Rumors

Chapter 3: Rhythm

Erin blamed Kenneth for the fact that his ringtone now immediately improved her mood.

Which felt deeply unfair considering he was also the reason she was stressed half the time.

Her phone buzzed against the counter while she sat in the office of Store 57 reviewing schedules and labor percentages that looked like someone had personally attacked her spreadsheet.

She didn’t even check the screen before answering.

“Hey hun.”

Kenneth exhaled heavily into the phone.

“We’re getting destroyed.”

She smiled instantly.

Not because he was struggling.

Mostly because he only used that tone with her now.

“What happened?”

“Lunch rush hit early, my prep guy called out, one of the closers quit over text at three this morning, and I’ve got a line wrapping around the building.”

“Sounds fun.”

“No. It's not fun.”

Erin leaned back in the office chair, twirling a pen between her fingers while she listened to the noise behind his voice.

Kitchen sounds.

Timers.

Voices shouting orders.

Kenneth barking directions at someone before returning to her.

“I could use some help.”

Not demanded, requested.

And somehow that made it harder to say no.

She glanced down at the schedules spread across her desk.

Technically she should stay.

Technically she had work to finish.

Technically this was a terrible idea because every second around Kenneth lately felt like pushing farther toward something she didn’t fully understand yet.

Unfortunately

Technically had never really controlled her decisions.

“You owe me,” she sighed dramatically.

“I’ll name my firstborn after you.”

“That’s horrifying.”

“You’re right. The child deserves better.”

She laughed and started gathering papers.

“I’m leaving now.”

Kenneth’s relief was immediate and obvious.

“Thank God.”

“Wow, you're so dramatic.”

“This situation calls for it.”

“That’s true.”

A pause, then softer.

“Drive safe.”

That tiny shift in his voice settled warm somewhere beneath her ribs.

“See you in twenty.”

The second Erin walked into Kenneth’s store, she knew exactly how bad it was.

The noise hit first.

The line stretched almost to the door. Fryers hissed loudly from the kitchen. The beeping getting louder and louder. Employees moved too fast in that frantic unorganized way that meant everyone was trying to help but nobody was actually communicating.

And right in the middle of it all

Kenneth.

He stood near the expediting counter with a headset crooked around his neck, dark hair already messy from stress, tattoos disappearing beneath rolled sleeves while he rattled off directions to three different people at once.

He looked up the moment she walked in.

And visibly relaxed, not completely though, Just enough for her to notice.

“Finally,” he muttered.

Before she could even respond, he grabbed a headset and tossed it toward her.

Erin caught it easily.

“You throw equipment at all your district managers?”

“Only the ones that are helpful.”

She rolled my eyes at him.

Kenneth winked at her.

Then immediately pointed toward the front counter.

“Drinks are drowning. Go save them.”

The audacity of this man.

Erin smirked faintly and slid the headset on.

“Yes chef.”

Kenneth rolled his eyes at her this time.

But she caught the hint of a smile pulling at his mouth before he disappeared back toward the kitchen.

The thing about Kenneth and Erin working together was that it looked chaotic from an outsiders perspective.

Fast movements, constantly calling out orders, crossing paths every few seconds. But underneath it all there was a rhythm.

A weird, effortless understanding that had somehow formed without either of them noticing.

She knew when he needed product before he called for it.

He knew exactly when she was about to abandon front counter to help drinks or kitchen.

They moved around each other smoothly, naturally, like magnets constantly finding center again.

“Need nuggets dropped,” Kenneth called.

“Already down.”

“Who took my spatula?”

“You left it by fries.”

“You sound judgmental.”

“How do you lose a spatula you just had?!”

“That’s hurtful.”

“The truth often is.”

April watched the entire exchange while filling drinks.

Slowly her eyes traveled between the two of them. Careful not to be too obvious because this, whatever it was; it was certainly not normal. Not the way they moved.

Not the way Kenneth’s eyes constantly tracked Erin even while multitasking.

Not the way Erin automatically stepped into his space without hesitation.

It was subtle if you didn’t know what to look for.

April knew exactly what to look for because she was always the one to notice things!

An hour into rush, Erin slid beside Kenneth at the expo station while he bagged orders.

“You’re low on fries.”

“Already dropped.”

“You’re welcome.”

“For what, You’re bossy today.”

“Communicating...so you’re welcome twice now.”

Kenneth huffed out a laugh under his breath.

Then turned quickly to move behind her.

His hand landed lightly against her lower back.

Just enough pressure to guide her forward.

Just enough touch to absolutely not be necessary.

Erin felt the contact instantly.

She looked over her shoulder automatically.

Kenneth had already moved away like he hadn’t noticed.

Like it hadn’t happened, maybe he hadn't noticed.

Somewhere in the background. April definitely noticed.

Her eyes narrowed slowly while she watched Erin subtly steal Kenneth’s radio off his belt as she passed him moments later.

Neither of them acknowledged it, they didn't even look at each other.

But Kenneth reached toward his hip absentmindedly afterward and froze when he realized it was gone.

Erin held it up casually from across the station.

“Lose something?”

Kenneth stared at her for a second.

Then smiled slowly.

“You’re a menace.”

“Yet like me anyway.”

The words slipped out casually.

Kenneth’s expression changed, just enough.

A tiny pause with something deeper flashing briefly beneath the surface before he recovered.

“Unfortunately,” he said quietly.

Erin’s stomach tightened unexpectedly.

April nearly dropped a drink cup.

Oh this was bad. Like really bad.

And somehow neither of them seemed fully aware of how quickly these comments would become rumors.

The rush kept building, orders stacking faster now. Voices growing louder. Heat rising in the kitchen until the entire store felt overheated and frantic.

But Kenneth and Erin stayed locked into their rhythm.

Every time one moved, the other adjusted automatically.

At one point Erin reached blindly behind her for a sauce bottle without looking.

Kenneth placed it directly into her hand.

She used it immediately before realizing what had just happened.

April moved beside Kenneth during a brief lull.

“You know people can see this, right?”

Kenneth frowned slightly while reaching for cups.

“See what?”

April stared at him flatly.

“The fact that openly flirting, you’re either 'work married' or fucking.”

He nearly choked on air.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“Work married is not a thing, and I'm not f*****g anyone.”

“It absolutely is and you could have fooled me and literally everyone else in the room.”

Kenneth shook his head and turned away quickly. Huffing out a quick "Focus on getting the orders out!"

But April caught the way his ears turned faintly red beneath the kitchen lights.

Interesting.

Another rush slammed through the front doors before she could respond further.

Kenneth stepped beside Erin again immediately.

“We need another register open.”

“Already open.”

“Ah, I love you”

The words slipped out fast.

Kenneth froze.

Erin froze.

April’s eyes widened so hard she nearly injured herself.

The employee beside fries slowly looked up from the basket he was holding.

Kenneth stared at Erin like he’d accidentally set the building on fire.

Erin’s pulse thundered so hard she could barely hear anything else.

One second.

Two.

Then Kenneth recovered violently.

“It a purely platonic work way, I love the way you work during rush,” he added quickly.

Painfully quickly.

April looked like she might actually ascend from secondhand embarrassment.

Erin bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to keep from smiling.

Kenneth refused to look directly at her for almost 30 solid minutes afterward.

Which honestly made it worse.

Eventually the rush started slowing.

The line shortened.

Employees stopped looking moments away from emotional collapse.

Kenneth finally leaned both hands against the counter and exhaled deeply.

“We survived.”

“Barely,” Erin replied.

He looked sideways at her.

“You’re sweaty.”

“You invited me into battle, what did you expect?”

“You could have said no.”

There was that tone again.

That quiet one.

The one that sounded dangerously close to meaning more than either of them should allow.

Erin looked away first this time.

“Yeah,” she said softly. “I could have.”

April watched the entire interaction unfold while pretending to wipe counters.

At this point she wasn’t even being subtle about observing them anymore.

Because the truth was becoming painfully obvious.

More than causal flirting, These two were falling into something real.

And judging by the way they looked at each other

They have either already moved past crossing line or Neither one knew how to stop themselves from crossing them.

—

When the shift finally stabilized, Erin pulled the headset off and set it on the counter.

“I should head out before another disaster happens.”

Kenneth immediately straightened.

“I’ll walk you out.”

April rolled her eyes dramatically toward the ceiling.

“Of course you will.”

Kenneth ignored her completely.

Which somehow confirmed everything even more.

Outside, the evening air felt cool against Erin’s overheated skin.

Kenneth walked beside her quietly this time.

When they reached her car, neither moved immediately.

This was becoming a problem.

“You really didn’t have to come help,” he said finally.

“Yes I did.”

“You had your own work.”

“And you needed me here, I can fix a schedule later and from anywhere.”

The words settled between them heavily.

Kenneth looked at her slowly.

“You always show up.”

Something about the way he said it made her chest ache unexpectedly.

“Yeah, well someone has to. ,” Erin murmured lightly. “Careful now you’re starting to sound attached.”

A small smile pulled at his mouth.

“Maybe I am.”

The honesty in it stole her breath for half a second.

Before she could answer, the store door opened behind them.

April stepped outside carrying trash bags.

But paused immediately when she saw them standing too close beside Erin’s car.

Neither Kenneth nor Erin noticed right away.

They were too busy looking at each other like the rest of the world had temporarily disappeared.

April slowly smiled to herself.

Oh yeah.

These two were absolutely screwed.