An Unlikely Pair

VII: An Unlikely Silence

To say that Wilson was furious is an understatement. He was burning with rage throughout the entire time he scolded Kris for the treatment of the customer. At the very least, Wilson offered some comfort to Steph, even if minimum and mostly saying, "I'm sorry you thought that was the correct form of act," with not much else. But he didn't fire Steph. Wilson decided that it was best for the pair to leave early.

"Tomorrow, we will discuss the future of this empolyment."

It was 30 minutes after Kris had caused that stunning form of violence, meaning that, while dazed, the man recovered himself quickly. Naturally, disregarding the two's gender, Kris was not strong enough to knock him unconscious. But the man didn't go after Kris or complain about it.

Instead, he looked disappointed. Kris didn't care about what, though.

Nolan went upstairs to the employee's breakroom after Wilson managed to calm him down. It made sense to Kris that he might not want to be in the same room as her anymore.

She wouldn't have blamed the lad if he had decided not to speak to Kris again.

Nevertheless, Kris hoped that she didn't cause Nolan to suffer too much mental hardship over what happened. Back then, she remembered how ruthless customers would be to her. From name calling to almost near physical abuse, Kris hoped this experience would teach him to be better prepared.

"To have a cynical, emotionless sentiment towards them..." She realised that simply because of how rude, awful customers were looking for something back. Something to validate their abuse towards them. Once you take that away, they're left with nothing.

That was what Kris learned as a young girl.

But she wasn't worried about Nolan very much, nor cared about him right now. Instead, she was concerned about Steph.

Because Steph had taken a lot amount of her emotional empathy.

Throughout everything, after Steph had finished balling her eyes out, she stood still with no expressions to remark on.

Static and content were the best way to describe it. Kris found a challenging time figuring out how Steph was feeling.

She wanted to keep giving her more comfort, but when that moment finally ended once Steph had removed her hand, Kris hated herself for wanting it to continue.

Wanting it to last forever.

Because she knew that place in time was meant for the betterment of Steph.

She knew that.

Yet, she was still unsatisfied.

As if, it was a painting unfinished, longing to be deemed, a finale of sorts.

That's what Kris wanted.

An ending that reflected a healing in Steph's heart.

Sadly, that did not occur.

Because reality stepped in to only show the real outcome of everything. Standing outside the shop, a man seemed confused about why that was.

A child hiding away from the adults, seeking anything but them.

The owner, wondering how he would pay for the damages to his products and furniture.

Two women, standing next to each other awkwardly, saying and doing absolutely nothing.

Frankly, it made Kris feel like an alien for being in this atmosphere, and she wanted to fly herself to the previous atmosphere.

But that's not what would happen.