Sam and Colby: The Asylum

Chapter 16

Work on Friday was exceptionally difficult to get through. Some customers who came in asked about Colby, and I wasn't sure what exactly to tell them, so all I said was that we'd just met and only hung out once. They'd ask more questions, but I'd repeat the same answer in different words.

The clock finally hit six and we were able to shut down and lock the doors. While the cashiers counted their drawers and the sales associates straightened up the floor, I went back into my office to balance the day's earnings and fill out the nightly closing paperwork, ensuring that everything was accounted for and the closing duties were correctly performed. We finished at 6:17, since I was working quickly and the store had been pretty easy to straighten up today, so I let everyone go early, seeing as there was nothing else to do. Plus I wanted to leave, too.

I ran home and took off my tight black work dress, then kicked off my pumps. I was not going to mind wearing casual clothes for a few days. I'd only dressed up last Saturday because I had gone on a girl's night out with some friends before Colby jumped into my car.

I put on a pair of Nike joggers that were black, with a white swoosh on the hip, then pulled on my cropped XPLR hoodie. Colby had thought it was really cool that I had the XPLR tattoo, so I intentionally brought as much of their merch with me as possible. I paired the look with my black and white Vans that I had to pull out of my suitcase and put on some big silver hoop earrings. I pulled out the loose braid my hair had been in and ran my fingers through my hair, getting rid of the indentation from where the hair tie had been.

I grabbed my stuff and Pumpkin's bed, small collapsible crate, food and whatnot that I had put into a duffle bag, then headed out the door with Pumpkin's leash in one hand.

It was hard not to speed on the way to Colby's. When I got there, I realized I didn't even have his phone number. I direct messaged him on Twitter, hoping he always left his notifications on for those since it was his posting day.

Luckily, he did answer, and told me to head up. I carried Pumpkin and my stuff with me into the elevator and got off on Colby's floor. I walked up to the door and almost ran into Colby, who had opened it and walked out while staring down at his phone.

"Oh! Sorry! I was just about to come down to see if you needed help carrying anything. But clearly you managed," he said. He looked down at Pumpkin.

"But I think you probably need help with this," he said, taking her out of my arms. He just wanted to play with my dog. He turned around and led me back into the apartment, kissing Pumpkin's head and scratching her neck, which she loved. I left my suitcase behind the couch and set my duffle bag beside it., then looked over at Colby, who was wearing the same pants as me.

"Nice pants," I said. He was about to say thank you when he saw mine.

"You too. And awesome hoodie," he said. "I love that you have our merch. It's dope as fuck," he said, setting Pumpkin lightly on his couch. She immediately ran to the pillow he had sitting on the couch, used her paw to make it lay flat, then hopped up into it and laid down.

"She's good at making herself at home," I said, laughing.

"Just fine by me," Colby said. "So is that your natural hair?" he asked, looking up at my silver-grey curls.

"Yup. Pretty disappointing," I said. He smiled.

"Not in the slightest. I just didn't want to tell you how much I liked it if it wasn't natural because then you might just wear it like that for the rest of the trip," he said.