Advice

3. cowboy of the alleyway

After the whole debacle over those godforsaken frappes, TK thought it was best for me to hang back from the register for the day. So I was stuck on cleaning duty. Fun! Sarcasm, of course.

Right when my shift was about to end, TK temporarily closed the shop and pulled me to the break room.

"What were you thinking earlier?! That girl would have reported you to the police if I hadn't pulled you out of there!" She sat on the floor and rubbed her temples, leaning up against the cool metal shelving.

"I was just trying to defend you! I didn't want her to start getting physical!"

"Hon, I know how to protect myself. And to be honest, if my husband found out someone swung at me, the person would be arrested before I could get another word in," she laughed.

Tea Kettle's husband Lifering is a part of the city police force, along with their adopted sons Nickel and Balloon. I met Lifering a while back when I first started working here, and he seems like a pretty cool dad.

"But to be honest with you," she met my eyes, "if you're going to continually act like that in the workplace I might have to lower your paycheck, or even lay you off."

LOWER MY PAYCHECK?!

LAY ME OFF?!

"But I-"

"Oh no, I'm not saying right now-! But in the future, if this is a reoccurring event I might have to go to the extreme. I love you like a mother, Paintbrush, but if this keeps happening the business could get into a lot of trouble, and I really can't have that.," she sighs, showing me a bittersweet smile.

She's right.

"How about you have the rest of the day off, hm? Maybe you need a break." she starts motioning for the door.

I give her a sheepish smile. "Can I still have full pay for the afternoon?"

"Yes, Paintbrush," she chuckles. "Now run along and go find something to calm your mind." I nod and make my way out the door towards the alleyway.

I see a strange figure near my bike- shit was I wrong about the 'all bark no bite'?! Damn it.

I stand at the front of the alley, the person's identity covered by the darkened shadow of the neighboring buildings.The figure is shorter than me, but was less slender. They slowly made their way over to my bike and put their hand on the seat.

"This 'ere yer' bike?" The voice was a light- masculine if anything and held an obviously forced county accent. I raised my eyebrow at the figure before taking a step closer. I noticed the figure is wearing a cowboy hat. Oh great! A psychopath! Just what I needed!

Okay, okay. Keep your cool Paintbrush. You've had enough possible lawsuits for one day.

"I- uh- yea it is but I'm going to kindly ask you to step aside uh- sir...I'm a bit busy and I really have to be goi-"

"Who ya callin' a sir?" The accent somehow got even thicker than before. The figure steps closer. I step farther back.

My face flushes with embarrassment. "Oh god are you not a sir? Shit- I'm so sorry! Anyways, I really have to be going now so if you'd plea-"

"I'm the number one detective in this 'ere town, y'know. I know ya stole this old beaut so imma have to take 'er in."

"We don't have a detective in our town, dumbass. And even if we did they wouldn't be wearing a cowboy hat." I started stepping closer again as the stranger lays their hat on the bike seat.

"Ughhh- you caught me. I just wanted a bike, man! C'mon!" As the figure steps closer, I see that they're decked out in a full cowboy uniform. Thick, brown leather boots, a leather jacket to match, and a fake sheriff's badge to top it all off. And of course the hat, which they had taken off to reveal short bright yellow hair.

They stuck out their hand in an informal fashion. "Nice ta meetcha! My name's Lightbulb! She/her next time, please! What's yours?!"

*the bright light herself has arrived! if you couldn't tell i had a lot of fun writing her (she is my favorite after all 🤭🤭) hope you enjoyed!!! love ya!!*
~i've reworded this one as well AND WOW WAS THE GRAMMER HORRENDOUS i cannot believe myself. shame the writer shame! 12/18/2023~