An AU in which Seymour and Audrey see each other at her other job. Or, in which I needless torture Audrey, as usual, for the sake of fluff. Happy New Year! R+R, let me know if you want more or less, etc. etc.
At least I'm still wearing my robe, she thought, trying to comfort herself in this god-awful, embarrassing scenario. The cheap faux-silk clung to her in ways that were revealing enough, but at least it covered what the outfit underneath bared for all to see. There goes my day job, and there goes Seymour.
Maybe she should have just handled the flower order herself. When Sadie said they were going to get flowers for Nadia on her last day, though, Audrey just wanted to keep the possibility of any crossover between her night job here at the Gutter and her day job at Mushnik's at a minimum. When Sadie asked her, "Hey, do you know any good florists?" she recommended competitors. Audrey tried to tell herself that they'd probably have nicer flowers for the soon-to-be-married, soon-to-be-former dancer, but honestly she just didn't want anyone to find out she worked at Mushnik's, and didn't want anyone at Mushnik's to find out she worked here.
"Where'd you end up getting the flowers from?" Audrey asked Sadie as she handed over her part of the cash; all the girls chipped in to buy the gift, but the arrangement still hadn't been delivered that evening as the group put on their makeup, in various states of undress. Clothes didn't matter much here, where your whole job was to take them off.
"Some little place here in Skid Row, actually! M...uh, Mushnik's, I think?" Sadie replied, pressing powder onto her nose.
Audrey blanched, her hand freezing mid-eyeliner. She'd done a bridal shower arrangement today and not thought twice about it. Stupid! "A-and they still haven't delivered it?"
"The kid on the phone said he could do a special late delivery so we could surprise her when she comes in! Ain't that sweet?" Sadie said.
And then Tanya spoke up (of course, Audrey thought bitterly). "Hey Audr, didn't I see you workin' over at that place one time?" Tanya varied from clueless to cruel in any given interaction—making her a dangerous keeper of Audrey's secret.
Audrey found the strength to finish her eye makeup, painting on mascara as she replied, "Uh...yeah. That's my, um, my day job."
A chorus of "oooooohs" erupted from the other girls. "Why didn't you tell us?!" Sadie cried, "We coulda used a discount!"
Audrey balked for a moment before saying evenly, "Oh, you know...I try to keep my jobs pretty separate." The other girls with day jobs nodded, and before Tanya could quip anything, Christie ran in to inform, "She's coming!"
The lingerie set Audrey changed into for that night's set, in her there-signature pink, felt wholly indecent to her, so she shrugged on the cheap, short kimono all the ladies kept in the cramped, dank 'dressing room.' Hers, the green one, was almost pretty. Christie had door duty for the evening, tracking Nadia and the flower delivery boy, so when Christie bolted back up again, Audrey knew to hide against the back wall of the room, pressing herself behind the clothes rack to conceal herself from view.
"Hi, I have, uh, a flower order for...um, Nadia?" she heard the familiar voice stutter. Catching a glance of sweet Seymour in the reflection of a mirror confirmed Audrey's suspicion that he'd blush hard in this room full of half-dressed women. He wore a wrinkled, plain button-down and his hair poked out in all directions, but Audrey could have sworn she'd never seen any man look better. It was a pity she couldn't say the same for herself right now.
Nadia squealed in delight. "You girls did this for me?!"
"SURPRISE!" the high-pitched voices of the Gutter's dancers cascaded, the room filling with hugs and "congrats!" and matching squeals. In the meantime, Seymour and Sadie needed to square up the bill, and Sadie was short. "Tanya," she called out, "You never paid! I need your part please."
Tanya dug through her thin wallet. "I'm a little short," she cried, loudly. "Hey Audrey, can I give you the rest of it after we go on tonight? You can bring it in tomorrow."
Audrey froze. Clueless or cruel, it didn't matter right now. Bitch, she let herself think, though she'd never say it out loud. Time to fess up. Unsticking herself from the back wall, Audrey managed to reply, "That should be fine" in a mousy voice, without any of the vitriol she currently felt. She turned to see Seymour's eyes as wide as saucers. At least I'm still wearing my robe... Mustering up all the courage she had, she forced herself to take a few steps into the room, look her coworker straight in the eye, and whisper "Hi, Seymour."
"Hiya Audrey," he said earnestly, moving to meet her, "I didn't expect to see you." He glanced quickly at her outfit—how could he not? she thought—then took a moment to stare at the ground in embarrassment before meeting her eyes again. "Do you come here a lot?"
"I, well," it was Audrey's turn to stare at the ground. "It's good money when the shop's not doing so great." When she looked up, she saw Seymour's face, his expression somehow sad and pensive and determined all at once.
Before either of them could say another word, Ray, the manager, came into the room with his stained grey shirt and greasy hair. "Alright ladies, let's get down there!" The women filed obediently out of the room, pushing past Seymour—the joking and fun was over, and it was time to start a tiring, difficult job. "Bye Seymour," she managed to murmur before joining the end of the line.
Ray stopped her. "Lose the robe, Fulquard" he clipped at her. Please no... Audrey's eyes widened and her lips quivered, but she managed not to cry as she walked back toward her station, untied the sash around her waist, and tossed the green kimono onto her other belongings. Though the rest of her body was on full display, she hid her bright red face from Seymour as she stomped ungracefully from the room in her high, high heels. He would leave out the same back entrance he came in through, Audrey knew, and with him she could kiss goodbye all her little fantasies of marrying Seymour, escaping to the suburbs, and getting to live the life of a nice girl.
And she didn't even earn much that night.
When she arrived home that night, Tanya's measly few dollars in hand, it was almost 3:00am, but Audrey couldn't sleep. She was anxious for the next morning at Mushnik's, when she'd obviously have to quit her job, to spare what little pride she had left—whatever respect she'd earned at the shop had clearly been lost. And say goodbye to Seymour. She tossed and turned and counted sheep and mentally drafted her "I quits" and "goodbyes," but she didn't sleep. By 7:00, she rolled out of bed, already exhausted, and fixed her face for work.
Audrey hesitated outside the door. Truth be told, she liked working at the shop, even when business was bad. She liked Mr. Mushnik even at his most curmudgeonly. And Seymour... well, he deserved better than her well before he found out about the Gutter, but last night confirmed what she'd always known deep down. And now that he knew about her night job, he'd never think well of her again. It's better to just leave, she told herself, opening the door and bracing herself to quit.
The bell rang as she opened the door, startling the broom from Seymour's hand. It landed with a thunk beside him, but he picked it up and kept sweeping. There was no sign of Mr. Mushnik yet.
"Good morning Audrey," Seymour said cheerily, the way he had every morning since she started working at Mushnik's. It had been more than 5 years now, and every morning Seymour greeted her eagerly as he swept up. Even today. Audrey blushed, shrugging off her sweater as she muttered "Mornin', Seymour."
When she walked over to her counter in the back, for the last time, she found a steaming hot mug of tea waiting on her table. "Seymour," she called, "didja leave your drink in here?" Even that little reminder of him felt painful in this moment.
"Oh!" Seymour cried, "That's for you." That's new, Audrey thought, gently picking up the mug and letting the heat in her hands soothe her, if only for a moment. He stumbled into the back room. "I didn't realize before how much you'd been working, but I do know you don't like coffee."
Tears pricked in her eyes, but they didn't fall until Seymour explained further, "You make a face every morning when Mr. Mushnik makes his cup, with the smell." He blushed, gazing at his shoes instead of meeting her eyes. Then she began to openly cry.
Inhaling deeply to compose herself, Audrey began her speech. "Seymour, I..." He looked up at her, his dark eyes bright and earnest, and she faltered immediately. "What you saw last night...I'm sorry. Here's the rest of the money." She handed over Tanya's share of the gift arrangement. "After what happened... it's probably best if I try to find another job—"
Seymour cut her off. "Audrey wait, no!" He placed his hand on hers, lightly but firmly. "You don't need to quit. I won't tell anyone, I'll won't talk about it, I won't even think about last night ever again. Just please...don't leave?"
Audrey's eyes squeezed shut. Either Seymour was truly the kindest and most generous man Skid Row had ever seen, or he'd realized last night just how easy she was—Audrey didn't want to believe the latter, but she'd been burnt before. "You still wanna work with me?" she asked incredulously.
She opened her eyes to Seymour's gentle smile. "Why wouldn't I?" And before Audrey could give an answer, he continued, "If I couldn't live in the basement here, I don't know what I'd do. Besides, you're my friend."
She smiled weakly at him. "I thought you were gonna hate me," she confessed in a quiet voice.
Seymour gently squeezed her hand. "I don't think I could."
They remained in silents, hands clasped and eyes locked, for just a few moments, but each wanted it to last all day. Audrey broke away first to wipe the tears (and smudged eye makeup) from her face, and Seymour returned to his sweeping. She breathed deeply, letting herself feel okay for the first time in several hours. Then, before giving herself time to chicken out, she walked into the storefront. "Seymour?" she called tentatively.
He whipped around to find Audrey standing just behind him. "Yeah?"
She placed her hands on his shoulders. "Thank you," she said softly. He smiled. Audrey kissed just the very corner of his mouth, and let herself believe she was aiming for his cheek.