A Broken Doll

1

I saw her at the local bookstore, and something immediately lit up in my heart. What I saw was a girl so beautiful, yet so broken. A beautiful Tragedy.

My name is Penny, and I love Tragedies. 

I frantically ran to get to the bookstore where I worked. My phone had died in the middle of the night so it didn't wake me up with the alarm. I was 40 minutes late for my job and my bra came unclipped while I was running. To put it simply, my morning was not very good. 

As I reach the bookstore, I can already see my manager, Olivia. And she is not happy. I enter and run up to her and spit out sorry again and again. Once I stop to catch my breath, she starts talking. "You're late. I've let this slide too many times. Look, I know you're a good worker, but you keep slacking by showing up later" she pauses, giving me a sympathetic look. After staring at me for what felt like years with my heart beating in my ears, she continues with a sigh. "I would fired you right now, but Pop liked you and you only need to work here for a few more months, right?" I nodded.

 "So, fine. You're not fired today, but if you show up late again, you're fired." She finished. I started smiling and repeated 'thank you' over and over again. I gave her a hug, and she accepted it. "Now get working!" She said. As I hurry over to the counter, she shouts "And your bra is unclipped. Again" and gets back to work. I grab my bra from under my shirt and struggle to clip it. Once I get it, I grab my name tag clip and small apron. It's 8:28 am and not a lot of people are here. 

It gets busier around 2-5 pm. I would touch upon the amazing and interesting work I did such as putting some new releases on the shelves, marking prices up and down on certain books, and the most intriguing process of running the register, but I don't think you can handle such amusement and awe it takes to listen to such things. 

We close at 8:00 pm, so we start shutting down registers and certain things in the store such as music, 3-D printer ( yes, we have a freakin 3-D printer ) and the 2 tiny T.Vs set out for displays at 7:45. The bookstore was pretty popular, even though it was only a local one. Since Barnes & Noble and Foyles Bookshop were very popular bookstores, we took after them in the technology department.

 I finished up cleaning the counter while Olivia and Carrie shut down the T.Vs and music. Tristan worked with the 3-D printer because he was the best with tech. I slouch down at one of the chairs, glad to be almost done with the work. I had the day after tomorrow off along with the weekend. Everyone finished, and I could see the look of relief on their faces. Carrie sighed, and quickly set her name tag and apron on her hanger. 

She dashed to the doorway before Olivia stopped her short. "What are you doing? I get the part about getting ready to leave, but there's still 5 minutes left!" Olivia exclaimed. Carrie rolled her eyes and Olivia cracked a smile back at her. "I have a date. A very hot one. His name is Angelo and he is out of everyone here's league. Except me, of course." Carrie said in a smooth, sarcastic tone. We all burst out laughing, and before we knew it, the shop was closed.

 "Aw fuck, have to go bye!" Carrie shouted and ran off. Olivia yelled after her, "Stop swearing inside the bookstore! It's bad for business!" We all smiled and laughed a bit while putting away our aprons. Everyone but Olivia had already left, but Olivia said "Catch fast" threw the keys at me. I caught them at the last second and told me I had to lockup. 

No one liked locking up because you have to lock the doors, leave, come back, unlock doors, leave, lock doors. It just is an inconvenience and just extra effort put into something basically useless. Olivia left and I soon felt the cold breeze of loneliness. I've always wanted a girlfriend, but no one was the correct one. whether it be emotional baggage, weird fetishes, high maintenance, or just lack of interest, I could not find someone who lasted more than a year. 

Before I could continue my thoughts, a figure ran past me. I was so lost in my thoughts I must've forgot to close the door!

 I look behind me and call out, "Hey, um, we're not open right now. Come back at around 8-9 if you want." No response. I jogged to where I thought I saw the figure heading. I looked around but couldn't see anyone. I was about to call out again before I saw a small figure in front of me. 

I started to speak before she turned to me. And my breath caught.