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chapter five — the workforce hates women
. . .
NIYAH KNOCKS DOWN a couple of shoes from their racks as she walks out of Journey's. She's only been working there for two weeks; but the manager's an asshole, her coworkers are incompetent, and the customers are overall disrespectful—so as a chronic job quitter, she basically had no other choice but to walk out during her shift.
Across the mall, near where the eleveator and escalators are, she spots a familiar pair of girls; one with long blonde hair and one with black hair pulled into a ponytail. Nicole and Jecka, her two friends from high school.
It has to have been at least a few months since they've all spoke and even longer since she's seen them in person. It's not surprising they made sure to keep in contact with eachother after the trio's friendship fizzled out, though—they've always seemed more like a duo. Probably because Jecka could handle all the bullshit that followed Nicole around better than Niyah could. In fact, Niyah's life has gotten surprisingly more peaceful ever since they drifted away.
Niyah steps closer, careful not to get into their line of sight. Her plan was to sneak around them to the escalators and go home, because speaking to old friends is awkward and she would rather die than have to do it. But the pair is speaking loud enough for her and anyone within a fifty feet radius to hear, and even though it makes her feel like a creep she decides to listen in for a little. Just to hear what they've been up to.
"And he's not bluffing?"
Jecka let's out a dry laugh, leaning against the mall's railing. "Do you think I wanna find out? I'm just gonna get my horrible job to appease him until I go to college in September."
"But Ulta's not hiring, Journey's isn't hiring, not even Popeyes is hiring," Nicole lists, reminding Jecka that there's already not much options of where she could go.
Niyah finally walks over after standing off to the side for a bit. It might seem stalkerish, but she really had planned to just slip past the two girls and leave. Once she heard them talking about jobs though, she couldn't help but cut in. So much for peaceful. "Actually, I think Journey's is hiring. I just walked out on them."
"What the fuck, when did you get here?" Nicole jumps at the sudden sound of Niyah's voice, whose now second guessing her choice to come up to them.
"Uh, just now," she casually lies. She's never been that good at it though, so she could already tell Nicole sees right through.
Jecka scoffs, as if no time has passed and they're back in high school just seeing eachother on a Monday after a long weekend. "Look how lucky you are, just able to walk out on every job you get. What was that other one you quit? Mcdonalds?"
