Call Out

Fire

The seemingly average convenience store that resided adjacent to the serene and beloved Mckinnon Reserve was the current workplace of Pablo Woodard. Exposed on a curb and mind you, opportunistically planted by a high school — traffic for the weekday was bound to be plentiful. After Pablo was fired from his last job, he didn't stumble for long. With a little bit of thorough bribery and equivocation, Pablo was quickly able to get back up to his two feet. Pablo was completely independent and could stand firmly on his ground. If lawyers are allowed to 'depart from the truth,' so can anyone else.

Right?

That was at least Pablo Xavier Woodard's line of thinking.

"Are you really sure about this?"

Pablo smiled, fumbling to pin his employee badge onto his 'friend', "Of course! What do you mean? You're just the man I need to fill in a shift for me, I have something important to do..."

"What is it that's so important to you?"

Pablo grinned, giving off an assuring expression, something that he does well. He had met Aiden at the club and was astounded by the striking resemblance they both possessed. What are the odds of finding someone who looks exactly like you? According to Google, it's a one-in-one trillion chance to find the exact replica of yourself.

Pablo liked those odds, he did. The 1/1,000,000,000,000 chance.

Aiden had the exact same wavy brown hair and the same square face and uncannily enough, they both sounded quite alike with the major difference of Aiden not requiring any glasses. His eyesight is upholding itself throughout his early adulthood. Their similarities quickly formed a bond and before they knew it, they were now 'friends', exchanging numbers, texting, meeting up, the usual stuff, all under Pablo's methodical exchange.

Pablo proudly studied his perfect replica with prying eyes, dressed in the depressing black employee uniform. Since it was a weekend and so late, no one would be able to anticipate anything, Pablo recalled before grabbing Aiden hastily by the shoulders. It had taken a great deal of convincing to get Aiden to comply but it was a small price to pay for the desired outcome.

The minimalistic orange and green stripes stood out underneath the luminescent ceiling tube lights, what an ugly and utterly stupid shirt to wear as a compilable uniform piece, "Oh by the way, you're missing the glasses," Pablo clicked, quickly recognising the discrepancy in the outfit. He unpacks the ginormous rucksack, fiddling about until his fingers completely plunge into the bottomless abyss to bring back a small container.

Inside was a perfect replica of his own eyewear, with no prescriptions whatsoever and all sleek yet shiny, "Here we go," he confirmed, violently shoving the wire-frame onto Aiden's delicate face, "You can't even tell the difference," Pablo beamed, tightening the grasp of his fading black NY cap. He tucks his head into the grey hoodie, his face hidden in indiscernible obscurity.

Pablo was extremely pleased with his substitute.

The two of them walked inside, Pablo popped on his mask before he greeted his co-worker. Tyler Palmer was at the counter when the two approached him, he glanced behind to the analogue clock and immediately grabbed his jacket, making a quick escape. He sends Pablo a quick 'hello' nod to Pablo before disappearing with liberation from the shift's grasp. Tyler was, of course, confused to the core by their uncanny valley similarities but didn't find it worth his effort and time to point it out. He had better things to be doing.

"Owww, that hurts," Aiden whinged, readjusting the frames to his personal liking, he rolled up his sleeves to the mid-elbow in reluctant anticipation, "This... doesn't look too bad on me actually, I should try wearing glasses more sometimes..." Aiden contemplated, holding onto his phone. He stared into the fractured screen that mirrored his very own image, astonished by his newly presented look.