Breathe

twelve

We weren't alone when I entered the small supermarket about an hour later. An elderly woman was standing in the frozen food section, only briefly looking up at me.

"Asher, come here," she said, her voice stern and loud. I frowned, deciding to wander around the other side of the store before facing him.

Asher locked eyes with me for a second as he appeared next to the woman, but he averted his gaze quickly, and so did I. When I disappeared behind another shelf, all that was left to do was listen to them.

"The frozen beans, when did you last refill them?" the woman asked.

"Last Thursday. Why?"

"Do you think we give them away for free? Make a discount for buying more at once?"

"What?" Asher was obviously confused. "Why'd you say that?"

"Look how many there are. Twice as much as we usually put there." The woman sighed, a sound almost as exasperating as her voice. "This is too much. I need you to put half of the stack back in the storeroom."

I narrowed my eyes. If I had to work for this woman, I would probably cry in the storeroom every other hour. I didn't know Asher's boss was this horrible – and she probably had to be his boss, normal customers didn't just order employees around like that.

"But there's no space in the storeroom. That's why I put all the beans in here, to make space for the other things you ordered," Asher said, clearly attempting to remain calm and polite.

"What do you mean there's no space?" The woman replied. "Are you saying these five packs of beans don't fit in the storeroom? Or are you just lazy to do your job?"

"Of course not. I'm just- there really is little space. I told Nadia, and she said she was going to tell the supplier."

"Tell him what? That you can't stack the groceries properly?"

I grit my teeth as I listened. How could Asher not have flipped already?

"Let him know to bring less products next time," he replied, still remaining calm. "Because we don't need that many."

The woman sighed, and when I could hear her starting to walk, I quickly grabbed the nearest bottle of soy sauce, pretending to be actually shopping. She passed by me, but thankfully didn't stop and say anything.

She said a few more things at the cash register, but I didn't quite catch them. Once she finally left the supermarket, it felt awfully quiet and peaceful.

I glanced over at Asher who was making his way to the storeroom in the back, carrying three bags of frozen beans at once. He looked annoyed, tired, obviously fed up with the situation.

When he came back out he met my gaze, his expression not changing.

"I'm really not in the mood today."

I bit my lip, but followed him back to the frozen beans anyway. "That woman was awful."

"That's just Nicole," he sighed, leaning against the container. "She's not really involved in the business anymore, but she likes to act like it. Her daughter Nadia's in charge now."

"Nadia? I hope she's nicer."

Asher shrugged, his gaze wandering through the store. "She is, but she's also pretty busy with her family, so she's not around much. And she forgets about everything. Like telling the supplier that we don't need three fucking boxes of frozen beans every week."

I raised a brow. "I would have just quit already."

The boy briefly closed his tired eyes, allowing himself to rest for a second. "You know I can't."