He woke up to the sound of an alarm and the blue jay proceeded to reach over to turn the beeping off. He decided to get up and to get himself ready for the day ahead of him. He walked to the bathroom to take a shower and he dried himself off with a white towel.
Sometimes, the blue jay hated how fluffy his blue feathers were and he had to fix them so he could make himself look presentable for the day. After his breakfast is finished cooking, he sets it on his side table and he hears a knock. He gets up from his chair and he opens the front door of his apartment.
He looks below him to see a newspaper and he picks it up. He pondered for brief moment and he decided to bring the newspaper into the apartment. He looks inside and he only sees the stories. The blue jay was looking for job opportunities since he had been recently laid off from his previous job.
The blue jay was currently living off of his life savings, he was forced to live on a budget. It wasn't easy for him to process, but he was determined to have stability. He continued to look inside of the newspaper and as he turned each page, the more determined he was to spot what he was looking for.
He eventually got his wish and he found a page worth of job listings. The page had a variety of job opportunities that consisted of being a waiter, a window washer, a magician, a body builder, and a teachers assistant. All of the jobs seemed to be promising, but one stuck out to the blue jay and it was a job for a groundskeeper.
When he found out where the location was, he rushed out of the apartment building after he prepared his application to submit to management. As he was running, he saw a red station wagon in front of him and he tried to stop. Even though he attempted to stop, he bumped into the car and he got up from the ground.
When he got up, he panicked because it turns out that he accidentally dented the car. He didn't know who owned it, but as soon as he backed up, he heard someone yell. He started to grow weary of the situation because of how intimidated he felt.
The owner didn't get out of his car, so the individuals weren't aware of their appearances, but the blue jay knew that his tail feathers would be reamed. When the guy started to speak, he with a pissy and nasally voice, so he bailed. He ran to get to the Park and after a few minutes of jogging, he got to the location. He approached the mailbox and as he was about to drop the letter into it, a jolly lollipop man scared the living day lights out of him.
"Oh hello young man, what brings you here to my fathers park?"
The older man spoke in a British accent and the blue jay forced a smile.
"I came to drop off this application at the-"
"Oh, you're applying for a job?"
"Yeah, I am…."
"Oh jolly good show! We need more workers here and believe or not, not many people have applied so its good to see you!"
"Really?"
"Oh yes. It's a shame, since Papa thought we were going to have a bit of success, especially when he brought this place. But alas, we have had only a few go for this job." The lolliman looked up at the jay then suddenly smiled when he saw the piece of paper in his hand. "Would you like me to take that for you?"
Mordecai smiled a bit, maybe he'd get it.
"Oh… Uh thanks…."
He handed the application over to the lolliman.
"Are you the manager?"
"No, but as I said before, my Papa does own this park. The manager is a young fellow called Rigby." From his tone, Mordecai guessed that the old man didn't take a liking to Rigbys position. "I shall give your application to him and he will give you a call tomorrow afternoon." His smile brightened as he gave the resume a onceover. "It was very nice to meet you, Mordecai, and I await your return to the park tomorrow." He held a hand and the lolliman shook it. "My name is Pops by the way."
"It was nice to meet you, Pops."
Pops let go of his hand and spun on his heel, skipping away merrily. Mordecai watched him go, grinning to himself. The next day, Mordecai went back to the Park like he committed to and he was nervous for the interview. He was unsure if he was good enough for the job, even though he had references and previous job experience.
He still had doubts in his mind as he walked into the Park entrance. He wondered who would interview him and he wasn't sure if he would be taken into consideration for the position. As he walked through the entrance, Pops approached him and the blue jay was startled. He noticed that he startled the young man and his expression became soft as he placed his arm around the blue jay.
"I'm sorry for scaring you, I'm just so thrilled that you're here! I didn't think you would show up….."
"Of course I would come, I committed to coming here and to apply for the job. I'm a man of my word, Pops!"
"Oh wonderful! I'll take you to Rigby's office…"
Whenever Pops mentioned him, his entire demeanor changed and it made the blue jay a nervous wreck. He hoped that it wasn't the individual that owned the dented station wagon because he knew that his life would be a living nightmare if it were the case. The lolliman lead Mordecai over to the Park house and he left.
Mordecai didn't know what to do, so he walked into the living room and he saw a white couch. He didn't see anyone sitting on it, so he went over and he sat down. It took awhile, but a brown raccoon approached him.
"So, are you here for today's interview?"
Mordecai's demeanor changed when he released that he was the Park manager. He got up from his chair and he leaned down to shake his hand.
"Yes, I am! I'm-"
"Yeah, I already know who you are, Pops told me about you and your arrival….. Follow me, blue jay, I'm Rigby…"
Mordecai already got bad vibes from the guy and he was having second thoughts about applying for the job. He followed the raccoon up the stairs and they proceeded to go into his office. He sat across from the raccoon and he was handed back an application.
"So, tell me a little about yourself…."
"I'm a college dropout, I've had previous job experience, and I'm here to-"
"So, what are you good at, Mordecai?"
"Umm-"
"No, you don't have to tell me because I don't care!"
Rigby grabbed a donut from the garbage and he ate it in front of Mordecai. The blue jay forced a smile, but secretly, he was grossed out by what he'd just done in front of him. He started to believe what Pops had told him previously about the raccoon, he isn't fit to be the Park manager.
"So tell me, are you good at mowing lawns?"
Mordecai raised his brow at the question, but he continued to have composure of himself.
"Uhhh, maybe?"
Rigby pondered for a brief moment and he finally had come to a decision.
"Good enough, you can start training today….."
Mordecai nearly fell out of his chair, he didn't even expect to get the job. He was ecstatic and he was tempted to hug his boss, but he shook his hand instead.
"Thank you for the opportunity, it's appreciated…"
"Yeah, whatever….. Can you let go now?"
Mordecai blushed and he let go of the raccoon's arm. Rigby dug in his desk drawer until he pulled out his walkie talkie and he proceeded to turn it on.
"Hey gumball, I need a favor…"
"I told you to not call me that, Rigby…"
Mordecai's face dropped when he heard the man's voice, he realized that he had dented his car. He felt like an idiot and wanted to run away.
"I'm the boss here, not you! Anyways, I need you to train the new park worker….."
"Sir, why can't you do it?"
"Because I have too much to do right now and I don't need you to give me sass! I can take your job away, you know….."
The man sighed in frustration and he hung up.
"You can wait for him in the living room, Mordecai…."
"Okay, thanks…."
He walked out of the office and into the living room. He sat on the sofa and he waited for this guy to show up. He was terrified because he assumed that he would get beaten to a pulp by an individual twice his size. He didn't know what to think and after a while, he began to grow hopeful that he wouldn't show up. 30 minutes later, he felt a tiny ice cold hand on his shoulder and he was startled by it.
When he looked to see who had tapped him, his stomach dropped, it was him. He got up from the couch to introduce himself, but when he did, he'd come to realize how small the guy was. He was a red gumball machine and he stood at 4'9. Mordecai gave him a meek look and he put out his hand to introduce himself.
"H-Hey, I'm Mordecai and you're?"
"Benson….."
"I didn't dent any cars today, how about you?"
He started to laugh nervously and Benson was confused, until he realized that he dented his car the day before. He turned a bright red and Mordecai could feel the heat radiate from the shorter man.
"Oh, so you're the guy that dented my car? Let me tell you something, I only made minimum wage and I busted my butt to save up for it! So, what are you going to do now? Did you come here to make my job harder than it already is?"
"Uhhh Umm…"
"Did you?!"
"N-No, I didn't even know you even worked here!"
"Whatever, let's just get this over with…."
The gumball machine stormed off and slammed the door, he wasn't in the mood for this.
"Okay, nice to meet you too…"
He was glad that he wasn't able to hear what he said and he went outside to look for him. He stood at the porch and he didn't see where he was until he looked to his left. He went over to where he was and Benson gave him a hateful glare when he sat next to him. He turned his head away from the blue jay and he sighed.
"Come on, dude….. I'm sorry for denting your car yesterday, but I want to put that behind us….."
"No, I don't want to hear it, I have to work twice as hard to pay for the damage….. It'll take me months, even years…."
"Years?"
"Years, Mordecai!"
"Look, we can we discuss this later? We have to work…."
"Whatever…"
The men stood up and Benson lead him to the cart. He sat in the drivers seat and he put the key into the ignition. They proceeded to drive around the park and they stopped at the snack bar.
"This is our stop?"
"For now it is…."
Mordecai was surprised at his sarcastic demeanor and he decided to go along with what he said, he didn't want to anger him further. Benson parked the cart and they went inside of the snack bar.
"Ok, the first thing you have to do when working at the snack bar is to always be consistent with customer service, even if you think a kid is a brat or a person is having a terrible day…"
"I could name someone who seems to be having one…."
The blue jay gave the gumball machine a cheeky smirk and Benson rolled his eyes at his comment.
"Hey, maybe you should pay attention to what I'm telling you instead of trying to be clever!"
"Oh, so you think I'm clever huh?"
Benson blushed, but he had no problem retaliating.
"Just listen!"
"Ok, geez…"
Benson sighed and he continued.
"As I was saying, you put the tips in the jar and you put the money into the register. When you use the register, you have to give them back their change, but that would depend if they actually had any…"
"Hmmm Hmmm, simple enough! So, is this the station we're working at?"
"If this wasn't, then why would I have brought you here?"
"Ok, I get the point….. So, do we just wait?"
"Basically…"
"So, we're getting paid to do nothing?"
"To put it bluntly, that's the jest of it…."
The duo stood there and after a couple of minutes, the blue jay was bored out of his mind. He didn't mind the job, but he wanted to know more about his fellow coworker. He kept sighing repeatedly and each time he did, it would become louder. Benson didn't mind at first, but it eventually got to where it was annoying him to no end.
"Do you want something?"
"Well, it's not that I really want anything, I just want to do something other than sitting in silence. Should we talk to pass the time?"
"I guess…"
"Hmmm hmmm, so do you do anything outside of work?"
"Just occasional trips to the bar and fulfilling responsibilities…."
"I watch football and I occasionally do sketches… Do you have any hobbies?"
"I think thats enough questions for now…"
"But I only asked one-"
"I don't care…"
The gumball machine slumped over the counter as they duo waited for somebody to appear, but no one came for an hour and the blue jay was shocked because he was expecting the guy to crack by now. He didn't have an idea of what to do, but a light bulb went off when he saw the nacho bar. He thought it was the right thing to do and plus, Benson was starting to fall asleep.
"Hey man, I was thinking of taking a break….."
"I'm not moving an inch, especially if I have to spend time with you!"
"So, you would spend time with me if you didn't have to move an inch?"
Benson was getting flustered, he didn't understand why the guy tried to be friendly towards him, especially when he dented his car the day before. He expected the entire day to be awkward, but this guy was different from other applicants.
"You know what I meant!"
Mordecai was amused by his demeanor and he felt like ruffling up his feathers even more.
"Yeah, I guess I do….. Well, I'm going to the coffee shop for my break and if you change your mind about going with me, just give me a call."
Mordecai grabbed a slip of paper from his bag and placed it on top of the counter. He waved off and as soon as he shut the door, he heard him say his name. The blue jay smiled in amusement and he went back in.
"Yeah?"
"So, you're just leaving me here to do this job?"
"Well, I offered for you to come with me and you-"
"I know what I did, I just don't feel its fair on me to do this by myself!"
"Quit complaining, I'll stay ok?"
"No, just go….."
"Really, I can help…."
"Go….."
"But-"
"I want to be left alone!"
"O-Okay, geez…."
The blue jay left and he started to walk to the coffee shop. He liked to go to the coffee shop, but he felt awkward whenever he went because his ex girlfriend worked there. He tried to keep his composure, but he would get weird around her and it never worked out. He never felt a spark whenever he was around her and it was a hard decision, but he knew what had to be done. He went inside of the coffee shop and he waited for her to serve him. Instead, a short mole went over to help him.
"Hey, Eileen! Where's Margaret?"
"Oh, she's not here, she only has a night shift now…."
"Oh right! I forgot to tell you, but I applied for a job…"
"That's great, Mordecai! Where did you apply?"
"At the Park down the street….."
Eileen cringed when he brought up the Park and Mordecai raised his brow at her reaction.
"What's wrong?"
"My ex works there…"
"I know how that feels, who's your ex?"
"Rigby….."
"It might explain why he seems miserable….."
"Really?"
"I'm assuming? I'm not sure, but from what I've heard, he's not fit to be the manager…."
"He's not as bad as he seems, but I'm friends with some of the employees…"
"Who?"
"Pretty much everyone, except for Rigby and another guy that works there…."
"Who's the other guy?"
"I don't remember his name, but I don't know him very well and I don't want to try because he seemed really closed off when we met…."
"Yeah, I get your drift…"
"I would be careful with that guy if I were you….. I heard that Rigby almost fired him for destroying the Park in a rage…."
Mordecai opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Eileen spoke up.
"It's complicated to explain….."
He shrugged and he knew what he wanted to drink, but he saw Eileen's face turn from friendly into pure terror. Confused, he turned around and he saw the gumball machine walking toward him. He didn't know if he was supposed to be happy or completely terrified about what would happen next. The gumball machine sat next to him and Eileen grabbed her pad and pen.
"S-So, what would you guys like to order?"
"I want the usual…."
"And how about you, sir?"
Benson's eyes widened when he saw the mole, but he shrugged and proceeded to order.
"I just want black coffee…"
"That's all?"
"That's it, but do not add cream or sugar to it…."
"I won't…."
Eileen rushed to get his order and this was when the coffee shop was busy. It was difficult to keep up with since she wished Margaret was there, but she understood the situation Margaret was dealing with. Mordecai turned to the gumball machine and he gave him a cheeky smile.
"I thought you wouldn't come…."
"I changed my mind….."
"Did I persuade you or?"
"No, I didn't want to deal with Rigby…."
"Hmmm hmmm, I understand… So, what's your beef with him?"
Benson nearly spit out his coffee, it was too personal for him to explain and he didn't trust the blue jay.
"I'd rather talk about something else….."
"Like what?"
"How's your drink?"
"Hmmm, it's alright….. How about yours?"
"It's a little bitter, but I don't care…"
The duo sat in silence until Eileen came over and gave them the check. She meekly smiled at the gumball machine and she walked away. They both paid for their drinks and they proceeded to make their way back to the Park before Rigby could nag them for making their break longer than expected. When they got back to the Park, they saw Muscle Man and High Five Ghost at the Snack Bar.
"Hey, what are you doing? This is our job, Muscle Man!"
"Chill, Benson, we were getting a snack!"
"Well, you need to pay up…."
"Why? Rigby said that we had to bring them!"
A bright red crept on his face and Mordecai stepped back from him assuming that he would explode in anger.
"Does he even care about this place?! I'm the only one that does! It'll derail the sales and for the Park, it'll be drastic if he keeps up with his poor management skills!"
"Why didn't Malleard hire-"
"Never bring that up again or you'll wish you never said that!"
He stormed out of the snack bar and the blue jay turned to the short, troll-looking man.
"What do you mean?"
"By what?"
"Was he supposed to-"
"Yeah, the position was between Benson and Rigby, but Benson became jealous of Rigby after he 'stole' his job….."
"I didn't know all of this….. Thanks um?"
"Muscle Man….."
"Thanks!"
"No problem!"
He went off to find his distraught coworker, but when he couldn't find where he was, his concern grew more and more as the minutes dragged on. The clock was ticking and he wanted to keep an eye on him. He gave up and assumed that he clocked out of the job. He decided to do the same and he decided to walk himself to the bar. The blue jay was an avid drinker, but he made sure to do it in moderation.
The sun started to set over the city and he eventually went inside of the bar. He sat on a stool and when he turned next to him, he saw his coworker asking for further and further rounds of booze. He was shocked that he was a drinker, but as he thought of it more, it could've explained the dark circles under his eyes. He wasn't sure how to approach the man, he knew that he was mad over what happened at work, but he wanted him to be safe since he was drunk.
He decided to wait until his round was finished and he lightly tapped the man on the shoulder. He didn't turn around, he was too out of it to feel the tap on his shoulder and Mordecai tried again. When he didn't respond again, he did it once more and Benson recoiled with the touch. He turned to the jay and he looked terrible, his eyes were blood shot and he had booze all over himself. The smaller man stared him down and he mumbled under his breath.
"Oh, what do you want?"
"Look, I came for a glass of booze, but I didn't expect you to be here and-"
"What? Is it so hard for you to believe that I'm a drunk?"
"No, but thats not why I wanted to talk to you…."
"I could care less about talking to a newbie like you…"
"Dude, if you're still pissed off over the car-"
"It's more than just the car!"
"Then what is it?"
"It's just you! You've frustrated me to no end!"
"How are you going to get home?"
"I don't know, but-"
"Dude, can I drive you home?"
"Uh no!"
Mordecai rolled his eyes, was Benson really this petty? He wasn't sure, but he didn't care about that, he just wanted him to get home safely. When he was too resistant for his own good, Mordecai grabbed him by the arm and he tried to fight it (like the blue jay previously predicted). He wasn't going to let him drive in the state he was in and he grabbed the keys out of his red zip up. He let Benson go into the back and he went into the drivers seat.
"So, where do you live?"
"In that apartment complex…"
His eyes widened because that's the same complex he lived in, great! He drove into the parking lot and took the machine into the building. He wished he wouldn't say the floor he lived in, but he nearly jumped in fear when Benson told him the floor, it was the same floor he lived in. The elevator stopped and Benson lead him to his apartment number, 1635. Mordecai's skin crawled since his apartment was right across from his! How did he not notice him? Maybe it was because he just moved in, but it still blew his mind and once he let Benson into his apartment, he quickly went into his.