Chapter 1
Stability
Aeris POV
The snow was crunching under her feet. Aeris was walking home after another day of work. It had started to snow while she was there and wasn't showing any sign of letting up. The streets of Toronto were empty except for the occasional car.
She stepped inside the front door to their apartment building. It was warm inside, something one takes for granted until they have to walk the streets of Canada in the dead of winter. She walked up the stairs, taking each one at a time. Two floors later she was in front of her own apartment. Quietly, Aeris opened the door, careful not to wake her roommate, Leo. It was almost eleven and he would be asleep in his room by now.
The room was quiet. She slowly walked into the kitchen and put her bag down. The TV was on and Leo was asleep on the couch, again. Aeris became a little annoyed, he had to leave the house at 8 in the morning so he wouldn't be late for work again. She turned off the TV and kicked the couch. Leo jerked violently and fell on the floor.
"Ow!... Oh, hi Aeris. You're home late."
"I know, GameShop was busy so they asked me to stay. God knows we need the money."
"Yea, I guess I'll head to bed now that you're home."
"It's 11 and you have work at 8. Come on Leo, you're lucky you even have this job. I…no… we need you to hold onto it. Money is tight and the rent is going up again."
"I know, I know. I just can't stand working there. A gas station at minimum wage, what could be more boring than a gas station?"
"I don't know Leo, I'm still try to get the manager to take you back. Maybe he will at least write something nice about you if you apply somewhere else. Now go to bed."
Leo got up and shuffled over to his room, shutting the door behind him. Aeris just stood there thinking. I want to help him get a job somewhere else. The poor guy hates where he is now. The problem is he can't hold down a good job. All he does is anger someone important and get fired. Maybe I can at least help him a new job at BestStop. It's all electronics, he'd like that. I guess I can talk to him about that tomorrow, right now I just want to play something until I'm so tired my reaction time is too long to measure.
Aeris walked to her room and turned on her computer. She didn't need to work Sundays so she played Unreal Tournament. If it's this late now it must be morning in Korea. Time to kick some Korean ass. (No offence to Koreans, you guys are all cool in my book.)
The Next Day:
Leo POV
Leo's alarm starting going off at 7:30 in the morning. He just laid there for about ten minutes before he could force himself to get up. Another day of work. I don't want to go but I don't want to let Aeris down…again. He put the first set of clothes he could find, which were likely dirty, and left without making a single sound. He didn't want to wake Aeris because he knew Sunday was the only day she had the morning off and she likes to sleep in.
The station where Leo worked was roughly a ten minute drive from their apartment. He took the blue sedan that he shares with Aeris and drove there, expecting yet another glorious five hours of boredom. Unfortunately for Leo, he was right.
Aeris' POV
Finally, the one day of the week I'm not woken up by an alarm or Leo. Aeris woke up around 10 AM. She didn't hear Leo leave, which surprised her. Usually he is so loud that he wakes her up. It was a nice surprise to sleep so late without interruption. She got out of bed and walked into the kitchen, still in her pajamas. Breakfast time. Why not treat my day off to a nice start. An omelet sounds nice. Aeris cracked a few eggs into a pan and made herself what seemed like the greatest omelet she ever made. The smell in the apartment was heavenly. She sat down at the table and enjoyed her simple meal. So, Leo is at work and I have the day off. He won't be back until after 1 so I have the apartment to myself until then.
After taking care of her dishes Aeris walked into their living room. There they had a nice TV with an xbox, ps3, and wii. She put Final Fantasy into the xbox and began to play. I hope Leo is having a good day at work. When he doesn't, I never hear the end of it.
The next five hours passed fairly quickly. Leo came home at about 1:15 as usual and it was instantly clear he didn't enjoy work that day.
"You know the phrase 'The customer is always right'? Well it's one of the biggest lies ever told, right behind 'She told me she was 18.' What kind of idiot tries using a gas pump that says 'out of order' on it? Aeris, I will do anything to get a new job."
"Fine, we'll go out looking today. The mall is open today so we can start there. Maybe they will take you back at GameShop, if they don't we can try BestStop. I'm sure someone will hire you."
"I don't know Aeris, I just don't know."
"Come on Leo, for me. We need money and I don't make enough We'll go and just apply to a few places. Otherwise you're stuck at the station."
"I guess I can't argue with you. I'll drive."
The two took their car and drove to the mall. First they went to GameShop. When they talked to the manager he asked to speak to Aeris alone while Leo played the guitar hero demo in the store.
"You do know why we fired him, right?"
"It was a misunderstanding, I was there."
"Aeris, he yelled at a customer. I was there too."
"Yea, well that customer had it coming. He was getting mad because he couldn't return a game after the warranty expired. That guy was a jerk and Leo put him in his place."
"You know as well as I do that I'm friends with Leo and didn't want to see him go, but I had no choice. It's store policy and he broke the rules."
"Work with me Dennis. He needs a job and where he's working now won't cut it. I don't even make enough money to pay the rent, never mind food and stuff. Leo needs a job that actually pays."
"My hands are tied Aeris. What do you want me to do?"
"If he applies somewhere else, will you be a reference? Tell them he was a great employee, and when they ask why he was fired say that you had to get rid of someone and he drew the short straw. It doesn't matter, just make sure that they will hire him."
"Fine Aeris, I'll do that. My credibility will be on the line, so make sure he doesn't screw up."
"Thank you so much Dennis. I'll bring you coffee next time I work in the morning."
Aeris ran back just in time to see Leo get a high score in the demo. He better not screw this up or Dennis might fire me too.
"Come on Leo, you're going to get a job at BestStop. Dennis said he would help."
They walked down the length of the mall until they came to BestStop. The store was massive and almost all electronics. It was Leo's favorite store after GameShop.
"OK Leo. Go over to customer service and they'll give you an application. I'll be looking at games."
"Don't worry Aeris, I won't let you down."
Leo walked off with an extreme sense of purpose. Please get this job Leo. He came back after a few minutes and they left the mall together.
"So what now?"
"I guess we just wait. They won't even look at your application until tomorrow."
"Well I'm starving, can we stop and get some food? I'm thinking pizza."
"I have a better idea. Tonight you eat whatever we have back home, then tomorrow if they call and give you an interview we can get pizza."
"So in other words, 'No Leo. You can not have any pizza!'"
"Damn it Leo. Don't argue. I feel like your mother sometimes. Let's just go home, make dinner, and play some xbox."
"Fine…"
Times are tough my friends. Even Leo and Aeris could use some extra money. I hope Leo gets that job because he needs it. And I'm sorry but the first couple of chapters will be a bit boring. I love detail and filling in the plot so I'm going to do a little bit of background like this. But don't worry, the story will pick up quickly.
For future reference: Italics means that it's a character's thoughts, Bold means it's an author's note/chapter name, and if something is in parentheses it's a side note. That means it isn't directly related to the story but provides information that would be difficult otherwise, such as an author's note or if a character is talking in a certain way that wouldn't be obvious.
Also, when I write I'll use a lot of detail. If it seems like the story is just being dragged on I apologize. Just leave a comment telling me. Everything people say in reviews I'll read over and consider.
Thanks for reading another chapter, please review, and I love you.
~Bogren
