Hayden
Jesus wept, what a shift.
Hayden was just about done with what had been one of his worst morning shifts yet. He’d agreed to work a long one, carried through all the way until Lucy got there from school, so he wasn’t expecting Bradley to be there covering too.
There wasn’t enough work to keep them both busy, and something must have happened because Bradley was micromanaging everything. First, it was the way the bathrooms were cleaned, not even something he’d done. Then it was the organization in the back. Did candy bars really need to be in alphabetical order?
Every order, every lecture, was accompanied by eye twitching and rubbing. His nervous tic was on fire, and when it wasn’t, he was stepping away to belch and binge chalky antacids discreetly. Not that it wasn’t obvious, anyway.
What a strange, gassy bitch, Hayden thought, looking towards the ding of the front door. Lucy had just walked through, which meant his weird day was finally coming to an end.
“Hey Lucy,” he said, waving. “Come here for a second.”
She nodded and moved to the counter, her dark eyes flashing with concern.
“What’s up…oh, Daisy’s not sick again, is she?”
“No, not that she couldn’t afford to take a Wednesday off anyway…” Hayden said, pausing to look around the room. “It’s Bradley, he’s in a real shitty mood, just wanted to give you a heads up.”
“Okay…what happened?”
“I don’t know, but he’s nitpicking everything today, and he just won’t fuckin leave.”
A creak from the back signaled Bradley’s return and an end to their conversation.
“Oh, Miss Wagner, I’ve been waiting to chat with you.”
Lucy shot Hayden a quick glance before walking towards the back.
Hayden wanted to help, or at least eavesdrop, but another chime meant he had work to do.
“Hello Susan,” he said to the middle-aged regular who walked through the door. “Gas and smokes.”
“Heh, I’m becoming predictable,” she responded, her voice hoarse. “Grab me one of those scratchers too, the one with the gold bars on it.”
Hayden pulled the ticket and cigarettes out for her before stealing a look at the back of the store.
Lucy was back there, leaning against the doorway between the Pizza Stack and the storage beyond it. She didn’t seem amused.
“Thanks, love,” Susan said, tapping her card before gathering her things to leave.
By the time Hayden could give Lucy his entire focus, she was walking back towards him, her bag slung over her shoulder, face red with annoyance.
“Hey, what happened?” Hayden asked, but Lucy just blew by him and went back to the office.
“Nothing I don’t deserve.”
She’d been doing that lately, beating herself up. And when she wasn’t, she was being even spookier than normal.
But, still, whatever Bradley had said was clearly out of line.
Hayden narrowed his eyes at the back, but what he saw was too pitiful to sustain his anger.
His bloated boss was back there, hunched over, one hand gripping the counter, and the other cradling his gurgling stomach.
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