A Bin for the Dragon 🗑️🐉

Phone call with soon-to-be Work "Pal"

After such an...interesting afternoon yesterday in the mall, it was a new day and Vincent was now at home, alone in his apartment flat waiting on an important phone call. He was lucky enough to see the manager yesterday about getting himself into the open job position, so he sat at his computer desk and waited patiently for them to call him. He tried his very best not to let his nerves get the better of him, whilst one of his knees bounced ferociously under his desk.
After waiting for a good minute, his cellphone vibrated on his desk with the caller id of the goth store's manager appearing on the screen. Vincent quickly picked up his device and cleared his throat before answering the call. Once he pressed the button and placed the phone to his ear, his eyes widened as he heard a familiar voice come from the other side of the line.

"Hey, this is Vincent, right?"

He couldn't believe who he heard. It was the store's cashier, Maven on the call. In that moment, it left Vincent in a state of confusion from hearing that man's voice come from a number which was not his own.

"H-how did you...i-isn't this the manager's number..?"

"Oh yeah, it is. But she stepped out for a bit, and I couldn't help myself but call you since I saw your name and number on her desk."

Vincent could feel his cheeks get hot as the man's raspy voice came through the speaker of his phone. He then sighed and leaned back into his computer chair in frustration as he tried to hear Maven out on the call.

"So...why did you call exactly..?

"Well, don't say I told ya this but...it looks like you got the available spot at the store. You'll be on restock duty after all."

Vincent quickly sat upright as he tightly gripped one of the arms of his chair in his excitement. A wide smile then came across his face as he cleared his throat once more and tried to subdue his emotions.

"You're...not kidding, right?"

"Nope. You got it. I'll have to say I'm quite surprised. Never thought a guy like you would come to a store like ours. Isn't it all...too much for your "little man" heart?"

Maven let out a chuckle after his comment, which admittedly intimidated Vincent, causing him to tremble in his seat. He then took a deep breath before he could make a proper response back at the smug man.

"Are you well known for being an obnoxious cashier? Or...do you honestly have a problem with...me?"

"Aww, come now. I mean no harm, little man. Hehe, why so upset, hmm?"

"I-I'm not upset.."

"Sure, whatever you say~"

"Is...that all you wanted to tell me?"

"Well, just one last thing. Glad you could come fill in the spot at the store. Doubt I'd like any other nobody to do it. Plus you seem pretty confident and...I like that"

A hint of blush quickly hit Vincent's fair cheeks, followed by a moment of silence as he didn't really know how to respond to such a random compliment. He embarrassingly stammered out his words and curled up in his chair with his knees being hugged so close to his chest. Maven then let out a soft snicker and cooed at Vincent's flustered silence over the phone.

"Can't take compliments easily, can you?"

"...o-of course I...can."

"Heh, we'll see about that once you start working here tomorrow, little man~"

"T-tomorrow?!"

The smug cashier let out a snort from laughter before he suddenly ended the call, leaving Vincent to sit shocked in his seat. He couldn't tell if the man was serious about his quick work date, or if the man was joking. Even if Maven was serious, Vincent never would have anticipated that he'd even start his first day so soon.

End of 2. 🥰