Disclaimer: Psst, I'll let you in the loop: Hey Arnold? Yeah, it isn't mine. This chapter has more personal experience than usual, so I hope you enjoy it. Read, Review, and Spread the word.
HA
"It's green, bitch!"
Nate sent a sidelong glance at his best friend as she shouted at the cars in front of them who weren't getting off the line fast enough. There was no animosity in her voice, they were early for work and there was no hurry. That statement was just a habit neither one of them could shake. She laughed and took a swig of her thermos as the Mazda in front of them turned up their music.
"What's in the can?" he asked curiously, and she smirked that infamous Moser smirk her mother invented and Jillian perfected.
"Eye of newt, and toe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog, adder's fork, and blind worm sting, lizard's leg, and howlet's wing." She replied, while Nate laughed with a nod.
"So it's hot cider then." he affirmed before taking a modest drink, lest he burn his tongue. Again.
As Nate watched her accelerate towards the next set of traffic lights, her hands tapping in time with the erratic beats of the jazz-rock fusion CD they were listening to, he couldn't stop his heart from racing. She was just so damn beautiful, and she really had no idea – and if she did, she sure as hell didn't care. But he did.
They've been best friends since birth, seeing as their moms and dads were as well. Although once the Age of Hormones hit, he couldn't help but see her in a different, more sexual light; and being the shy guy he is, didn't say a word. His mom knew about his crush, told his dad, and now they both make fun of him about it, yet he knew that was one of their ways of telling him to get up the balls to ask her out.
"It's green, bitch!"
Once again her call broke him from his thoughts, and he finally noticed a purple line on the back of her arm just below the wrist. It was starting to blister, so he figured it was a burn of some sort, but she didn't have it yesterday. Nodding towards it, Nate questioned Jill about it.
"What the hell happened to you?" he asked, and she looked at her wound, before laughing and pulling into the Best Buy parking lot.
"I got into a fight with the iron this morning. It burned me, so I unplugged it." Jillian explained as she locked up her car – a red 1971 ford mustang, a hand-me-down gift from her mother for being the first born. They laughed, enjoying the looks of amusement their coworkers shot them as they entered, clocked in, snatched up a pair of working headsets and went straight to their areas.
Jillian professionally walked around the registry counter and began flipping through the week's ad, waiting for a customer ready to check out. Nate, meanwhile, moved behind the asset protection desk to watch the security cameras and marking products people bring in.
"How's it going over there Rep 1?" Nate shot through the headset, and Jill laughed while not looking up at him.
"It's Customer Specialist now, smart one." She smirked, before sliding the ad away and greeting her first customer of the day – of course he was tax exempt and wanted to do two separate transactions.
"Right, Customer Specialist now, I forgot."
"And if you go to our website, fill out a survey you could enter to win a $5,000 shopping spree at Best Buy. Thank you, and have a good day." Jill continued, ignoring her best friend's antics as she went back to browsing the ad.
"So, how's it going over there Customer Specialist?" she looked up momentarily, and caught sight of a middle-aged woman walking through the front doors with a large computer tower in her arms. She blew right past Nate and headed straight for Customer Service.
"I should be asking you that. Missed one." Nate looked at her confused, until he saw the woman walking with determination.
"Ma'am! Ma'am, hold on Ma'am!" he called, chasing after her with the ticket dispenser. Jillian laughed, and greeted the next customer. Of course, he was rather irate she knew she could only grin and be peaceable.
***
Much later in the day Jillian was sitting on the designated smoke bench, trying to enjoy her singular stress-relieving cigarette before her fifteen minutes of freedom ended and she had to go back to manning the cash register. It had stopped raining just before her break started, and the lingering smell of everything wet and rejuvenated hit her nose as the sun broke through the dark clouds. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite as strong as the residents of Hillwood would have liked, as the ominous black clouds began returning.
"Jillian, are you smoking?" The purely male voice that could make her legs go to jelly interrupted her thoughts, and she turned to see Nate standing shell shocked. Jillian looked down at the mostly smoked cigarette between her fingers, before returning his gaze with a half smile and a shrug.
"It's one of my vices – one cigarette a day at break to help with the stress." She explained, tapping off the excess ash into the awaiting sand can. Nate just sat down next to her, watching with intent curiosity. She smirked, but wouldn't look at him.
"You know Nate, it's really hard to enjoy my death of choice when you're staring at me like that." She informed him, finally turning her head with a smile. He shook his own head with a smile, as if chasing away a thought.
"Sorry, just never pegged you for a smoker. Although I guess it's expected; we work crazy hours, deal with crazy people, and are supposed to be pleasant all the time. Oh hell, lemme see that." Jill laughed as she handed over the last bit of cigarette, before looking at her watch with a disappointed sigh.
"Damn, back to the salt mines. Let's go."
She pulled him to his feet, barely waiting for him to stamp out the butt. Something in that nicotine stick of death must have given him courage, because they had barely taken four steps towards the door when Nate spun her around and slammed his lips onto hers. There was no pause of confusion or hesitation; it was as if Jillian knew what was going to happen, like she expected it. Nathan excitedly invaded her mouth with his tongue, and she fought back with just as much vigor; their hands roaming and caressing and pinching. They stopped, not when they ran out of air, but when Jillian's back hit the brick wall with a forceful thud.
"I've been wanting to do that since puberty." Nate admitted, and she smiled charmingly, taking in the dark skin of his father and the eyes of his mother.
"That's good. I've been waiting for it since puberty." Jill laughed, and Nate swooped in to kiss her again, enjoying the feeling of her knee brushing against his now very intense erection. They were slower, more sensual this time around, and she moaned as he copped a feel.
"It's a good thing you have a counter to hide behind." She whispered in his ear, and he laughed while trying to catch his breath on her shoulder.
"Yeah . . ." he panted, and the two probably would have started again, had not three of their coworkers called out to them.
"That was one of the hottest things I've seen on these cameras ever." Starly's deep voice rang out, and the two nineteen year olds laughed.
"Hey Jillian, what's in the thermos today?" came Z's voice, and the young blonde in Nate's arms smirked at the other mulatto man.
"Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf, witch's mummy, maw and gulf, of the ravin'd salt-sea shark, root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark, liver of blaspheming Jew –no offense – gull of goat, and slips of yew silver'd in the moon's eclipse, nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips, finger of a birth-strangled babe ditch-deliver'd by a drab." She listed off as she and Nate went back to start their shifts, hand in hand no less. She did feel kind of bad about the Jewish comment, seeing as Starly is Jewish; but Shakespeare was the one who wrote it, and he knew that. He also knew that was just how Jillian is.
"So it's hot cider."
HA
