The uniform made a thump sound as I lazily threw it to the side of the room, planning to just fix it later when Vanessa came by.
A cheery and booming voice announced on the intercoms that the Pizzaplex was about to close. I looked at my phone to check the time, already assuming that it would be almost around 12 A.m.
My screen displayed the numbers 11:58 p.m.
Who the hell closes a mall at 12 a.m...
Vanessa would be rounding the building now, checking for any customers that were still remaining in the building, to make sure that no one would be trapped inside.
Now that I think about it. She does have a lot of work to do. Staring at a computer all day then having to walk around the mall at night sounds headache inducing. I should know..
In the corner of my eye, I noticed a person pacing outside of Chica's Shoppe.
Aiden??
He looked nervous behind the furrowed brows that made him look angry. I sighed and went to go meet him, wondering what was up.
"Hey, Aiden." I greeted with a tired voice.
He jumped a little when he saw me.
"Aren't you supposed to be home by now?"
"(Y/n)! Good, you're here." He said hastily and grabbed my shoulders firmly. "Look, I need you to something for me, okay?"
I blinked twice, "What? Why don't you do it while you're here? Or did you seriously just wait for me to finish my shift to do whatever it is you're supposed to do?"
I crossed my arms and stepped back a little, forming a space between us.
"I'm not here to make you do chores. Just..." Aiden sighed and rubbed his face in a frustrated manner.
"Okay." He breathed out, "There's someone who I want to take out-"
"Woah..sir, I am a cashier not a hitman." I smirked when he glared at me.
"Not like that, dumbass.
Anyways..
So I've noticed that you and Vanessa have been getting quite close during these past few weeks."
Oh..I think I see where this is going.
"Uhuh..?" I muttered in an hesitant way,
"Is there something wrong with me being friends with her?"
"No! Not like that either. I just..wanted you to give this to Vanessa." Aiden slowly handed me a letter while I tried to hide my look of disbelief.
Is...this a love letter??
"Really..?" I looked back up at him, unamused. His face immediately went red.
"Hey! Mind your own business okay?!" He yelled out in embarrassment. "Oh yeah? Then why don't you give this to her yourself?" I shoved the letter back into his hands, which he quickly pushed back to me.
"Okay! Fine! I'm sorry!
Just..please, can you help me out here a little? You and Vanessa act like sisters, so it should be atleast less awkward, right?"
Sisters?? Seriously?
I sighed and gave in, putting the letter in my pocket,
"I'll give this to her after I clean up, okay?"
Aiden's eyes lit up and fist bumped the air upwards. I just rolled my eyes at him, not having the heart to say that this would most likely not work at all. As far as I'm concerned, Vanessa doesn't really show that much interest in him. But hey, we'll see how this goes.
"Make sure she gets it, okay?" Aiden's body was already partially turned away from me, already preparing to run away to the exit.
"Yeah.. get home safe.." I waved off to him as he cheerily jogged away.
Jesus Christ..
I sighed and flet the letter in my pocket, along with my phone. I pulled out my gadget and checked the time once again.
12:04..
Vanessa should be atleast done by now. I started to make my way to her office, shuddering at the thought of using the utility tunnels. I rubbed my arms to soothe goosebumps that were starting to form. The only sound I could hear were my own echoing footsteps and the soft whirring of other janitor bots that were mopping the floor. I started to make my way down the stairs. The soothing music from the main lobby growing more muffled as I descended. The yellow lights on the wall illuminated everything until it eventually went dark.
I reached the bottom and was guided by even dimmer lights. I walked for a while until I saw a slightly rusted door in brightly lit area in tbe distance. The word 'Security' was painted on a plate of the door, the said paint already sratched up and faded.
As I approached, I could hear a muffled conversation inside the room, instantly recognising it as Vanessa's voice. I could hear her angrily yelling at whoever she was talking to.
"---told you I already have one ready!!
...
I--yes!!
...
Yes! I know! But--
...
She's not in the way!! She's--
...
Fuck!! Fine!! I'll get it for you tonight, you zombie reject piece of shit!! You should be grateful I'm doing this for you at all!!."
Vanessa yelled out in rage. I could literally feel the heavy atmosphere all the way from here and I'm not even that close to the door yet.
I stopped at a certain distance, not wanting to eavesdrop and trying to atleast be respectful, but that didn't help since I could still hear her cussing.
The rest were unintelligible and she grew quieter and quieter, until I couldn't hear her talk anymore. I nervously approached the door, the sound of my heart beat was booming audibly in my ears as I raised my hand to softly knock on the door.
"Uh..
Vanessa..?" I called out to her. The sound of footsteps quickly ran up and opened the metal door.
"(Y/n)..!"
Vanessa's hair was sticking out all over the place messily as she had a strange look in her eyes. They were wide and her pupils were somewhat almost like pinpricks.
It made her look crazed in a way.
Whoever she was talking to really pissed her off.
"I didn't expect you to be here so early!
Uhh..heh..how are ya?" Vanessa quickly closed the door and grinned at me.
I gulped, a pit forming in my stomach, a gut feeling screaming at me to run away from here as far as fast as I possibly could. But I didn't. I stood still, looking up at Vanessa's bright green eyes that stared back down at me in a piercing way.
"I'm.. fine.
And..how are you..?" I asked awkwardly.
She was quiet for a bit, then laughed.
"Im doing fine, Carrots. Y'know, you don't have to act like you're comfortable. I know I look like shit right now and you probably heard me yelling, right?"
She sighed, letting her hair loose as she undid her pony tail. Her light blonde hair fell just bellow her shoulders as she ran her fingers through it, her other hand on her hip. She then looked at me calmly.
"Tell me, Carrots, how much did you hear?"
"Oh uh.. not much really. I couldn't really hear what you were saying but uh..sounds like you were arguing with someone.
Are you okay?" I asked, my tone shifting to concern.
"Yeah, just...
A lousy...boyfriend.." Vanessa cringed, her eyes wandering off to the side.
Oh shit..
Should I still give her Aiden's letter?
"Oh..! Well..he sounds like an asshole." I piped up, making her chuckle.
"Yeah, he pretty much is...
Anyhow, we should start cleaning up the mess in the Shoppe, yeah? It's getting pretty late already." Vanessa smiled as she put her cap back on.
We continued to talk like normal while we made our way back into the main lobby.
________________________
Cleaning up the Shoppe was more of like a treasure hunt than a chore. Throughout the whole thing, Vanessa and I already found a number of questionable things.
We laughed and gagged at the objects, making this whole clean up thing a bit more fun.
"Looks like either peepaw and meemaw ain't eating tonight." I showed Vanessa some dentures that still had visible food bits in-between the teeth.
"Oh no fucking way..!" She wheezed as I chuckled along,
"Come on, that's mean!"
"I'm not the one joking about it!"
"And you're laughing!"
We continued to mess around with what we found, playing with toys that children had left behind and cackling at a random unopened condom wrapper in the corner of the room, which took us way longer to clean than it should have.
After about maybe half an hour, we collected all the mess in black garbage bags which we put near the door as we sat down to take a break.
Vanessa huffed as she sat down on one of the chairs, putting her feet up on the table, which I promptly smacked off.
"Hey! I just wiped that!" I glared down at her with my hands to my hips.
"Can't you just wipe it again later?? I'm tiiireeedd~" She groaned loudly and tried to put them up again. Without thinking, I immediately sat down on her lap.
The moment I did, Vanessa's face shifted into a more shocked look, and I started to realize how bad this probably looked.
I immediately stood up and apologised frantically.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! That was weird! I-I didn't-- uh--"
The words jumbled up and a lump in my throat quickly forming. My body also started to heat up from tbe embarrassment. I tried not to look at her as I also thought of what else I could say.
"Hey, its alright, Carrots.." Vanessa's voice was sweet and soothing,
"I don't mind it!" She said with a giddy smile.
"Oh..uh.." I gulped, fidgeting with my hands and ended up going quiet again.
Goddamnit...
I heard Vanessa hum, making me look at her. I gave her a confused look while she just smirked at me.
"Tell me when you're done getting embarrassed over there m'kay?" She said with a smirk as she put her feet up on the table again. It took a few seconds for me to regain my composure and glare at Vanessa.
Realising what she was trying to do, I instead chose to carry the table away from her.
"Yeah, not falling for that."
"You say it like I'm tricking you!" She gasped in a dramatic way while I put down the table a certain distance away from her.
I then turned to her blew a raspberry.
"Yes! Now begone temptress!"
"Oooh~ 'Temptress' huh?" Vanessa giggled. She looked at me with half closed eyes and crossed her legs. She leaned back on the chair and casually rested her head on her palm.
"Do I tempt you, Carrots~?" She asked sensually.
".....Nah."
We stared at each other and burst out laughing again.