early. "I was worried that nasty Bullfrog would walk in again."
Addison laughed. "Well, I am anything but a nasty Bullfrog. So you won't be seeing him anytime soon."
"That's a relief," Jeff said, running a hand through his hair. "Anyway, how's your head? Does it still hurt?"
"A little, but at least I can function properly now," Addison took out a carton of instant spaghetti with meatballs. "By the way, how's your assignment going?"
"It's punching me in the face whenever I look at it on my laptop," Jeff sighed. "But I guess it's doing good."
"That's good then," Addison smiled, putting the spaghetti into the microwave. She made a beeline to the refrigerators. "What time did you sleep last night?"
"Seriously, I feel like you're the only one that actually asks all of this," Jeff frowned. "But yes, I slept at around eleven last night. But that's not stopping me from feeling sleepy in the morning."
Addison came to him. "Well, you look a little better now. Normally, you're a zombie."
Jeff rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I didn't know."
The microwave's timer went off, and Addison went to get her spaghetti. "You probably didn't. By the way, scan my stuff."
"Why do you always pay for your spaghetti after heating it up?" Jeff rolled his eyes. "It's scorching hot!"
"You're not even gonna be touching it," Addison put the spaghetti on the counter, together with the rest of the things that she took. "The Superhero heated his food up first too. Is that even allowed? I mean, I do it because I work here. But him...?"
Jeff shrugged and scanned whatever that Addison put in front of him. "Maybe he was just famished? You did say that he just walked in and conked out on the table, right? Maybe he just wanted to eat so badly."
"That makes sense, I guess," Addison shrugged. "Anyway, could you make it quick? I only have like twenty minutes left for my shift!"
"Whoa, chill!" Jeff chuckled. "I eat faster than this because Bullfrog 2 comes before my shift!"
"I feel bad for you, I really do," Addison smirked, paying for the food. "By the way, have you met Fiolina? The girl that comes after me?"
Jeff frowned thoughtfully. "That auburn-haired chick? Yeah, I think I've seen her once. She came in one time and told me she worked here too. Kind of a creep, kept asking for my number..."
"No wonder..." Addison smirked, opening her spaghetti. "By the way, she told me that you're so cute!" She imitated the way Fiolina spoke. "And she complained that she got a surly guy that looks like a frog or a bulldog, even that if he's not angry."
"Bet that's Bullfrog 2," Jeff chuckled. "But yeah, I don't really like this Fiolina girl."
"She's actually really nice," Addison explained. "Even the other day when the Superhero was here, and I was panicking, she's the one that technically calmed me down. Usually, she'd come an hour early for her shift, but on that fine day, she had to come in on time, and then this happened."
Jeff nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds like the two of you are pretty close."
"We are," Addison softly slurped a mouthful of spaghetti. "She actually comes early just to hang out."
"That's nice, I guess," Jeff shrugged. "I saw how she came in the night the Superhero was here. She looked as if she was gonna fight anyone who's threatening you."
"But sadly, the guy left before she could even see him," Addison chuckled. "She was super excited when I told her who he was."
"She must be a big fan, huh?" Jeff smirked. "Has she ever seen him?"
Addison shook her head with a grin. "Nope. She gets jealous whenever I tell her about my encounters."
"Did you tell her about the one that happened the night before last?"
"No. I only told her I wasn't feeling well yesterday. She didn't ask anything else and just asked me to get some rest. She was just as surprised to walk in on Bullfrog an hour early. She ended up just buying a soda and walked out, spending the rest of her time in the cafe instead."
"Did you tell her that you're in today?"
"Not yet," Addison took out her phone and quickly texted Fiolina about it. "Okay, it's done."
Fiolina was overjoyed to find that Addison felt better and had called in for work that day.
"She must be so happy," Jeff snorted. "Whatever, finish eating. There's only ten minutes left."
Addison gasped and quickly ate. Jeff couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey, you sure you can go home yourself later?" Addison slowly turned to Jeff in surprise. "I don't have any classes today, and I don't mind dropping by."
Addison remembered the bike ride from the day before and shook her head. "Jeff, no. I'm going back by PickYou today."
"Are you sure?" Jeff eyes her suspiciously.
"Yes, Jeff. Either that, or I'm taking the bus."
"Be careful, Addie," Jeff frowned. "The Superhero might not be there to save you all the time."
Addison gulped. It was true. The only reason she's in one piece now was because the Superhero jumped in whenever he did. Who knows what could've happened to her if he had not intervened?
"I'll be careful, I promise!" Addison quickly said. "I will not walk into dingy alleyways again, okay?"
Jeff shrugged. "I just hope I get to see you again tomorrow. Bullfrog is a bad coworker."
Addison giggled. "Bullfrog... do you have names like this for everyone?"
Jeff smirked. "That is a secret. I can't tell you."
Addison rolled her eyes and ate the last of her spaghetti before making her way to the backroom to change.

"Oh thank god, you're here!" Fiolina sighed in relief as soon as she saw Addison finishing her college notes behind the counter. "Imagine my surprise yesterday when I walked in on Crawfish here in your place!"
"Crawfish?" Addison laughed.
"Well yeah," Fiolina chuckled. "I almost called him that instead of Mr. Crawford when I got recruited here."
"Recruited?" Addison laughed.
"What?" Fiolina said, puzzled.
"No, when you said recruited, the first thing that came to mind was military recruitment!" Addison said between laughs. "Sorry, I just imagined me, you, and Jeff, saluting Commander Crawford!"
Fiolina started laughing too. "Oh my gosh, if he was a commander, the soldiers are done for!"
"I know right!" Addison chuckled, watching Fiolina put her bag on the table by the window. "By the way, Jeff calls him Bullfrog."
"He does look like one," Fiolina chuckled, grabbing a pack of chips and a bag of sugar-glazed peanuts. "By the way, how are you feeling now? You said you were unwell yesterday?"
Addison nodded, grabbing the scanner. "Yeah, I feel better now. Had a massive headache."
"Do you stare at your phone with high brightness all the time?" FIolina asked, putting the things on the counter. "I don't know, I always end up with a headache if my phone's too bright."
"No, I fell down and got hit in the head," Addison said. She decided to not get too detailed, afraid that Fiolina might make a fuss like what Jeff did. "Quite the impact. But at least I'm fine."
"Luckily you didn't end up with amnesia or something," Fiolina snorted. "Otherwise, it's Bullfrog until they hire someone else."
"Not recruit?" Addison asked with mock confusion.
"Stop with that already!" Fiolina couldn't help but grin.