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After we had our breakfast, we quickly decided to move out. My daughter's high school was just around the corner. It was a private school so that's why it had uniforms, it was quite expensive, and also an all-girls school because my husband didn't want her to grow up with "gross boys that would taint his daughter" or something…
Elena was already a junior, halfway through before the final year of high school, so she's still got a year and half of wearing this uniform. At least she's doing her best, so that's commendable.
"It's cold today…" She muttered.
"You didn't wear gloves?" I asked.
"I don't like gloves, they make my hands sweaty," she said.
"But that's why they're good, they warm your hands so you don't feel all the cold outside… Alright, here, wear these." I gave her a pair of gloves that I intentionally brought just in case!
"Hmm…" My daughter groaned grumpily but still wore them.
Soon after, we reached her high school and saw someone. One of the academy's teachers, a blonde woman with bright blue eyes, was watching over the entrance.
"Ah, lady Elayne, it is nice to meet you today. Elena! Cheer up a bit, you look like you're still sleepy."
"Hello, Miss Aria…" Elena greeted with a sigh.
Miss Aria was her sports teacher. She was a cheerful young woman in her mid-twenties who was very energetic and liked to do all sorts of sports and exercises. I've often seen her in the gym as well.
"Good morning, Miss Aria," I said. "Well, I am leaving my girl to you today as well. Behave well, Elena." I kissed my daughter on the cheek.
"Sure thing, this girl is very well behaved, she's good at everything, and also super good at sports, but innately lazy though…" said Aria.
"Hahaha, she's like that… Oh well, see you later," I said.
"Have a good day!"
I watched my daughter enter the school building before I made my way to the minimarket, it was there where I found Jenny sleeping over the table! My eyes widened.
"Jenny! Why are you sleeping?! What if someone robs the place?" I asked, feeling alarmed.
"Ah! Eh? Oh, Elayne… You're early this morning," she said.
"Early? It's already going to be 7 AM…" I pointed out.
"Oh! What?! Shit! Time to go back home…" Jenny quickly packed her things and ran out of the minimarket, of course, not without grabbing a few things.
"See you tomorrow then!" She said. My friend Jenny was a night owl, so she liked night shifts more than anything. I didn't know if she slept during the day or something though, but that's how she does it.
"R-Right, take care, Jenny…" I called out to her.
As usual, I found myself with nobody else than me though, so I decided to just stay at the table for now and if there was any need for something to be done, I'd go do it when the boss was here.
I sat down comfortably in the chair and attended to a few people that came to buy stuff. At this hour there were a huge amount of people that come to buy breakfast, so we gotta make the coffee machine work properly, but I was an expert at it.
I also had to organize the pastries around and refill them because that's what people buy the most. Alongside that, I had to put sandwiches near too, so people that came for breakfast could see that they're available.
From 7 AM to around 9 AM, a dozen people came to buy, and when it was roughly 10 AM, Mark finally came to the job to supervise things. He often came between 10 AM to 1 PM. He was the manager so he could do a lot of things more freely, but he had to come eventually every day.
"Elayne, good morning…" He said with a sleepy face.
"Good morning Mark! Want a coffee?" I asked.
"Sure, thank you," He said, putting his coat over a chair and resting on it. Once he settled down a little, he sighed. "Phew, it's so cold outside…"
"Yeah, it's pretty cold, you have to make sure to drink a lot of hot drinks and eat a nice amount of calories to keep up with it," I said.
"Haha, you're right. Thank you," he said, as I gave him the cup of coffee and he began drinking it. After a few sips, he looked at me with a smile. "You look as radiant as ever today."
"Eh? Oh my, do you have to say it every morning? Geez…" I sighed.
"S-Sorry if it weirded you out…" He said.
"Oh no, don't worry. You also look as cute as ever–I-I mean, as good as ever!" I said.
"C-Cute?!" He asked.
"Hahah…! I-I didn't mean to say that…" I said.
"Well, it's the first time a woman has ever called me cute… But don't worry about it," He said.
Mark grew red and I couldn't help but find him cute. I mean, he had such a youthful face, if it wasn't because he was so tall, I would think he was a high schooler or something…
"A-Anyways! Let's get things ready for the rest of the day," I said. "I'll work extra hard today!"
"Ooh? You're motivated as always, it seems," he said. "You're probably the pillar of this mini market, Elayne, without you I don't know what I would do, honestly. I was planning on increasing your pay some more."
"EH?! R-Really? You really mean it?"
"Yeah! Hahaha, I know you're raising a girl and you're also saving for her college, so I want to help too. Also! I am merely just paying you extra because it is what you deserve, nothing more than that, t-there are no preferences or anything…" he said.
"Of course! Thanks a lot, Mark! Let's get to work then!" I said.
"Alright! I'll follow your lead then!" He said.
And like that, we worked until 2 PM, mostly moving all sorts of things around, replenishing the areas with their respective products, unpacking big boxes with products from the storage, and cleaning the entire place several times. We often took turns at the counter and Mark left the cleaning to me as I am quite fast at it.
Finally at 2 PM, we decided to have some lunch together, so we closed the shop for twenty minutes.
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Mark woke up this morning with a lot of energy. He was like this every Monday, because he couldn't wait to see the beautiful and adorable Elayne at work. He quickly took a bath and rushed into the shop, finding her working hard as always.
'She's so beautiful today…' He thought to himself, barely containing those words from coming out of him.
It resulted in him being praised and told to be "cute" without expecting it at all. It seemed that Elayne thought of him as a cute person. Although he didn't know if he should feel flattered or bad, as it meant that she didn't see him as a grown man that was often said to be more "handsome" than "cute".
Nonetheless, when he was told such a thing, he couldn't help but feel like his heart skipped a beat. Being pampered by the adorable and motherly Elayne was one of the things he needed for his life at this moment.
In fact, such a mere little word brought him so much happiness that he ended up spoiling her again and, in a heartbeat, he told her that he was increasing her pay again, for the fifth time since she started working here… Elayne already earned around four times what she should earn working here because Mark has continuously increased her pay.
Although it wasn't just because he liked her though, although it was still a big factor, she was also the hardest worker of the place and his words of her being the pillar were no joke.
She worked so hard that she really made it up as if she were four different people in the same place, so being paid so much was practically deserved. He also knew she had a daughter and even met her the other day, which only increased his empathy for her, so he decided to increase her weekly pay from 600 Canadian Dollars to 700, making it a whopping 2800 Canadian Dollars a month! Of course, that was still awfully low, but that was the pay of a convenience store of this size, and even then, she was already earning way more than she should.
During their conversations over the past years, Mark learned a lot about her.
Elayne lacked any education past high school because she had decided to inherit her grandparents farm and all the animals and plants there with her mother and father, but due to marrying her husband and then having a child, she moved to the big city and ended living there with him.
Due to this, she hadn't been able to find any other better paying job for someone like her that is already fairly old and without any title from college or something… life was harsh for a widow like her.
Nonetheless, the house was already bought, and she had no debts either, so she was living quite comfortably despite the ups and downs, she had to sell the car, but that was about it, as of now, she had stabilized a bit more.
Mark knew this and admired her hard work, and because of this, he increased her pay.
However, it would be wrong to say that he wasn't interested in other things, such as the good view… Yes, the good view of Elayne walking around with those tight jeans and blouse, she was both beautiful and incredibly sexy. Many men stared at her down in the streets already whenever it wasn't cold enough for her to cover herself in a lot of coats, and Mark had the entire day to look at her physical beauty.
"Hahh~ She's so sexy…" He thought to himself, deep down, like any man, he had quite the few carnal desires. And within Elayne's body there was such an incredible sex appeal that for a man of his age, it was very hard to resist having such thoughts. Nonetheless, it wasn't as if he was a pervert, he was just a normal man, and he would never dare to touch her or abuse his position, as he was a correct and even quite righteous man.
…But like any man, he had to admit she had a good body. Watching her wide hips moving around as she walked through the mini market, or her big breasts that sometimes bounced, even with tight bras… all of that was killing him.
"Hahh… Elayne…" He sighed softly.
"Mark?"
"Hm?! Y-Yeah?"
"You've been looking at me for a while… is there something wrong?"
"OH… No, don't worry… I was… Erm… T-this… I-Isn't lunch time already? Ah, yes, 2PM! Let's eat something."
"Oh, alright!"
Mark sighed in relief internally, as he realized that he was staring at her way too much. Thankfully, Elayne was very innocent and had quite a pure mind, she often never thought that they watched her for her looks and thought that it was always something else.
After a bit, the two decided to close the shop for a few minutes and enjoy a quick lunch with the things they had in here. Elayne decided to eat some ramen while Mark ate a sandwich with some cold tea.
"You always eat ramen, is it that good?" Wondered Mark.
"Hehe, my husband used to eat a lot of it, and he ended up sticking that trait to me…" Sighed Elayne.
"O-Oh, I see…" said Mark. His thoughts about Elayne's husband were a bit conflicted, he often just admired him, and on the other end, he felt bad by liking his wife, thinking that he was some sort of homewrecker for having such intentions, even when the man had already passed away. It was certainly hard to navigate his heart when he thought about how it would be fitting to even confess to a widow his feelings, especially because she still thought about her husband a lot… Perhaps it would be an impossible journey, but it wasn't as if Mark was going to suddenly stop loving her, it was very hard, especially with such a beautiful smile.
"Hehe, you know? My daughter hugged me this morning, it made me so happy!"
"I-I see… I am glad."
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