I could say this was the best morning. No wind prickled my earlobes and ruffled my hair. I found no cold along the street. It was very warm and amiable. It boosted my spirit at work. Furthermore, today was a payday.
Pearson's Mart stood around ten feet forward. It looked deserted. No car, no bike. Just Pearson was there, looked like he hadn't had any customers yet this morning.
I entered the shop and greeted Pearson. I was animated to start my tasks today. But, the milieu didn't feel like reinforcing after Pearson showed his peeved face.
Pearson gave me a white envelope. "Here's your pay," he said with an upset voice.
He looked depressed rather than angry or sad. Something bad had happened to him. It could be about his wife again.
I took the pay envelope. "Thanks!"
Actually, I didn't want to do this. However, Pearson's face really made me curious.
"What happened?" I queried.
"Another bad thing...," he said, "yesterday."
"With your wife again?"
"No. Nothing related to her. And, this was the worst ever."
I started feeling interested now. This time, I didn't regret questioning him while my curiosity kept growing.
"My ordered stuff hasn't arrived," Pearson continued. "I've called them. And, the response was very dissatisfying. I shouldn't trust that company."
"Were those items for sale?" I asked him to make sure.
"Yes."
"So, what did they say?"
"They just said sorry."
It made sense. No doubt, Pearson was blue today.
What a poor guy. I thought to myself.
"They confirmed the items were stolen during delivery," he said. "They're not in charge. And, no refund."
Nothing I could do except listen to him and nod my head gently to show that I cared about him.
"If it weren't for the cheap price, I wouldn't have bought it," Pearson resumed. "Certainly."
"Did you order a lot?" I inquired.
"Of course." Pearson pointed to the right, "As you can see, we have some empty racks.
I turned my head in the direction he was pointing to. Many empty racks gathered at the same table. I remembered those were still full last Saturday.
"Hmmm... what's the company name?" I looked back at Pearson.
"I bet you don't know it," he spoke in a confident gesture. "It's a new company, called Litoss."
Pearson's last word struck me. It made my pupils get bigger for a while. My heart started beating fast. I was shocked when he mentioned that name.
"So, wh-what were those items exactly?" I wanted to know all the details.
"I guess you must know by looking at those racks," he said. "Eggs, pork ribs, some vegetables, milk, and also orange water."
My heartbeat was getting faster. Even, it was very hard to maintain my respiratory at this moment. I just knew that the items I found in the van yesterday belonged to Pearson. Evidently, I'd stolen his stuff. This talk changed from interesting to frightening now.
I looked away. I didn't want Pearson to see my face, since I remembered Uncle Steven said last night that my fearful face was very easy to notice.
"Aside, you look unusual today," said Pearson. "You asked more than common."
"Really?" I tried to stay calm.
"Yes. Was there anything happened to you too?"
"No. I just... uh... feel excited with my pay," I blurted.
"I see," he chuckled.
I looked at my watch. "It's eight o'clock. Time to work," I said.
It was better to end the conversation right now. I left Pearson and walked to the storeroom. Like usual, I took a red apron and wore it. I brought out a price gun and a box of mineral water bottles to restock. I placed the bottles and stuck price tags on them. I deliberately did this first to stay away from Pearson.
Forty minutes had passed. Some tasks were accomplished. I'd cleaned all the racks and restocked them. Today's work was easier. Nonetheless, it didn't cheer me up at all. I even felt scared if I completed all tasks earlier for today, because Pearson would invite me to talk again when he saw me doing nothing.
A purple hatchback appeared from afar. It was Eddie's car. I could notice its number plate simply through the window. It was moving here at high speed.
The car looked clearer, bigger, and closer. It stopped in the parking lot, in front of this supermarket. Its engine was still running strong. It didn't show any sign of turning off.
The left middle door of the hatchback was open. A tall girl got out of the vehicle. She looked unfamiliar. She must be Eddie's passenger.
The girl closed the car door. She ambled here and entered this shop. She did easy shopping. She just took a small soda bottle and a chocolate bar. She went out after transaction. But, she didn't go back to Eddie's car. She just stood in front of this place. It looked like she was waiting for someone.
After a few minutes, Eddie's hatchback shut down. He got out of his car. He walked here and visited this supermarket.
Eddie saw me from far. "Hi, Richard!" he greeted me.
"Hi, Ed!" I greeted back.
He approached me. "Busy, huh?"
"Very busy," I chuckled. "How's everything?"
"Well, looks like... uneasy to find customer today."
Eddie took two different large packets of crackers near the racks I was inserting some price tags. He did a comparison. He decided to buy both.
"Are you hungry?" I asked.
"No. I was just bored. I drop by to buy a snack while waiting for new passengers."
"I see."
"So, any other plan?" he teased.
"No," I sniggered, "or maybe."
"It was really a great jackpot yesterday. The milk tasted good. How's the pork?"
I froze for a short time. I felt panic when he said about the jackpot, milk, and pork.
"Shh!" I hissed in short term and moved my eyes to the left repeatedly.
Eddie frowned. He was confused. He didn't fathom my gesture.
"What happened?" he asked. "Did the pork taste bad?"
I displaced my sight to Pearson awhile. I didn't know when he started staring at us from far. I was afraid he could hear us, or even worse if he found out about it.
"You must leave now," I whispered.
"What?!" he said.
"Please. I'll explain next time."
Eddie nodded his head two times in slow motion. His innocent face showed up. He didn't apply any anger. But, he still didn't understand anything.
"Okay," he smiled. "See you later."
"Thanks."
Eddie left me. He brought the snacks to Pearson. He did the payment and went out.
This situation kept increasing my anxiety. I had no choice but to expel Eddie in soft way. It was better he wasn't here right now, or else Pearson could be leery.
The girl who bought a snack previously had gone. No one was seen in front through the window, excluding Eddie who got back in his car. The hatchback moved from the parking lot and disappeared from my sight.
I continued my work. I held some placed price tags and pretended to be busy just to let Pearson not see my face, although no more tag was available to use here.
"Richard," Pearson called, "could you come here, please?"
It shocked me. Several horror prospects popped into my mind. It was hard to imagine which might be the one.
I sauntered to Pearson. His eyes focused on me as I approached him.
"Yes?" I said.
Pearson moved his right finger. He pointed to a drink spilled on his deck.
"Can you clean this for me?" he asked.
"Sure," I replied.
It was out of my estimation. He didn't mention a word about my conversation with Eddie. It relieved me since I had to hide nothing right now.
I went to the storeroom and took a cloth. I brought it out and wiped up the spill. It was quite a lot. I needed about one minute to remove it totally.
"Aside, you looked close with that guy," Pearson spoke in a low tone.
The environment changed back. The relief turned into distress at the moment.
"Yeah," I said. "He's... uh... my neighbor's boyfriend, Eddie. He often visits us."
"I see," his voice turned louder. "He looked very excited. What did you discuss just now?"
It sounded as if Pearson was watching us before. He noticed some of our conversations.
"It's just...," I stuttered, "about m-my debt... to him. It's... privacy. I can't talk much about that."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Really sorry."
"It's okay."
Pearson showed his regret. However, he didn't give up.
"But, may I know what jackpot did he talk about?" Pearson queried.
"Oh, it was... just milk and pork we bought from... Carry... last night. They did big sales, money off for lucky ones."
"It means you won a prize last night, doesn't it?"
"Yes."
"Well done!"
"Thanks."
Everything looked fine so far. Even though covering the truth wasn't my expert, Pearson gobbled all those falsehoods.
"I miss some items," I said.
"Okay."
It was a good option to end this talk, again. Else, Pearson would open a new topic that might worsen this situation.
I took the dirty duster. I left Pearson and went to the store.
My heartbeat slowly went normal. Nothing to fear anymore, as long as nobody I knew met me in this place. I accepted as true Pearson wasn't suspicious anymore.
Time kept running. Many customers had stopped by here. Several items had been sold. It made me too busy restocking them every hour. Also, it drained much power.
Pearson's Mart was very in demand today. The number of shoppers was increasing. Some of them needed my help. It had been a long time since this shop wasn't swarming in the last three months. I even had forgotten how laborious it was. Now, I felt it back. It was very tiring. But, I was still able to handle it.