Chapter One

NOTE: This has been edited for your reading pleasure... and ym job is still hell on earth, just in case you were wondering.

So… because I'm such an odd little child, I've decided to write what would happen if Phantom of the Opera took place in a Superstore. And in Canada.

-

One cold day in mid November, Christine gathered her resume and application together as she waited for the Customer Service people to look her way. This would be, if she remembered correctly, the twentieth application she put in. She wondered vaguely what the people behind the counter did with all the applications she'd given in, and whether they even got to the department managers or if the employees used them to start fires as a refuge against the cold of the harsh Canadian winters.

A loud woman with wavy red hair pushed past her, speaking angrily in an italion accent that would have sounded sexy coming from anyone other than her. The woman had the look of a facist dictator about her... that is, a facist dictator with a secret desire to be a big orange and red blob. "Meg! I need you in cash office tonight."

A thin blond girl with bright blue eyes looked up at the sound of her snarl. The girl was about seventeen or eighteen, Christine's age, and she clearly wanted nothing to do with cash office. "Isn't Andre supposed to come in?"

"The little shit's sick again." The other woman muttered. A few feet away, where the Lottery counter was attatched to customer service, a black-covered creature gave a snort of amused laughter and the redhead gave her a practised sneer before disapearing into the back room.

Meg sighed and turned to Christine. "How can I help you?"

Christine held up the application, remembering to smile. "I'm here to give in my application and resume."

"Oh, alright." Meg smiled back. "Thanks."

"Would you happen to know when you'll be hiring?" Christine pressed.

Meg thought for a moment, and then turned to the loud redhead. "Carlotta, are we still hiring in Cash office?"

Carlotta turned and glanced over Christine. "… When are you available?"

"Uh… every weekday from two forty five to eleven." Christine replied, "And, on Saturdays-"

"Saturdays you need to be available anytime." Carlotta replied, leafing through the resume. "Otherwise, no job."

Christine cleared her throat. "Oh… okay…"

"Come back Monday." Carlotta muttered, folding the resume and application. "I'll interview you."

"Okay." Before the word even got out, Carlotta strode away.

"Don't worry about her." The blond girl, Meg, leaned over the Customer Service counter and smiled reassuringly. "She's a pain, but once you get an interview, the job's pretty much guaranteed. Just go home and celebrate."

Christine smiled back. "Thanks."

"No problem. You'll probably end up working with me." Meg replied, giving her a friendly smile. "See you Monday."

-

On Monday, as requested, Christine was back at the Superstore and looking her best in brown dress pants and her new white sweater. Her curly brown hair was pulled back in a bun and she had another resume under her arm, just in case.

"Hey there!" Meg waved at her from Customer Service. "Back for your interview, right?"

"Right." Christine replied.

"Alright, go on up." Meg reached for the phone. "I'll let her know you're coming."

Christine walked up the stairs, smiling and adjusting her top quickly before entering a hall with rows of doorless frames. The first contained a young man with his back to her, his black hair slicked back in a tidy fashion. He wore a white dress shirt. The next had three Superstore employees, each wearing black shoes and pants and the blue t-shirt. Finally, Christine came to a room with several people, each dressed in manager attire, sitting in front of old IBM computers. The last computer was Carlotta's. She waved Christine in with an unfriendly gesture and indicated the chair in front of her.

"So," Carlotta cleared her throat. "Your resume pretty much speaks for itself."

Christine grinned. "Thanks."

Carlotta handed her a stack of papers, complete with a large blue paperclip. "This is your hiring kit. You'll need a criminal record check, since you're going to be in cash office. Fill everything out by Thursday and bring it back."

"Oh… so I have the job?" Christine asked, grinning.

Carlotta rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes. Now fill that out and come back Thursday. And you'll need some black polish able shoes and black dress pants."

Christine sat for a moment, trying to decide whether or not she had been dismissed. When Carlotta started going through the other resumes, she stood and made her way out the door with her hiring kit under her arm…

… And she walked smack dab into the man with black hair. The hiring kit when flying to the ground, papers scattering in every direction.

"Sorry!" Christine knelt and began picking up her papers. In a moment, the man was on his knees as well, picking up a few of the scattered sheets. Christine looked up at his face for the first time and, much to her surprise, found that he was wearing a white half-mask over the right side of his face. Her eyes locked into his, a smoldering green color. At the moment they didn't lok like very pleased eyes.

Lovely. Now she was bumping into her employers. And she wasn't even working yet. "Uh… yeah… sorry…"

Without another word, the man handed her the papers and walked back into theoffice, closing the door behind him.

"Lovely…"

-

Again, Christine passed by Meg. The friendly girl waved her over and asked, "So? Got the job?"

Christine nodded. "Yeah… is Carlotta… always like that?"

"Yes… unless she's around a young guy." Meg replied. With a giggle, she added, "That's when her cougar instincts kick in.

-

Well, there we have it. Chapter one. I must be off now… let me know what you think!