Saving Summer

Chapter Eight: Night Shift

Eleven o’clock finally came and it was time to close Discount Sally’s for the night. Penelope was grateful that her shift was over and was looking forward to the leftover spaghetti that awaited her in the refrigerator. Lorraine followed closely behind Penelope as she cleaned the entire store. She kept criticizing the way that Penelope used the mop, saying that she was not doing it the way that the handbook stated that it should be done. Penelope’s manager grabbed the mop at one point and ordered her to empty the trash cans in the store while she finished mopping. Penelope walked away to the front of the store and sighed. Lorraine really did get on her nerves. So what if she did not mop by the book? It was not as if the job was not getting done and the floor did not look any different from the way that Lorraine was doing it. This was just another way for Lorraine to irritate her.

Penelope decided that she would not allow Lorraine to get to her. It was exactly what she wanted anyway. Lorraine would stop at nothing to see her get fired and she would use any defense Penelope used against her to do so. No matter what Lorraine said, Penelope would not stoop to her level. Instead, she would focus on finding a way out of this situation. She remembered the newspaper laying on the coffee table at home. Perhaps since she did not have to work tomorrow, she would take a peek through the help wanted ads? The prospect of doing this lifted Penelope’s mood immensely.

By the time that Penelope had emptied the last trash can, Lorraine was walking towards her. Lorraine always reminded Penelope of a cave man when she walked with her shoulders hunched and head hanging forward. She looked ridiculous and Penelope was grateful that her own posture was not that bad. Penelope’s mother had seen to that a long time ago. She could remember her mother scolding her whenever she caught her slouching. Penelope would give anything to hear her mother’s voice one last time. Even if it was just to yell at her to sit up straight. 

“Well, looks like you did a good enough job so I guess that we can leave for the night,” Lorraine said. “Make sure to clock out first though or I will get an email from corporate wondering why you are still working after hours.”

“Ok.”

Penelope took her badge out of her pocket and swiped it in front of the computer screen. A message flashed across the screen two seconds later with her name and the current time in bold black letters. She put her badge back into her pocket and stepped away from the computer to allow Lorraine to do the same. Once Lorraine was done, the two exited the store. Lorraine took out a set of keys from her pocket and flipped through them as she looked for the key. She found the key and placed it into the keyhole to lock the door. The lock clicked and Lorraine took the key back out and placed it into her pocket. 

Lorraine and Penelope walked together to their cars. Less than two thousand people lived in the town of Gloverfield and it seemed like it was a safe place. However, Penelope saw dozens of reports lately on the news about robberies in the area so whenever she worked late, she made it a point to walk with someone to her car. It was the one thing that Lorraine did not fight her on as she watched the news more obsessively than anyone. A highway leading to the nearest city ran right by Discount Sally’s and many people believed, Lorraine included, that that was where all of the robbers were coming from. The citizens of Gloverfield thought that if the highway was further away that this would not be happening. Penelope believed otherwise though she did not say anything. There were robbers all over the place and it was not too far fetched to her that some of them could be citizens of this town.

Lorraine stopped in front of her black minivan as Penelope reached her silver Honda Civic that she inherited from her mother. They were parked right next to each other near the entrance to the receiving area. As Penelope unlocked her car, she noticed that Lorraine was looking at her. Her hands were on her hips and a scowl was plastered upon her face.

“You parked way too close to my vehicle! How am I supposed to get in?”

Penelope moved to the other side of her car. One of her wheels was just barely touching the yellow line that separated the two vehicles. There was still plenty of space for even someone as wide as Lorraine to get into her van. Penelope fought the urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she took a deep breath before answering.

“One of my wheels hardly touched that line. There is still plenty of room for you to get into your van.”

Lorraine huffed with annoyance and opened her door. She got inside the van and turned it on. The engine roared into life and Lorraine turned to look at Penelope.

“Next time pay closer attention to how you park your car,” she scoffed before slamming the door.

Shaking her head, Penelope got into her car and shut the door. She placed the key into the ignition and her car turned on. Peeking in her rearview mirror, she saw Lorraine driving away towards the end of town to the house she shared with her husband Victor. Penelope put the car into reverse and backed out of her parking spot. She was more than ready to go home and wind down for the night. Dealing with Lorraine had drained a lot of her energy. She was looking forward to a nice meal and a hot shower once she got home. With that happy thought, Penelope drove off away from the highway to the middle of town. Her apartment complex loomed over the rest of the buildings in town as it was the tallest building in town. Penelope parked right in front of number thirteen and got out of her car. Locking the door, Penelope ambled to the front door of her apartment. She unlocked the door and stepped inside. It felt good to be home.