Empath

Chapter 21

It was Al's first day of work, and he was as nervous as could be.

"You'll be fine, Al," Yui said as he smiled up at him in an encouraging tone. "I believe in you!" He held his hand for a moment. "Just pretend I'm there, holding your hand, 'kay?"

"Right," Al replied with a smile and a nod. He knew thinking of Yui wouldn't actually make his empathy go away, but it could at least help his anxiety a little bit.

Al walked to work, and once he was inside the familiar building, where people were pleasantly chatting and sipping tea, he didn't feel so bad. He took a deep breath and reminded himself that the clientele here are usually rather relaxed. He approached a young man at the counter. "It's my first day here," he told him. "Where do I go?"

"Oh, I thought I heard about us getting a new guy," the young man said. "Come right on back. We'll get you set up."

Al nodded, went behind the counter, and followed him to the back room.

After they got him set up, Al was shown how to operate the different kinds of machinery. His fingers fumbled clumsily as he tried to press the right buttons to work the coffee machine. He spilled a customer's coffee and cursed at himself.

"It's okay," a familiar voice said from behind him. He looked over, and there was Nina, Yui's former client who often took their order when they were customers here. "These things can be tricky. Everyone messes up at first. You'll get the hang of it after a week or so." She had the same air of bliss that emanated from Anabelle.

That aura helped him feel calm, but at the same time, he felt uncomfortable. He knew that calmness was artificial. Her memories were probably erased by having sex with Yui. He needed proof though. He needed to know if she remembered the reason she hired him and anything related to it. But he couldn't simply ask her if she forgot anything after having sex with his friend. Especially since it was unlikely that she knew that she forgot.

Al's first day on the job went surprisingly well. They gave him a name tag that said William, though. Every time someone called him by his birth name, he felt strange. It wasn't so much that he was triggered by memories of his ex-husband, more so that he just... didn't feel like they her addressing him. He often didn't respond when his coworkers called him. So he ended up asking his manager for a name tag that said "Al", and he promptly provided him with one.

The only problem that occurred during the day was when a customer got mad that he got her order wrong. After telling the customer he'd fix it, Al realized they were out of what she asked for. Al could feel her anger and felt it welling up inside him. He knew yelling back at her wouldn't solve anything. So, with a "humph", he turned around and went into the back room, while the woman was still yelling. He heard something like "don't walk away from me" through the doorway. He took a deep breath, tried to collect himself, and as soon as he saw the manager walk by, he asked him if he could deal with the customer. The manager told him he was busy, but he advised that he give her a similar beverage that's usually more expensive at no extra cost.

Al nodded, took another breath, and went back to the counter. "I'm sorry about that, ma'am," he said, in a calm and collected voice. "I had to ask my manager. He said I can give you the seasonal special at no extra charge. It's not exactly the same, but it tastes similar. Is that okay?"

The woman huffed and said "fine", with her arms crossed. But when Al gave her the drink, and she tasted it, she exclaimed "wow, that's good!" And Al could feel her mood lift exponentially, so by the time she walked out the door, he felt pretty darn good!

Yui was working his job at the arcade. Up until now, he hadn't had any problems. He loved this job. It was great being able to talk to other gamers, since he was already knowledgeable about the games there. This was like heaven for a guy like him. But this day, it was different. He was devastated about his recent discovery: the fact that he stole people's memories. Yeah, he was happy that they weren't plagued by guilt and trauma anymore, but... What Al said... It hurt him. And he was right, wasn't he?