With many unread messages and 14 missed voice calls that invaded your phone for a whole hour, unnoticed because you were stuck with that weird looking dude in the subway, you were now standing in front of your manager in the gas station. You certainly didn't have anything against her, but she wasn't exactly friendly sometimes. It didn't seem to be personal tho. She was a tired mother of 5 little pieces of hell, you understood her bad mood sometimes.
She was staring at you, as if you had just stolen all her money and her dog.
Behind her, still behind the cashier was Lydia, your coworker. She had a weird look in her eyes, a mix from "I understand" and "I hope you literally collapse right here right now".
- I'm just hearing right now this isn't your first time arriving late - your manager directed her head towards you.
- Yes, miss I'm sorry it's just that sometimes I- - I'm not the one you should be apologizing to - she said in a mad voice tone. She continued, - I understand that we're not all absolutely perfect but your co-workers are not responsible for whatever you do. Have you ever stopped to think about the stuff they have to do?? That they're also busy?- she said. You just looked down, maybe you had thought about that, but in the end you didn't do anything to change your behaviour.
- Lydia - your manager started to talk yet again - called me because she just didn't know what to do! (Y/N) you didn't reply to any messages, you didn't respond to any calls- just look at your phone! Look at it, I want you to tell me how many calls you got - she said pointing at your phone, you slowly lifted it up and unlocked the screen. -...fourteen- you slowly spoke. She just stared at you for a small moment, then sighed and took her hand up to her face, covering her eyes and letting out a tired sigh. Everyone stood quiet, she was thinking and you and Lydia just didn't know what to say. - and you didn't just arrive 30 minutes late, you got here 2 and a half hours late...- she said, more to herself than towards you but you did understood the gravity of the situation you had gotten yourself into. You wished you could say it wasn't your fault... This time. That you were stuck in the subway for God knows how long with this creepy and weird dude but... The whole situation just dictated you fell asleep and was having a hyperealistic dream, after all the whole ordeal was impossible.
After a while, she spoke again - sorry, (Y/N) but...- your heart started racing and your eyes tearing up. You knew what she was gonna say, but you needed to stop her. You couldn't loose this job, you truly couldn't afford it right now. Her words were coming out faster that your thoughts tho, -This isn't your first incident and I need to protect the time of all of my employers, so I need to let you...- you were about to speak, to beg her to stop and assure her this would be the last time, that this would never happen again, but a certain someone jumped faster to your aid than you. Before she could finish, a loud crash came from the fridges, as if many glass bottles had fallen to the ground and made a huge mess. You jumped at the sudden sound because of how tense you were at the current situation.
Before anyone could even process what had just happened, you heard a high pitched voice... one that was way too familiar, exclaiming in pain. Immediately the three of you headed towards the source of the loud sound.
Standing there was a tall, almost lanky figure with long, really long hair. You knew him, you knew who he was... But your brain couldn't point it out, right now he was just a complete stranger to you, one that you knew from up close.
He was looking down at the mess... Smiling. His smile relaxed a bit when he turned to look at you, almost as if a kid was trying to hide a bad thing they did. This all happened in less than a second, but you saw it all clearly. Your manager and Lydia, however, did not notice the mischievous smile and instead were met with a surprised almost scared look and a surprise exclamation, which then turned into a pained one.
His hand was bleeding, it seems while trying to catch the bottles in order for them not to break, one of them broke in his hand.
- Sir! Are you ok?! - said your manager, quickly turning her body from yours and running to aid the man. He didn't say a word tho, and instead backed away from her, with an almost mad look. - you should really check on your stuff, ma'm. As soon as I opened the door it all came crashing down!! - he said. She started to apologize, something you didn't saw often but this time the client was actually hurt, she didn't want to catch a case. - I'm sorry sir, do you need an ambulance?? -, well that was too much - it's just a cut, not too deep or wide - he said, pissed off. She just nodded and agreed with him, then turned towards you and Lydia, - Lydia! Please come clean this up. (Y/N), bring the first aid kit! - she ordered both of you. You moved fast, approaching him and carefully taking his hand to check on it. He was right, it wasn't too wide but it was quite deep.
