A Walk to Remember

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Zen sighed for the umpteenth time that day. It wasn't easy hurrying back from the hospital to run a night shift at the convenience store. A girl like her would do anything to make ends meet, excluding the shady business, that is. Other than that, the rest was nothing she couldn't handle. That wasn't all though. Her boss had been nice, to say the least, even though he was a bearded old man with a nasty underbite who did nothing but spew words that cut deeper than a chainsaw, he was good to Zen, even when he called her a pathetic lump of human waste from the swamp a couple of times, he still paid her well, so he was kind.

Zen swiftly scanned each item one by one at the counter while the customer, an elderly woman waited impatiently. She was doing the best she could with her hands running three hundred miles per minute. She swore she saw smoke coming out from the barcode scanner and the dirty old hag couldn't wait to dash out of the store as if she had someone dying at her doorstep.

"Do your job properly, you decapitated worm." Zen cocked her head to the side in response to the commotion and found her boss berating a co-worker for accidentally dropping a can of juice while rearranging them on the shelf. Zen directed her gaze to the poor newcomer, watching him with sorrowful eyes while simultaneously putting the items in a carry bag. For a split second, her eyes darted to the digital clock stuck to the wall of the store's entrance right above the glass doors. An hour more to go before the clock struck ten and her night shift would be over.

Zen turned to face the elderly woman and handed her the bag. The woman took it none too gently from her. Zen bit down her tongue, preventing some wonderful words of wisdom from rolling out her mouth, and instead forced up a crooked smile, not wanting to risk losing her job over a grumpy old lady who might as well have bought the entire convenience store given the fact that she had the money to buy enough items to shut the whole store down. What was she stocking up for? World War III? And she had the audacity to get worked up over something as ridiculous as waiting for check-out.

Zen watched the old woman leave the store and wished she would never return for as long as she was working there. "I hope I don't get any more difficult customers." The words hardly left her mouth when a surprise customer suddenly walked into the shop. A bolt of electricity seemed to have struck her spine at the sight of Raine - the human embodiment of her worst nightmare. And boy was he looking hot and furious. Shit. I was supposed to meet him today! I forgot. How Zen wished the world would end. Perhaps a meteor shower would be quite spectacular at the moment, that is if they struck the ground and obliterated the entire planet before Raine noticed her.

Zen quickly dug through her pockets when she saw Raine sauntering off down the aisles and sighed in relief when she pulled out a red handkerchief from her pocket. Her long-standing habit of always having a hanky on hand - for just-in-case scenarios - whenever she went out worked well on this occasion. Zen hastily constructed a temporary mask out of it and fastened it to the back of her head. Raine would never be able to recognise her now. A split second later, the said devil emerged, carrying with him a bottle of Sprite and a pack of cigare- What?! A pack of cigarettes?! Holy- This guy smokes? Zen gaped underneath the mask.

Raine set the goods and began drumming his nails over the counter. "Check out," he said, more like grunted. He sounded annoyed almost as if he was indefinitely pissed at someone. Zen could sense it all too well from the way he was towering over her like a wolf cornering a harmless bunny rabbit. And she fervently prayed that whoever was swinging on his nerves wasn't her by any chance.

Working at a store close to her university meant she would frequently run into classmates or people she didn't want to associate with, but Zen realised it too late. When she was first offered the job, she didn't think twice about accepting it a little too greedily considering she'd just been expelled from the dorm and was homeless with no money on her. Now she would have to suffer the consequences.

"That would be twenty dollars," Zen mumbled the words to Raine.

"Zen!"

Zen flinched at her name being called. Why now? She knew that voice all too well. It was her boss. "Are you insane? Covering your face like a thug? Do you want to scare all the customers away?" her boss thundered.

"No, sir," Zen replied calmly, waiting for Raine to throw in the cash, pick up his stuff and leave. But for some mysterious, calculated reason, that didn't seem to be happening. Zen was on the verge of losing her last brain cell when Raine didn't take his leave but instead bent down to pick up his wallet which he accidentally dropped while pulling out the cash to pay for his goods. "Hurry up, you homophobe. My ass is on the line here." Zen pleaded in her mind. "Just leaveeee."

"Zen, are you listening? I said take it off," the manager approached the counter and stood directly in front of Zen, looking her in the eyes. Zen was certain he would lunge at her any moment and strangle her to death if she didn't pull her mask off immediately. Just as Raine got up and put the cash at the counter, her mask fell off. Her boss had finally lost his patience and ripped it off her face. He then left her without a word taking the hanky with him.

Zen was completely exposed. Fear was evident on her face. It was time to throw in the towel.

Zen felt so naked under his gaze. Three whole seconds passed as Raine examined her with a dubious expression. Then realisation gleamed in his eyes. "It's you," he growled low.

Zen slumped in defeat.

"You ditched me," Raine snarled at Zen. No sooner had the words escaped his lips than he grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up against his face.

Zen's cheeks flushed with colour as she felt her heart thumping loudly inside her chest. The insides of her clothes were damp from all the nervous sweat dripping off her skin. Raine's stare alone made shivers run down her spine. Her emerald eyes darted back and forth from his eyes to his lips. Do something, Zen. You need to escape. Think. Think. Um... I... I kissed those lips. And that was all her brain came up with as the solution.

"Say something," Raine repeated, shaking Zen by the collar.

Stop. I'm just a harmless bunny rabbit. Zen widened her eyes in disbelief. She couldn't believe what she was hearing from her brain. Seriously?! What the heck?! Zen cursed at herself, shocked that she was acting like a wimp in front of some loser. Yes, a loser who is strangling the life out of you while you're on the verge of pissing your pants if he so as much becomes any more violent than he already is at the moment, her brain retorted.

"What is going on here?" That voice, her boss was back. She'd be saved. Thank God. Zen stood frozen, awaiting her boss to hopefully have a score with Raine.

At the arrival of the store manager, Raine quickly released Zen, giving her a chance to catch a breath. "Do you guys know each other?" the store manager asked.

"Yes." "No." Raine and Zen answered simultaneously.

The manager raised a brow. "Zen, is he someone you know?"

"No. I have never seen this man before," Zen immediately lied.

"What the- don't lie," Raine retorted. "All because you didn't show up today, do you know how many important things I missed?" Raine turned to Zen, viciously grabbing her arm.

"Are you sure you don't know him?" The manager asked, giving Zen a warning look.

"I don't know him at all," Zen answered. "It's the truth." She chuckled nervously.

"Just say it," Raine shouted at Zen. He began yanking on her sweatshirt aggressively which finally made Zen snap.

"I will. Just stop touching me," Zen yelled as she subconsciously punched Raine in the jaw. She drew back in alarm, with her eyes fixed on her tightly clenched fist. Her brain had no time to process as Raine's burning gaze met her the instant he recovered from the shock. The room suddenly felt very cold. Zen couldn't bring her legs to move as if they had been frozen solid by Raine's frigid glare.

Not a moment later, Raine threw himself over a petrified Zen and all hell broke loose.

Ten minutes later, the entire convenience store had been reduced to a junkyard. Customers fled the scene, the manager was holding his head between his hands, steam erupting from his bald head. Everything was in shambles. Raine was on the ground with a broken nose and a black eye. Zen sat on top of him, panting heavily with a raised fist close to smashing his other unbruised eye. Everything ought to be in balance, right? But she couldn't do it.

Zen couldn't move her muscles anymore, and Raine's carelessly thrown punch that occurred somewhere in the middle of their fight was leaving the right side of her lips stinging terribly. Despite all that pain, Zen managed to put up a smirk, staring victoriously down at her fallen opponent who was in a much more worrisome condition than her. Raine sure did look frightening when he was aggressive, but angry Zen was far worse. The guy couldn't lift a finger now. Her years of judo training finally paid off.

With all the strength left in her body, Zen tried to pick herself up but her eyelids suddenly felt very heavy, her head extremely light, and her body much heavier. "Zen, you're fired!" was the last thing she heard before she collapsed on top of Raine, thus ending her retail adventure and the job, leaving behind a trail of chaos, bruises, and the memory of a bizarre showdown that would forever be etched in convenience store history.

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It's been ages but I finally completed this chapter. Hope you loved it guys. Do leave a comment and let me know what you guys think. Until next time!