Hayden
Hayden walked into the store through the front doors. Like a customer would. Years working here, and he still didn’t have a key to the back door. If he had any options, he’d find a new job.
‘If’ being the operative word.
Hayden tussled his straight black hair. He didn’t have time to shower this morning, choosing some extra sleep instead. His room had felt cold, and the prospect of getting into work for 4 AM was the sort of nightmare he’d rather have slept through. He was paying for it now; his hair felt greasy, and his bangs were in danger of stinging his bloodshot brown eyes. His light brown skin was itchy and his work polo felt like it was clinging to his every move.
This was going to be a wretched shift. Even worse, if Tom hadn’t bothered to…
Hayden looked around in surprise. The store was pristine. Nothing was lying around, and the shelves were stocked, too. He moved to get a better look.
He was used to being met with either a stack of comic books on the counter or the sullen gaze of Rodney chastising him for being late while having strategically made sure there was work left for the morning shift.
Instead, he turned to see a young woman with strawberry-blonde hair and an infectious smile waiting behind the counter.
She waved at him.
“Hello, I’m Kat… You must be Hayden?”
Hayden smiled. He couldn’t help it.
“Oh, sorry, I’m Hayden,” he said, stepping forward to shake her hand. “I knew you were starting, but I guess I was still expecting someone else…
“No worries. I haven’t met anyone from the morning shift yet. Bradley was here for my first shift.”
“Well, between me and him, this is the morning shift. He covers the other four days of the calendar.”
“Is there a gap in coverage?”
“Yeah, and it seems like he’s a morning person, so he comes in and covers the counter while it’s slow so he can catch up on the office work. Lucy or someone else comes in about halfway through, and this isn’t a busy time of day.”
“It couldn’t be as slow as the night shift?”
“It is until around 6:30 or 7, when we get people grabbing coffee on the way into work. Loggers, commuters to Blackstone or Hermit’s Rest. Truckers might be a bit earlier, but most of them pass through during your shift if they want to get the first ferry out from Elizabeth’s Haven.”
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense… Oh, I’m keeping you from settling in. Go put your stuff in the back. I’m still on counter duty for a bit.”
Hayden nodded and passed her on his way into the office. It was so nice to meet someone new. It had been a while. She wasn’t his type, wrong chromosomes and all, but she was nice and he was pretty lonely. Maybe she could use a friend, too?
Play it cool, you idiot. It’s hard enough to make friends without you coming off as desperate.
Desperate was a big word for it. He was just being friendly. Besides, he spent half of his shift alone before he went home to a big empty house. If he was a little chatty, it was only natural.
After hanging up his coat and bag, he left the office.
“Is it cool if I go and clean myself up a bit? I slept in a bit too long today.”
“Of course, take your time,” she said, before adding, “Oh, and if you need it, I have some extra blotting papers in my bag. That’s my backup plan for quick clean-ups… I mean, like oily skin…not that yours is.”
She shook her head and looked away.
Hayden laughed.
“It’s cool. That sounds like it’s exactly what I need. Could you grab me one, please?”
*****
After a quick cleansing in the employee restroom, Hayden emerged from the back to find Kat reading what looked like a college textbook.
“What’s your major?” he asked, walking towards her.
Kat quickly put the book away.
“Psych,” she said hurriedly. “Sorry, I should be helping you prep for—”
Hayden held up a hand.
“Don’t worry about it. Everything is clean, and that’s a good use of your time.”
He furrowed his brow.
“Better than a stack of superhero back-issues or a scribbled manifesto.”
Kat’s eyes widened.
“A manifesto?”
Hayden drummed his fingers on the counter and exhaled. Did he really want to go full gossip mode on her first shift with him?
Fuck yeah.
“Okay, so Rodney…he wasn’t a bad guy, but…”
“But what?” Kat asked.
“He was always sullen and perpetually quiet,” Hayden said, brushing his bangs out of his face. “Not that I don’t understand; he lives on Birch Island. But it always seemed like he was studying you. And I mean that. It was like he was looking for something.”
“Like what?” Kat said, leaning against the counter beside him.
Goddamnit, I’m going to go full gossip mode, aren’t I?
He knew better, but if he was honest with himself, it was inevitable.
“I’m not sure. He came off a bit OCD, not that I’m diagnosing him, but very set in his ways, and judgmental of how other people did things.”
“Yeah, Lucy said he…” Kat cut herself off mid-sentence as if trying not to incriminate her new co-worker.
“Don’t worry about it. Lucy and me are tight. Took forever to get there, but I know how she is. We spill the tea all the time.”
Kat seemed relieved.
“She said he was a bit of a creep.”
“Lucy is prone to exaggeration, especially when she’s being judgy. But she’s not exactly wrong. Sometimes, when he thought no one was looking, Rodney would start scribbling away in his notebook. It was this tattered old leather-bound thing.”
“What was he writing?” Kat asked, her interest clearly piqued.
“Don’t know, the best I ever saw was a lot of messy cursive and little pictures or symbols around the margins, like gang signs or metal band iconography. He’d put it away as soon as he knew you were there and never wanted to talk about it.”
“Huh, well, the worst you’d see me do is a rough draft of an essay in a coil notebook.”
“Yeah, as long as you’re using your time wisely, I’m not going to bat an eyelash. Certainly, beats pretending to be a nerd.”
“What?”
“Friggin Tom, trying to pass as a chill dude now that he doesn’t have to maintain his cool. I can’t stand that fake garbage.”
Kat seemed concerned.
“Sorry,” Hayden added, “I bet he was really nice to you.”
“He was, but I mean…he seems nice to everyone.”
Kat shifted her weight away from him.
Hayden was losing her, but he wasn’t able to stop midstream like that.
“Well, he is…now.”
“What does that mean?” Kat asked, a hint of annoyance in her managed tone.
“I take it you went to HCH, right?”
She nodded.
“We’ll we all went to BSH, Blackstone not bullshit…even if that’s a fitting descriptor,” Hayden said, before added a sigh. “Anyway, Tom was a cool jock and yeah, he’s still hot, but his social status has fully gone to shit. I get trying to reinvent yourself, but it’s a small community, and we have long memories.”
“What did he do?” Kat asked, proper concern entering her voice.
“Nothing you need to worry about. Like I said, I’m sure he’ll be nothing but nice to you. You’re cute and you don’t know him. But when he’s nice to me…all I see is the star of the football team…he wasn’t always so nice.”
Kat turned away.
Had he gone too far?
“Hey, don’t worry about it though. This is a lonely enough place as it is…I could probably afford to be more forgiving with the few people who are actually around. Live and let live…ya know?”
Kat nodded, but the expression never really left her.
Fuck, you did it again.
Over-sharing, overindulging…overbearing.
Kat straightened her shirt and put on a smile.
“Hey, if you don’t mind watching the cash, I’m going to go double-check the public bathrooms, make sure they don’t need a cleaning.”
“Oh, yeah, for sure. Thanks…” he said as she was already leaving.
After she left, he looked out over the empty store, the expanse of processed food and plastic goods bathed in the same artificial glow it always was. Nothing ever changed except the people.
No, that wasn’t right either.
They keep leaving.
It was Hayden who never changed.
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Jacob Marsh 