Chapter 9
Angeline Chapter 1
Another day done of this job from hell at Kyle’s General store. The hot water of the shower soothed my sore muscles, but it did nothing for the goop that ran off me in clumps going down the shower drain. Clumps of negative energy residue left over from the customers at my job. The shit that gets sloughed onto me day after day of working in a man-made prison of manual labor. Or hell. A hell I have to endure to hide from the thing chasing me: Next Star since I was stupid enough to fall for their bullshit. They don’t want to help people they want to hurt them. Supernaturals who have no place for themselves came to them. They turn them into slaves, and I refuse to be one. Already escaped a horrible relationship I don’t need to add slave to the list. Not me. Next Star can kiss my ass. I’m not going to be experimented on like that to find out who I am. I hid so they can’t find me.
Supernaturals don’t deserve to die since I am one. I don’t know which one though. I have been hidden for six years as a retail worker, and it slowly kills me.
God I hate it there! I hate the stupid shitty customers assaulting my mind with impatience, anger, hatred and fear. Their negative energy can make an awesome day into a bad one. I have a few good customers that make my day, and one asshole can ruin it all. Someone bitching that we are not able to work on their watch since it’s one that Kyle’s doesn’t carry. One guy made me want to punch him in the face since he was an asshole about it. Some even treat you like you are an idiot like this one dumbass was treating me like I didn’t know what a facial brush was when I don’t even work in the area. And another bitch was on her cell phone trying to get me to show her where the under armor was when I showed her twice she was in front of it. The customers think we are idiots.
Of course, I do have botanicals to combat their onslaught. Day after day is spent folding clothes, and serving customers at the jewelry counter. Kyle's General Store's customers are like bees buzzing in my head; Some are impatient pieces of work. They treat you like you are trash just because you work there, and work retail.
It is just a continuous stream of bullshit and misery. Seeing their looks of pity makes me sick. It’s like they feel sorry for me working retail when I need a job-Or, until I’m found out again. People say be grateful for a job, but even if that means being called names day after day it’s all good? No way! How can I be grateful dealing with people who complain about everything? Six years of my life. My apartment helped me get the independence I need, and this job temporarily sustained me. Still doesn’t keep me from thinking there is more to life than drinking till I fall asleep, and working retail dealing with idiots who need help to read.
It was a bad breakup, and I still have to see his stupid car around. It sucks I can’t blow him up. All the times Austin tormented me with every new girl he brought around to make me jealous. He was such an asshole and always criticizes me for working retail. Then he acted like he was such a god’s gift to women. More like I feel sorry for whoever falls for his act. He treated me like shit, and criticized me all the time even made me cry on Valentines Day. And then made me feel bad since we didn’t get his car when he came back from his deployment. He wasted my time, and cheated on me when I waited a year for his ass. I met him at Next Star, and was brainwashed. Sure, he was good looking dark hair to his shoulders, dark brown eyes, tan with a scorpion tattoo on his arm. He had a built body, but he was a cocky asshole who loved to hit on women and claimed to screw a lot and wasn’t very picky about the girls he had sex with. A douche to me. I loved the fact that he was a part of Next Stars soldiers who got supernaturals to the base. Until I realized I wasn’t special to him, and that I was a number on his belt. He is dead to me so he should just leave me alone already, and stop stalking my place of work. He brings in some whores of which he ignores and tries to shove his relationship in my face.
I am a cashier, apparel, shoes, and I answer the phones while helping in the fitting room, and take the keys to the jewelry counter when needed. It changes from day to day depending on where the idiots need me. I just wish I had a better way of dealing with the people and their emotional states. I wish I knew a way to control it to the point where it does not affect me. I dried off after my shower, and got dressed in a nightshirt and pants. I have to have this god, awful job. I hated it since I don’t get paid nearly enough to deal with their emotional crap. I say screw it and pour myself a drink. It at least calms me down, and makes me forget about everything. It doesn’t help that the customers look at me like they feel sorry for me just because I have a job.
Supernatural creatures came out of the closet years ago, and it was amazing when the first vampire appeared on television fangs bared for the world to see. They are real, and I’ve never seen one up close. It would be neat to meet one. Better than the dumbass human customers I deal with on a regular basis.
I turn on television to make time go by faster. My life is boringly human and despite my abilities I can pass for a normal person. Not hard either, just act like a sheep and bitch over things I can control. Guide idiot customers to items in front of them, and let them treat me like I don’t know what a belt is like they think I’m dumb even though I have a Bachelor degree.
I’m an empath. I can sense emotions and even influence them. It can come in handy at times especially when calming a bitchy customer.
Customers can be horrible and an example is a lady with greying hair, blue eyes, and an self-righteous attitude said, "It ran out of energy and it will not go very far." She was referring to a motorized scooter. The whole time her eyebrows moved like they had a mind of their own. Blah...Blah...Blah...All white noise as far as I was concerned. I walkie the guys in charge because I doubt I could lift it. The guy sat down in the electric chair, and turned it on. And guess what? It worked. Miracle.
Trusting some customers to tell the truth is like making a rabid dog behave. And you can’t say shit without being fired or complained on. I flip through my notebooks, and they tell it all. The complaints, situations, and same managers who treat you like your a slave riding your ass ragged, and my novel Tales From Behind the Counter will tell it all since I might as well write about it while I’m at it. Especially the horrible managers Rebecca and Clare. It’s all getting old though, and boring. Same old shit different day. Managers ride their associates when company comes. Then again Rebecca and Clare are gone, and I could not be happier. That doesn’t stop the stupervisor from wrecking everything.
My favorite show is on called Hard Ass Pawn Shop, and the customers on this reality show are more outrageous than the idiots I have to deal with. I doubt I could handle the way they are yelled at. It makes me weep for humanity. I watch the show for hours since a marathon is on, and finally fall into a dreamless slumber. The quietness of sleep takes me after I stop worrying about dealing with idiots tomorrow, and the alcohol makes me fall even faster asleep. Too bad I drank too much.
Or, I thought I had gone to sleep. I am now in a forest with green trees, and a cloudless sky. I looked around the place, and a white light appeared before me. It sparkles and changes shape into a guy. A very sexy guy with short dark blond hair, spiked, and the prettiest blue eyes I have ever seen. Built too, but he was not ordinary guy since cream colored wings are sticking out of his back. It didn’t matter since the moment I saw him I forgot everything, and nothing really mattered except him. He is all I can think about. He is all I ever wanted, and I knew he was mine since I’ve never felt that way about anyone before. Weird. He is the sexiest guy I’ve ever seen, and made me forget about my ex douche.
He smiled at me and said, "We will meet again my angel..." Then he disappeared. Damn it come back….
I wake up the next morning disappointed it was just a dream, and all I want to do is go to sleep, and see the cute angel again. The angel who is my other half, and knows me better than anyone else. I feel drawn to him, and if only it were real instead of a dream. I knew he was someone special in my life, but reality brings me back to the fact that I’m al
one and in a dead end retail job where the only way up is to ass kiss. And to the ex-Austin who puts his new bitches in my face, and he has actually ignored one of them and he was smiling at his phone so probably cheating on her with another. He isn’t a good catch since he is a loud mouth douche with baby mama drama. His family was the worst by giving me hope when there wasn’t any.
I have to go into work though anyway to earn a paycheck as shitty pay as it is. At least until I don’t feel like hiding anymore. Or, I don’t feel like taking Salem, my stupidvisor’s shit. He is a nasty asshole, and enjoys torturing me. Saying I should show up like I’m a slacker, and taking vacations every chance he can get leaving me with a mess to deal, with not even bothering to tell me what’s going on. Treating me like a dumbass. Everyone hates him like I do. ‘Pick it up, go faster, move with a purpose.’ Sorry I don’t have superpowers, and I hate doing five departments at once. They give us too much in too little time.
I get up to shower and dress in my slave uniform. And I take Tylenol for my headache since hangovers are the worst.
Black pants, and a red shirt with a stupid name tag. Angeline is my full name but I put Angel for short so they don't have to say my full name. I even put on makeup and accessories. My shift starts in a few hours leaving me time to ponder. 12:00-9:00 today! Before I do anything I put on my crystal quartz, and program it to block the signals of the brains of the many customers that walk through the doors of Kyle's General Store. Even block it from the other employees’ brains. I know how they feel.
Kyle’s General store is a store that also has groceries, as well as shoes, jewelry, accessories, clothes, and various departments that deal with the home. I don't go to the grocery side till the 2:00 shape up. It’s off Surrey road in a rich part of town, and the customers can be snobby.
I get a move on to go there dreading driving on Surrey road the main one in Crystal Crest which is run by psychics. Music blares from my stereo drowning out the annoying noises of cars, and trucks with drivers too big for their britches.
I can feel people in their cars like pulsing mounds of energy with emotions buzzing like bees. People are angry, sad, mad, and happy while driving their cars to wherever. I grab my opal ring on the black rough dashboard, and put it on the metal making their energy even duller so I cannot feel shit. I hate feeling people anyway, and I have been dealing with this since high school.
These stones I am wearing will give me the energy I need to block the crowds on Black Friday. It’s November the 25th, and since I don’t have anyone to celebrate with I don’t mind working since it will help me take my mind off things.
Today is one of the busiest days in retail besides the day before Christmas with people itching to get their hands on the latest gadget, television, tablet, and deals they would not normally have every day. I get to the parking lot amidst the crazy drivers, park my Karcano, and turn off the car. I sit there in silence and close my eyes. Shielding the emotions to block it all out.
I imagine my body’s aura around me, and surround my whole body with metal like a tower blocking everything out. I imagine a rock around my body, and it enables me to fully block out everything. Nothing can get through except for my own thoughts in my head. I don’t want to feel anything for the next few hours from people. I can read minds as well as feel their feelings.
It really sucks when I am folding clothes and a random thought pops up that isn't mine.
Fully prepared I walk through the door of the crowded store. I see the front end registers already busy with customers shopping with carts full of goods. People checking out, and the beeps of ringing of the items as they are being passed across the register scanner.
“Hey, Angel you finally made it?”
I smile when I heard that voice since I know who it belongs to all too well.
Kalisa Stryker my light at the end of this shitty retail tunnel. She is also my best friend, and one I can vent to at a bar at the end of a long, shitty work day full of assholes.
“Yep, I did though I wish I hadn’t since a nice customer went and messed up my hard work…”
Kalisa has wild auburn curls, yellowish green catlike eyes, and green eyeshadow with a poison Ivy leaf at the end of her corners. She even has cherry plump lips that will make guys fall to their knees. She is pale like the full moon shining brightly in the sky. She does not take shit from anyone and she loves people. She always has a smile for me, and any man dumb enough to fall for it.
I have been friends with her since elementary school, and I really love the fact that she is not a mindless Kyle-kissing drone. I swear some of the employees must have sucked his dick to get the promotions they got. Or, Salem did to get to be promoted to stupidvisor. The dipshit.
“Good. We need to stick together on the battlefield with zombies scrambling for sales.” She said.
Her eyes widen when she sees the mess the customers left, “Fuck me. The piggies are out more today. That is the sixth fucked up pile of items I’ve seen.”
I smile sadly, “It won’t be the last on this hellish day.”
We begin picking up the pile the customers tore through like a lion through a gazelle. I hate it when they do that. It wastes my time when I have to pick up every individual piece, refold it, and put it back neatly then it’s messed up all over again.
Awesome day! I just hope I don’t have to watch the phones they are a pain in the ass more than anything. Apparel people are trained to watch phones since it is apart of the job. As well as putting up stock, putting things back, and watching the fitting rooms and phone. The only reason why phones can be a pain is because sometimes people don’t answer the phones in their department, and the customer gets mad at us. Everything is my fault just because I work there. My fault period.
I get everything done in an hour, and it is still crowded as I fought my way through the horde of people. People are getting mad over not getting a pair of jeans since we ran out the ones mentioned in the ad. Oops.
I really wish I was somewhere else because the energy they give off is hard for me to deal with when it is beating down on me like an echo in the room.
After I was done the supervisor Emma found me amidst all the craziness. The supervisor is a woman with long brown hair to her ass, wide black eyes, and pale skin. She wore the uniform that curved to her body versus fought it like mine always does. She had an earpiece in her ears connected to the walkie to listen in on idiot managers. She is actually one of the good managers who loves her job, unlike some of them who sit there and bitch. Some don’t do jack shit to help their sales associates. She smiles at me, and it was the wicked one that told me that one of my worst nightmare is coming true. “Since you’re done with that task I would like to have you man the jewelry counter with Dreama since she needs help while Jasmine is on her lunch.” She gives me the keys, I take them from her. The little metal keys opened the cases, and it means showing the zombies the merchandise. I mean customers...
I smiled at her even though I wanted to kill her. I hate the counter as much as I hate the register. Kyle always hangs around the front and hollers when there is no one at the counter.
“No problem only an hour right? How bad can it be?” I said using fake enthusiasm. I make my way there only to see it is already busy with non stop humans at least they found all the items since they did not have it earlier. Great! Thanks bitch for making me face the firing squad or stared at like a zoo animal. Dreama spots me her blue eyes sparkling like I saved her from dying. Her long black hair in a ponytail curled to her back, and she is tan from the beach. The uniform is perfectly molded to her body like a second skin making her curves stand out.
I got the extra keys from Emma, and head behind the counter to tag team with Dreama to thin the lines down. I service a few people by showing them pieces, and ringing them up when they are satisfied. It is not too bad things are going well until a guy comes up to the counter and asks, “Can you put a battery in my watch?”
I take the watch and examine it noticing
it is not one of the brands we carry inside the store. We don’t take the batteries out unless we carry since a customer can sue us if we break their watch.
I regretfully say, “Sorry, sir due to liability issues I cannot open this watch since we don’t carry it in store.”
He glares, “You have done it before that is why I knew to come here.”
“I can’t open it since it’s not a brand we carry.” I repeat since this asshole is not getting it. And since watches have been broken before I’m not doing it.
Mina's Vampire Mate Page 8
