ᴡᴏʀꜱʜɪᴘ ᴍᴇ (ᴇᴊ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ)

6: Hindsight

You knew you wouldn't feel safe anywhere you went, but until all of this was over you just had to push through. Hopefully the killer would leave some evidence while trying to harass you. Maybe some blood, fabric, or even hair. The man may be stealthy, but he was bound to slip up eventually. He wasn't exactly subtle when he appeared. Maybe someone would even see him one day, and then you'd finally have a witness.

Sighing, you found yourself staring at the ground. It all felt like wishful thinking. If the killer had already wiped out three other survivors he had to know what he was doing. If none of them had escaped or even managed to call for help he was probably good at what he did. Good enough to risk taunting you in a public parking lot. You shuddered and squeezed the handle of the broom.

"Y/N, Honey. Come over here would you?" Ms. Marley suddenly spoke and waved you over.

"Yeah? What's up?" You asked once you got to the counter.

"I want you to take the day off. Now I don't know much about your personal life, but you just look so tired." She explained, leaning forward in a quiet voice. She had her classic look of concern. The one you saw at least once a day. It was like she could sniff out whenever you were in a bad mood, tired, anything.

"Ms. Marley... I'm fine I swear. I don't want to put the store behind schedule or-"

She quickly interrupted you. "Oh, I'm sure the store can survive one day without a wipe-down. Seriously, take the day off and rest."

"Are you sure...?" You muttered.

"Yes! Now please go home, get something to eat, and sleep!" She reassured you with a warm yet firm smile. You knew you couldn't change her mind.

"Alright, alright. Thank you, Ms. Marley." You sighed as you went to put away the cleaning supplies. As soon as you were out of her line of sight your face fell to a frown. You knew she meant well, but at the same time you felt like she babied you. She wasn't quite motherly, more so like a sweet yet nosy aunt. With her impressive perception of emotion and the way a dark cloud seemed to loom over you, she always worried about you.

Having someone care about you felt nice, but at the same time you felt like a burden. Especially since she was your boss. With all of the breaks she gave you and her leniency, you felt like a free-loader a lot of the time. Once all of this was over, you wanted to make it up to her. You'd get your shit together, you'd take therapy more seriously, and you'd finally stop zoning out.

With a huff, you shut the closet door once everything was loaded back inside. Now all you had to do was make sure that this did end, and in a way that you still had your life.

You said your final goodbye to Ms. Marley before heading out the door and to the parking lot. The air was still chilly, but with the sun up it wasn't nearly as cold. You stuffed your hands in your pockets as you walked. Without work, you had almost the whole day to yourself. You didn't really know what to do with the time.

Before you could do anything though, you needed to get everything secured. That meant you needed to make sure Allen had everything he needed to fix your door, and that you figured out how to make your window less of an entrance. After all of that, you could finally rest.

✦★✦

Allen had just been returning from the store when you'd gotten home, and after that he'd almost immediately gotten started on the door. With superglue, screws, and hinges you sat back and watched as he patched everything up. You were surprised by the fairly quick process, though you knew the door wasn't exactly going to be good as new. Allen's quick fix was definitely better than nothing though.