I grab the full trash bag, my headphones, my phone, and my phone charger then went out of the front door, starting my weekend walk. I put the trash in the green bin and begin my walk by doing the usual, intensely struggling to unwind and plug in my headphones while setting up my morning playlist.
"It's pretty nice out for a Saturday, huh."
Putting my playlist on shuffle, I begin the usual half-hour walk to work. I decided to look at the sky and find the fluffiest looking cloud, but that'd be a little difficult since there's nothing but gray fluffiness above me.
It looks like there's a good chance it'll rain pretty hard today, but this is Laredo, so chances are it'll only drizzle for an hour or two a day for the next few days. Of course, the moment I think about rain, it begins to drizzle.
My clothes are already a small bit wet so, who cares if they switch from damp to wet. I continue my walk, maintaining the same slow speed I continue to move down the street, listening to my playlist, of course.
Around fifteen minutes into the walk, it begins to rain hard, drenching me entirely in less than a minute. I begin to run, trying my hardest to protect my phone from the rain.
Within a couple of minutes, I make it to the place I work, a small gas station. I run inside and head to the back, ignoring the odd look the night shift cashier is giving me.
"Sorry man, could ya man the register a little bit longer, I need to dry off, even if it's only a small bit."
"I gotcha, no harm, no foul. Why don't you go ahead and do a quick pat down with the glass rag."
"No thanks, I'll just give my hair a light squeeze in the bathroom drain."
"Go ahead, and stand in front of the dryer for a little bit too, okay. I can't exactly have you working with my sweet customers looking like that. Go ahead and go home Alex, I'll cover you while he drys off."
Suddenly boss walks out of the sweets aisle.
"Yes, sir!"
"Yes, sir!"
I start operation sort of dry, while boss mans the register. I move as quickly as I can to the bathroom and begin to squeeze my hair, rub my arms down, and burn my skin and hair into oblivion using the air dryer. After a little over five minutes, I manage to transform into a somewhat wet man with water-drenched clothes instead of the flood survivor I looked like before I began the operation.
As soon as I finish, I move to the cash register so I can begin my shift.
"Hey boss, I'm good now. Thanks for helping me out,"
"Your welcome, and once again, you don't have to call me boss. Okay, Ollie."
"Alright then jake."
I clock in and begin to place some weiners on the small grill next to the wings and pizza, completely ignoring the goofy smile jake is making.
Today jake is wearing the same brown khaki pants, with black non-slip shoes and a blue sweater. He'll probably keep his shirt a secret until I decide to ask him what shame he plans to show off today.
"Alright, looks like I'll have to help you out. Leave the food to me, okay, people will get pissed if they see you touching my famous pizza when your clothes are so wet."
"The pizza's good, but I don't think it counts as famous."
"Yeah yeah, well at least it's tasty."
"Super tasty."
"Alright well if you want, you can buy us a slice or two for the both of us."
I look at the glass displaying some buffalo wings and a box of pepperoni pizza and wonder if I should, only to remember that I pay for just about everything I can in the house.
"You already know, most of my money goes towards the bills."
I look at jake and see him immediately slap his forehead in shame and possibly regret.
"Alright, I got it then. Just be glad I'm helping you on my day off, okay."
"Yeah yeah. Anyways what shirt is it today?"
"hehe behold the gloriousness that is the worst best girl!"
He unzips his sweater to reveal an old looking featuring a pair of old fashioned anime characters riding a plane and a collection of chibis chasing after them, a short pink-haired loli mage whipping a black-haired man in a dog costume with a. A maid, a slutty looking black girl with a lizard, and a busty elf seem to be chasing them.
"I present to you the one true queen and her little bitch."
"Well, at least it not lewd like that loli vampire shirt."
"I got a date today so I have to tone things down a little bit. The anime stuff is ganna stay, gotta make sure whoever shows interest knows what to expect."
"So, what is it gonna be this time, guy or girl?"
"Guy."
"Alright well, don't forget to tell me how it went later."
Ring Ring Ring.
The automatic doors open as a, let's just say, a rather large woman, wearing a thick purple jacket over what appears to be a beige-colored blouse under it. I try not to laugh as her hood has tightened up to reveal only her nose, that and the jacket makes her arms look like fancy wrapped sausages.
She stops on the entrance mat and shakes her body, sending raindrops flying everywhere. As soon as she finished making a mess, she loosened her hood revealing a makeup caked face and red bob cut hairdo.
She moves to the chip and sugar snack aisle and grabs two small bags of dor*tos, then moves to the back to grab a can of ginger ale.
"That'll be seven fifty-eight ma'am."
She pays with a card, then grabs her stuff and leaves. The moment she steps out, jake walks up to the counter and starts up a conversation.
"So didcha have breakfast?"
"You already know the answer."
"Okay man, for real head to the back and grab a slice or two of pizza. I won't charge you."
"Thanks man, I'll be real quick."
Jake zips up and moves to the register while I head to the broom closet and chow down, finishing the pizza in five fast bites. I quickly appreciate extra stretchy cheeks as I wipe my face down with a rag hanging on a small hook on the wall.
"I have returned."
I head over to the counter and give jakes back a light pat.
"Well, that was fast."
"Squirrel cheeks man, that is the key."
"Yeah yeah, anyways looks like it'll be a slow day, assuming the rain just doesn't stop."
"You know it will never stop."
"I wonder if Jim will show up today?"
"Of course he will."
The store is right next to a small neighborhood and school, so assuming the weather's good some people trying to lose weight by walking or some students will show up and buy some snacks. The money we make off these two groups isn't much compared to the people who show up to fill their car, but the student and work-out group are more likely to be talkative, so I generally prefer them.
Jake leaves for his date as soon as our little talk ends, promising to show off later.
I wish he wouldn't, but sometimes his attempt at boasting can be pretty funny.
With jake gone the day officially begins. Because of the rain, fewer people have gone into the store to buy snacks, I think fewer people have come up to buy gas too. Throughout the day people come in and out, some just here for snacks or bread, while the others just need to fill up on gas.
Eventually after a couple of hours of the usual present and pay Jim the local work-out freak shows up.
"You know the drill."
"Yup"
Jim runs into the store wearing long work-out pants and a light blue shark hoody. He holds a giant cloud patterned umbrella over his equally massive shoulders.
"Hey, guess what."
"What?"
"I've finally lost over a hundred pounds."
"Good job!"
"Hehe, now that I'm back in the hundreds I finally count as tall. From a tiny five foot seven to a sweet six foot one."
He moves his head back making a triumphant pose, causing his curly red hair to bounce around and his muscles to clearly show from his tight clothing. Suddenly he scratches his head in embarrassment, blushing he goes to grab a grape-flavored Gatorad*.
"Sorry, I was a little quick to show off."
"It's fine man, you put in quite a bit of effort towards improving your health so feel free to show off a bit. Just don't become one of those selfie-taking gym douches."
"I know I know."
He swipes his card and leaves with the Gatorad* in hand waving goodbye.
"See you tomorrow!"
"Same."
I take a look a look at my phone and see that I'm already over five hours into my shift. I decide to pull out the small wooden box from under the counter and take a seat, looking through the windows to see the clouds have cleared up revealing the bright sun.
"Three forty-two...Swear to god why can't falling asleep fell as short as working?"
Suddenly business resumed as usual. A person comes in to buy some snacks than leave with the occasional trouble maker showing up, making sure to get extra angry that his rewards card is worth absolutely nothing since he always forgets to use the damn thing.
"I'm back baby and I have news on the date."
"So what'd ya do this time?"
"Nothing. We had a nice lunch, talked about our hobbies, then we agreed to meet up again."
....
"Come on man don't give me that look, I don't always start wars."
"You really didn't start a stupid argument?"
"Nope."
"...Okay then."