halfsies ☆ chris sturniolo

08 || halfsies

halfsies
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starring chris sturniolo & elle o'reily

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ*:.*:..*:...｡ ❀／｜＼❀ ｡..:*..:*..:*Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

✧*̥˚ 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 *̥˚✧
ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ : ▮▮▮▮▮▮▯▯▯

❛ and what am I going to do when the best part of me was always you? ❜

.・。.・゜✭・.

"𝐚𝐧𝐝 we're done," elle said slumping against the freezer.

"hey, i just cleaned that!" chris exclaimed.

"oh please, some three year old is going to lick it later today," she chuckled. "are you walking me?" she asked.

"of course," he smiled. he grabbed his school bag from behind the register and she grabbed hers as well. elle made her way to the locked drawer and looked for the key to lock up for the next hour or so.

typically, in the locked drawer was the key to the store, some codes for the register, extra change, emergency numbers, basically essentials that not everyone needs access to. "uh oh," elle mumbled.

"what?" chris said, walking back from the door.

"uh oh," she said again. she was frozen and without the lock up key. chris went to where she was looking and looked down. "there's no key, the key is supposed to be in this basket," she explained.

"uh oh," chris added. "well, where'd you last see it?" he asked. he glanced over and saw that it was midnight.

"when i came for my shift, the guy before me gave it to me in my hand," her eyes went wide. "fuck! chris it could literally be anywhere in the store!" she panicked.

"hey, relax. it's just a key. we'll find it," he reassured her.

"yea, one metal key in a store the size of a classroom. it could literally be anywhere," she restated. "oh my gosh, my boss is going to kill me, then fire me, then rehire me so he can kill me again," she was not rational as you could tell. she was scrambling behind the desk to see if it had dropped anywhere while chris started from the back and moved his way towards her.

"he's not going to kill you because we're going to find it before the next person comes in for their shift," he rushed back to her to make sure she could here him. "did you hear me?" he asked her. she was still looking through a box of random items, hoping it just fell out. he crouched down to her level as she was kneeling while looking through.

"elle, listen to me," he lifted her face so that she would pay attention. she had developed a habit of selective hearing during tasks, especially when she's stressed. "we will find the key. you need to relax and then continue looking for it. if the next person comes in, they can help look as well," he said in a calm tone. she nodded her head and ran her hands over her cheeks and down to her neck to shake off some nerves.

"thank you chris but i'm literally so so so so stressed out. the store is big for a key to just be anywhere," she explained.

"i know, i know. but there's two of us and we can split up and find it faster, okay?" elle nodded her head again and began to calmly look through the areas behind the register again while chris continued through the other areas of the store. "elle, did you restock the shelves when you got here?" he asked. her eyes widened.

"oh my gosh, you're right they're probably in there somewhere. i remember when i got here they were super bare," elle immediately got up and went to chris' side of the store, 'deshelving' all their work from earlier in the day.

chris tore through most of the soft drinks and even listened to make sure the key wasn't jammed into the slushee machine.

before they knew it, it was 1 am.

"chris, the other person is going to be here any second and the store is a mess," she groaned. she felt like crying in all honesty.

her boss had been kind enough to pay her a little extra for working later and she didn't want to make him not trust her. he's also been lenient with chris coming during the later days as long as he pays for what he eats.

"elle, we totally forgot the boxes!" he yelled rushing to the door. elle ran after him, equally as excited. they went through the back and sorted through the now flattened boxes that they put out just hours before. elle opened and partially reconstructed some of them to find the key wedged between two of the sides.

she held it in her hand like gold, her eyes filled with awe. "the key! i can leave!" she hugged him by his neck and said at least ten different thank yous for even suggesting the idea. "chris you just saved my job," she whispered within the hug.

"i told you we'd find it. you just had to take a step back, and that's okay," he comforted her. she closed her eyes in the hug and he noticed her sleepiness. "come in, let's clean up and get you home. you're exhausted," he let go first despite really liking the hug and she smiled slightly at him even with her exhaustion.

they returned inside to the mess they created as they put things back to where they belonged piece by piece.

it was a small act. chris staying with elle until 1am. it was a small act for him and she knew that no one else would do that. but to her, it meant the world.

.ೃ࿐ sophina's corner *ೃ༄

hi everyone ☺︎

i have school in 7 hours!!!

mwah mwah, see you in chapter nine babes ✦

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