"Why yes, it is Mr. Layzer," Aili replied stoically, "it is a pleasure to meet you," she added as I bit my lip.
"Who is this beautiful woman working with you? It amazes me how she stood up for you two as well as women around the world," he asked. As he asked this, he glanced at me as I started bagging his two liters of Mountain Dew.
"Why that's your daughter," Aili said as I glance in her direction since her voice held some irritation.
"That's my daughter," he asked, shocked as Aili nodded, "I thought I taught her better than that."
"Well, hello to you too, dad," I said, finally looking up at him, "thanks for the compliment."
He looked at me stunned, "You are so much like your mother," he mumbled as I gritted my teeth
. "What," Aili began, "just as successful as her as she is already with her soulmate because she isn't a jerk to anyone. Or do you mean in another rude way," she asked, scanning the last item
. My father blinked, "So she failed to tell you how lazy she is in her own home," he asked her
. "At least she has her own home," Aili shot back as I bit my lip, "from what I hear, you're still living with your parents."
"So, you've got her defending you," he asked, "very much like your mother," he added, and that's when I had enough
. "Maybe that's because I'm on the job, and I don't want to say things that'll get me fired. I am proud to be like my mother, and I am happy when she helps me stand up for myself even when I'm trying to think of the right things to say," I shot back to him. "When I told you about her, you thought she was the best person ever, but now that she's my soulmate, you think she's the worst? I hope you have a good day, father," I finished handing him his groceries. I avoided his gaze as he grabbed his groceries and left. I sighed as the next customer came up. "Is this day done yet," I asked Aili after that customer left
"Soon but not yet," she said, "you did a good job handling your father," she said as Ginger came walking up.
"Turn off your register light," he ordered with a grunt, and Aili did as she was told as he blocked off the lane. "What's the history between you and your father," he asked me once he returned to us, and I sighed once more.
"He's abusive towards women," I began, "he's like that last man that Aili and I stood up against. I don't do well when he does that to me because he attacks my mother whenever my dad associates me with her, and he goes personal."
"What was the hate towards Allison," Ginger asked as Aili watched, "you mentioned that he loved her, but now he hates her. What do you mean by that?"
My lips thinned into a line, "As you may already know, Allison and I are roommates at our college. I would talk to many people about her because she's both an amazing person and roommate to be around. As much as I was talking to him about her, he wanted to meet her, but now that she and I are soulmates, he doesn't like her because he quite possibly thinks that she changed my mind to force me to be her soulmate. It is against his family's religion to date the same gender. They believe that I can't make up my own mind since it aligns so well with my mother's," I finished explaining, and he nodded.
"I'll try to keep him out when you two are working," Ginger said with a grunt, "considering how close it is until your shift is to end, I will end it early so the both of you can calm down. I believe it's a good idea to have you two as a team to not only see if the both of you are okay but also to see how much you put people in their place," he said with a sigh. "I hope you two have a good rest of your day and get some rest tomorrow. You'll need it for the next few days to come."
I nodded, "Thank you, sir," Aili and I said at the same time as he nodded before leaving our register. "How many people did you talk to about me," Aili asked as she locked up the register
I shrugged, "When I was expressing my concerns about you, it was only a few, but when I was saying how awesome you are," I scratched the back of my head. "I may have lost count," I said with a blush. "Early April, mom and I had talked, and then she asked if I had a crush on you since I talked about you so much."
Aili chuckled, "Did you answer, or did you just blush," she asked me as she walked around the register to me.
"I did both, but the answer was a little more hesitant than the blush," I admitted. "Even though mom's fine with the fact that I'm bisexual, I'm still nervous to tell her when I have crushes."
Aili grinned, "That explains why you were nervous to show me to her before we left her place," she said. "You're probably nervous because of what she said when you got back with that one guy," she added, and I nodded. "I thought you only talked to at least a couple people about me," she added, and I blushed.
"That's only when I'm worried about you," I began, "when I'm boasting about how great and talented you are, I told a lot of people."
"I'll take that," she said with a smile, "let's get our things and clock out. I'm ready to get out of here and do that live."
When we were upstairs getting our things was when an alarm went off, "What the hell is that," I asked. "That's not a shoplifting alarm," I added.
"Son of a bitch," Aili muttered, "we need to take cover. There's someone that came in with a gun."
"Well, fuck," I said, "Sam, we may need your help in a bit, so be ready," I said aloud.
"Why do you say that as if she's watching? She's probably doing godly things," Aili asked, and I smirked.
"On the way to surprise you, Sam was telling me how she watches what we're doing," I answered. "You got any ideas of where to hide," I asked, and she shrugged as my phone went off. "This is from Ginger," I said, reading the message.
"What is it," she asked me as my eyes widened at the message
"If Sam can teleport us out of her now is as good of a time as any," I muttered, which made Aili ball her fists in anger as if she was a toddler ready to have a tantrum
"Liz," she said, "what does the text say," she asked as I looked up at her after replying
I sighed as I pocketed my phone, "You're the target," I finally answered, and her eyes widened in shock. "I'm going to do anything to get you out safely, but we're going to need to have Sam help us," I added
"First of all," she began, "can't you text her? Second of all, can't we get a fucking break?"
"Apparently not," I began, "the text that I sent Ginger was to notify her since her number on the emergency contacts list. I hope she's watching us as she's getting here, now. Is there a way that we can get to the back? I don't exactly want either of us to be sitting targets in here," I said, and she nodded before leading the way further up the stairs.
"Lock the door behind you," she ordered, and I nodded, closing the door that led to the stairs. I followed close behind her, "I saw this being used before. Ginger said that it should only be used for emergencies."
As she explained, I looked around the room that we entered, "Well, at least it helps us," I said as she felt the wall. The room was a normal manager's office with the blinds pulled down on both sides. Finally, a hidden door popped open. I smiled.
"Let's go," she said as I nodded for her to go first, "no, I insist," she said, and I shook my head.
"I'm not leaving you behind. If you're behind me, there's more of a chance that you could be shot from behind, and I don't want that," I explained, and she smiled. "Besides, you know this place better than I do," I added as she chuckled.
"Fine, I'll go first, but you have to stay close to me," she said, stepping into the tunnel.
"I promise," I said, following her, making sure to close the door behind me to cover our escape. "Where does this lead to anyways," I asked her in a whisper
"It's a quick exit to the door by the loading docks," she whispered back in reply, "if Sam is watching, I hope she knows to come to the back of the store instead."
I smiled, "I'm pretty sure she is listening by now," I said, and Aili chuckled as we went further down the tunnel. Soon we reached some stairs and started descending the stairs when I felt my phone buzz. I pulled it out and read the message, "It's Sam; she's already out back," I said. "She also says that the backup for the shooter has been taken care of. People are working on taking care of the intruders inside."
"Well then," Aili said before picking up the pace, "let's go home."