160 Chapter 160


    Seraphina’s POV 1


    “Next!” I called out, forcing my voice to sound cheerful despite wanting to crawl under the counter and disappear forever.


    The customer-a middle-aged woman with a scowl that could curdle milk-mmed her items down so hard the bananas nearly bounced off the conveyor belt.


    “This store is a joke,” she announced. “Twenty minutes in line! Twenty minutes!”


    “I’m sorry about the wait, ma’am. We’re a bit short-staffed today-”


    “Don’t give me excuses!” She jabbed her finger at me. “I’ve been shopping here for fifteen years, and the service gets worse every time!”


    I scanned her items mechanically. Behind her, the line stretched halfway to the pharmacy, filled with equally irritated customers checking their phones and sighing dramatically.


    “That’ll be thirty-two forty-seven,” I said.


    “Highway robbery,” she muttered, pping her credit card down. “In my day, you could feed a family for ten dors.”


    *In your day, people probably didn’t treat retail workers like garbage,* I thought but didn’t say. Instead, I smiled that fake customer


    service smile I’d perfected.


    “Have a great day!”


    She snorted and stalked off with her bags.


    “Next!”


    This was my life now. Eight hours a day, six days a week, dealing with people who acted like I was personally responsible for everything


    wrong with their existence.


    But it was a paycheck. A tiny paycheck that barely covered my rent and ramen noodle dinners, but money nheless.


    “Oh my God, that woman was such a bitch!”


    I looked up to see Mia bouncing over from register two, her cotton candy pink hair catching the harsh fluorescent lights. She was barely


    twenty-two, all energy and confidence and the kind of fearless optimism that came from never having your world copse around you.


    “Mia, she might still be in the store, I warned.


    “So? I said what I said.” She hopped up onto the counter next to my register, swinging her legs. “Life’s too short to pretend mean people


    aren’t mean.”


    “Don’t let Gary see you sitting there,” I said. “He’s already in a mood about the quarterly numbers.”


    “Gary’s always in a mood about something” Mia rolled her eyes. “Yesterday it was the bathroom supplies. Last week it was the magazine


    disy. The man needs to getid.”


    18:27


    “Mia!”


    “What? It’s true! Sexual frustration makes people cranky. It’s science.”


    Before I could respond, my register beeped. Another customer approached-a tired-looking man with three kids hanging off his shopping cart like monkeys.


    “Sorry,” he said, shooting Mia an apologetic look. “They’ve been cooped up all day”


    “No problem at all,” I said, meaning it this time. At least he was polite. “Did you find everything okay?”


    “Actually, I’m looking for that new kids’ cereal? The one with the rainbow marshmallows?”


    “Aisle seven, halfway down on the left,” Mia called out before I could answer. “Next to the Lucky Charms. Fair warning though-it turns their poop weird colors.”


    The man’s eyes went wide. One of his kids-maybe six years old-started giggling uncontrobly.


    “She said poop!” the kid announced to the entire store.


    “Thank you for that vital information,” the man said dryly, but he was trying not to smile.


    I scanned his groceries while Mia regaled his kids with increasingly ridiculous stories about various breakfast cereals and their digestive effects. By the time he left, all three children wereughing so hard they could barely walk.


    “You’re good with kids,” I told her.


    “Kids are easy. They haven’t learned to be assholes yet.” Mia slid off the counter. “Unlike adults, who seem to major in it.”


    My phone buzzed with a text. I nced down, hoping for something-anything-interesting.


    *Spam: Your car warranty is about to expire!*


    Great. Even my phone was mocking me.


    “Ooh, is that a guy?” Mia peered over my shoulder. “Please tell me you’re finally dating someone. You’re way too pretty to be single.”


    “It’s spam,” I said, shoving the phone back in my pocket.


    “Seriously? That’s it? Just spam?” She looked genuinely distressed by this information. “Sara, when was thest time you went on a date?”


    The question hit me like a p. “I’m not really dating right now,” I said carefully.


    “Why not?” She leaned against my register, studying me like I was a puzzle she needed to solve. “Are you getting over someone? Bad breakup?”


    *You could say that.*


    “Something like that,” I muttered.


    “Oh honey.” Her expression immediately softened with sympathy. “Was he a total dick? Did he cheat? Please tell me you at least keyed his


    car.”


    18:27


    “It’splicated.”


    “It’s alwaysplicated. That’s what makes it fun!” Mia’s phone buzzed, and she immediately perked up. “Ooh! Speaking of fun-Derek just texted. He wants to move our dinner up to four-thirty.”


    “Derek?”


    “Tuesday Derek. Not to be confused with Friday Derek, who’s apletely different person.” She was already typing back furiously. “Apparently his friend gotst-minute tickets to some baseball thing” <fn33ed> Find the newest release on Find[?]ovel</fn33ed>


    I stared at her. “You have two different Dereks?”


    “Three, technically, but Saturday Derek moved to Porndst month.” She looked up from her phone. “Wait, did I never exin my system to you?”


    “Your system?”


    “My dating system! Oh my God, Sara, you’re going to love this.” She tucked her phone away and turned to face me fully. “Okay, so I have different guys for different days of the week. Monday is Jake-he’s super sweet, takes me to nice restaurants, but kind of boring. Tuesday is Derek, who’s fun and spontaneous but terrible at texting back. Wednesday is Felix-”


    “You have a guy for every day of the week?”


    “Not Sunday! Sunday is me time. Self-care Sunday.” She said this like it was perfectly normal.


    “Mia!” Gary’s voice boomed across the store. “Get back to your register!”


    She made a face. “Duty calls. But we’re totally continuing this conversationter!”


    The afternoon dragged by in the usual parade of cranky customers and broken price scanners. But I kept finding myself ncing over at Mia, watching her chat andugh with everyone who came through her line.


    She made it look so easy. Life. Happiness. The ability to bounce from one thing to the next without drowning in regret or what-ifs.


    Around three-thirty, she appeared at my register again, this time looking slightly panicked.


    “Sara! Thank God you’re not with a customer. I need the biggest favor in the history of favors.”


    “What now?”


    “Derek moved our date up, remember? But I don’t get off until six, and Gary will literally murder me if I ask to leave early again.”


    I raised an eyebrow. “Again?”


    “Okay, so maybe I’ve been a tiny bit flexible with my scheduletely.” She sped her hands together like she was praying. “But this is different! Derek’s friend only has these tickets for tonight, and if I miss this, he’ll probably ask someone else next time.”


    “And that would be bad because…?”


    “Because Tuesday Derek is perfect! He’s fun but not too intense, spontaneous but not ky, and he has this way of making meugh until I snort.” Her eyes went wide with desperation. “Please tell me you’ll cover the rest of my shift?”


    18:27


    I stared at her. “Mia, I covered for you yesterday when you had that ‘dentist appointment’ thatsted three hours.”


    “That was different! Felix surprised me with tickets to that outdoor concert. How was I supposed to say no?” Mia grabbed my hands across the counter. “Please, Sara? I’ll pay you back somehow. I’ll work a double for you next week. I’ll bring you coffee every day for a month. I’ll-”


    “Fine.”


    Her mouth fell open. “Really?”


    “Really. But you owe me big time.”


    “Oh my God, you’re the best!” Sheunched herself around the counter to hug me, nearly knocking over a disy of travel-sized hand


    sanitizers.