You warily walk towards the two men, silently praying that walking towards two shady men won't be the— what the hell?

"Marco?? Holy shit, man!"

"Jared??" You're completely bewildered. Of all the people you'd expect to see on a weird ass night like this, your manager was not it. "What the hell are you doing here?" He grins.

"I always come out here after work."

"You— but you clocked out nearly the same time I did." He nods.

"They called me back in to cover. Susan got fired for beating a customer up." You suck in air through pursed lips in a display of instant understanding. Your coworker, uh, ex-coworker Susan was... interesting. She was a year older than you and used that information to make you bend to her whim. You had a brief fling with her for a few weeks before you both got bored. When you decided to call it quits, she made sure to threaten your life with a switchblade, making you promise to never tell anyone about the strange birthmark on her back. You've since kept your promise.

"Surprising," you say with sarcasm so thick it could be used as a maple syrup substitute. "Who's this?" You point to the nervous looking fellow next to Jared. He doesn't speak up and just stares at you bug-eyed. Freaky guy.

"This is Shane. Maddy said I had to find a new hire quick, and this guy was already here smoking. He needs a job too, so boom. Shane, this is Marco. If you wanna ask him any questions, go ahead." You all stand there in silence. "Guess he's got no other questions. You wanna smoke?" He extends a fresh cig out to you. You glance at it and shake your head.

"I-I'm okay, man." He raises an eyebrow.

"Really? I thought you smoked." A cool yet aching feeling crawls down your throat.

"I did. Now I don't." He seems to get it.

"No worries, sorry about that." Your manager is a lot nicer than you remember. Maybe you should start being nicer to him.

You warily walk towards the two men, silently praying that walking towards two shady men won't be the— what the hell?

"Marco?? Holy shit, man!"

"Jared??" You're completely bewildered. Of all the people you'd expect to see on a weird ass night like this, your manager was not it. "What the hell are you doing here?" He grins.

"I always come out here after work."

"You— but you clocked out nearly the same time I did." He nods.

"They called me back in to cover. Susan got fired for beating a customer up." You suck in air through pursed lips in a display of instant understanding. Your coworker, uh, ex-coworker Susan was... interesting. She was a year older than you and used that information to make you bend to her whim. You had a brief fling with her for a few weeks before you both got bored. When you decided to call it quits, she made sure to threaten your life with a switchblade, making you promise to never tell anyone about the strange birthmark on her back. You've since kept your promise.

"Surprising," you say with sarcasm so thick it could be used as a maple syrup substitute. "Who's this?" You point to the nervous looking fellow next to Jared. He doesn't speak up and just stares at you bug-eyed. Freaky guy.

"This is Shane. Maddy said I had to find a new hire quick, and this guy was already here smoking. He needs a job too, so boom. Shane, this is Marco. If you wanna ask him any questions, go ahead." You all stand there in silence. "Guess he's got no other questions. You wanna smoke?" He extends a fresh cig out to you. You glance at it and shake your head.

"I-I'm okay, man." He raises the other eyebrow. He never put the first one down??

"Really? I thought you smoked." A cool yet aching feeling crawls down your throat.

"I did. Now I don't." He seems to get it.

"No worries, sorry about that." Your manager is a lot nicer than you remember. Maybe you should start being nicer to him.