Here in your arms I found my paradise~
My only chance for happiness.
"Evie?"
... And if I lose you now I think I might die
"EVIE!"
Evie jumps in her seat, frantically pulling out her headphones from her ears. It was a dreary, cold and wet afternoon with absolutely nothing going on. Hearing her name being called with that kind of fierceness sent shockwaves throughout her limbs. Her head snaps back to the voice that had been calling her name to see her co-worker
(and longtime roommate) Kelsey standing just behind the counter with an oversized bag of tuna in her hands. She had an overexaggerated pout on her face. "You didn't make the tuna before you went on break," she half whines, "You know I can't stand putting my hands in this stuff."
"Dude," Evie huffs, rolling her eyes and putting one of her earbuds back in, "You interrupted my break for this? It's not even that bad. Just pretend it's cold mud or something." It really wasn't all that bad, but Kelsey always made her make the tuna when they prepped the meats. It was cold, gooey and smelled very fishy. Kelsey hated the feeling but Evie didn't mind though, it kinda felt nice to her... even if it was through gloves. "I don't even know why we make it here," Kelsey complained, "Nobody ever eats this shit. Ever. Can you please come and make it before you leave? I'll clean your bathroom this week if you do. Pleeeeeease?"
Evie pulls her headphones out of her ears and wraps up the half eaten sandwich sitting on the table in front of her. "I do," I said, passing by her on my way to the back of the store, "Tuna's not as bad as you think it is. This one doesn't have celery in it either. That's when it's really gross." She passes Evie the bag of tuna, which was opened swiftly with the scissors that had been dangling above her head. The huge metal bowl and bag of mayo were already sitting out on the counter. "Are you doing okay today Evie?" Kelsey asked, leaning herself against the counter, "You seem grumpier than usual."
Evie shrugs, "It's Monday. It's dead as fuck out there in the lobby... as usual. We haven't had a customer in over two hours. It's raining and I'd rather just be back at home instead of doing nothing here," she says, looking up and over to the camera perched above their heads, "Any minute now, Vish is gonna check those cameras, call us and yell that we're 'not doing anything' and make us clean the whole store. And I really don't feel like doing that today."
Kelsey shakes her head, smiling, "No, I mean– you always hate working Mondays. You've just been... extra quiet today." Evie was busily mixing the tuna together now with a frown on her face, shaking her head. Kelsey rolls her eyes, "This... isn't about the party I went to last night, is it? I'm sorry I left without you I—."
"It's not," Evie snapped back, "I really, truly didn't want to go and it doesn't hurt my feelings that you don't take me. Okay?"
Kelsey pursed her lips together into a frown, "Hm," she hums thoughtfully, "I think maybe you should go at least once. You need to have some fun. I think you... might meet a guy there if you give it a chance." The words left her mouth coated in honey and she now donned a sickly sweet, yet sly smile on her face. Evie finishes the tuna in silence. Her expression was now even more sour than before. As she's removing her gloves, Kelsey reaches out to bump her playfully, "Hey, I know it's hard to meet other people but I think you'd like some of the guys that hang out with my friends. They're not all bad. You said you were looking for a spicy summer, right? You could come up to Nashville with me and–"
"I said I wasn't going to another party ever again," Evie interrupts her, tossing out the soiled gloves down below the counter and pushing the tuna bowl away, "I have better things to do than waste my time getting drunk with a bunch of guys who probably share a singular brain cell between the group of them." Evie takes the plastic wrap from above her head and pulls out a large sheet to cover the tuna bowl with. Kelsey rolls her eyes, "So what are you mad about then?"
"My..." Evie scoffs, turning around to rest her body against the counter with her arms folded across her chest, "-- The portfolio I submitted a month ago for that stupid art contest to paint the empty wall next to the train station got... declined. I'm not sad enough to cry about it but like– the guy they chose to do it is terrible at painting and I was kinda looking forward to doing that this summer."
"Oh Evie, I'm sorry..." Kelsey apologizes with a frown on her face, "I mean– you've got a lot of other things to do this summer, don't you? I mean you could paint something else, right?"
Evie snorted and shook her head, "I mean... yeah. I've got a lot of personal projects to work on but I dunno... some recognition would be nice sometimes. You know, outside of the internet," Evie gets up from the leaning position on the counter and starts to head to the back, "Anyway, I'm gonna get out of here. I'll see you later tonight, okay Kels?"
"Oh uh," Kelsey follows her to the back, "About that..."
Evie stops short at the coat rack, "Again?" Kelsey nods slowly, a painful smile on her face. Evie rolls her eyes, "C'mon Kelsey... I've been waiting almost a week to finish this last season of House and you're gonna make me wait again so you can spend the night with your new boy toy?"
Kelsey places her hands to her hips, "He's not a boy toy. His name is Thomas and he's very nice. Look, I haven't had a real boyfriend since highschool. You and I have been in that apartment for almost 4 years now and we're almost 22. It's not I don't love you Evie but–" she clasps her hands together, "I just want some change. I really like this guy. I mean maybe you could–"
"Don't even suggest it."
"Just consider it!" Kelsey exclaimed, pulling out her phone, "I've met some rude guys on here, sure but I met Thomas here too and we've been talking for like a month. He's nice. We get along really well and I get that you're old fashioned but you should at least try it. Tinder isn't the worst thing in the world." She had the app open on her screen now and it was very nearly in Evie's face. Already there was a guy waiting to be "swiped" on. A guy with blonde hair, blue eyes and a big toothy smile. The flannel shirt was a dead giveaway he was from Tennessee. Evie rolls her eyes again and pushes the phone away, "I'm good. Really. Last thing I need is a boyfriend." 'That last boyfriend went over really well.'
Kelsey puts her phone away, "I know it feels weird to use a dating app but– it's kinda fun getting on there just to meet new people. Could you at least... give it a shot? Please?" The pout from earlier returns with a vengeance and she dramatically clasps her hands together, shaking them in a begging manner. The scowl on Evie's face melts into a smile and she unclips her long brown wavy hair from the messy bun it had been in, "You know I can't take you seriously when you do that."
"That's why I do it!" Kelsey says, breaking her pout briefly, "So will you pleaaaase give Tinder a chance? I'll download it for you right now so when you get home, you'll have something fun to do tonight!" The excitement in her voice and eyes was always so contagious. Evie couldn't help herself, even though it felt stupid. The battle was lost very quickly though as she extracts her phone from her back pocket to hand to her friend. Kelsey squeals excitedly, opening the phone with ease. "I'm only doing this because you said it would be fun, okay?" Evie explains as the two girls walk back up to the front of the store. Kelsey was furiously typing away on the phone while her friend clocked out of work. When the app is downloaded, she opens it and hands the phone back to Evie. "Tell me everything when I get home, okay?" she says, "I'll be back home tomorrow morning. You can even text me about it while I'm at Thomas's. I just wanna know."
Evie shuts the phone off and tucks it in her pocket, "Yeah, yeah okay. I'll see you later. Call me if you need a ride home or something."
"No prob!" Kelsey calls as the shop door shuts behind Evie. Finally, work was over. Down the grassy hill next to the store was the back parking lot where her dopey little red sedan sat, waiting for her departure back home. She hops down the hill with ease and manually unlocks the driver's door before taking a seat with a heavy sigh. Between losing the contest, the boring workday and her best friend's persistent pestering, she was ready to go home and relax. There were new uploads from her favorite Youtuber to watch and she had some art to finish that had been sitting in her art folder for about a week. Her car sputters to life along with the air conditioning to cool off the cabin of the car from the humid Tennessee summer heat.
For the last few summers, this had been her life. Getting up and going to work where she'd spend most of her day to then return back home to her apartment to create art for the rest of the time the sun was up. Her roommate would come home and they'd watch TV shows before going to bed and starting the day all over again. She'd been working on a small following on Deviantart with her art pieces, taking commissions and giving thought to a webcomic that she hadn't started working on. Occasionally, she'd dust off her acoustic guitar and write a new piece. This summer was meant to be different. She was sure she'd had the project in the bag and now that it wasn't happening, it would just be another boring summer gone by. Kelsey had a new boyfriend so vacations with her were out of the question unless she wanted to third wheel.
She opens the app briefly and looks at the bright and colorful introduction screen. Though she didn't want to admit it, it looked like it might be kind of fun. The phone's screen darkens and she puts it in the passenger's seat. Kelsey wouldn't be home all night tonight or tomorrow so... she had plenty of time to be curious outside of her friend's prying eyes.