mood ring.
A superstitious piece of jewelry that apparently can tell you how you feel by just sitting on your finger and changing colors. I wasn't downgrading them though, I had bought one a few days after the incident. When I couldn't read my own emotions.
Miranda, the love of my life, had become just a faint memory,... that I thought about everyday. I was passing by her picture on my nightstand, and constantly washing and hanging her old clothes in my closet. Of course my mother was my biggest support system, reminding me of how much better I could do. But I never saw it, Miranda was my rock, my all. And now that she was gone so was my entire world. Slumping into work everyday was a pastime, and a pastime only. But the 9 to 5 hours were just another torture of churlish voices when I asked,
"Paper or Plastic?"
She was a short haired brunette with biker boots and a crop top. She dug through the small wallet stuffed in her tight leather pocket as I ran her items across the shining red scanner.
"Uh, whatever's best for the environment," She joked, grabbing a fallen quarter from the floor, "Plastic, I guess."
"Paper" I mumbled, pulling a heap of plastic bags from the rack.
She slapped a twenty on the counter. I looked up at her and said nothing.
"Hold on. Hold on." She assured. "There's another one in here somewhere."
My line was growing and growing as the girl began to dig more and more. I sighed, resting my hands on the counter. "Give me what you have" I whispered.
Her eyes flickered rapidly up. "Dude, I couldn't do that."
Did she want the stuff or not?
I starting stuffing her things into the bags. She smacked away my hand, "Stop it" she half-whispered.
"Look,"
"Stop. It." She continued to dig through the pockets of her tight pants. "Ah," she slapped a crumpled bill in front of me "told you"
Again, I said nothing as I rung the items again. "$32.76"
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It was 11 p.m. by the time the store closed, and I still wasn't allowed to leave until the janitorial services were fully completed. And might I add, the janitors were very efficient in taking their time. This only reverted me to think of Miranda, and how she'd wait in the manager's office while I constantly yelled at the janitors to speed up so I could go. But those days were over now. I hardly ever used my voice, let alone to scream or yell, unless I was at the register. In staff meetings I'd close my eyes and think of a place where I could be happy. Most times with her.
"Hey Adam, I found this"
I jumped, startled. "God," I swore, "Don't you people ever knock."
She rolled her hazel eyes. Roberta, janitorial manager, was a slick one. She had a smart mouth, and her comebacks were just as harsh as my insults.
"Don't you people ever work?"
She tossed the card onto my desk before wobbling out of my office. I didn't mean to be...mean. I used to be the nicest person here. I was more depressed than upset. More morbid than angry. But somehow, all I said seemed to be frustration. I felt more patient that anything, but my words were so urgent I'd lost many friends in the recent months.
It was an ID.
My first thought was to toss it. I mean, there was no way I'd possibly be able to return it. I definitely wasn't going to track the person down. That was how a lot of love stories started, and I definitely wasn't in the mood for love.
So, I sat it on my desk, and hoped the owner would pop up the next day looking for it.
But of course it was only just wishful thinking. I mean, there was an entire storage locker in the back, filled with IDs no one ever bothered to come looking for. Our store was the magnet for lost things. I kicked off my work boots and slipped into some sneakers before grabbing the keys and locking the store for the night. I caught a glimpse of Roberta leaving the store while I tossed the boots to the other side of the room.
While I lock the doors, the mechanical gates close themselves from the inside. It was a major upgrade from last year's method, where you had to be squished against the gate and the two doors while trying to push the thing across the entire width of the front doors. But of course, Miranda was there to hold the doors open.
I'm trying to keep my thoughts about Miranda secluded. Give me a break.
I prop myself in the driver's seat of my cherry red Honda. The first part every night to realizing that my fairytale was over. I pushed the mood ring down on my middle finger. Blue.
Ok so I cut this chapter short because if I kept it going from there I would have revealed a lot of stuff that I wasn't ready to reveal yet. I appreciate anybody who has read this entire chapter and made it far enough to be reading this sentence right now. It's taking me awhile to put together the concept and The chapters of sailheart. But I'm very excited for this story. Hopefully when I'm done with this story, I have a lot of people reading this, not just for popularity but for realization. & I won't tell you what to realize because that's your job to decide whether or not you get the message of the story. I don't want to start blabbering and giving a whole life speech, but I also don't mind if people read this story just for enjoyment. I will try to add bits of comedy and things, but I'm no Kevin Hart people. Spare me. But I'll end this here because I feel like I'm saying a lot more than you have time to read lol. But I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, & I hope you plan on reading more.
Xoxo Jay
