Between Two Rourkes

Chapter 13

Lyra's POV

Eleanor waved at me as I got back in the taxi, my mother held her hand tightly and watched as I left. With this new job, it would be impossible to spend the day with her like I always did.

I arrived at the supermarket and paid the cab driver. “Yup, this is the right place.”

I stepped out and headed for the door. The security guard gave me a nod as I walked past, I smiled faintly. I pushed the door open and walked in. There were a few people around, they stared at me for a moment before resuming with their lives.

The cashier continued staring at me. I had been here before but never saw her, she also looked way younger than the person that was here before. I approached her, “Hey, good morning. I need to see the manager.”

She moved her tired eyes, “The door is over there. He is waiting for you.”

“Thank you.”

I reached the door and knocked, no response came at first until I knocked again. “I said you can come in!” He yelled from inside.

“Oh” I quickly pushed the door open and stepped in, shutting it behind me.

“You must be the new one. Why are you late, you're at least half an hour late.” He said, checking his clock.

My eyes widened, I had made sure to wake up early but didn't want to come too early as it's still my first day. I checked my watch and it was just still 8:am.

“Umm, I-”

“I do not like excuses, sit down now.” He blurted.

I squinted my eyes, he smelled like trouble already. Just with the small interaction, I could tell working here would cost me my sanity.

Turning back wasn't an option, I did not search so hard just to give up on the first day. Reluctantly, I took my seat.

He brought out the papers I filled and went through them. “You have a child, are you sure that will not get in your way. That should explain why you arrived late.”

“I am certain it will not get in my way, Mr...” I gazed at his desk to see his name.

“Mr Demond..” I muttered.

He scoffed, “We will not tolerate any form of incompetence here. You either work hard and make nor mistakes, or you quit whilst you still can.”

His voice sounded so serious, Maybe he really meant it and was just not trying to motivate me.

“I understand, Sir. I will do well to keep up with time and work hard.” I stated.

For some reason, he still didn't look satisfied after I gave my response. It looked like he was looking for more reasons to criticize me but there was nothing yet.“You are to resume immediately, you will work in the cashier with Lora.”

“Lora, that must be the girl I asked for directions.”

“I don't think I need to read out the rules around here to you, you're old enough to know how things work.” Desmond stated.

I nodded slightly, unsure if that was the right thing. It seemed every decision I made now would affect things later on. I already agreed anyways, there was no point asking him anything else.

He reached for a key in his drawer, “You own the third drawer. You will find your work clothes there and can also keep your personal things there.”

I gleefully took the key, “Thank you, Sir. I will do my very best.”

I left the office and found my way to the drawer, it looked old and was barely locked well when I opened it. There was no point asking that it get changed, it was just for keeping a few things anyways.

After putting on the work clothes, I took a deep breath. “You must be new here too.” a voice suddenly said behind me. I jolted with fear and turned around to see a young woman standing and staring sheepishly.

I didn't know she was behind me until she spoke up, her face looked creepy as well. “Umm, Hi. Yes, yes I am new here.”

“Sorry if I startled you. I was just heading for the backroom and this hallway is the only route to it.” She blurted.

“Oh, I see. It's fine, I was just a little surprised.” I said, laughing awkwardly.

She held what looked like an empty box, she was likely heading to grab new stuffs to restock the shelves in the supermarket.

“My name is Celine by the way.” She said and stretched her hand for an handshake.

I reluctantly shook her hands, “I am Lyra.”

“Miss Lyra, that is a nice name. I used to have a friend named Lyra back then in school. She was such a pain in my ass. One day she-”

She paused when she noticed my facial expression and realized I wasn't really interested in hearing what she had to say.

“Well, I'll head to my post now. Nice to meet you, Celine. And oh, you can just call me Lyra.” I said and walked away.

I stared back as I left, she remained on the spot until I left. I found my way to the cashier, joining the first girl. “ You're finally here. I won't waste your time and explain things to you. There are two machines, I always handle the two but we'll both handle one each now.” She stated.

There was finally someone normal in here, I heaved a sigh of relief. I moved to the machine and examined it, I have used one before, surely shouldn't be hard for me.

“Oh, I haven't gotten your name. I am Lyra.” I said to her.

“I am Kira, nice to meet you.” She said and stretched her hand for an handshake.

She resumed her work and scanned some customer's shopping lists. A group of people moved to me and I did it carefully as well. Things went well.

We finished in a few minutes. My eyes widened when the security emerged from an Aisle, holding a middle aged man.

“He is a well known shoplifter in the area and has been banned in many malls.” Kira stated, when she noticed how confused I looked.

“Oh, there are many weird things here. I met a worker in the hallway. What was the name again...oh, Celine! She was so weird.” I blurted.

Kira stopped what she was doing and turned to me, “Celine. That is my sister.”

“Oh..”