Work Text:
“Are you ready to go, Britts?” Jeff called towards the back room of Shirley’s Sandwiches.
“Yeah, one sec!” she called back. A small clatter came from the room, then Britta popped up behind the counter, smiling as un-suspiciously as she could.
Jeff laughed and shook his head. “I should tell Shirley that her business is in the most capable hands imaginable,” he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Britta let out an exasperated huff. “Whatever. I’m ready to go home. Today was so…rough.”
“How so?”
Jeff held his arm out to Britta, who gave another dramatic sigh as she looped hers over it and they began to walk towards the cafeteria doors.
“So I had a customer ask me to toast their sandwich, and then when I gave it to them, they told me that they didn’t want the cheese to be melted. But that’s what happens when you toast a sandwich! So I tried to explain that to them, but they wanted me to remake it, so I gave it to them untoasted. And then they said that they wanted it toasted, but without the cheese melted! And I-”
They had reached the door, which Jeff attempted to push open with his free hand. However, it made a slight thumping sound and didn’t budge.
“Wait, is it not opening?” Britta asked. Jeff shook his head as she let go of his arm and stepped forward to push on the double door. Similar to his attempt, it was fruitless.
“Fuck. Todd must’ve forgotten I was here and locked up when he left.”
“So…”
Britta stared at Jeff, then blinked. “I guess we could call Craig or Frankie. Todd’s going on a date with his wife tonight and they hired a babysitter and everything, I don’t want to bother him.”
“Craig’s seeing Lady Gaga tonight, his phone will be on do not disturb,” Jeff said matter-of-factly.
“And Frankie?”
Jeff thought for a moment, then looked down and sighed. “Designated driving Craig to the Lady Gaga show.”
“So…”
Jeff scanned the cafeteria, looking around for any other possible exits. His gaze settled on the row of windows lining the opposite wall.
“Do those open?” he asked, pointing in their direction.
Britta’s eyes followed his and she started slowly nodding. “Maybe…it’s worth a shot.”
Without another word, they made their way over to the windows. Britta looked over one of the window frames, then let out a triumphant yelp when she found the lock.
“C’mon, c’mon…” she muttered as she started to fiddle with it. Jeff peered at it over her shoulder and was about to reach out to help when it popped open.
“Hey, look at that!” She turned to Jeff and beamed.
“Britta for the win,” he said with a soft smile.
Right as she leaned down to lift the window up, a loud emergency alarm began to go off. Both of them jumped up immediately; Jeff let out a small screech.
“Oh my god, what do we do?” Britta asked, panic seeping into her voice.
Jeff’s gaze darted between her and the window. Their eyes met after a moment and they exchanged silent nods.
Britta pried the window the rest of the way open and climbed out onto the grass outside. Jeff followed her, then turned around and pulled the window shut the best that he could. Without another word, they walked away from the school and towards the parking lot - alarms still blaring loud as loud can be.