The months flew by too quickly that I almost failed to notice what days were when, especially when I started working with Aili. The day after the party, we talked for a minute to see what the plan was about jobs; we both agreed that it would use up too much gas to take us both to work when our college was about an hour and a half away. Ginger agreed to us being part-time to save money on gas while we were in school, but he made us promise to send him the dates for when we did come back. He gave Aili two or three days off so she could relax and he could get the security up.
By the time she got off that three-day vacation, it was time for me to have my first day at the store.
"How do I look," I asked, walking out of the bathroom in the uniform
Aili giggled, "Like a certified grocery store worker," she answered on the bed as she was already dressed and at her laptop. "There are more articles on us," she said with a pout
"Are they more slander and lies," I asked, and she nodded, "what's this one; an outrageous conspiracy theory saying that we're working with the government to make a new weapon?"
She smirked, "This is actually from a good news website, but it explains how the president is bashing us for wanting to keep our lives a secret but put on a scene like that."
I sighed as she looked at me, "That's sad," I began. "Most of the people who think we're reasonable are the biggest of celebs. Then there's our president who thinks we're hiding something."
She nodded, "I got an idea if you're willing to do it," she said, and I raised an eyebrow. "Why don't we make a live video? That way, we can explain that we won't take any questions from the paparazzi and random people. Go into depth more as to why we want a normal life," she suggested, and I nodded.
"That's a great idea," I began, "I think I already have an idea of what I want to say," I said, and she smiled. "What do you want to do it on, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter?"
Aili shrugged, "I believe we should announce that we're going to be live on one of our accounts because whatever we do it on, it's going to be publicized."
I nodded, "Sam," I called. She appeared in the room, "what do you think about us doing a live video to answer a few questions and establish the fact that we're just normal teenagers?"
The minor goddess thought for a minute, then answered, "I'd say it's a good idea," she answered. "Might I suggest that you make a group account for this kind of thing, so most of the questioning is on that rather than your personal accounts?"
I nodded, "I think that's also a good idea because if we do it on our personal accounts, then we'd get everyone in our DMs. When do you want to do this," I asked her, and she shrugged.
"I already have Instagram open on where you want to do it on that," she asked, and I nodded. "Why don't we set up the account now so we can get followers on it as soon as possible. That way, we have people watching our live instead of waiting for them," she said, and I nodded.
Within a few minutes, we had a joined account where both of us could be signed in at the same time, "So after work, we get cleaned up and then do the live," I asked, and she nodded as we got into the car.
"Yeah, that seems like the best idea. Give more people a chance to follow the account and see if we can get it verified so more can see it," she said as she started the car. "I may have already posted the first picture explaining what happened the other day if that's fine with you," she added, and I smiled.
"That's perfectly fine with me," I said, "I got an idea," I said
"Let me hear it," she said, and I glanced at her
"Why don't we have a college of how we looked before this," I suggested, "we could post pictures of us separately comparing the before and after with our own stories. Then with the final picture, which would be a collage of one picture with us as roommates and the other with us being the soulmates that everyone knows," I suggested, and Aili grinned
"That's a wonderful idea," she said, "do you know how to do collages because I don't have a clue," she asked, and I smiled
"You're in luck that you have a soulmate that knows how to work picture magic," I said with a smirk. "Mom taught me a long time ago how to do certain things with pictures," I explained once she glanced at me in surprise
She nodded, "That's understandable," she began, "your mother seems to be the tech person in your family," she finished, and I chuckled. "What, it's true," she added in defense
"I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing because you're right. She found some spyware once on a computer that my grandfather on my dad's side fixed," I explained, and Aili's eyes widened.
"You're kidding," she said as the store came into view, "you have got to be kidding me; an old religious man like him putting spyware on a computer?"
"Sadly, I am not kidding. It is true," I said as Aili's eyes widened even more. "My dad's family sucks," I added as she nodded in agreement while pulling into the driveway.
"Yes, they do. I'm afraid to meet them," Aili said as she pulled into a parking spot.
I put my hand in hers, "You won't meet them alone," I said as she smiled softly.
"Thank you," she said, "let's get to work," she added before getting out of the car.
I was pulled into orientation with a kiss goodbye and given a tour of the store before I was stationed as a bagger at Aili's register. After taking care of about ten customers within half an hour, I finally got to say something, "Are you usually this busy," I asked her as she grinned.
"No, but since the other day, I'm pretty sure they're only coming here just because of that," she answered, and I nodded as the group of customers filed in
The whole shift was going by smoothly before someone started to berate Aili, "You think you're going to take over the world with your publicity," the man snarled. "God doesn't like gay relationships such as yours, so why don't you stop acting and find your real soulmate," he finished, and I smirked.
"Why don't you mind your own business, sir," Aili said with a straight face.
"You don't have the right to be working here since you were once straight," a woman said from behind him as I almost dropped the eggs. "What does your bagger not know how to bag some eggs; is she a lesbian like you?"
I glanced at Aili to see if I can answer, and she nodded. "As a matter of fact, I do know how to bag eggs; your comment about gay people not being able to work here just repulsed me so much that I happened to flinch with the eggs in my hand. I am lesbian and, as a matter of fact, I am her soulmate," I began. "Now, if you could please finish the rest of your purchase without insulting us, that would be very much appreciated."
The man just blinked before turning to me and saying something, "You're the head of the relationship," he began. "Why should it be okay for two women to be in a relationship when they don't usually make the big decisions in life?"
I smiled, putting the milk in a separate bag from the eggs, "Maybe it's because of two things," I began. "The first of which is simple, you're not seeing who's helping with the Soulmate Project. The second is probably something you can't even fathom to think about for a woman," I said, grabbing the bread and putting it in the same bag as the eggs. "We make decisions every day. Our whole lives revolve around decision-making that even you can't comprehend. We even make some of the same decisions you guys make. We decide to go to college and follow our dreams, we decide on which relationship we want, we even decide on whether or not we want a man to fuck us. Most women decide to consent to sex, especially before marriage, because if you don't have that consent, you're raping her. Women decide to work towards a goal just like a lot of men do. You just don't see it because you're too blind to the fact of women being greater than you," as I was finishing this, I finished bagging his groceries. "Now, here are your groceries, have a good day," I finished with a smile on my face as Aili continued scanning products while suppressing a laugh.
The man, now stunned, took his groceries from my hand and left without saying a word. The old woman came up with her cart. "I want to thank you both," she said as I started bagging her groceries. "I didn't want to side with him, but he was so mean that I wanted to see him being put in his place; I didn't know what you would do, but I saw the long line, and he pushed in front of me."
I smiled at the explanation, "I'm happy to put those kinds of people in their place, ma'am," I said as she took out her card. "My father's family happens to be that way, he tried to control how I lived my life, so I learned to stand up for myself."
"It was a good thing you choose our lane instead of someone else's because I wouldn't want you to get hurt," Aili said as she scanned the last item. "You're total for today is $954.33," she added.
"I have rewards," she said as Aili nodded, pushing a few buttons and giving the lady the nod to go ahead. "I also have a tip for the two of you thanks to your help; I know you're college students, and you need all the money you can get," she added, pulling out the cash.
"Please, ma'am," I began, "you can calculate with you're bill we're not supposed to accept tips," I finished.
"Oh please," she began with a smile, "I insist," she finished as she continued fishing in her wallet.
"Ma'am, thank you for your generosity, but we are not allowed to accept physical tips," Aili said
"Take the tip," the voice of our manager said, "I'll let you accept that one since you put a man like him in his place."
Aili and I made eye contact with each other right as the old lady found her tip, and we nodded, "We'll accept your tip, ma'am," I said as Aili smiled.
"Good, because I wouldn't take no for an answer," she said, giving us both two hundred dollar bills before swiping her card and leaving with a receipt that was as long as Aili was tall.
I looked at Aili as she mouthed the words 'What the fuck' to me. I only shrugged as the next customer came up.
"It's about time I get to meet my daughter's soulmate," my father said with a smirk, "is it true that she was shot in the chest?"