I woke up to the sound of pattering rain drops against my window. The room was cold, and my alarm clock shrieked for my attention, sparking an early headache. Was work really worth getting up for...?
It was going to be that kind of day.
I slugged out of bed, almost nodding back off to sleep while brushing my teeth, then shuffling into a pair of jeans I had grown out of, but still squeezed into. Yesterday was supposed to be laundry day, but I sort of got lazy, again. My uniform looked wrinkly, I sniffed.
'It's not smelly though....'.
I choked down breakfast and got into my car. The busy streets made traffic even more tiring, I had gotten almost no sleep last night, something kept waking me up every time this week at 3:27am, but this time it took much longer to get back to sleep. I parked my car and walked across the street to the mall I worked at. It was a small store that sold tea and 'spiritually relaxing' products.
The cute old lady, well my boss, Haven, greeted me with a smile. Her beaded bracelets clicking against each other, and her many jewelled necklaces danced around her neck all day. Seeing her was the best part of my days working, she didn't speak much and stayed in the back with inventory "testing" the tea, but I knew her bones were weak and needed relaxing, so I've never commented.
A young man came in, wearing a trench coat and leather shoes. He looked very calm, without a single wrinkle or worry line on his face. His phone went off, and while rummaging through his pockets, his elbow blankly knocked over an assortment of tea packets. He became flustered.
I walked over and smiled, helping him pick up what he hadn't.
"Thank you, Carolla", he grinned. I stopped what I was doing and looked up, confused.
"Your name tag, that's your name, isn't it?"
He stammered. I laughed.
'Of course, my name tag!'
"Yes! Sorry that is! Is there anything you're looking for today?" I smiled vaguely.
"No, no I'm just looking at the 'merch" he softened his voice, looking directly in my eyes.
It felt startling, like I no longer wanted to be in his presence. "Alright, if there's anything I can help you with, I'll be behind the counter! Don't be shy".
I turned on my heels and darted to the register, sitting on the stool behind the counter. I waited for him to leave, trying to keep my eye on him incase he just wanted to loot. But he never got out of my sight, and I was never out of his field of view either.
He smiled and waved as he left.
The rest of the day commuted slowly. On my break I took a quick selfie, putting it on my snapchat story. There were the occasional older women with braided hair buying jewels, making small talk, being friendly. It felt a little more normal than the early bird customer, but I still felt a little tense.
At 4, Haven leaves to care for her dogs, one which is diabetic and needs the routine Insulin shot. I wave her goodbye and she politely smiled,
"Be careful driving tonight dear, the roads will be slippery" she exclaimed, her wrinkles creasing at the sides of her mouth and the crows feet at the side of her eyes. Those were proof of years of happiness, mostly because she only had dim wrinkles where the 'worry lines' between the eyebrows would be, which I only admired.
The rest of the night was very quiet, which it usually is. I could hear the sound of lightening from outside. I'm sure it'll smell nice out there from the day of rain.
Closing time came, and I waved goodbye to the last customer before closing the doors. I finally went to the back and gathered my things, looking into the mirror. My eyes had deep purple circles underneath them. I grabbed my bag.
Clink.
A small sound rang to my ears. A little white block had hit the table, and I bent over to grab it. My name shone against the dim light on the little rectangle.
'My name tag...? How did this get back here.' I thought, 'I haven't gone back here all day.'
I flicked through my phone, going onto snapchat. Even in the picture I didn't have it on. I must have forgotten to take it out of my purse and put it on I guess.
I crossed the quiet street. I had stayed late and finished a bit of leftover paperwork for Haven, her hands probably ached from arthritis today as she didn't get the chance to finish the rest of it herself. My phone rang, displaying a bold "8:57PM TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5th". It was a message from Telus about my data usage,
'Wow I need friends' I laughed to myself, pulling out my cars keys and unlocking my doors.
I settled in. Put my foot on the break. My hand hovered over the shift to get into drive. The car door opened.
I turned my head.
A man beside me said "Drive".
I drove.
He set the gun to my temple.
"Turn left." He demanded.
I set my turning signal and waited at the street lights.
'What the fuck. The first thing they teach in drivers Ed was to lock the goddamn doors once you get in!!' I screamed to myself in my obviously empty skull. 'Now I'm going to get raped and be left for dead in a creepy fucking forest, on a hiking trail even! I don't hike, no one fucking hikes anymore, I'm just going to rot!!'
I kept driving. I couldn't catch a glimpse of him, with the fear of wanting to keep my brain in my skull and not over the car windows, I looked ahead on the road, the rain quickly spit onto my windshield sounding like hail.
It had to be hours of driving. He made small frustrated sounds while looking down at his watch, then would push the gun against my head more.
"...Where are we going" I asked, my words were silenced, though, by his deafening yet quiet retort:
"To start your new life" he simply said.