7:00 A.M., my phone alarm rings out into the emptiness of my apartment. I dragged myself out of bed with ease, letting my eyes flutter open on their own, no forcing needed. I was always given the earliest shifts at work - luckily for everyone involved I am a morning person.
Struggling to put on my tighter-than-wanted pants and staring at my empty bed, I realized just how lonely the apartment felt. It wasn't the kind of curl up and cry lonely, it was the kind you can bear. The kind you live with for the rest of your life. I was okay with that.
No sooner than this thought crossed my mind, did a flash across my phone screen occur.
"Kate - RECEIVED 7:04 AM - hey can u cover for me at work today?"
This was the second time Kate has asked me to cover for her in the past week. She's ridiculous, but I have nothing better to do. I'll work both our shifts and come home to the same empty apartment. Just four hours later than planned.
"Me - SENT 7:07 AM - Sure."
"Kate - RECEIVED 7:08 AM - thanks victorra, it won't happen again!"
I dismissed this little misspelling of my name and rolled my eyes. 'It won't happen again,' except it always does.
Uniforms for H&M were great, all I had to do was wear clothes I bought from the store and fasten on the little name button that read "Victoria" in neatly printed black lettering. After I pulled my sweater up and over my head and my name tag was pinned on, I grabbed my phone and a water bottle out of my small fridge and hit the road.
* * *
The highway was surprisingly clear this morning, and I was impressed. Work commutes usually take me around twenty to thirty minutes, but today I got there no short of ten.
I parked my car in the employee parking lot, turning the heat off. I stepped out of my car into the unusually frigid autumn air, tying my chestnut brown hair into a loose bun as I did.
"Tori! Early enough?" I heard a voice yell out at me as soon as I set foot into H&M. In a few minutes I recognized this voice as my douchebag manager.
"It's VIC-tori-A. And traffic was light, so naturally I'm early than planned." I rolled my eyes and busied myself with mindless tasks like opening and closing the cash register repeatedly.
"Kate isn't coming today, by the way." I added after about five minutes.
"What the hell? It's the third time she has missed in the last month." He said.
"I'm covering for her, Jared. It'll be fine."
He scoffed and we stayed silent for the rest of ten minutes, when our other coworkers began pouring in.
Jared was the absolute scum of the earth. He's tried to hit on me more than once, and each time I've declined he gets terrifyingly angry. It's disgusting.
* * *
9:00 AM., the store is officially open and I am working register, my favorite place to be at work. I told you, it's people watching. I'm actually fairly horrible at math and should probably not be working the register, but I love watching the people come and go.
It takes about twenty minutes until people start trickling in. Mostly old people doing early Christmas shopping for their grandkids.
"Miss," I am approached by an elderly woman holding up a shimmery pink top that reads 'J'ADORE.' "Can you tell me if my fourteen year old granddaughter would like this?"
I look up and give my friendliest smile. "I'm sure she will, would you like to buy it?"
The woman nods her head and slides the shirt over to me. I scan it and the machine reads the number code as I attempt to read the woman.
She had graying, thin hair cut very short and her expression looked warm. I was guessing that her husband had passed from the way she kept absently touching her wedding ring with her free hand.
"Miss," her eyes were a deep blue. She must have been gorgeous when she was young.
"Miss..." Her jacket was embroidered beautifully, she must be fairly wealthy.
"Miss?" I shake my head out and rub my eyes.
"I'm sorry, ma'am!" I say, looking at the register. "That will be $12.97."
She hands me a one hundred dollar bill and tells me to keep the change for myself. I was right about one thing; she definitely had some money...and maybe a "poor college kid" sense.
"Ma'am, thank you so much, but I have been a lousy employee..." I say, flustered.
She winked and gave me that same warm smile.
"Oh dearie, you need it more than I do."
I gave her my most grateful expression and put the shirt in a bag. "Thank you so much."
"Happy holidays." She said in a breathy voice, taking the bag and leaving the store.
Usually, I would be annoyed with the kinds of people who are wishing me Happy Holidays before Thanksgiving even comes, but this woman was so sweet, I couldn't even bring myself to be annoyed. Plus, I was in a good mood with my eighty-something dollar tip.
YOU ARE READING
(Sur)realism • Calum Hood
Fanfiction"What kind of paintings do you do?" He asked. "Realism, mostly." Calum touched his fingertips to the edge of the painting. "That looks pretty surreal to me."
