ᴡᴏʀꜱʜɪᴘ ᴍᴇ (ᴇᴊ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ)

4: Bloody Memories

        You brought the cup of coffee to your lips and sipped on its warmth. This was your second cup of the day. Last night you couldn't get yourself to sleep, you'd spent hours tossing and turning. Every creak, every whistle, any noise that overtook the fan in your room put you on edge. The paranoia was eating you alive, and you were letting it.

When morning had come you'd left extra early to head to Kristen's for a coffee before work. You'd drank that till lunch, and on your lunch break you'd gone in for a refill. It was the only thing keeping you standing at this point.

Now you stood leaning on a wall with a broom beside you, taking a short break before finishing up your shift. Ms. Marley had left you and Aiden unsupervised for the evening, meaning you weren't exactly the most productive. Your foot tapped on the ground as you looked around the shop and through the windows.

The entire shift you found yourself glancing around every few moments. Even here you couldn't shake the feeling someone was watching you. It was bad before, but last night had worsened it. The feeling made your skin crawl, and you were already yearning for your next appointment with Alicia to make everything go away.

Suddenly the back door a few feet away swung open and in barreled Aiden. He was carrying a box half his size that seemed a little too heavy for him to manage. Groaning, he lowered the box to the ground as carefully as he could before shaking out his arms. Aiden glanced up at you and smiled.

"Enjoying the show?" He teased.

You rolled your eyes and set your coffee down. "Uh-huh. What's in the box?"

With a smirk, Aiden pulled out a box cutter from his pocket. "Dunno, haven't opened it yet." Wordlessly you headed over to watch as he sliced through the packing tape.

"Looks like Ms. Marley ordered in some new stuff." He looked up at you and asked, "wanna help set 'em out it?"

"Yeah, sure," you said. Organizing was at least more interesting than sweeping.

Every now and then Ms. Marley would do some online digging to try and find new stock. You assumed this was one of those times. The box held several bubble-wrapped trinkets that you had to cut free before doing anything with. All of them looked well maintained, and most were shiny golds and silvers. There wasn't a ton of space on the shelves left, but with some maneuvering you managed to get everything to fit.

A few music boxes and old clocks later the box was empty and it was already a couple of minutes past when your shift ended.

You yawned and retrieved your coffee from the table, pulling on your jacket after. "See you tomorrow, Aiden."

He waved with one arm, the other supporting the box. "See you!"

The door chimed as you left, and you took a final gulp of coffee before throwing it in a nearby trash can. You shoved your hands in your pockets and made your way toward the parking lot. The sun was already setting, but the grey clouds blocking the sky didn't allow much color. Only pale hues of yellow and orange managed to poke through.

You shivered as a draft from behind blew through you. The days were getting colder as winter approached, and you made a mental note you needed to start dressing warmer.

Once you arrived at the parking lot you climbed into your car and waited for it to heat up. It was probably a good time to pull out the big puffy jacket you'd had for a couple of years, and maybe some gloves too. You placed an icy hand on the steering wheel as you put the car in drive and pulled out of the lot.