supermarket flowers // phan

aisle one

phil sighed as he placed another tin on top of the shelf, his eyes gazed down at his wrist where the time read 15:32.

only 3 more hours to go.

his eyes began to feel heavy as he lazily reached for yet another tin to add to the stack. the sound of his manager approaching made phil begin to stack the shelf at a more rapid pace.

"this is the main shop floor" phils manager said "this is where you will spend most of your hours, so i suggest you familiarise yourself with it"

phil glanced over his shoulder, standing next to his boss was a shorter, small framed boy. his damp chocolate hair, from the unpredictable april weather, was curled into messy tendrils on his forehead, his fingers were curled tightly yet daintily around the signed paperwork in his hand. his hazel eyes appeared glazed as he stared across the shop, obvious that he wasn't listening to a single syllable the boss was saying.

further down the aisle, phil noticed how his coworkers ellen and lisa were whispering to eachother, nodding in his direction and giggling. the girls cheeks were flushed red and lisa adjusted her hair, obviously finding the new employee attractive or adorable or endearing, or something. 

phil gritted his teeth as he slammed the final tin down, the sudden attention this new boy was receiving flowed a bitter feeling of jealousy throughout his veins. he ran his aching hands through his thick head of black hair, fixing it against his forehead.

he approached the girls, they suddenly stopped staring at the new boy and turned their attention to phil. phil was attractive, there was no denying it. he had a reputation with the girls for being unbelievably good-looking, his harsh contrasting ebony hair to his pale skin alongside his yellow toned blue eyes made him unique to every other typical british boy.

"hey" phil said casually, leaning his slightly toned arm against the shelf.

"hey phil" replied ellen, the warm red glow still etched on her cheeks

"don't you girls have work to be doing" phil remarked, rolling his eyes

"don't you?" lisa shot back

"i'm not the one wasting their time staring at the new boy" phil said, annoyance laced his voice, arrogance seeping out of him.

"shut up phil, hes cute" ellen stated, picking up the price gun, grinning at the thought of the new boy

phil snorted, drumming his fingers against the shelf, "sure"

"you're not the only attractive male in england you know" lisa laughed, nudging phil

"yeah, whatever lisa" phil said bluntly, pushing himself away from the shelf and heading to the break room.

he dragged his battered converse across the floor until he reached the back of the store, he kept his eyes fixed to the floor to avoid any interaction with the customers. he hated his shitty job. he hated the prospect that he wasn't centre of attention anymore. he hated everything about this town. as soon as this job payed enough he was leaving.

he swung open the door to see the new boy trying to figure out the lockers, juggling paperwork, lunch and his uniform in his arms. phil sucked a breath in through his teeth and kept his head down once again, hoping he could avoid conversation, he pulled out a chair at the table furthest away and pulled out his phone.

"hey... um... could you help me with this" the new boy said, his voice was soft and rich, much to phils annoyance.

phil spent around 7 seconds having an internal debate with himself, he could pretend he didnt hear him, he could start his shift early and walk straight out, he could say he didn't know himself.

instead, his feet were carrying him over to the lockers where he was standing. without saying a word, phil swiftly opened the locker and pulled it open with added aggression.

"uhhh... th-thanks" he stuttered, obviously taken aback by phils response

phil mumbled something, heading for the door.

"im dan by the way, i'm new here' he continued, flicking the curly hairs from his eyes, shutting the locker behind him. "maybe you could show me ar-"

'cool' interrupted phil, not the slightest bit of elation in his tone. he pushed open the door with his shoulder and headed back to aisle one.