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When Tsu gets in line at the grocery store, the first thing she notices is an older man leaning against the counter, grinning at the young girl rapidly scanning his items. At first, she doesn’t think anything of it; the girl is smiling back, nodding along to something he’s saying as she scans his items.
“You’re really pretty, you know,” the man says after a moment.
She is really pretty, Tsu notices. She’s got soft-looking brown hair cut in a bob, bangs swept across her forehead. Two sections that are longer than the rest brush either side of her chin. Her eyes are a soft caramel brown to match, and seem to radiate kindness. Her skin is a soft peach, with rosy cheeks that match the color of her painted nails. She’s so unbearably cute that Tsu’s poor gay heart does a flip in her chest.
The girl pauses briefly, then smiles politely. “Thank you. Paper or plastic?” She asks, pointing to the different types laid out on the counter.
The man frowns, clearly annoyed by her less-than enthusiastic response. “What, you don’t believe me?” He asks, leaning further into her personal space. “I can prove it to you.”
The girl’s polite smile is stuck on her face as if it had been glued there, but her eyes are strained and sweeping across the store as if searching for help. “I appreciate the compliment, sir, and I do believe you. Thank you again.” Her voice is high and sweet even when it’s pulled with nervousness, and Tsu immediately wants to help.
“You’re welcome...” The mans eyes flicker to her name tag,“Ochako,” he finishes. “Pretty name to match a pretty girl.”
The cashier flushes, but Tsu is certain it isn’t because she’s flattered. If she had to guess, she’d say that Ochako was embarrassed, or perhaps even frustrated with the customer for being so ignorant of her very obvious discomfort. She’s bagging his groceries at a rapid pace, practically throwing everything into paper bags, and when everything’s put away she looks up and smiles at him with no joy.
“You can insert your card whenever you’re ready,” she says with that same air of detached, professional politeness.
“Can I treat you to dinner sometime?” The man asks, ignoring her completely.
Ochako’s smile falls. Her eyes flicker away from him and land on Tsu for a moment, the panic obvious in them. Then she looks back to him and pulls her smile back up, though her plush lips are significantly more wobbly this time. “I’m sorry, but I actually have a partner,” she says, pressing her lips tightly together after speaking.
“What?” The man scowls, looking put off. He shoves his card into the machine, still glaring at her. “You shouldn’t be so flirty with customers if you’re already seeing someone,” he snaps.
Tsu can’t take it anymore. She steps forward and joins the conversation, speaking calmly but sternly to the man standing beside her. “She wasn’t flirting with you. Part of her job is being nice and accommodating, and you are an asshole who tried to take advantage of that.”
The man turns around and glares down at the shorter woman. “Who the hell asked you?”
“When my girlfriend is involved, I don’t need to be asked to come to her defense,” is Tsu’s immediate response. She doesn’t dare look at Ochako’s face for fear of becoming embarrassed and losing the argument. “Seriously, though, don’t flirt with customer service people. They’re just doing their job; no one is hitting on you anyway, trust me.”
She hears a snort from behind her, and finally turns to look at Ochako. The girl has a hand clasped over her mouth to stifle her laughter, and is wordlessly holding a receipt out to the man. He snatches it from her hand with a snarl of anger, stomping out of the store with his cheeks aflame. Tsu and Ochako watch him leave together, and burst out laughing when the handle on his bag breaks just before he reaches his car, his groceries crashing to the ground and spilling onto the pavement.
“What an idiot,” says Ochako after she’s sobered up enough to return to her job. She starts scanning Tsu’s items and smiles down at her. “Thanks for that, though. I think that was the fastest I’ve ever gotten a girlfriend before.”
“Well, you know what they say about lesbians moving fast,” Tsu jokes.
Ochako laughs again and Tsu finds that she rather likes the woman’s genuine smile. Her eyes light up with it, crinkling at the corners, and the flush on her cheeks becomes more prominent. “I guess so,” she giggles as she begins to bag Tsu’s groceries.
Tsu pays, and her receipt prints. Ochako tears it from the printer and snatches a marker from a small pencil cup behind her, scribbling quickly on it. “There’s a survey on the back of your receipt you can take. I circled my name and the link,” Ochako explains as she tucks it safely into one of Tsu’s bags. She winks as Tsu leaves, wishing her an excellent day and thanking her yet again for her help.
Once outside, Tsu sets her bags in the basket of her bike and takes the receipt out. The link to the survey is circled in sparkly pink ink.
Directly below it is a phone number and a doodle of a heart. Tsu grins, tucks the paper into the pocket of her jumpsuit, and starts thinking about where she should take Ochako for their first date.