Level Down

2

"You were a real jerk to her, you know."

"Elodie was asking for matches, I gave her one." Enid absentmindedly handed her customer the necessary change for a drink he'd purchased. She didn't recognize him, but he already held an opinion of her and Enid guessed that they wouldn't have gotten along even if he hadn't seen her fighting Elodie.

"Thanks for shopping at Gar's, have a nice day." Enid purposely kept her voice monotone. The customer huffed and snatched his slush drink from the counter before standing by the door to wait for a friend who had walked into the store with him and was still walking around the aisles.

The news of Elodie's drop in level was spread in no time at all. Enid expected that she would be able to ignore people the way she always did up until she was accused of being the reason Elodie's level fell. That she had somehow gone too far while fighting her that day. Enid was infuriated after the third time it happened and tempted to snap back that she probably hadn't gone far enough. Instead of acting on impulse, Enid thought it to herself once before internally scolding herself for it. She then wondered if she was justified in thinking that at all considering everything Elodie had lied about, even if they really had been friends.

It wasn't out of the ordinary for Enid to overhear a conversation piece that she was at least mildly interested in during a shift, but it wasn't something she was open about. Enid tended to try and avoid extensive conversation with customers altogether. She didn't have much patience for the small-talk that patrons were interested in having and considering that people who recognized Enid as Elodie's last challenger weren't the kindest to her after making the connection, the past two days had been no exception.

The chattiness being displayed by people Enid barely knew who either wanted to ask her questions about the match or sing Elodie's praises didn't make her opinion on the event itself any less of a twisted mess than it already was. Enid was used to somewhat talkative customers or even the occasional rude one, but after a few of them approaching her with the same offhand comments, Enid resolved that it would be best if she took a breather and cleared her head before she ended up using some less than friendly language while K.O. was around.

"Rad, I'm taking a five-minute break," Enid called to her co-worker who was re-stocking a display of off-brand cereal. She retreated into the break room of the Bodega without waiting for his response.

Enid sat down on the couch at the back of the break room and pulled her phone from her pocket, deciding to scroll through her social media in peace for a bit and return to the counter before any customers realized she was gone. The room was a mess, but Enid couldn't be bothered to complain about it until later. She wasn't about to spend a five-minute break cleaning a mess that was as much Rad's fault as it was hers.

The room was quiet, which was very much welcome. Enid scrolled through her phone absentmindedly. Despite her reasoning being that avoiding customers for a few minutes would keep her from getting any more upset, she still found herself mulling over the events of Elodie's visit.

Enid couldn't wait for things to go back to normal so she could go back to her normal routine without having to deal with people heckling her for winning against their favourite celebrity hero in a fight. When her promised five minutes had passed, Enid reluctantly stood up and left the break room. She continued to tap away at her phone as she made her way back to the counter.

"Hey, Rad, we should probably clean up the break room soon-" Enid's statement hitched when she looked up from her phone to see the spilt slush drink and cup left behind next to the register.

Enid seethed as she returned her phone to her pocket. She picked up the empty cup and lid, straw still inside, and tossed it into the garbage can behind the counter. She walked into the back room to find a bottle of cleaning spray and rag before returning to mop up the spill.