If All Else Fails | [On Hold]

Chapter Two: Hades and The Loner?

After I placed the last blue perfume bottle at the top of the pyramid of tiny perfume boxes, I wipe away the sweat that beaded my forehead. Perfect!

Michael sneaks up behind it and puts his hand over one of the boxes at the bottom. He smirks as he looks at me, almost as if he's saying: I'm going destroy your precious pyramid.

"I swear to god if you do it I'm going to stuff that box down your throat." I smile sweetly as I said it.

"You don't scare me."

"Then do it. I dare you. " I motioned towards the boxes.

He waits a moment before stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"That's what I thought."

"The only reason I didn't do it is because I don't want to shit out mini perfume bottles." He walks away.

"That's not a bad idea. We can use them as samples." I laugh.

"Is that even sanitary?"

I shrug.

Okay, let's go through the checklist:

1. Cleaning. Check.

2. Stocking the shelves. Check.

3. Placing everything where it's supposed to be.

I look at Michael who was now slow dancing with a naked mannequin. Check?

I took out my phone (a Samsung Galaxy S3) from my back pocket to look at the time. 9:26 PM. Surprisingly I finished four minutes before closing time. There were so many clothes on the floor or misplaced. The cleaning really consumed most of my time.

"Good job today! Since Christmas is coming in a week, we've been getting a lot of customers. " The supervisor stated. You can tell he was happy. His face glowed more than the top of his head. "You two can go ahead. I'll lock up." He adds.

Michael was already at the door, waiting for me so that we can leave. I grabbed my purse from under the counter where the cash register is and went into the storage room to put on my white trench coat. Once I made sure I had everything, I said goodbye then followed Michael out the door. Immediately I felt the cold breeze hit my face. He starts leading me to the almost empty parking area.

"You should've brought your coat. It's freezing." I shivered. "You see, I love winter clothes but I hate winter. Do you feel my pain?" I crossed my arms. "This is Florida for duck's sake. It's not supposed to be so cold."

A small smile spread on Michael's lips but he doesn't say anything.

We approached a cream-colored Chrysler 300. I still can't believe his parents bought him this. Michael took out his keys to unlock the doors. The front lights flashes once or twice. As he makes his way to the drivers seat, I open the door on the opposite side and plop down on the leather seat, breathing in the pine scent with my eyes closed. A few seconds later, I feel the car roar to life.

"Tired?" He asks.

I open my eyes as the car backs up.

"Huh?-Oh, yeah. Today was exhausting. Did you know I found a couple soda bottles and cans in the dressing rooms? Like there's a reason why there's trash cans all over the Shopping Plaza!" I exhaled dramatically. "Also, there was a full cupcake on the floor in the men's section. Who leaves a uneaten cupcake on the floor?! It's just frustrating to me."

"Wait-wasn't that the cupcake you gave to me earlier?"

I turned my head towards the window.

"Wow. The city lights are beautiful tonight. Right?" I said, obviously trying to change the subject.