I smoke. More than any twenty-two year old girl should. I have a lot of stress, and not enough time or money to deal with it in a productive way. Instead of pandering away my emotional issues with a total stranger, I took on smoking to help. In a weird way, it's therapeutic. I have a brand, too. Nothing else really compares to a Camel Menthol after you've crushed the little ball in the filter and took that first long drag, filling your lungs with an icy chill that seemed easier to breathe than plain old oxygen. Yeah, addiction's a bitch.
That's what I was thinking about as I leaned against the building, out on my second smoke break that hour. The building was completely empty except for Aiden and myself. So, basically, it was a typical second shift.
"You know, since you're wearing a headset, you could just sit in my car," a familiar male voice chuckled behind me.
"Oh… Well, I guess. But then I'd have to make sure it was unlocked, and that would take pushing the right button on this stupid thing," I said, gesturing to the infernal device on top of my head. "And that just seems like a lot more effort than I am willing to put into things."
He grinned. Aiden had a great sense of humor; I was slowly discovering the longer the day dragged. Moving to lean beside me, he pulled out a cigarette of his own to smoke. Generally it was against the rules to have both of us outside on break, but he didn't really seem to adhere to the rules, either. How it so happened that he was a supervisor, I could never really figure out. Maybe it was just that he was one of the few people that had been here longer than a year? The other supervisors, Brenda and Mona, had both been here from the start; a little over three years ago. Rachel was technically a supervisor, and she hired in around the same time as Aiden, but I didn't really count her. We were too close.
"Haha, right. You can smoke there anytime, though."
"Well thank you, that's awfully nice of you."
"I'm always nice to pretty girls."
We sank into companionable chit-chat, landing somewhere between general work bullshit and talking music.
"NeverShoutNever is one of my favorite," he proclaimed, holding the door open for me to pass through.
"Ick. I don't mind them, but they clog up my Pandora playlist. They're fine when I want to hear them, but if I'm listening to He is We Radio, I'm expecting He is We, not one HIW song per every seven NeverShoutNever," I sigh, walking past him. Through the door, I pause to give him a mock courtesy.
He put his legs together, rolling one arm and dipping into a mock bow before following me behind the counter. "I completely disagree, Brie. But, I went and watched them at a concert last year and now I love them."
As if to prove his point, Aiden went to the break area, returning with a cellphone and Bluetooth speaker. Scrolling through for a minute, he started blaring music into the empty eatery.
"I'm in trouble448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzvcAk6t5T
I'm an addict448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmXLHwlb2t
I'm addicted to this girl448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgWd0bpScpH
She's got my heart tied in a knot448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16ZEY0cPCd
And my stomach in a whirl"
He sang along, grinning and whirling his fingers. "This is my favorite song."
From then on, every shift I would work with him, Aiden would serenade me with this song; whether the music was playing or not.
"I've actually never heard this one, but I like it. More than I like most of their stuff."
Despite the fun we were having just talking, we did have a few customers through the night. At one point, there was a short line for ice cream. I knew that he regularly worked thirds, so when Aiden was able to easily slide into conversation with the prettier girls about making the ice cream - a job that was done on Monday nights - I wasn't really surprised. He was a mega flirt, and I couldn't help chuckling as he stood for fifteen or twenty minutes just chatting and flirting.
"Did you see that one? That body, oh my god," he said when he joined me at the drivethru window. "Total eight."
"Eh, I'd give her more of a seven. She had a great body, but that face," I mused, sipping on my overly large espresso drink.
Thinking about it, he nodded. "Yeah. You're probably right. Wanna smoke?"
"Always."
Outside, he lit his cigarette and moved to his car, rummaging in the back seat. "Ever see a mini-board?"
"Like, a tech deck?" I laughed. "My nephews used to play with them when they were kids."
"No, this is more like a - ungh - tiny skateboard. Just big enough for two feet." He emerged from the back seat, triumphantly holding a small green skateboard in one hand.
"Oh, neat."
He dropped it to the ground, doing a lap in front of the building. I chuckled, applauding. "Very nice."
"I used to be able to do tricks, but I don't mess around enough anymore to still be able to." He hopped off, pushing it to sit beside me and sat with me on the sidewalk. Occasionally he'd bump me with his shoulder, grinning. "You're fun. I like working with you."
"Thanks. It's too bad the night's almost over."
"Shit, I have to do the tills when we go in. Can you mop?"
I looked at him, trying my best to suppress a chuckle. "Nope. Never learned."
He bumped me again, tossing away his cigarette butt. Offering me a hand up, I rolled my eyes and followed him back into the store.
When all the mopping was done and the tills were counted, the night shift boys had arrived, and it was time for us to go. I smiled at Aiden as I left, climbing into my boyfriend's car and heading home. We only lived about a mile from work, and the whole was home I was texting my friend Kayleigh about my attractive and fun new supervisor; talking to Sal about my day and how much I enjoyed Aiden's company.
I didn't know that I would soon be craving his attention. I could probably have seen it coming, if I paid a little more attention to my roaming thoughts.
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