𝐴 𝑅𝐼𝐶𝐻 𝑀𝐴𝑁'𝑆 𝑊𝑂𝑅𝐿𝐷 𝕪𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕩 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣

2

Customers came and went, each one surprisingly sharing similar tastes in their purchases. Adults normally bought alcohol and lighters but if they were really stressed, they would buy a singular doughnut. Y/n couldn't understand why doughnuts were their preferred choice, perhaps they needed a hit of sugar to run through their veins in order to keep them energetic for their impending workload awaiting them on their office desk... or perhaps they were just hungry. This of course didn't apply to all the adults that would enter the shop, just the exhausted ones, the ones with large eye bags and dark circles, the ones with hollow cheeks and lifeless expressions, the ones with undone top buttons and loose ties. Work consumed them and there was no escape, as the vicious cycle of earning money to support their families continued the path of new beginnings diminished, the future is grey unless they find the strength to break the corporate chain.

As for the other adults however, their item of choice was a basic sandwich, the cheapest one, one could get, its texture dry and the 'ham' if you could even call it that, tasted like cardboard. They would also buy the occasional cornetto or a bar of chocolate if they felt particularly adventurous that day.

Moving onto the other demographic- the elderly. They often spent their money on magazines and lottery tickets. There's not much to be said apart from the fact that they were normally the most peaceful customers out of all.

And then of course the school kids. The worst type of customer, in y/n's opinion. Their obnoxiousness and disregard for their surroundings was honestly tiring. Teen boys would never fail to flirt with her and continuously beg for her Snapchat. Y/n couldn't help but giggle at the thought of their futile attempts to swoon her, as their uneven broken voices caused by puberty hitting them in the voice box, attempted to persuade her to comply to their inappropriate demands.
Most of the school students would buy large packets of crisps and litres of fizzy drinks along with sour and sugary sweets. Pretty normal stuff to buy as a kid, students were the most frequent visitors and were virtually the main source income for the shop, the store would suffer on school holidays.

Y/n herself was a student, she frequented a nearby university and studied English literature. Picking English as a subject to specialise in was a tactical decision, the subject is broad and versatile meaning that finding a job or profession in the future could prove an easy task. Some may argue that an English degree is a useless subject just like the rest of the humanities, however y/n couldn't help but disagree with that view, sure you don't need to a degree to write a novel, however, English helped her search for deeper meanings rather than just scratching the surface. The books they analysed in class taught her about society and the harsh cold truth about life itself. That being said, picking English had its downsides- books were a major issue. She loved them but unfortunately for her they were extremely expensive and y/n often lacked the the funds to purchase them. She could have potentially borrowed some of the books required from the library, however most of the time the libraries didn't possess the books needed, why? Because her elitist professor purposely picked the most obscure books one could find, therefore forcing students to buy them online from shady websites which majorly overpriced their products. Very quickly y/n realised she just had to buckle down and stop her complaining in order to support herself and her education.

A familiar voice pulled her out of her deep thinking and was greeted by the mischievous face of her coworker Josh.

"Hey, focus."

"Ah yes, sorry."

"What were you thinking so hard about?"

"Ah nothing of importance." She replied with a smile.

Sighing he responded "Whatever you say newbie. Anyways, I was talking to the boss earlier and you're gonna have to stay in for a little longer today, Leeann can't make it for today's shift, some family problems or something, but no worries you have me to keep you company!"

Great.

"Haha yay..! May I ask how much longer I have to stay in for?"

"Oh just few more hours..."

"How long is 'just few more hours'?"

"Like five ..."

"Five more hours?! Josh I've been working since nine in the morning!"

"Hey don't get mad at me lady, I don't make the rules, the boss does." His hands were up as if he got caught by the police.

Y/n checked her phone- 5:00 pm that would mean that she would leave work at exactly 10:00 pm, what a joke.

"Am I gonna get paid for the extra time?"

"Yes, I mean I think so, I haven't received my salary for a month so..."

Y/n pinched her nose in frustration, she needed to keep calm right now, there's positives to this, not many people came in the evening/night so she wouldn't have to work as hard - (that was the case most of the time apart from certain times of day anyways) the only negative right now was that the last train left at  ten on this day so she would have to get on a creepy bus at night.

"Aright...thank you for telling me Josh."

"No prob newbs, and cheer up we're gonna have fun together!"

"Whatever you say Josh," she chuckled

Sending a wink her way Josh gently tapped the counter before taking his leave "and no more daydreaming please," he kindly reminded her as he disappeared in one of the side rooms

Y/n stayed behind the counter for a little longer till she decided to stack some shelves in other to pass time whilst she waited for more customers to arrive.

She hated to admit that the store was slightly creepy at night. As the hours passed and the customers became weirder and weirder, she couldn't help but feel a growing sensation of unease building up in her chest. She usually didn't have to work these hours- she highly respected the people that worked night shift because if she worked those hours she would be too afraid and wouldn't be able to function properly- she blamed her over imaginative mind for putting ideas and horror stories in her head.

Y/n was back behind the counter, organising the floor to ceiling shelves that held countless tabacco and alcohol opposite the counter. After finishing her task she swiftly turned around and as soon as her eyes made contact with the figure in front of her, she jumped in surprise nearly letting out a scream.

A tall man stared down at her. He wore an all back outfit- a black buttoned up trench coat, black shoes, black dress pants, black leather gloves and black rimmed glasses similar to the ones Patric Bateman wore in 'American Psycho'. His face looked strict and serious due to the strong brows he possessed, his pink lips weren't full but not particularly thin either, his hair was darker than a midnight sky and was meticulously slicked back whilst his eyes were as grey as a cloudy one. His whole demeanour exuded authority, and her being a little convince shop worker felt slightly intimidated by him. He probably worked in some skyscraper building along with his cocky business friends that surrounded him or perhaps he looked like he could have potentially been a hitman on his work break, that would probably explain why he's at the shop that late in the day.

"Hi, how may I help sir?" she initiated greeting him with a smile.

Without saying a word he placed a Chupa Chups on the surface.

"Is that all sir?"

Once again no reply, she was only met with his piercing gaze analysing every inch of her face. The mysterious man took out his Prada wallet signalling that he was ready to pay. She tapped a few buttons on the cashier machine then he tapped his card on the contactless card machine to pay. He grabbed his sweet from the counter and gave y/n one last glance before exiting the shop.

The clock struck ten. Her shift was over.

♱ ♱ ♱