Two Different Worlds (ManxMan)

Chapter 2 - The Stranger Part One

Chapter 2

The Stranger Part One

Working in a corner store that is opened twenty-four hours per day is not something very interesting. Trust me, it is not. Even though the ambiance of this especially one was totally boring to the bone, there were a few positive points with working there, other than providing for my survival. During the day shifts, I was working alone. See, the store really was for convenience only. We sold cigarettes, lotteries and beer, there were a few racks of chips and magazines, a two doors fridge with dairies and pops, but that was about all.

The place was very small and couldn't accommodate much more than four or five customers at a time, so there were no needs for two people working on day shifts. I could have felt lonely working these shifts since there was nobody to keep me company, but I didn't mind being all by myself. With all the issues I had in my life, it was a blessing for me not having to be asked anything about my private life by coworkers. What bothered me at first was working night shifts, since for security, we had to be two in the store in case of trouble, which had not happened yet, lucky me. So it meant I had to work with Valerie.

Valerie was this kind of girl who always appeared to be smiling. And it always seemed genuine. It was infectious and even the most grouchy of our customers couldn't help but return the smile. She was studying literature at College du Vieux Montreal and as she still lived with her mother, she only kept working at the store because it provided her the luxuries she wanted in a fake independence way (her words, not mine). She was cute, but her beauty had nothing superficial.

She was actually a very intellectual kind of girl and even though she had a great sense of humor, she could handle very deep conversations as the ways some pulp and paper companies' blank cuts contribute to the deterioration of the boreal forest or the way the Bible was a poetry book written by humans that had been useful at an old time for bringing morality in a barbarian world that used to be ours. She was so intelligent and it showed in her way of speaking, and there always was this shine in her deep blue eyes when she listened that told you she really was interested in your opinion on the subject at hand. She was not conventional to say the least. The mop of caramel and pink dreads on her head going everywhere and the bright and colorful African dresses she constantly wore over her pale skin told you as much. She really was the sunshine of the store.

The first time I met Valerie was on my third shift at the store. At first I had felt a tad bit embarrassed in her presence since she seemed so exuberant and I was so plain in my beaten blue jeans and t-shirt, but she had seemed oblivious to that major difference between us and she hadn't said anything about the gaps in my shoes as she kept on cheering me as much as she did the whole customers through the whole first rush of that night. No, there really was nothing superficial about that girl.

"So, Yannick" she had started as soon as the rush had vanished and there was no customer left in the store, "I heard you come from Trois-Rivieres. What brought you to come over here?" she asked me casually. "Are you here to study?"

"Hum..." I had grunted, trying to escape from telling her the reality of my being there. "No... I'm not a student."

"Okay..." she had trailed, the glitter fading a bit from her eyes but the smile still intact on her lips. "Is there anything that made you choose to come here? A girlfriend?"

"No." I had simply said, trying to find a way to ditch this conversation by busying myself with a rag and a bottle of detergent.

"Or maybe a boyfriend?"

I had stopped dead in my track.

"What?"

"I didn't mind to upset you, Yannick." she had said, throwing her hands in front of her defensively. "You know, we're in two thousand twelve after all."