The convenience store was quiet as I began to lose myself in the book I had borrowed from the library. My occasional glances at the camera screens and my phone became less frequent as the plot began to thicken. I had my feet up on the counter just like I always chided Alice for doing but the store was empty, and I am a terrible manager.
I turned the page when I heard the door chime shake me from my sloth. I quickly pulled my feet down and mentally marked the page in my book before turning to see who had entered. I saw a woman with long blonde hair in a single ponytail checking out the chips right by the doorway.
She grabbed a bag and headed for the refrigerators, filled with drinks and I tried to make myself look busy by fixing up the already neat boxes near the register. It was late, the dark sky illuminated by a handful of streetlamps and a nearby intersection.
I often worked nights as it was not a popular shift and I always felt like I could get everything ready for the morning rush and catch up on my readings. As I reshuffled the nearby box of gum, my guest appeared at the register.
I turned to look at her and I recognized her, and my mind went blank. We stood in awkward silence for a second before she held up her chips and a bottle of water to purchase. I don't think she recognized me, but she looked like she had all those years ago, the last time I had seen her face.
She waved her hand in front of my face to get my attention and then I began to ring her up. I was at a loss for words, I wanted to say something, but I couldn't vocalize anything. She took her purchases after the machine registered her card information and as the door chimed again to mark her exit, I realized I had been holding my breath. In a breathless rush the log jam of words sprung free, "Tasha, it's so nice to see you again..."
I paced around the store for a while as I remembered so many things I had buried deep forever. Tasha had been my neighbor since I was little, we had been our first crushes and had even started dating early in high school.
We had spent many nights young and idealistic, talking about our plans for a future, as we slowly swung on the now rusted swing set in my backyard. Our fingers interlocked and the stars over our heads, her mother watching us from time to time out her bedroom window.
We would joke about her catching us doing something, but we never moved past a couple kisses and some handholding. But then I remembered that fateful day in early October, she called me crying and we soon found ourselves in the warm fall sunshine as she broke down into a torrent of tears, her family was moving.
Nowadays, we had cell phones so a possible long-distance relationship would have been feasible, but we didn't have that then, so we decided to stay friends and hopefully we would see each other someday, it had to be fate.
I had dreams for weeks that she was back, her leaving had been a dream, or the transfer had been reversed, they became less frequent with time and I made it through high school and hoped to hear where she was going to go for school and maybe we could reunite but no such luck. I had buried everything when my plans were cancelled and now, they had all come rushing back.
I looked at the time on my phone it was nearly three in the morning, I debated sending Alice a text about what happened. We were friends, sure, and had fooled around from time to time and now that I really thought about it, she was my best friend.
I needed to tell someone so I shot her a quick text, worst case scenario we could talk about it this evening when our shifts overlapped for a bit. I tried to busy myself in work but the silence and monotony of sweeping the floor for the fifth time in an hour did little to shake the burgeoning memories.
I finally made it through the last few hours of early morning and the coffee was reaching its peak freshness right as the morning rush began. It was busy but not to over the top for one person and it always made the last few hours speed by, tiring me out for when I was able to return to my empty house and crash. Lily the new hire came in right around the start of her shift and got ready in the back before she joined me at the register.
"Hey Boss!" she smiled, always full of energy in the mornings. Something I was never good at, night had always been my time.
"Hey, Lily, you just missed the first rush, perfect timing for a switch. It was slow last night so I did a lot of cleaning." I was suddenly hit by exhaustion, more so than I normally do at the end of a night shift.
We chatted for a bit before I made my way home. Lily was a new hire, she had only started this month, a recommendation from Alice, but she had picked up the routine easily. I got in my car and made my way against traffic as I headed for home.
The house was its typical empty self, a two-story house with too much room for one person but it was home and I had never gotten the courage to sell it. I crashed as soon as my head hit the pillow, the sunlight pouring in through the curtains doing little to slow my sleep.
My sleep was plagued by nightmares, it was the moment all over again, only this time she recognized me. At first it was her telling me that she was merely passing through on her way to a new place just out of reach, then it was her returning to visit for some reason, then it was one where she didn't even remember me, she kept insisting she was who I thought she was but that she didn't remember me at all, as if I had been removed from her memories.
The house was still when I awoke, I had forgotten to turn on some music before crashing, waking up to a silent house always reminded me of how alone I was. I got ready for the day and made my way into the large kitchen before brewing myself a cup of coffee.
I leaned against the counter and I was hit by another memory. The last one of them I had, I could still see my mom, leaning against the island from the other side, my dad pouring himself coffee into a thermos before they hit the road.
Their bags were packed and at the door ready for us to lug into their car. I was excited for the weekend alone, a tear began to slide down my cheek as I huffed and puffed as I carried their bags to the car, upset that I had to be up so early and wanted to go back to sleep.
As soon as they were packed and ready, I gave them both a quick hug and waved goodbye before darting back upstairs to my bed and back to sleep. I wiped at my eyes as I shook these memories from my mind, the coffee pot beeped to let me know it was ready. I poured myself a cup and tried to get out of the funk I found myself in.
I had some errands to run so I did that before my night shift. Before long I was returning to the store and I caught Alice watching something on her phone, her feet up on the counter but I chose not to chastise her, I wanted to talk to someone and if she were in a bad mood then I would have to wait longer.
I said hey before entering the back room to get ready. I returned and she was still watching her show, but her feet were no longer on the counter. I began to go through the start of shift work when she put her phone down and leaned over the counter and gave a suspicious glance around the store, despite the fact that we knew it was just us.
"So, last night I went out for karaoke, like usual. Nothing beats drinking and singing broken hearted love songs for getting some male attention. I was on my third song and a half dozen shots deep when this guy came over to me." Her stories were a common part of our alone time between shifts. I kept counting the till while she continued "he was cute, not like super cute, but I don't always get to be picky. So, we chatted for a bit and he invited me back to his place, he said he had roommates, but they would be asleep.
You know how loud I can get; well, he was able to keep me quiet and not in a good way. He was jerky but all I got out of it was a headache from slamming into the headboard a few times before he rolled off me, asked me 'if I had fun' and then was out."
I tried to stifle a laugh, but she gave me a look that froze me in place before she joined in. "So, he fell asleep and I was laying there, debating finishing myself off, leaving, or just going to sleep. I saw your text, but I didn't want you to invite me over, I probably wouldn't have said no. So, I tried to fall asleep and would just leave in the morning."
I couldn't help but think back to what had happened the last time I had hit her up for a booty call, good times indeed. I don't think last night would have ended in a similar way but maybe it would have helped me get a little sleep.
"It was his parents; he was calling his parents his roommates! Like that guy in Grandma's Boy. I was so embarrassed when they woke us up in the morning, they even offered to give me a bowl of cereal. I couldn't get out of there fast enough."
We laughed again as the door chime rang and we paused the conversation. I finished up the counting and Alice took care of the customer before she asked the question I had been waiting for "so, what did you want to talk about? Were you just horny?"
I shook my head, and her hopeful look started to fade, I think her desires were showing through, before I told her what had happened when Tasha had stopped by the previous night, I had told her about Tasha during a cuddle session we had early on in our friendship.
She gave me her whole attention while I tried to explain how weird I came across when my words had failed to materialize. "Wow, Mr. Silver Tongue himself, at a loss for words. I don't know if me coming over would have been a big improvement or not" she laughed and gave me a playful slap.
We talked for a bit in between customers before we got our typical late-night rush, and she began to get ready to go home. I took a quick break before she left, enjoying a peaceful smoke out back in the deserted alleyway before the frenzied smokes that would follow when I was alone.
She got changed before she left, she told me she was having a movie night if I wanted to talk. I made a joke about what kind of movie would she be watching, "Is your movie more of a group thing or are you in the mood for something with a 'story?" I made air quotes around story, and she laughed before she blushed lightly and exited the door.
I kept myself busy as I restocked the fridges, again alone with my thoughts. I had decided to take a quick break and popped outside for a quick smoke, connecting the door chime to my phone so I would be made aware if anyone entered.
