Rapunzel's Sister (Rewrite) • Prince Jack x Oc

09 | Perplexing

| 09: Perplexing

"Good afternoon,"

The bell above the door rang, indicating the presence of a new customer inside the thrift shop. The cashier turned her head, a lit cigarette placed between her teeth while she rang a customer's item, taking the customer's money and placing it inside the cash register's drawers before handing the receipt.

"You should straighten those... curls of yours, it'll suit you more"

The cashier's eyes slowly glanced at the customer; the cashier took a drag from her cigar, exhaling, aiming the smoke at the rude customer's face "You would be pleasant to be around if you learn to shut that wretched old mouth of yours. It'll suit you more" The customer started coughing from the smoke, shooting the cashier a seething glare before storming out of the store.

The cashier crossed her arms, holding the cigar between her fingers, extinguishing it on the ashtray on her counter while letting out a long sigh "You're here early, princess," the cashier pointed out, glancing at the rows of uniquely shaped clocks above the door. All its equally uniquely shaped arms indicated it was 1:43 PM.

The princess let out a cough, waving her hand in front of her and pinching her nose so as not to inhale the smog emitting from the extinguished cigarette and Nina. The princess' hood fell to her shoulders, revealing it was indeed, Princess Azazel who came to visit her in her workplace.

"Please don't smoke in a closed-off area; you'll get the store an OHS warning," The princess remarked, a visible look of dismay present on her face. The cashier, Nina, rolled her eyes at this comment, finding it rather unnecessary to which Azazel gave her an exasperated stare before wandering to the clothing aisles.

Nina, not giving the princess' comment much thought decided to throw the contents of the ashtray into a small trashcan near her, disposing of any evidence of her smoking on the job. God knows she can't afford to get fired from another job.

After placing the ashtray back to its original place, Nina rested her arms on the counter, her smoky purple eyes following Azazel who was rummaging through the aisles of clothing for a piece of clothing that might just catch her attention.

Nina let out a sigh, a faint wisp of smoke escaping her lips. She turns her head to her right, noticing the newspaper she was reading minutes ago before that old hag and Azazel arrived, the image of Rapunzel's bright and cheerful face plastered onto its front page with the caption 'Fleurmont's next in line ruler!' written in bold capital letters. Nina's eyes dart towards Azazel and back to the newspaper, a thought forming in her head that she required confirmation from Azazel herself.

Nina rested her head on her fingers, staring at Azazel, who was preoccupied with her scavenging of clothing "So, it's official," she began, watching the princess stop in her tracks and then look at her with a curious facial expression on her face "What's official?" The princess asked Nina, her hand still holding onto a piece of clothing that was hung on the rack. The cashier stared at the princess for a brief moment before elaborating on her previous statement "Your sister, you must be proud of her"

Azazel's eyes lit up instantly knowing what her friend was talking about "Oh," Azazel looked away from Nina for a moment, gathering her thoughts before answering Nina "Of course I am, she deserved it"

Azazel calmly says pushing an article of clothing aside to check the next one, Nina snatched the newspaper beside her, holding it in front of her to skim through the information that was written on the slightly crumbled paper "Didn't you say you deserved it more since you've gone through more stuff than her?" Nina asked, her eyes still fixated on the lines of text printed onto the newspaper. Azazel's brow furrowed at Nina's statement, memories of her ignorant rant rushing back to her head giving her first-hand embarrassment.