a/n: another lovely cover made by BTSkookie27ARMY!
For the following weeks, she made no attempt at talking to him.
She didn't exactly believe in her coworkers' words too much, but she decided it'd be best to trust them. She couldn't think of an excuse to go up to him anyway.
When she walked into the store that day, she was bombarded with the pungent scent of soap and disinfectants. She pinched her nose as she headed to her station, when a familiar face popped up in front of her.
"Um, hi, Marina. You good?" Ali questioned, eyeing her attire, which consisted of hospital scrubs, gloves, and a thick mask.
"No! I'm not good! Several employees caught the stomach flu and they're all stuck at home for the week," Marina exclaimed, clearly stressed, before narrowing her eyes at her. "You don't have it too, do you?"
Ali shook her head. "No, I feel fine."
"Thank God. We need as many people as we can get if we're going to make it through the day," she sighed in relief, pulling out a bottle of hand sanitizer from her pocket to give her.
"I got you covered," Ali promised as she rubbed her hands with the germicide. Marina took a moment to squirt her tenth portion of the morning, then grabbed her tablet from the counter nearby.
After studying the screen, Marina looked back up at her. "Okay, so I need you at customer support today. Brady can handle the cashiers by himself."
"Wait," Ali paused, raising an eyebrow at her. "Customer support? Isn't he there?"
"Yes, Sawyer is there, which is why just the two of you at customer support should be enough."
"Okay, but didn't you tell me to stay away from him?"
"This is an exception! The only exception," she emphasized, then gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just keep your eyes down and stay at least five feet away from him at all times, 'kay?"
Before she could respond, Marina walked away and clapped her hands at Brady, pressuring him to work faster. Ali turned to him, and he offered her a sympathetic smile, a blue lollipop stuck in between his teeth.
Taking a deep breath, Ali made her way over to customer support and took the farthest spot away from him. Not being able to help herself, she discreetly caught a glimpse of him in the corner of her eye.
He was leaning against the counter, scrolling through his phone. He didn't exactly seem interested in what he was doing, but he was staring down at his screen pretty intensely despite that.
A customer suddenly appeared before her, and she quickly straightened, plastering on a polite smile. "Hi, how can I help you?"
"Yeah, I'd like to file a complaint against one of your workers," the woman, who looked to be in her late forties, said with a deep frown painted on her face.
"Oh, okay. Which one of the workers are you talking about?"
"I believe his name was Brady."
Ali held back a smile. "I see. And for what reason exactly?"
"He was incredibly rude to me. He said that my shirt was, and I quote, hideous enough to make Gianni Versace puke in his grave!" she told her, crossing her arms to cover her clothes. "It was extremely unprofessional."
"I understand, and I completely agree with you, ma'am. On behalf of the store, I sincerely apologize for his behavior," Ali said in her most heartfelt voice, but the woman was not impressed. Instead, it seemed to anger her even more.
"You understand? You apologize?" the woman scoffed, then looked around. "What a joke. You know what, I'd like to talk to your manager!"
Ali was about to try to convince her otherwise when she suddenly felt a tall presence beside her. She slowly twisted her head, and her lungs seemed to momentarily forget how to function.
It was Sawyer, wearing the striking grin that had her doubting everything her coworkers had said.