"Second Chance"
Chapter 1
-Wild dog, the untaimable cainine
*Beep*
*Beep*
*Beep*
The routinely quick noise of the checkout scanner was a dull drone in Eli Loker's ear as he passed item over item over the little red laser light. His legs ached from standing; his stomach was squeezing itself, gurgling for food. Leaning on one leg, the dark haired man stifled a yawn. Working two jobs, one taking up the bulk of the day with no pay- and the other working for ten dollars an hour at a 24/7 food mart had seriously begun to impact the smooth lifestyle he enjoyed.
Dimly, Loker realised there were no more packages of food on the belt. Packing the last tin can into the red striped plastic bag he glanced at the digital green number figure.
"Sixty-two dollars, eighty three cense" he spoke tonelessly to the customer. If Loker had been less tired, he may have noticed the soft curves of the female customer, the sparkle of her brown eyes and the bounce of her chocolate hair over her scarf, thus seizing the chance to flirt. But at 11:20 at night and being less than half way through his shift, his only priority was his soft bed waiting at home.
The young woman ruffled through her wallet and went to hand Eli the folded bills. Her gloved hand waited in the air for five long seconds as she waited for her money to be taken by the male staff member. The man serving her was gazing at something invisible over her shoulder with glazed eyes, as if he were in a slight trance.
"Errr... hello?"
Eli jumped as if he had been shocked "Oh..ahh, sorry" he stuttered as she gave a little wave with the money in her hand "Ah, thank you" quickly taking the folded noted he opened the rattling till and exchanged the bills for her change.
"Have a nice night" he spoke softly as she smiled and departed with groceries in hand. Wearily, he rubbed his eyes. No one else was in the store now for company or conversation, unless one counted Kevin the obese and intolerable security guard posted outside the automatic doors. Kevin was not known for his general knowledge or patience to say the least, and was certainly not one of Loker's was desirable people to share a conversation with. Kevin had seemed to 'switch off' from Loker ever since he found out the young psychologist worked for Dr. Lightman. The common 'hello' or 'goodbye' was non-existent towards Loker in Kevin's vocabulary, only a grunt to acknowledge the young employer's presence.
Loker had tried to shrug this behaviour for the joke of jealousy; Kevin being balder then a bowling ball compared to his fine dark locks of wavy hair. However when he found himself acting more sensible and relying on the years of practicing and training under the eyes of Cal Lightman, Loker knew that the body language radiating from Kevin towards him were acts of aggression... but why or from what, he didn't know or understand.
Gazing up at the ceiling patterned with electric lights Loker stretched his arms above his head, lengthening his tall frame as his stomach grumbled again reminding him of his poor diet. 'The hell with this' Loker grumbled. In one fluid motion he leaned over the edge of the counter reaching out for the first chocolate bar within arm's reach. Stripping off the wrapper, he chomped half of it down with one bite. Within the next mouthful, the bar was gone leaving the dark haired man still unfilled and unsatisfied. Having one he could get away with, but two or three snacks would cause the boss to review his pay check.
Loker couldn't afford to have any money docked from his pay check. He barely scrapped by each week with the rent and a few spare dollars for cheap bulk food, such as rice or a packet of two minute noodles. The first few weeks of adjusting had been the hardest, but now it had become routine.
...Work.
...Work
...Sleep.
...Work
...Work
...Sleep
The routine had its 'downs' and... 'downs'. For example, he would go to bed tired, wake up tired and feel like a walking zombie for the rest of the day. The reflexive sharpness he once had in recognising facial expressions and body physiology had started to slip. Nothing major at first, just misplacing a few little upturns of the lip or clench of the jaw, but then it was misjudging one expression for another and failing to notice key body movements altogether. Every time this happened Dr Cal Lightman's voice would echo in his head "From now on you'll be paid what you're worth....which is nothing"
"...worth...nothing"
Loker sighed. He couldn't deny it, but those words had stung. For a while, they had left his self worth low. Yet it wasn't the only reason he felt so depressed or angry at himself and his poor situation, it was the fact that he had not only endangered his job, but the new career of a successful, natural and beautiful dark haired Ria Lorres. For her to cover his hide, had been a big ask, and Loker wasn't so sure he'd have done the same thing for so long if he had been in her shoes.
Eli sighed and ran a hand through his dark wavy hair. Glancing at his watch, the small glass face read 11:30. Another half hour and he would officially be half way though his shift, before finishing at 2am. Shifting his stance from leaning on one leg to another, he gazed around the store listening to the background music of the local radio station playing softly over the speakers.
The mobile phone in his pocket brought Loker back to the present with a jolt, interrupting the quiet atmosphere with a snappy ring tone commanding the young man's attention. Pulling the phone out from his jeans, the orange and black digits blared:
Caller ID: Lightman
Loker inwardly sighed. He couldn't go to the institute now! Not whilst he was work... not really working, but more rather being paid to stand in case anyone came in at this hour of the night... to earn the money he so desperately needed
Knowing he couldn't avoid the inevitable, he held the phone up to his ear and pressed the 'talk' button "...Loker"
Lightman didn't waste any time "Loker, I'm going to need you to come in. We have a case a few blocks away from the office. Can I see you in five?"
"Uhh... I don't think I'll be able to make it boss"
His boss's voice was stern "Be there" and promptly hung up
Loker inwardly screamed "I can't!" He had enough trouble finding a job, let along being able to keep it... Loker had still 'purposefully forgotten' to mention his secondary career to his colleagues as what many would call a 'check-out-chick' at the institute where his co-workers had doctrines, double degrees and various other qualifications, where he was an unpaid intern struggling to make ends meet in night shifts. He knew not telling the whole truth was a form of lying, leading to another inner conflict with his philosophy of 'radical honesty'... but did he really want Ben Reynolds to rub this in his face?.... telling them could wait. In the meantime, he needed someone to fill in for him... someone asides Kevin the cranky obese security guard outside the automatic door... the answer came to him in an instant-
Tom!
Thomas Campbell was a ginger haired nineteen year old store room boy who worked the night shift out the back, splitting boxes, restacking shelves and loading stock that had been delivered during the day to its correct location in the cool-room. If Tom were to cover for him, he'd owe him something painful, like one of his CDs, DVDs or a lift home every day of the next fortnight.
That was option one. Option two was facing an angry Lightman tomorrow morning.
Loker was stuck between a rock and a hard place... He had to go with Tom. Shoving his phone deep back into his pocket he left the counter and took the journey down the aisle to the back double door marked with capital red block letters "staff entry only"
No matter how matter how many times Loker passed through those doors, he could never hold in the shiver in his spine from the short blast of cold air, created by a draft from the cool-room. Even in the current state of winter with multiple clothing layers, he was still unprepared for the mandatory breeze.
"Loke-dog, wassup man?" Tom's colloquial language echoed through the store room, the precise location of the speaker hidden from view by vast rows of shelves. The dark haired man never could understand how Tom could see him, but never in a million years could he spy Tom
Loker uncomfortably rubbed the back of his neck. He had been dreading this part; the asking "Ahh... I was wondering if would you be able to stand in for me... right now?"
A box dropped somewhere behind the shelves "Wha, at the counter?"
"Only for half a shift" Loker tried to reason
"Uhuh... not gonna happen" the soft 'thuds' of box stacking on box continued
"Please Tom, I need this"
The atmosphere was cut with the shrill ripping of tape "Just like ya' needed it the las' two times"
"I could get fired!"
"From both jobs, if Kevin sees ya' sneakin' out early again" The teen's voice replied evenly, pared with the soft sound of sliding as a package was pushed into its home on the shelf
Loker was growing desperate. He had to be where Lightman was "... You can have the snacks from my shifts for the next week" he bribed
"Nah, I can eat as much as I like outta these boxes here with ain't no one noticing" he stopped packing and paused "Whatta' 'bout that play-station o' yours?"
The young psychologist kicked himself. He knew something like this was coming "... you want to borrow that for a week? Sure"
Tom's red mop of hair shot out from behind the end shelf with an impish grin plastered over his face "Two weeks, and ya' got ya'self a deal" slanged the store room boy, extending the bribe.
Loker was cornered, and agreed signing the bargain with the one reluctant word; "Deal"