Morning Shift

Happy's Bitch

        Jonah Moshe was basically Happy of Happy's 24/7 Pharmacy's bitch.

        No, not in a weird sex way (he much preferred people who weren't sixty... and balding... and owned a drugstore that smelled heavily of cat food and cigarettes). More in the way that when Happy barked at him to re-shelve the pop tarts in rainbow order, he'd do it in a second, no questions asked. So, when Happy found out Jonah was Jewish and therefore not taking Christmas break vacations like many of his other employees were, he very happily plucked Jonah's name from his place on the schedule at 3:00 PM and slapped it right on the empty space at 5:00 AM.

        So now Jonah was pulling on his dark green work polo at the ass crack of dawn and tying the apron that said his name was "Jonoh" lazily behind his back before he had to step out to face the Minnesota cold. By the time he pulled into the parking lot, Lawrence, the guy who worked from midnight, was just stepping out in nothing but a tank top and pajama pants.

        "Hey, Lawrence. Anything interesting happen?" He asked the man, who didn't seem the slightest bit cold despite the freezing temperatures. Maybe it was his foot long grey beard that kept him warm, but Jonah couldn't be sure.

        "I found a spider family in the smoothie dispenser."

        "Did you take it out?"

        "No. They seemed pretty comfortable."

        "Nice," Jonah said as he shoved his car keys in his pocket and pulled open the doors, immediately being slapped in the face with the smell of old tuna. "See you later, Lawrence."

        He shut the doors behind him and slid across the cracked linoleum on his sopping wet converse all the way over to the cash registers, where he saw a familiar face asleep, leaning on the counter. "Morning, Pri," he mumbled as he hopped over the top and stood behind his register.

        Priya jumped up at the sound of her name. She glared at Jonah as she brushed her long black hair out of her brown face. "I'm awake, asshole," she snapped, her voice hoarse and sleep-ridden. Priya wasn't Christian either, so Happy decided to channel his inner Christmas Spirit and put another teenager on the morning shift with Jonah instead of someone like Lawrence. Even though she was eighteen— one year older than Jonah— they still got along fine. He knew if they were at school, Priya wouldn't even give him the time of day. She called herself, "that bitch," which he guessed was a deserving title for someone as popular as she was. Still, he was happy to have made a new friend.

        "Just checking. Granola bar?" He offered, pulling one out of his apron pocket. She took it with a sigh before unwrapping it and shoving it all in her mouth in seconds flat. "Jesus... what's your deal today?"

        He regretted that question as soon as it came out of his mouth. She launched into a rant so quick it was as if she was waiting for him to ask. She started blabbing on about her boyfriend Drew and how he had ditched her to go to a Viking's game or something. Jonah immediately tuned her out, nodding along at random parts so it looked like he was listening.

        He stared past her at one of the only windows in the place, looking out at the flurry of snow coming down. He hated being cooped up in the dingy pharmacy he worked at. It was fine when customers filed in and out in the afternoon, because at least then he'd have other things to do than block out Priya's talking. He would guess people's life stories, or predict what they'll buy right when they walk in the door, or even pretend his name actually was Jonoh and put on the best imitation of his parents Israeli accents as he could. Anything to make things interesting.

        But there was nothing now. Just him and Priya, sitting under the counter eating granola bars.

        He must've spaced out, because the next thing he remembers is snapping out of a staring contest with the wall when Priya's eyes go towards the door and she jumps up. He does the same, nearly hitting his head on the counter as he hops up. He tuned back in just in time to hear her mumble, "what the fuck is this guy doing here?"

        The guy in question looked like he could be Jonah's age, but he couldn't see for sure because he had to have been bundled up in at least two coats. As soon as he stepped inside, he pulled off his wool hat and shook the snow out of the jet black curls that flopped a bit over his eyes, not paying any attention to the two employees waiting for him to acknowledge them.

        "Welcome to Happy's," they said in unison, using the same monotonous tone they had been since they were hired. Still, the boy didn't look at them. He just walked over to the giant display of cards, looking intensely at the birthday girl section. Jonah stared at him, wondering what made him want to get a birthday card at 5:30 in the morning.

        Lucky for him, Priya was not shy when it came to confrontation. "Why do you need this?" She asked when the boy came over to check out with a bright pink card.

        He drew his brows together in confusion. "Um... for a birthday?"

         "But like, why now? Why not wait until later in the day?"

        He didn't answer. Instead, he looked at Jonah like he was asking for help. More specifically, he was giving him the "this-bitch-is-creepy-please-get-her-off-my-back" look, which, when it came to working with Priya, he was kinda used to.

        He yanked the card from her hands before she could scan it and walked to his own register. "I'll do it, Pri," he told her. She simply rolled her eyes and sunk back down to the ground, grabbing a new granola bar in the process. "Sorry about that," he apologized.

        The boy shrugged, scrunching up his nose that'd turned pink from the cold— though you could barely see it under the cluster of freckles that were spread across his entire face. "Whatever. Thanks for the help," he paused, looking down at his work apron, "Jonoh?"

        Jonah smiled and placed the card back in his hands. "No problem. Happy Holidays."

        He nodded a goodbye then left, shoving his black hair back into a hat and his hands into gloves as he shoved open the door.

        "He was kinda interesting," Priya spoke up from the floor.

        Jonah plopped down next to her. "I guess."

        "He was like one of those hot-in-a-weird-way, mysterious guys from the movies."

        "What about that boyfriend you never shut up about?"

        "Oh yeah!" She exclaimed, causing him to jump a bit. "I forgot about him. So anyway, he was walking around baked out of his mind with his friends..."

        That's the last thing Jonah heard as his thoughts quickly turned back to anything that would amuse him for the next few hours.

———————

Bro a new story whaaaaat.

Ok so it's kinda weird that I'm posting this. Let me explain.

So I'm in the process of trying to write this semi-complicated sci-Fi type story that I really hope I publish one day because I love the idea of it. However, writing a story with that many ties and twists, as well as that much research needed to write it well is overwhelming to write and outline, so I started writing Morning Shift as a chill story to de-stress when I get writers block in the other story. I really didn't expect to finish Morning Shift, but it's almost done, so might as well publish it.

I also find it funny this is the story I finished out of all my WIPs because I really don't write LGBT focused stories all that much (even though I think there needs to be MUCH MORE LGBT REP in literature) so I didn't expect my next story to be another bxb but like here we are. Am I mad? No. We love and respect gays in this house.

Anyway, it's shorter and wayyyyyy less heavy than Count the Stars, so if you were looking for another deep, angsty kind of thing this won't really be it.

Hope you liked the first chapter! Woo!

~Teddy