Author's Note: I know... It's been a while. Bear with me. I'm taking three AP classes as a Junior and the workload is nuts. And... this is... Romance? I think it's Romance. Mmkay, I'll shut up now. Have fun.
Prayers of the Faithless
Heroes of the Convenience Store
Believe it or not, there's still some good people out there. Very few, but some.
Alana hated having to work two jobs. Two crappy jobs she worked at each week. Sometimes both in one day. She'd just moved to Boston a little over a month ago and nothing more solid had come up as of yet. So Alana Dyre was stuck running a convenience store in the mornings and being a waitress at night when she's rather be doing anything else.
Alana went to her car a few mornings after the snow storm. The mounds of ice and snow had melted from the streets, leaving them soaked in puddles of water. "I don't wanna go," Alana mumbled to herself as she started her car. It was a short drive there to her first job, the one she'd only been working a week, minus the snow days it had been closed. It was a tiny store, one that consisted of a counter, drink fountain and a bathroom.
Alana parked in the lot behind the back of the store. She hated the lot because a bar was located just next to it, across the street. Some place called McGinty's. She would've parked somewhere else, but there was no space for her. Employees were forbidden to park in the main lot, so that left the creepy one. Luckily, all her shifts had been mornings so far, so she hadn't really been around the bar while it was active.
Alana went in through the back door, making her way to the main store. Katie was there at the register, about to get off her shift as soon as Alana took over for her. Katie Hays, a plump thirty-something year old woman. Her shiny blond hair was always styled immaculately and her fingernails were always neatly filed, always painted bright colors.
"Morning, Kaite," Alana greeted. She wasn't really friends with the older woman, but Katie had always been pleasant to her. This was their routine. Exchange a few pleasantries before going separate ways.
"Good morning," Katie replied cheerfully. "Bet you're missing all that snow. I know I am," she teased.
Alana rolled her eyes good-naturedly. A smirk played on her lips. "Sure am. I am not a morning person."
Katie snorted as she pulled out her car keys from her pocket. "Neither am I."
"Could've fooled me. You're always nice," Alana replied. She pulled her hair up in a messy bun as she traded places behind the counter with Katie.
Katie shrugged as she headed for the back door. "Part of the job. Bye, Alana!" she called over her shoulder as she left out the back way.
"See you later!" Alana hollered back. She looked around the empty store. Then she eyed the clock on the wall. 7:03 a.m. Six hours to go. She sighed, leaning back in her chair, getting comfortable for her day. It was going to be a boring one, as usual.
A few people came in throughout the next few hours. Alana rang some out after they made minor purchases like Little Debbie's for the road or coffees to wake up for the morning. Others just wanted to use the bathroom. It was around 11:18 when trouble walked in.
He was a biker. She could hear his motorcycle pull in, the loud roar of the engine disturbing the quiet of the late morning hour. He parked it and came in, heading immediately to the register.
The man walked with a swagger, heavy boots thudding loudly with each step he look, demanding her attention. His pale green eyes leered at Alana from under long, greasy black hair. He let his fingerless gloved hands rest on the counter top.
Alana could smell the liquor on his breath.
"How can I help you?" she asked as she took a step back, a little intimidated by his presence. She didn't like the way he was looking at her, those intense eyes under dark eyebrows. The look in them was that of a predator.
"I'll take a pack of Marlboros," he said in a low, raspy voice. Alana nodded in response. She turned as quickly as she could, wanting to get the man away from her as soon as possible. The fact that his eyes were latched to her every move wasn't helping at all.
She turned back to him and rang up his purchases. "Anything else?" her tone was short. Professional.
The man gave her a nasty lopsided grin, thin lips pulled back, exposing grimy yellow teeth. "I'll take your phone number, sugar. You can just hand it over with my smokes."
Alana took the money from his hand as fast as she could. "No, thank you. That's against policy," she lied, needing an excuse.
He grabbed at her wrist when she returned his change. His pale fingers locked around her, unwilling to let go. She tried to yank free of his iron grip, but she couldn't. "Let go of me," she demanded.
"When you give me your number," he replied, his face very close to hers.
"Get the hell away from her," a voice commanded from behind the man. Alana and the biker both turned in the direction of the person who spoke. Relief flooded Alana when she recognized the twin brothers from Walmart. Both wore matching expressions of anger and determination.
The biker could see the challenge in their icy blue eyes. Slowly, he released Alana's wrists. He snatched his cigarettes and snuck out past the brothers, who glared after him as he slinked out of the store. They turned their attention to Alana as he drove off.
"Are yah alright, lass?" the darker one asked, his eyes kind, holding a gleam of worry. Alana recognized him as being the one who'd spoken.
"Yes, I'm fine," she assured them. "Thanks to you two."
"You're from the store the other day, aren't yah?" the blond asked. "Alana, right?"
She nodded, taking a step closer to the register. She was much more comfortable around the brothers than the biker. "And you're Connor and Murphy," she remembered, pointing to the respective twin.
The brothers smiled at her, but it was strained, as if they were still on edge from the confrontation. Alana felt it was up to her to ease the tension in the air. "What did you two come in for?" she asked, hoping to get some form of response that could change the mood.
"Oh, uh, we were comin' in for a pack of smokes. Con and I just had our last ones this mornin'," Murphy answered. She could see their posture's relax as the conversation started up.
Alana smiled brightly at them. "What kind would you like?" she asked, moving to the rack of cigarettes.
"Two of whatever's cheapest," Connor replied. "We're not too picky."
Alana grabbed the requested ones and moved to the register again. "Do you guys usually come here?"
"Aye, we do. It's close to where we live," Murphy informed her.
"But we usually come at night," Connor added as he stepped up to pay.
Alana smiled. "Well, I guess it's good for me that you came in early."
"Aye, it is," Murphy agreed with a smile as Connor nodded along with him.
Alana rang out the cigarettes and ignored Connor's outstretched hand that wielded a few crinkly bills. Instead, her eyes focused on her own hands as she pulled out her wallet from her back pocket. She quickly removed the cash needed to pay for the cigarettes and put it in the register.
Connor gaped at her actions, Murphy also stared with wide eyes. "Yah didn't have to do that..."
She shrugged and handed the packs over. "Don't worry about it. I owed you guys for the save today. My heroes."
Connor snorted as he passed Murphy one of the packs before stuffing his own into his black pea coat pocket. "Yeah, regular ol' Batman and Robin, eh?"
Murphy smirked as he nudged Connor's shoulder. "Yah do make a pretty good Robin, Con."
Connor spun playfully to smack his brother sharply on the back of the head. "Oh, yah just shut your hole!" he snapped.
Murphy grumbled an ow while rubbing the back of his head as he glared at his brother. His hand mussed his dark, messy hair. The childish expression on his face had Alana struggling to hold back a fit of giggles.
Both of them smiled sheepishly for their antics. Murphy blushed and Connor suddenly found the ancient, dirty floor tires to be very interesting. "Sorry," the darker twin apologized, "My brother's a bit immature. Sometimes, I happen to stoop to his level." Murphy jumped a little when Connor kicked him in the shin.
Alana just grinned. "It's fine. I'm glad I had something funny happen to get me through the day."
"Do yah work here every mornin'?" Connor inquired.
Alana nodded as she leaned on her elbows against the counter top. "Most mornings. And then I work at the Steak and Shake down the way some nights. I do tonight."
Murphy cocked his head, looking a bit like a curious puppy. "You're workin' two jobs?"
"Yeah. I just moved here to Boston so I took whatever I could get so short notice."
"Where'd yah move from?" Connor raised an eyebrow at her.
"Georgia. I just... needed to get away from there." She didn't want to talk about it. She didn't... even want to remember. It's why she'd left, so she'd never have to see the faces of pity. She didn't want it. She didn't deserve it... It had all been her fault...
The brother's sensed the sad note to her tone. They didn't want to pressure her. Murphy changed the subject. "So, how are yah likin' Boston? Bet yah've got some friends, yeah?"
Alana shrugged. "Not really... I mean, there was this guy... but that ended badly."
"He must'a been an idjit, then," Connor concluded.
"He was," Alana agreed with a shy smiled. She was about comment further when another customer came in.
The twins noticed they'd been keeping her. Connor took the lead to bow out. "Well, thank yah for the smokes, lass. Murph and I better be goin', though."
"Right," she agreed. "And thank you guys. Really. I appreciate it."
They headed for the door, Murphy waving over his shoulder at her. "Anytime! See yah, Alana!"
"Bye, Murphy! Connor! See you, soon!"
At least, she hoped she did. They were nice guys, all charming with their Irish accents and childish grins. But she'd have to be careful. She could see herself becoming too attached to them. And after him, that was the last thing she needed.
