Downtown
was a web of alternating one-ways. A quarter of which were always being worked
on or closed for some reason or another, but traffic was dying down so her
drive to the drug store to pick up some provisions was pretty straight forward.
Standing in line at the checkout stand, Amanda’s eyes
darted around for something more entertaining than the crap the person in front
of her was buying. Next to her in the checkout stand was a menagerie of impulse
items: tabloids, bubblegum, breathe mints, batteries, condoms, small rolled up
horoscopes and Pez. Cherry flavored Pez, with a Darth Vader dispenser. The
taste of Pez had become foreign to Amanda since her childhood. She grabbed it
and tossed in on the conveyor belt with her other items.
Past the checkout counter was the customer service desk and
above that was the stores prestigious employee of the month wall. The current
winner was a curious young man named Don. He had shaggy shoulder length brown
hair that covered his forehead all the way down to his eyebrows. Amanda thought
to herself that he either wasn't photogenic or was just having a
shitty day. The sign below the picture said that he had been a valued employee
for three years. She couldn't imagine working for that long under harsh florescent lights
that filled the store with more illumination at 7 P.M. at night
than the sun did in the middle of the day.
Amanda paid for her things and left. On her way back to her
car she saw someone sitting on the curb and realized it was drugstore Don
himself smoking a cigarette.
"You’re mister employee of the month, right?"
"What?" Don said back with questioning eye.
"I was... I was just looking at your picture on the
wall inside," she replied with a smile.
"Oh yeah," he responded "the one where I
look like a tool right?" She wasn't quite sure how to
respond. He raised his head and she could see that his photo didn't due
him justice. He was a sharp looking guy with a nice smile and a
stainless steel lip ring that he probably had to remove for his
photo. Her ex had a lip ring, and in the same place too "yeah how proud am
I, right? I'm pretty sure I only got it because I've worked there so long
without receiving it."
"More like a pat on the back and a gift card." He
said as he put out his cigarette and reached for another. He tried to light a
new one but the lighter would only spark and not ignite. He tried several times but
to no avail. "Shit. You have a lighter by chance?"
Amanda had no reason to carry a lighter since she stopped
smoking a year back. Lately it was getting harder to fight
"no but there's a burner in the dash of my car," she thought about
asking for one herself but she bit her tongue. Apparently she still had
some will power.
She opened her car, threw in her bag inside, turned the key
and hit the burner "it'll just be a sec. So do you like working in a drug
store, Don?" He just kind of stared at her first. She was trying to make
conversation, and maybe that wasn't his sense of humor. But
he smiled and tilted his head downward as he put
the cigarette in his mouth.
"It's a job right? Pays the bills, keeps me humble.
What about you?"
"My bills get paid too. I don't know if I could stand
working here though."
"Yeah? Well, have you ever made
employee of the month?" She knew he was trying to be a smart ass and
smiled.
The burner popped and she handed it to him "doesn't
really work that way at my job."
'What a presumptuous dick' she thought to
herself; flattered that he thought she has a body to dance, but still obnoxious
to ask. Especially for a girl he just met. She figured she'd let it
slide since calling him out about his crappy job "no, I'm a nurse.
Don took a long draw and let it out slow as he nodded his
head "that's cool."
"Yeah," she was now staring at his cigarette with
great interest "mind if I take a drag?" Don stared at her with narrow
eyes and handed her the cig. She inhaled deep and handed it back.
"A nurse that smokes, that's some irony, right?"
"I don't smoke, I quite a while ago."
"Whatever Nurse..."
"Mandy," she never went by Mandy outside of work.
It just worked better over a hospital intercom speaker.
"Well Nurse Mandy. I know we just met but do you think
I can bum a ride?" Red flags went off all throughout her head. She
started searching for and excuse in her head.
"My car is pretty shitty on the inside and hasn't
been cleaned in months."
"I don't care. Anything’s better than the bus. I got
these hunger pains that just won't quit and there's this pizza place that's
only open for another hour," he started rubbing his belly "their
crust has garlic baked in, right?" She was a little irritated at
how he was ending his prepositions as a question "come
on Nurse Mandy, I'll buy you a slice," he said trying to sweeten the
deal and held up his before-mentioned employee of the month earn gift card. She
didn't care much for having a meal with a stranger, but he reminded her of
the slack-off skaters she knew in high school and decided he wasn't that
big of a threat. With great reluctance, she chewed her lip and told
herself 'what the hell.'
"Alright, I guess. But don't try anything
inappropriate, I spit mace," Don ran over and jumped in the car.
"Thanks, I appreciate it," he said
smiling at her.
He faced forward but notice out of the corner of her eye that he was staring at her chest. At least he kept his eyes on hers up to that point. 'Just another guy' she thought to herself and she was off to dinner with Don; the employee of the month that she just met. At least she would get a free meal.
He faced forward but notice out of the corner of her eye that he was staring at her chest. At least he kept his eyes on hers up to that point. 'Just another guy' she thought to herself and she was off to dinner with Don; the employee of the month that she just met. At least she would get a free meal.
