"Hocus Pocus!" - A Chesmandy Fanfiction

Chapter 5 - A New Assistant

This seemed like the end of Mandy and Chester's "friendship," with Chester "heartbroken," Mandy couldn't admit she felt terrible.

A few days passed, and Mandy hired a gentleman in need of a job. She named his costume "Berry," replacing the a with the e in his real name, "Barry." Although Berry wasn't sure at first, he needed the job, so he agreed to wear "that ridiculous costume."

Berry was introduced to everyone at the candy store by Mandy herself, including Chester. Mandy knew she and him weren't on speaking terms, but she smiled and had fun with him, ensuring Berry knew what he got himself into.

After that, nothing happened. Chester kept pulling pranks, with Berry being his new target. Mandy just made sure everyone was working... including Chester.

One day, Edgar returned to the candy store. He approached the counter and leaned his arms on it, waiting for someone to approach him. Mandy arrived to serve him.

"Hey, Mandy. Please make it the same as last time. Colette loved the cherry-flavored goods.

Without a word, Mandy started picking out the same sweets. Her memory was good, so she knew how much of each and which ones to put into the bag. Edgar continued talking.

"I got my paycheck; Colette did too. Griff says we're doing a good job working together as a team at the gift shop. Though I'm pretty sure he kept at least ten bucks to himself from me and Colette for himself..." he chuckled.

Mandy turned to a jar of cherry gummies, looking away from Edgar. She muttered an "mhm," picking out some cherry gummies. The word "team" was stuck in her mind.

"So, how have things been going here?" he asked.

Mandy didn't respond. She was lost in her thoughts. She stopped picking the candy out, but once she felt the jar slipping out of her hands, she snapped back into reality, but it was too late. The jar dropped to the floor and shattered.

She looked down for a second and sighed, covering her face with her hands. Edgar looked at her worriedly and offered her a helping hand.

"Need help?"

"No... no, that's okay," she said quietly before hand-picking up broken pieces of the glass.

"You'll cut yourself like that."

Mandy stood up, unfazed by his comment, a handful of glass in her hands. A single one cut her finger a little.

"It's fine." She threw the glass bits into the trash can before entering the storage room to retrieve more cherry gummies.

She saw Chester on the couch of the storage room, eating some of them while watching a video on his phone. He was on break.

Mandy was about to snap but remembered that she should be gentler. Reluctantly, she came up to him and said:

"Uh... I need those back. A customer is waiting for them," she said, pointing at the cherries.

Chester looked up at her, noticing Mandy sucking on her bleeding finger occasionally. He wasn't going to ask what happened; He handed the cherries back to her and turned back to watching his video, not caring.

She took the bag and walked away, attempting to hide her sadness.

Once she returned to the counter, she poured the rest of the sweets into the bag that she handed to Edgar after.

"That'll be 9.99."

He took his wallet out and paid before handing the bag to him.

"Hey, just one last question before I go."

"Ask away."

"Chester seemed different from when he came by our gift shop. Colette explained he felt sad about something or someone; at least, that's what she assumed. He still has to pay her back for the earphones."

Mandy looked at him, surprised. Did he come by the gift shop? What?

"Will you please tell him to pay for the earphones? Colette's getting a little impatient... it's been a week already, after all. Perhaps he forgot."

"Perhaps... I'll let him know."

"Thanks, Mand. Also, Emz is having a party on the 14th (Today is the 30th, by the way). Let Chester know. I'll send you the details if you want to come."

"Sure. Thanks for letting me know."

With that, Edgar was gone.

Mandy sighed and went back into the storage room, wanting to rest on the couch. But then she remembered Chester was there, so she just sat on the corner of the sugar-making machine and leaned against it. She started drowning in her thoughts as she closed her eyes.

However, neither she nor Chester knew Berry was eyeing them. Something didn't seem right, saying they were excellent friends, yet avoiding each other.

He would investigate what was happening since he didn't like conflicts. He will do it one way or another for himself, their friends, and Mandy and Chester.