Welcome to Modish Wear

Chapter 1

The snow was slowly falling from the sky, the wind dancing between parked cars. A man in ripped jeans and no jacket was waiting outside the store to buy a white T-shirt in December. One rule in working retail was there was a 95% chance that your store was not closing due to the weather. Every day, you were required to wear a fashionable outfit, a name badge on your chest, a walkie-talkie clipped to your side, and sell your soul.

That's what Nick Malone was doing at 8am, an hour before the store opened. Nick worked for a store called "Modish Wear," which carried styles for the entire family: A 19-year-old model, middle-aged father of two, and adorable little Susie could dress in style and at an affordable price. Not many teenagers wanted to be caught dead in Modish Wear; the store wasn't trending on TikTok.

According to the schedule, Nick knew he was scheduled as the morning cashier, but mentally, he wasn't feeling well. Nick had a heart-wrenching breakup last week, and broken hearts were bad for business. What's worse was having an ex that you work with. It was cute flirting in private and playfully throwing clothes at one another, but seeing his face made Nick want to throw a dagger instead. As Nick walked towards the closed store, he dialed the store phone number into his cell phone and waited for a voice to assist him. "I'm here," Nick would say, but he didn't feel like he was. He felt less significant than a plastic bag floating in the wind, more like a bag that had been peed on and trampled.

"Morning," the woman with jet-black hair said, opening the front door. Victoria Cain is the Store Manager of Modish Wear in Wallbrook. It was never a "good" morning for Victoria, even though their store was #1 in the district, competing against eleven other stores. She has worked for the company for 15 years and desperately wanted to become a district manager. Victoria was known as "Icky Vicky" by some disgruntled associates, Nick being one of them.

As Victoria walked away to enter a four-digit PIN to turn off the store alarm, Nick saw his best friend at work, Hana Taylor, and ran over to say hello.

"Hey."

"Hey, Nick."

They exchanged a hug. It was a warm embrace that lasted three full seconds.

"What the hell happened?" Hana's brown eyes were wide.

"What do you mean?"

"Your Snapchat story last night."

"Oh, yeah..." Nick started to remember his social media blackout when he witnessed his ex-boyfriend a week later in a new relationship...with a woman. Nick was furious and, without thinking, decided to vent on his Snapchat story.

***

Nick's Snapchat story started off with a ball of confidence and anger.

"Hey everyone, Nick here, I want to talk about how my ex is a dirty bastard. A month ago, we told each other we loved each other, and this week, he's dating some girl that loves tentacle porn. Well, Chica, you can have that slimy son of a bitch for the rest of your miserable lives. I'm quite happy, actually. I'm in school, I'm hot as fuck, I don't need to immediately jump into some stranger's bed and call them my boyfriend."

Next, he reminisced.

"You saw me at the bar and said I was the most handsome man you ever laid his eyes on. Do you remember that? We ran over to the Olive Garden down the road. We had a breadstick fight and pretended they were lightsabers. You fucking ruined Star Wars for me!"

Then, he started to cry.

"I loved you, and you twisted my heart into a pretzel. A stale, cold, unsalted pretzel. You said we could still be friends? Friends don't touch penises and say good game. Well, maybe some weird bromances, but that's beside the point. I'm a nice guy, I'm not going to out you but know this: You could have had the world with me. A whole new world. With new horizons to pursue. Fuck you, you're not my Aladdin. You're Iago in Aladdin's clothing. Okay, I'm done."

But he wasn't done.

"One more thing, I hate you. No, you don't deserve hate. You deserve chickenpox. Again. On your Southern region. Okay, I'm done now. Any cute, CHIVALROUS MEN, hit me up. And not one that works with me like this prick. Thanks.

***

Nick gasped, "Oh my god, I remember everything now."

"Were you drunk or something?" Hana chuckled.

Nick rubbed his eyes, "That's the sad part; I was completely sober."

"So, he's with a woman now?"

"Yeah."

"Was he even gay?"

"My mouth and butthole say he was."

Victoria walked over to the gossiping shirt folders, "Nick, can you come to the office before you punch in? We need to talk."