NovelEnglish160 Chapter 160
Seraphina’s POV 1
“Next!” | 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-slammed 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 giveexcuses!” She jabbed her finger at me. “I've been shopping here for fifteen years, and the
service gets worse every time!”
| scanned her items mechanically. Behind her, the line stretched halfway to the pharmacy, filled with equally
irritated customers checking their phones and sighing tically.
“That'll be thirty-two forty-seven,” | said.
“Highway robbery,” she muttered, slapping her credit card down. “In my day, you could feed a family for ten
dollars.”
*In your day, people probably didn’t treat retail workers like garbage, * | thought but didn’t say. Instead, | 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 | 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
nonetheless.
“Oh my God, that woman was such a bitch!”
| 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 cfrom never having your world
collapse around you.
“Mia, she might still be in the store, | warned.
“So? | said what | said.” She hopped up onto the counter next to my register, swinging her legs. “Life's too short
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtto pretend mean people
aren't mean.”
“Don’t let Gary see you sitting there,” | 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
display. The man needs to get laid.”
18:27
1/4
“Mia!”
“What? It’s true! Sexual frustration makes people cranky. It's science.”
Before | 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,” | 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 | 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 uncontrollably.
“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.
| scanned his groceries while Mia regaled his kids with increasingly ridiculous stories about various breakfast
cereals and their digestive effects. By the the left, all three children were laughing so hard they could barely
walk.
“You're good with kids,” | 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. | glanced 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 tellyou're finally dating someone. You're way too
pretty to be single.”
“It's spam,” | said, shoving the phone back in my pocket.
“Seriously? That's it? Just spam?” She looked genuinely distressed by this information. “Sara, when was the last
tyou went on a date?”
The question hitlike a slap. “I'm not really dating right now,” | said carefully.
“Why not?” She leaned against my register, studyinglike | was a puzzle she needed to solve. “Are you
getting over someone? Bad breakup?”
*You could say that.*
“Something like that,” | muttered.
“Oh honey.” Her expression immediately softened with sympathy. “Was he a total dick? Did he cheat? Please tell
car.”
18:27
2/4
“It’s complicated.”
“It’s always complicated. 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 a completely different person.” She was already
typing back furiously. “Apparently his friend got last-minute tickets to sbaseball thing”
| stared at her. “You have two different Dereks?”
“Three, technically, but Saturday Derek moved to Portland last month.” She looked up from her phone. “Wait, did
| never explain 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
back. Wednesday is Felix-"
“You have a guy for every day of the week?”
“Not Sunday! Sunday istime. 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 conversation later!”
The afternoon dragged by in the usual parade of cranky customers and broken price scanners. But | kept finding
myself glancing over at Mia, watching her chat and laugh with everyone who cthrough 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 tlooking slightly panicked.
“Sara! Thank God you're not with a customer. | need the biggest favor in the history of favors.”
“What now?”
“Derek moved our date up, remember? But | don’t get off until six, and Gary will literally murderif | ask to
leave early again.”
| raised an eyebrow. “Again?”
“Okay, so maybe I've been a tiny bit flexible with my schedule lately.” She clasped her hands together like she
was praying. “But this is different! Derek's friend only has these tickets for tonight, and if | 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 flaky, and he has this way
of makinglaugh until | snort.” Her eyes went wide with desperation. “Please tellyou'll cover the rest of
my shift?”
18:27
| stared at her. “Mia, | covered for you yesterday when you had that ‘dentist appointment’ that lasted three
hours.”
“That was different! Felix surprisedwith tickets to that outdoor concert. How was | 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 owebig time.”
“Oh my God, you're the best!” She launched herself around the counter to hug me, nearly knocking over a
display of travel-sized hand
sanitizers.
word
word
mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1
mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1
mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1
mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1
mmMwWL1i10f1ifl0&1
mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1
word
word
mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1
mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1
mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1
mmMwWLIII0fiflo&1
mmMwWL1i10f1ifl0&1
mmMwWLIiI0fiflO&1
Visit our social media platform to read fascinating stories every day and connect with the community!
