» ㅤsupermarket。

@negin g。ᵛᵃᵃⁿᵈ Frank shook his head at the realization. He couldn't believe he was seeing her, the exactly same her, meaning that she hasn't aged a day, unlike him. He was quite accustomed to the oddity of this town, but it didn't sit quite well with him knowing that he has been exposed to this kind of existence earlier than he was aware of it. "Bloody hell," Frank muttered under his breath, palming at his forehead and combing his ratty hair out of his face. "Of all p-people, it's you," he chuckled in disbelief. "I'm afraid, it's only m-me," Frank said with a miserable smile, still missing his mates from back home and even though it probably pleased his former teacher to hear, he wasn't so cheerful about the fact. "My parents got a job at the u-university here. Teaching h-human studies to the locals or something," he shrugged as he gave up on explaining the whole ordeal, since it would be a very extensive explanation in his, unconcerned and uncaring, words.

@frank d。ᵒᵘᵗᵒᶠˢᵖᵃᶜᵉ Negin cracked a genuine smile at the boy's comment, if only he talked this much in class maybe he would have been somewhat of a class clown. She was always happy to see her students, but it was one encounter with a parent who knew what she was and threatened to kill her, it was the very reason she made her appearance scarce around former students she taught years ago or moved completely out of town. Negin slowly nodded her head at the other and smiled like she was witness a baby say its first word, just maybe her critical thinking practices got through to him. "Yes, I'm Ghalavand, your high school teacher, and I hope no one in the same class is here too." She quipped, but it would save her a lot of explanations if that was the case. "How on earth did you find yourself here?" Negin questioned with a polite smile, she had a thought maybe the other wanted to get away and found Magnolia to be the quietest place, which was true, compared to the many places she's been to Magnolia would always be her cozy home.

@negin g。ᵛᵃᵃⁿᵈ Frank watched the whole ordeal with a calm, collected expression, not letting his obvious confusion take over him. The name ringing in his mind still, he looked from the child to his former teacher and just blinked with unchanged expression. It didn't hit him at all, that the woman should look way older and different than years ago, all he could think of was how small the world really was. "I assumed it was only s-students trying to avoid r-recognition in public," Frank snorted a small awkward snicker as he looked at the obviously displeased Ms. Ghalavand. "D-do you teach here now?" Frank asked nonchalantly, trying to ease the very unpleasant encounter a bit, since he wasn't sure whether to continue the conversation or just go and mind his own business as if he didn't know the woman at all. It was unlikely for the two of them to meet in a magical town, where Frank obviously did not belong to, but it slowly started to click. "Does this m-mean you're-" Frank started to imply that his former teacher, THE Ms. Ghalavand was, of all people that he knew, a supernatural being, but he couldn't get himself to finish, since he didn't know if it was offensive to ask that or not. He rather hoped she would know what he tried to inquire about.

@frank d。ᵒᵘᵗᵒᶠˢᵖᵃᶜᵉ Negin pushed her cart as she followed Frank, she was in a daze of a confusion as to why Frank of all people were in this town. She knew it was normal for humans to live around Magnolia, but not a student she taught god knows how long ago. Negin forced a smile at the latter as she took a jar from the shelf "I guess it is, than-" the teacher was interrupted by a call from one of her other students she taught in town. "Ms.Ghalavand!" A young girl around the age of thirteen ran up to the woman and gave her hug, Negin was petrified at this point, she just denied her true identity to her former student standing before her. Negin hesitated for a second before returning her student's hug and gave the girl a gentle pat on the head before the girl was running back to her mother. "Not so much of a lucky day anymore." Negin quickly refuted with an awkward laugh, from here the situation could only get more awkward for her, and scary for Frank. Before the teacher could drop the jar of molasses from the sudden slew of stress, with a shaky hand she put the jar inside the cart. "It's nice to see you again, Frank." She said with all the confidence she had and whipped up her best seemingly calm and collected smile.

@negin g。ᵛᵃᵃⁿᵈ Frank shook the thought away quickly. It couldn't be his teacher. Bloody hell, she would be around her thirties or even forties by now, he didn't know exactly, but she wouldn't look the same would she. He wet his lips, preparing himself to respond. "Oh, right," he his heel quite extraordinarily, twisting his torso first and then the rest of his body, walking down the aisle to show the odd look-alike of his old teacher where the product was placed. Frank lead the female to the end of the aisle, where in a very unlikely spot on the shelf the molasses were lined up with a tag that read 'sale'. "I guess it's your l-lucky day," Frank said with a polite, thin-lipped smile, showing her the product. But once again, as he turned to look at her, he couldn't shake the strange feeling of knowing the other. Subconsciously he started to frown, trying to find some oddity of the lady, something that would distinguish her from his former teacher, but for the life of his, there was nothing different, maybe except the makeup. "I'm sorry," he shook his head again. "Can I help w-with anything else?"

@frank d。ᵒᵘᵗᵒᶠˢᵖᵃᶜᵉ Negin gulped inaudibly when she heard the employee let out a sigh, but she was even more surprised when she recognized the familiar face before her. 'Oh gosh, what do I do?' She thought as she tried to keep her calm composure and the slightly quivering smile on her face, Negin wished the ground could swallow her up and take her back home to save her from facing her former student. Negin opened to respond when he called her by her name, but the stutter as he talked more made her remember the name for the face. Frank, the one who never said much of anything in her class but did quite well anyway, he was one of the good ones she hoped would succeed after high school. "That's okay, we all make mistakes." She said with a kind smile but she was taking up the opportunity to quickly change her identity, she wondered if Frank was still the same quiet kid in high school. "I need to find molasses." Negin said as she turned her head to look at the other cans and jars on the shelves to see if she could find it and quickly be on her way. She also hoped maybe he wouldn't look at her for too long to realize she really was the Miss Ghalavand he knew.

@negin g。ᵛᵃᵃⁿᵈ Hearing the so dreaded voice of someone else than his supervisor, he closed his eyes with tension, away from the sight of the costumer, before putting on the professional smile and turned his head around before standing to his feet with difficulty. "It's quite alright," he said with a slow pace, carefully pronouncing his words. When the dizziness of him standing up after being crouched for such a long time, his eye sight was finally comprehending the features of the costumer standing in front of him. He squinted in confusion, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Miss Ghalavand?" Frank's voice was small and uncertain, but he couldn't shake the similarity of the face of the costumer. The lady looked exactly like his former teacher, when he was still in high school. "E-Excuse me, I must have m-mistaken you for someone," Frank quickly apologized, a crooked smile taking place on his face. It can't be her, it was years ago and such a long distance away! The odds were unlikely, meeting an old teacher from his high school in London. "W-what was it that you needed?" that was Frank's best attempt to change the subject, away from his obvious embarrassing mistake.

@frank d。ᵒᵘᵗᵒᶠˢᵖᵃᶜᵉ Negin walked into the supermarket with her nose buried in the grocery list she made, the last time she came here was only two days ago and she still didn't get everything she needed for the fridge and her spell room. Despite her memory when it came to collecting assignments and remembering the students she taught throughout her many years of being an educator, the grocery list was something she couldn't complete in one day. She grabbed a small cart from the rack at the entrance of the store and placed her bag in the child's seat, once she stepped in she immediately looked around for the first few items on her list, which were an easy find. "Molasses, molasses, molasses..." Negin murmured to herself as she looked among the many cans on the shelves on the aisle she turned into, it was the one thing she could usually find inside a grocery store but it seemed like she wasn't going to find any today. Once she saw one of the employees of the store in front of arranging the cans she pushed her cart towards him and came around, giving the employee a gentle tap on the shoulder. "Sorry, but I need help finding molasses and I can't seem to find it anywhere." She said as she tucked her grocery list away in the small pocket of her leather jacket. Negin felt bad for bothering him when he was already doing something else.

@negin g。ᵛᵃᵃⁿᵈ Just before the time would reach the end of Frank's shift, he still had some work to do, a work that would take a toll on his lower back by the time he is finished. Supplying the lower shelves of the display was the best assignment for getting out of sight and slack off, however the fact that Frank had underestimated the disadvantages made him regret it deeply once he got home. Crouched down, he was taking the farthest cans of beans to the front, shelving them properly and neatly, while restocking those that needed to be. He was glancing at his wrist watch more often now that he was aware of his shift closing to a finish. But as the paradox proves, the time passed slower now that he was anticipating something. His lower back was numb from the pain by now, however he started feeling the dull pain in his knees instead. Hissing and huffing, he started working sloppily, just doing what was necessary, like adding new cans to the display instead of taking extra time lining them up. The other downside was the never ending arrival of new costumers before closing time. It pissed him off when he was assigned by the cash registers, however there was the constant danger of being asked a question or assistance at any point. And he was well aware of the sort of people that needed help around the supermarket, despite coming there every other or every single day. Those people meant him having over time and a mental breakdown after clocking out. He wished today would be a calm day, considering that his back and knees were going to cause him enough issues and an overwhelmingly bad mood. In his peripheral vision, he saw those costumers coming and going, passing him by even, however a sensation of a different sort tickled the back of his neck as a mysterious breath. He looked to the right, from where the sensation came, but he couldn't see anything odd. Just the same automatic sliding glass door and the security guard looking intently around the store. What he caught a glimpse of, though, was a very similar figure passing his line of vision. It was like a passing shadow that he was well acquainted to, like when he sat in his room, listening to the music, while his mother passed his open door. He didn't see her, but he knew it was her and not his father. He put it to being tired and shook the feeling off, returning to his routine, glance at the wrist watch, realizing that not even a full minute has passed, and then continuing to put the canned food on the shelves.

@sabrina c。ᵇʳᶦⁿᵃ-ⁿᶦⁿᵃ “I’ve got some s-suggestions,” Frank said vaguely, knowing very well how difficult it would be to quit this job. Not filing the resignation papers as such, but having the talk with his parents, who, in fact, had got him this job and he wondered how would they take it, if he wanted to change that. “We’re not that d-different then,” he said with a smile that was almost not there. Just a simple twitch of the corners of his lips upwards was his current effort to smile. “Not with the go-gold fish thing, but the rest sounds f-familiar.”

((It’s okay :) take your time, there’s no rush :3 ))

@frank d。ᵒᵘᵗᵒᶠˢᵖᵃᶜᵉ Sabrina watched as the grey cloud of smoke dissipate in the air, it matched the gloomy morning they were having today but it made Sabrina suffocate just watching him. Sabrina tapped her foot against the floor repeatedly as a rush of curiosity washed over her "Are you looking for another job before you quit this one? If you are, I recommend the bakery, it's fun and the owners are nice," Although her family lived outside of town her mom always made sure to take Sabrina to the bakery, they came so many times Sabrina and her mother were named 'The Best Customers'. Sabrina shrugged in response to Frank's question, she wanted to work at the guitar shop but she knew nothing about guitars and how to handle them "Because I have to? My parents think I have the attention span of a goldfish and somehow a job was going to help that," she smiled, sure her daydreaming took up more than a couple of minutes of her life but once someone was gaining powers it was apart of the process.

{ sorry! i had so much stuff to do this week i couldn't get back to my replies ;; }

@sabrina c。ᵇʳᶦⁿᵃ-ⁿᶦⁿᵃ Frank nodded firmly whilst holding in another drag of his cigarette, his cheeks filled with the smoke. He let the smoke out with a long exhale, filling the outside of the door with grey-ish smoke before he replied to Sabrina. "It's nothing l-like that," he responded to her question about the crush, correcting her wrong assumption. "I just can't quite q-quit just yet," he said, looking down at his crossed legs, one supporting his light weight. He made the other unweighted one kick forward just for motion, no important purpose behind that, while looking down at it and then up into the distance of the cool morning. "Why do you work here, anyway?"

@frank d。ᵒᵘᵗᵒᶠˢᵖᵃᶜᵉ Sabrina casually shrugged her shoulders "Fair enough," she twisted the bag of candy closed and placed it back inside her pocket for later, she felt more than awake now that had something in her system. "And you haven't quit?" Sabrina chuckled as she raised her hand to her head as well, copying Frank's meter of bull he's taken. If he was so unhappy then why did he work here? "What's keeping you here then? Does your crush work here as well?" Sabrina leaned forward with her elbows on her knees and her head resting in her hands, she had the tendency to jump to conclusions, most of them unreasonable but there was always a possibility to Sabrina. "Psh, that sounds like you're asking for a fight to the death match," she snickered at him, surprisingly, she found him nicer than her friend described him to be. But then again the said friend pretty much talked badly about everyone, Sabrina didn't know why she hadn't taken her descriptions of Frank with a grain of salt.

@sabrina c。ᵇʳᶦⁿᵃ-ⁿᶦⁿᵃ Frank jutted his eyebrows together in curiosity, yet his lips were forming a ridiculous smirk of disbelief and question. The girl was way too energetic for his own liking, but at the same time entertaining. That said expression has been glued to his face for the entire time since then. Amused, but confused. “I just don’t,” he replied to Sabrina’s outrage about the chocolate, shrugging. He watched the outside, hazy from the morning and frosty from the cold. But he couldn’t deny himself a few glances at his new ‘apprentice’. “Long, quite long,” he kept his answers short. “Enough to have it up to here,” he motioned with his hand, drawing a line in the middle of his head, presenting how done and upset he was with the workplace. “If I w-were to smile and you were to see it, I w-would have to kill you,” Frank decided to bluntly joke, step out of his way to make the girl feel a bit better, that he was not just what he appeared. At the back of his mind, he thought of it as inappropriate, because he never took the extra effort to feel someone better about the way they perceived him. He would usually ignore it, that people looked at him weird for being actually weird. But the bright smiley girl, the new possible long time colleague, seemed to need the affirmation that he wasn’t just a hollow shell. She was young, she should keep her youthful carefreeness as long as possible and not fall into the endless pit of sorrow and misery, like every other employee there. Frank empathized with the bored, long-lived elders that mostly worked there, since his own self was an old-soul that, for the age of 27, was already done with enjoying the fruit of life. But he would not want to blame himself for influencing others to be the same way as he was. Quite the contrary.

@frank d。ᵒᵘᵗᵒᶠˢᵖᵃᶜᵉ The girl gasped and she held her bag of chocolate to her as if Frank just insulted her child "How strange, how can you not like chocolate?" Sabrina made a small grimace and bobbed her head from side to side as she was made an estimate of her own "That's kind of long, this is my measly first week compared to your couple of months," Sabrina chuckled before downing a handful of the m&m's, a shiver struck down her spine the further she went in the storage room, she should have worn her jacket at least. Seeing him light up the cigarette caught Sabrina by surprise, her sense of smell was practically broken because of her allergies and most of the time she ignored anything she couldn't get a whiff of. "But it's cold out there," She whined at him like he was already a friend of her's as she hugged herself with one arm "I could say the same for you, usually everyone around here are all smiles, I haven't seen one from you," She said before taking another mouthful, she looked around and saw a stepladder, with a shrug she decided to plant her bottom their.

@sabrina c。ᵇʳᶦⁿᵃ-ⁿᶦⁿᵃ "A few months now," Frank replied nonchalantly. He looked at the bag and crinkled his nose up in slight distaste. "No thanks," he hated eating altogether, not to mention chocolate. Honestly, Frank had a very strange diet and his dislike for food made it even worse. He walked deeper inside the storage room, actually all the way to the big, garage door looking wall, that was meant for goods being transported from the lorry inside the storage. Beside that grand, metal door was another heavy metal door, but for people to walk in and out. He pushed it open with difficulty, but did not walk outside, since it was still quite cold. He stayed in, leaning against the doorway, pulled out a cigarette from his chest pocket along with a lighter, not hesitating for a second to light it up between his lips. "I think you chose the w-wrong profession," Frank said, looking outside at the gloomy morning. "You should be out th-there with that energy of yours," he added.

@frank d。ᵒᵘᵗᵒᶠˢᵖᵃᶜᵉ Sabrina pushed the cans around absentmindedly without looking at the expiration dates, but once she heard Frank she immediately followed behind him to the storage room. Sabrina crinkled her button nose up as the other mentioned a break, they were only five minutes into their shift, but she shrugged anyway "As long as I can take my break with you, I won't be too annoying," she said happily as she stepped into the storage room, moving aside for Frank as she looked around at all the stuff inside. "How long have you been working here?" Sabrina asked with genuine interest as she pulled out a bag of m&m's had tucked away in the skirt of her pocket, opened the bag and held it out to Frank "Want some?" if they were going to be taking a break at least getting to know him would make things less awkward.

@sabrina c。ᵇʳᶦⁿᵃ-ⁿᶦⁿᵃ Frank snapped his fingers subconsciously, walking to the sale section. He looked deep into the quite sold out display, going through the things when he heard Sabrina talk again. He turned his head and blinked a few times, thinking suddenly that he might have forgotten something. “Right,” he sighed and put the product in his hand back onto the display. “Come with me,” he said beckoning Sabrina with his hand to follow him. He had truly forgotten about the cart used for transporting goods in and out of the storage. He started off to the storage room after he was sure Sabrina followed him. Upon that thought, he was quite certain that he would go for a smoke while in the storage room. He stopped for a second for Sabrina to catch up with him and he started to whisper while walking beside her. “I’ll go take a little break, yes?” He said and suddenly stretched his usually hunched back to look around for the whereabouts of their manager, before opening the heavy, sliding storage room door. “After you,” he said, letting Sabrina in first, still keeping a lookout.

@frank d。ᵒᵘᵗᵒᶠˢᵖᵃᶜᵉ Sabrina noted his lack of response to everything else she was saying 'Not much of a talker, huh?' she thought, she probably had too much energy for his liking for a Monday morning. "Oh right," Sabrina chuckled as she looked down at the name tag she had forgotten she put on before starting her shift. She held her hands together behind her back as she listened to Frank explain what needed to be done, already she could feel herself slipping from reality, she wanted to go back home and read whatever page she bookmarked in her spellbook. Sabrina flinched once she heard the question directed to her "Um, I'll get started on collecting the cans," Sabrina slowly played off as if she wasn't paying attention "Where do we put the expired cans?" She was hoping Frank hadn't said anything about it when he was talking to her earlier.

@sabrina c。ᵇʳᶦⁿᵃ-ⁿᶦⁿᵃ Frank stopped almost instantly upon hearing the girl's comment aimed at their manager. As if he pulled on a hand brake, he stopped and turned around, hidden securely between the aisles of semi-products. He stood frozen, sub-consciously letting the trainee catch up to him. Firstly, he gave her another absolutely puzzled look, barely catching what she was actually saying to him. "I know," he said shortly, his eyes dropping to her name-tag, before rising up to her face again. "Frank," he said, grabbing her hand, shaking it once, before letting go. "We start here," he kept his statements short, to keep his stutter at bay. "Things that are close to their d-due date go to the sale se-section there," he pointed to the far end, where the display with a grand red SALE sign was visible. "At the same time, we ch-check the e-expiration dates of those products in that section. The ones that had gone bad, we collect," he informed Sabrina with their duties of the given time, while slowly starting over to the sale display. "Which would you rather do?"

@frank d。ᵒᵘᵗᵒᶠˢᵖᵃᶜᵉ Sabrina lifted herself from the counter, her eyes filled with confusion as to why the woman was laughing at her question while Frank was looking at her as if his horrors were in front of him. A small but puzzled smiled pulled at her lips and she opened to reply only for the other to start walking off without her. "Hey!" Sabrina yelled after her "mentor" of the day until their manager stopped before the aisle and gave her with a look of disapproval, which made her shrink off, but not before she threw a compliment his way "Nice tie," she said with her thumb raised high at him. The man grunted but Sabrina knew he probably smiled when no one was looking. "You know, I wasn't assuming, and you don't look like him!" She said once she caught up with Frank, she concluded that maybe it wasn't such a great question to ask. "You dodged a genetic bullet of your own. I'm Sabrina by the way," she smiled as she held her hand out for him to shake.

@sabrina c。ᵇʳᶦⁿᵃ-ⁿᶦⁿᵃ In the middle of the chit chat, the still quite unfamiliar voice broke Frank mid-stutter. He whipped his head around, following the new girl with his eyes until she was right in front of him. Her question caused him horror yet an unintended need to burst out laughing. Frank exchanged looks with the older cashier lady, who was by this point snickering to herself upon that question. “Son?” Frank replied with a rhetorical question, his eyes darting between the elder to the younger. The cashier placed her hand on her chest, exclaiming a breathy from laughter: “God forbid,” as she walked away from the cash counter. “No,” Frank said, his eyes slightly bigger than usual. “Why w-would you assume that?” his eyebrows lowered into a perplexed frown. The counter was starting to push against his elbow quite harshly, but that wasn’t the only reason why Frank stood up straight and started walking to the aisles, in spite of the girl maybe continuing her talking. Frankly, the reason was the sight of the approaching manager with his serious demeanor, with a quite visible comb-over on his egg-shaped head, in a striped shirt that was neatly packed inside behind and inside of his trousers’ waist, a very funky tie that did not match anything of his appearance, his tag on his left and a pad in his hand. Frank dreaded that man.

@frank d。ᵒᵘᵗᵒᶠˢᵖᵃᶜᵉ Sabrina nodded without a sound coming from , the remark about her being late brought a blush of embarrassment across her face and she started to walk past him to her locker. Sabrina could have a came in and changed like a normal person, but it was one of the reasons why she was always late, seeing other people change always made her uncomfortable since her high school days. If she had come any earlier she probably would have witnessed something that could have traumatized her mind. She let out a deep breath once she set her bag down on the floor next to her foot "I need a break," Sabrina chuckled tiredly to herself as she zipped open her bag and took out her uniform to change into. After a good five minutes Sabrina had come out the locker room with her uniform shirt nicely tucked into her skirt, which was not apart of the dress code but no one was her case about it. Once she spotted Frank by the counter she skipped over enthusiastically, she was clearly more ready than the other to start the day "Are you the manager's son?" Sabrina asked as she leaned on the counter as well, momentarily interrupting the conversation between the two, she had to ask since her friend said the possibility of Frank being the manager's son was more than a possibility. Her expression was as inquisitive as ever as she narrowed her eyes a tad bit as she looked over his features as she tried to compare his face to the manager's, she couldn't see the similarities.

@sabrina c。ᵇʳᶦⁿᵃ-ⁿᶦⁿᵃ Frank finished putting in the earpiece, while seemingly disregarding the girl that has just entered the changing room. He was blankly looking in her direction, more focused on the technique of putting the darn thing into he ear rather than on the girl in training. After making sure the earpiece was secured, he blinked a few times. "Yes?" he spoke slowly. If it was not ordered by their manager, he would probably let the girl do her own thing, but he was sure that the manager would be stricter than ever, especially when it concerned Frank. "You are the new girl?" he asked very slowly, pronouncing his words clearly, which, for him, was a real struggle at times. "You are quite late." She was not that late, but comparing her arrival to his purposeful late arrival, she was a bit late. "Ch-change and find me after," Frank said in a melancholic tone, walking past her and outside the changing room, giving her the privacy and time to change. He could not care less about her being late, after all, it was not his fault for once. But he knew the struggle of being the new guy and he did not want to make it difficult for her, no matter what the first impression was.
He headed outside, to the spacious area of the supermarket, the lights all on and everyone else ready to start the business. Frank walked to the lady by the cash registers, the one that usually led long and not so meaningful conversations with him, but was sweet enough to save his arse many times from the manager. He leaned against the cash counter in a lax, almost bored manner, his elbow supporting most of his body weight as the two started chatting away while Frank waited for the new girl. He looked around a few times, conversing with the cashier lady, taking the advantage of having a subordinate of some sort, which made him obligated to wait and not start work without her presence.

@frank d。ᵒᵘᵗᵒᶠˢᵖᵃᶜᵉ Sabrina glanced at the phone in her hand when it started ringing for the nth time this morning, it was only her first week on the job and she always showed up late. Her living in the wooded area of Magnolia without a car made things worse for her, but the manager and the older people who worked there seemed to understand her situation. But today was different, Sabrina was supposed to be trained by another person instead of the older woman who seemed more lax about the process of stacking merchandise. Sabrina fastened her pace as she walked through the automatic doors of the supermarket as she struggled to put her phone in one of the many pockets of her gym bag. But she halted once she heard someone behind her call her by her nickname "Brina, Frank is supposed to be helping you today but I see no one told you that yesterday," said one of her colleagues who was one of the few on the job who were closer to her age. "No- he's not waiting for me, right?" Sabrina asked quickly, she was still panting but lighter and her blue eyes were wide with fear. Everyone seemed to talk about him like he was an angel on earth but her friend in front of her said everything opposite about him. Her co-worker gave her a slow nod and a sigh before shooing her away to the employee locker room to get changed. '' was all Sabrina could think as she barged through the doors of the locker room, the sight of the random guy just standing there made her freeze as she tightly clutched the handles of her gym bag. She mustered up all the courage she had to speak up only for her voice to sound like a strangled whisper "Frank?" Although she never saw him before she could make out the bored and slightly annoyed look on his face that her friend described to her.

@sabrina c。ᵇʳᶦⁿᵃ-ⁿᶦⁿᵃ Another day, another early morning, when Frank had to take the shift for another colleague of his. It happened often, especially after the staff learned that Frank had no say in declining or accepting such transfers, since the voice of their boss, the manager, was Frank’s voice. As strange as that might have been, the complicated background of the two was a mystery to many, even to the other employees, but they wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of it. He got this shift on the grounds of the colleague asking the manager to give her a day off to go for a hospital check up, yet Frank could clearly make her face out yesterday night, walking to a bar, already drunk.

He couldn’t say a word of protest, he wouldn’t. Obediently, he has arrived on time, snuffed the cigarette against the garbage bin outside, throwing it away, and walked inside to go ahead and change into his work clothes. The majority of the staff were female, so there wasn’t exactly a necessity for one male shop assistant to have his own dressing room, which would sometimes be a hell on earth for Frank. Most of the elder employees looked at Frank as their son, which made it uncomfortable, but durable. The younger generation had a twisted idea of Frank’s orientation and felt quite alright changing in the same room, thinking that Frank didn’t mind either. For a man, it wasn’t that big of a deal. They would walk around shirtless in summertime quite casually. However, Frank wasn’t used to the counterpart of that. And to be at peace with himself and everyone else, he found a little corner behind the lockers where he changed quietly away from the unclad colleagues. On the afternoon shift, it would be much easier. He wouldn’t have to be hiding and most of the time he would be alone in the changing room at that time. But morning shifts were a struggle. Every employee of the morning shift came in earlier to change and chat before work. Frank would wait outside as long as it was possible. But on many occasions, it was not, especially when the boss was stepping on his heels to hurry up.

This morning, he had been greeted with a big announcement from the elder lady that worked the cash register. Frank would obtain the new girl who was being trained by the employee Frank was substituting for. Great, he thought to himself upon hearing that. When he asked for the girl’s whereabouts, there were only shrugs and confused looks in response. They didn’t know. She was probably running late, which wouldn’t be a big surprise for a newbie who wasn’t accustomed to waking up that early or something, Frank wondered to himself. He opened his locker, already having a pessimistic vision of today, but when has he not had that? He took out the supermarket logo shirt and his name tag out, leaving the barcode scanner and the earpiece for employee communication inside for now. He walked over to his corner, struggling to get out of his coat, sweater and shirt quietly, because he didn’t want any unnecessary attention on him. By the time he changed, the changing room went quiet, meaning that the other colleagues had left. Frank sighed with unweighted burden, folding his clothes in the air and turned to walk back to the locker to finish the routine. He placed his personal clothes in the locker, took the earpiece and scanner in hands before closing the locker door. He had almost forgotten about his extra responsibility of the day; training a newbie.

@frank d。ᵒᵘᵗᵒᶠˢᵖᵃᶜᵉ "Now you have to tell me about you first love, I can't even imagine you being cuddled up with someone else." Maria exclaimed, all her talk of getting Frank to date someone were for laughs but now that she knew he had been in more relationships than she thought, she had to know about this softer side he had hidden away. She chuckled when she saw the grimace on his face when she mentioned the night club and shook her head "Even though I tried to get you to wear a dress, I wouldn't force you to bump and grind against strangers, and it's too early for any of that." It took no time for Maria to think about his question "First, you're not exposing yourself to just anyone, I'm your friend! Opening up does not make you vulnerable, if there's something you don't want to share then you don't have to, but you don't have an option of not doing so right now." She said the last part quickly and looked around once they arrived at the plaza, in only a few strides the two were at the night club. "Boys first." She said as she opened the door to the place for Frank.

@maria r。ᵐᵃʳᶦ "Not a p-playboy, but yes," Frank went on to follow Maria, walking with his long strides to catch up with her. Hearing her mention the club, he just shook his head with a dismissive grimace. It had been quite some time since he has been to a night club and actually danced instead of just prioritizing getting wasted drunk. "Sure," he approved upon hearing Maria talk about the quiet spot. "What's the p-point? To expose m-myself like that?"

@frank d。ᵒᵘᵗᵒᶠˢᵖᵃᶜᵉ "Seriously? Wow, what happened?" Maria asked with surprise but she quickly covered "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that, I'm just surprised. I knew you were a playboy back in the day." She snickered as she started walking as soon as the crosswalk flashed the white pedestrian sign, she had forgotten Frank probably still didn't know his way around town. "You've been the night club before right? They have a quiet spot on the second floor, I'm not much of a dancer so that's the only reason why I know that." She said casually as she walked ahead with her hand behind her gesturing the other to walk faster. "You do, but you never express them, why is that?"

@maria r。ᵐᵃʳᶦ "No, I'm just letting you know I've h-had relationships before," Frank chuckled, opening his jacket with the hands in his pockets. He had no leverage, at all. "That would be d-disgusting, no offence," Frank shook his head, pushing that thought all the way to the back of his head. "But wait- are you on b-boyfriend terms already? You move quick," Frank puffed in disbelief. "Where you w-want to go drink?" he stopped by the crosswalk, waiting for Maria to tell him where exactly she wanted to go. "I have f-feelings," he muttered.