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“There you are, Y/n! Can you show me where this is?” The elderly lady asked while pointing to her grocery list that read ‘root cover up’.
“Of course.” You smiled at her as you both made your way to the hair dye section of the store.
For the past 3 years, you have been working at this store. It's a decent job, coworkers are nice, but what you really loved was the customers. The good and the bad. Both had their own stories to tell, and sometimes you would make up your own story about their life. One customer who was your favorite was Mrs. Elena, the lady you were helping. Mrs. Elena always came up to you and asked the same question every week. She’s very sweet and always likes to talk to you. As time went on both talked about your lives and you would even call her a friend.
After she got her product and you were checking her out at the register, she thanked you once again, “Sweetheart, I know I can be an airhead sometimes, but you are one of the only people who don't shut me up when I rant. I just wanted to say thank you for being someone who cares.”
“Aww, Mrs. Elena, you know I love listening to you. You're like a breath of fresh air here in this boring place.”
She smiled and looked down at her hands, “Can I give you a hug?”
You were taken back by the question but quickly rounded the counter to hug her. At that moment, you felt all the motherly love you could ever want. When she pulled away she wiped her teary eyes and gave your hands a final squeeze.
“Well I have to get back home, my family doesn’t even know I left.” She laughed.
You shook your head, “Ok, Mrs. Elena, be careful and I’ll see you next week.”
—
The next 2 weeks were calm, although you did not see Mrs. Elena. Today was pretty slow, so you were organizing cans on the shelf to make it look like you were doing something.
“Excuse me. Can you tell me where I can find root cover-up?”
When you turned toward the voice, the man was wearing a black My Chemical Romance (MCR) hoodie and black sweats. His hood was covering his head but his crimson eyes still stood out even though they were dull.
“Of course. I can show you if you want.” He hummed in response. You then led him to the hair dye section. “Is there anything else you need help with?” You waited patiently for his response as he grabbed two boxes of root cover-up boxes for red hair.
“Sorry, could you tell me which brand would do the least damage to hair?”
You looked at the boxes he had in his hands, one of the boxes was the kind Mrs. Elena would grab every time. It brought back the memory of when she first bought the cover-up.
/“Excuse me ma’am, but you grabbed the box for red hair.” You pointed at the label.
The lady pulls down her glasses, “Oh yea.” Then places her glasses on her head and hummed, “Even without my glasses it still says red.” She smirked. “I’m sorry, that came out a little rude. I was just trying to be funny but yes, I get this for my son. He never has time to come to the store since he works almost all the time.”
“You’re fine, I just wanted to make sure you had the right product and not come back screaming at me with red roots.”
The elderly lady laughed, “I’d probably thank you if I rock the red roots.”/
“So the one in your right is good for a cover that lasts about a month but it can dye your scalp. The one on your left is my personal favorite, lasts a month too, but it’s cruelty-free.”
His lip quirked up for a split second, “Thank you.”
He was quiet the rest of the time and after you checked him out, he gave you a nod and left.
—
Another week passed and still no sign of Mrs. Elena. You were starting to get worried, but you had no way of contacting her, you can only hope she is ok and you’ll see her soon.
Today you were walking around the store to see if anyone looked lost or needed help when you spotted a familiar black MCR hoodie in the baking aisle. He had baking soda in one hand and baking powder in the other.
“Hello, did you need any help, sir?”
He stiffened at the sound of your voice before clearing his throat, “Um, what's the difference between these?”
“Baking soda is used in recipes that have an acidic ingredient, while baking powder you can use with or without it.”
He looked more confused, “So can I just use baking powder?”
“Yea, but you’ll have to use more than the amount called for baking soda.”
“Thanks.”
There was a heavy pause.
“If you're done, I can check you out if you’d like.”
“Please.”
When you got to the register and ringed him, you noticed he was staring at his wallet. His eyes welled with tears but they didn’t spill. He cleared his throat and pulled out the amount needed.
“I apologize in advance if I overstep any boundaries, sir.” You pulled at the skin on the back of your hand, “I don’t know what you are going through but you seem like a really sweet man. Just know that your storm will pass. It may feel hopeless or dark right now but your life still continues. Just keep moving forward and I promise you, you’ll find your light.”
He chuckled as he rubbed his eyes, “My mom used to say that very line.”
You gave him a soft smile, “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” he smiled, “Keep the change.” He took his bag and left without another word.
When you finally looked down at the money he gave you it was $100 for a purchase of $2.93.
You ran out to stop him but he was nowhere in sight.
—
“Hey, you! You work here right!”
Just by the tone of the lady’s voice, you can tell what type of conversation this was going to lead to. You took a deep breath and readied yourself for the upcoming interaction.
“Yes ma’am, how can I help you?”
“This damn store is confusing! I was just here last week and the cottage cheese was in the next aisle over, now I can’t find it!”
The thing about these types of customers is, that they were like wild animals. If you made any sudden movements or reactions they would attack (verbally), but if you did not show a reaction they, hopefully, would just leave mad and not cause a scene.
“Our cottage cheese is in aisle 8-”
“That’s not my question!” The lady came closer to you but you didn’t flinch, “My question was, why would you rearrange the store!?”
“Ma’am, are you sure you didn’t go to another store similar to ours?”
She scoffed, “Do you think, I’m stupid?”
/Yes./
“No-”
“Where’s your manager?!”
There’s the question you were waiting for. You internally grinned at the lady. This was the reason you like the bad customers.
“I’ll go get her for you.”
You gave her a sweet smile before going around the aisle and immediately coming back. You stood in front of her, smiling from ear to ear, and stretched your hand out.
“Hello, ma’am. My name is Y/n L/n, and I’m the manager. What seems to be the problem?”
“Do you think this is funny?!”
/Yes./
“Of course not. Now the cottage cheese is in aisle 8,” She was about to interrupt you again but you raised your finger to your lips as you continued, “the store may seem different to you because our sister location is about a block and a half away. So I’m sure you just made a wrong turn at the light. If there is anything else I can help you with, please, it would be my /pleasure/ to help you.”
The woman’s face was completely red as she stormed off.
You shut your eyes as you exhaled loudly, when you opened them those tired crimson eyes were staring back at you.
“Well, that was quite a show.” he gave you a lazy smile.
“I’m so sorry you had to witness that. I probably should have handled that better.” you scratched your cheek.
“I don’t know, the whole going around the corner just to say you were the manager was gold.”
“I’m not going to lie, but that’s my favorite part when a customer asks for the manager.”
“I bet,” he smirked
There was a pause but this time, it wasn’t heavy.
You took a moment to look at the man a little closer this time. Besides the sadness that clouded his eyes, there was still some light in them. Peaks of red hair fell perfectly on his scar, above his right eye, but when you look closer you could see his natural hair color starting to break through. Truly, he was beautiful even at his worst…
You could feel the heat rush to your face as you say your sentence, “What’s your name?”
His eyes widened as his face rivaled his hair, “Um,”
You wave your hands in front of you, “I’m so sorry that was inappropriate of me! You’re a customer just trying to do your shopping.” You start to walk away.
“Eijiro Kirishima.”
You stop in your tracks.
“And L/n?” When you faced the man he held up a grocery list, “Can you show me where this is?”
“How do you know my name?”
Kirishima smirked at you, “Sweetheart, it’s on your name tag.” He pointed to the tag on your chest. “And I heard you tell that lady too.”
If you didn’t die from the internal embarrassment, you were definitely going to pass out from tachycardia “Right! So, um, can I see your list?”
He showed you the list, and it only had, “Root cover-up?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, “Yea I forgot what aisle it’s in…”
You quirked your eyebrow before leading him to the hair product aisle.
“And the brand we chose…”
You looked down at the ground and smiled as memories floored your head.
“What?”
“Nothing, it’s just that I had a customer who would come in every week to ask me where something is just to talk. But every three weeks she would ask about the root cover-up. The exact one you get.” When you looked up, Kirishima had tears welled up in his eyes. “Hey, are you ok?”
He wiped his tears away with his sleeve, “Yea, um, was her name Elena by any chance?”
Your breath hitched as your heart dropped, “Yes…” the whisper barely came out.
He gave you a sad smile, “She was my mom. She told me about her friend, Y/n L/n, who worked at a grocery store. I was always working but I tried to make time for her, especially after discovering she had stage four colon cancer. My mom left a letter when she passed and she told me ‘Just keep moving forward and I promise you, you’ll find your light’.”
Tears were streaming down your face, “I’m so sorry”, you tried to keep your voice steady but the quiver did nothing but.
“It’s ok. I’ve been wanting to say thank you for being there for her.”
“Of course. Your mom was my friend.”
He smiled and placed his hands in his sweater’s front pocket.
“Oh right, here.” You hand him the root cover-up he always got. “I’ll ring you up in the front.”
When you ringed him up you didn’t charge him, which made him give you a perplexed look.
“Yea, that ‘tip’ you gave me the other day is just going towards your shopping here.” You crossed your arms.
“Wait! I gave that to you so you can use it for something, not hold a tab for me!”
“You're right, and I am using it for something.” you grinned, “I’m returning the favor.”
He put his head down in defeat and chuckled before, he looked up at you with his eyes full of light, “Fine, then, I get to buy you dinner.”
You handed him his bag, “I get off at 6.”