The Temptations of Chemistry

Chapter Eight - Let Me Go

Chapter Eight - Let Me Go

The tiny bell chimed above the door as I swung it open and stepped into the store. My head was pounding and my eyes droopy due to the little sleep I've been getting. Just hearing Kyle's voice over the weekend over the phone had me paranoid. It was only a matter of time before they really did find me.

The thought made my stomach clench but I ignored it.

Glancing around the store, everyone went about their own business, not giving me a second look. I appreciated that for once. I pushed away all negative thoughts as I grabbed the little 'help wanted' sign that was taped to the inside of the door.

 As I approached the counter, I took a good look around. It seemed like a pretty decent envoirment for a work place. It was filled with shelves of things like chips, chocolate bars, you know, your basic convenience store necessities. There was a freezer in the back with bottles of water, pop and juice, and there was even a movie rental room over to the side. 

"And what can I do for you?" The guy at the cash asked while he was turned around, reaching for something. I snapped out of daze of looking around the place.

"I'm here for the- Stuart?" I blurted, scrunching my face up in shock. I didn't know he worked here. "I didn't know you worked here." I said, repeating my thoughts. Then again, I shouldn't have been so surprised, this was a pretty small town. Small town, small world.

"Jessalyn," He breathed with a smile on his face, surprised to see me as well. "What are you doing here?"

I scoffed a little. "Actually.." I placed the help wanted sign on the counter. "I'm here for a job. Think you can help me out?" I smirked as I raised an eyebrow at him.

He laughed, "I think I might be able to be of assistance, yes." He told me before he called out to the back of the store to someone by the name of Jeff. 

The guy called back for him to hold on a second. In the mean time, Stuart stood behind the counter, smiling warmly at me with his big brown eyes. After not very long, Jeff appeared, walking up to behind the counter with Stuart, holding a broom. "What do we have here?" He questioned.

 "Jessalyn is here for the job." Stuart told him, pointing down to the sign I placed on the counter. "She's a friend of mine and Matty's little sister. Real hard worker." He convinced, throwing me a playful wink.

The man stuck out his lip in consideration before sticking out his hand. "Jeff." He introduced himself. "Matty's sister.. Hmm, well if Stuart's got faith in you dear, then so do I. You've got it."

I widened my eyes. "That's it?" I questioned. I didn't even have a resume and he didn't ask me one single question. This has got to be a joke. Jeff nodded at me assuringly. "Well that was easy" I laughed.

"You do realize that it's a floor worker job, right?" Stuart asked me, I gave him a questioning look, not sure what exactly that meant. "You know, you sweep the floor, take out the trash, bag ice, all the fun stuff." He explained to me. Seemed simple enough, I think I'm pretty capable.

"Great." I approved, nodding my head.

"Great." Jeff repeated me, "You start tomorrow." He called as he started taking off to the back of the store again, humming to a country song that you couldn't faintly hear on the radio.

I felt a bit of a weight lifted off my shoulders. I knew that I was going to need to start making some money somehow. I mean, I don't exactly have the best track record and god only knows if I'm going to graduate or not. It would be nice to have a little cash on hand, just in case.