Fabian

Staples

I work the night shift in a quaint little stationary store in a hidden corner of our neighborhood. I don't know why a stationary store needed to be open for so long at night, but I never questioned it as the job was easy and it paid relatively well.   It almost looked like an apartment from the outside, but on the inside was warm and inviting. Oak wood shelves scattered the walls in a kindly disorganized manner. Pencils and pens sat in jars on the desk that sat peacefully in the middle of the store like a kitchen island. The aura of the place was comparable to the feeling when you smell fresh cinnamon rolls. The boss however, was a complete contrast to the store.

If I were to use 3 words to describe this man I would say "Lazy Narcissistic parasite" . Well I did say that; under my breath as he walked in from the back room of the store. Mr Alaister is a pudgy unpleasant old man with an affinity for making rude comments about young girls. The man was built like a teapot and yet had such a big ego for such a tiny body. I am a small person so you can imagine what he looked like.

"You're late again miss Brunel" He said. The man refused to call us by our first names. He said it was "utterly unprofessional" as if his lewd comments towards the girls that shopped and worked at our store weren't. Hypocritical much?  "I'm not late, my shift starts at 7:30 and it's..." I check my watch briefly "...7:22" I said with a snide grin on my face. Mr Alaister, AKA the grouch, liked us in the store an hour before our shift for no reason at all. It was completely asinine.  He scrunched his face and continued on with his grumbling all the way out of the store.

It was quite lonely at night in the store. People obviously didn't come to a book and school supply store to get anything after 9pm, so I had the store to myself mostly.

I got lost in my thoughts as a restocked some shelves to get ready for the Lauraine, the sweet older lady with the opening shift when i surprisingly heard the soft 'ding' of the bell and squeaking of the door. "Do you have any staples?" the husky voice said. I paused for a second, still not looking up at the suave sounding stranger I say, "Second shelf to your right."

Although I hadn't turned around to see him, the man's presence was heavy and cold.  It almost sent chills down my spine as if the room had suddenly frosted over. I felt his presence at the counter in the middle of the store, quickly put one more jar of erasers on the shelf and skipped over to ring him up.    

"That would be 2.95" I said, finally looking at the stranger. I almost gasped at the sight of him honestly. He wasn't a 'typical' looking man. He was about 6'6 and looked to be around 20 years old. His dark brown skin complemented the contrasting color of his hazel eyes ans he sported a fade that complemented his ever sharpening jawline that had been marred by a long scar.This guy was a MAN.

I didn't realize i was staring at him until his butter smooth voice cut through the silence again. "Ma'am, my change". "Oh most definitely, sorry sir" I said, slightly startled while fumbling around for the remaining two dollars and 5 cents I was supposed to give him.

"Thank you for your purchase" I said to him with my best customer service smile. He gave me a weird look I couldn't read and then walked promptly out the door leaving me alone in the store once more with nothing but the silent dinging of the bell and my thought to keep me company.