The Good, The Lazy, The Chaotic

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:

Chapter 10 (Coworkers: It Begins)

Sandra pulled Trina aside as she was getting some more prepared veggies from the back. "Trina, can you do me a favor?" She nodded swiftly, eager to help out. Sandra had her phone in hand and was looking at it with a furrowed brow. "Maddie needs some help this afternoon, until four. Can you do that?"

Her eyebrows rose and she felt her heart skip-an opportunity to help another store was ideal, though she wasn't too keen on working more hours. It was necessary as she could make more money. "Of course-but what about here? I'm on until two, right?"

"Yes. You eat your lunch and then go there to help." She smiled openly and looked at the walkway. This was a great chance to build report. It was also something to help show that she was and could be dependable. .L. that she was and could be dependable. "It's your choice though."

"I'll do it." She'd send a text to her dad to let him know, since lately he'd been worrying more than he ought to. It also gave her some time to not worry about anyone she knew causing drama like they were. "Where is it?"

"Straight down the street, on the right side. Turn out of our lot, take a right and after a mile you'll see it." Sandra smiled gently. "Thank you."

At the end of her shift, Cat was waiting for her at one of the tables to the left of the doors. Trina went around to get her sandwich first from an employee that she hadn't personally met before: Anton.

He was a teenager from the looks of it, slouching over the display case and staring back with tired eyes. "Can I get a BMT please? Wheat." Anton nodded and walked slowly to the case. Trina pursed her lips and watched him prepare the sandwich.

Once he got the meats on he rolled his eyes upwards towards her and poked a thumb to the toaster. "Would you like it toasted?" She nodded and watched him push the black tray in the toaster, pulling out the metal plate and flipping it in his hand as the timer went down.

Eventually they reached the register where she asked for the employee meal ticket. He waved his hand and spoke with a quiet drawl. "You don't need one." She jerked her head back, skeptical and unsure.

"I don't know, I'd rather not risk not filling one out."

"You don't need it." He didn't appear as though he was going to get one, so she took her sandwich and hurried over to Cat. The girl was leaning against her hand and rolling her eyes.

"That guy up there seems bored," Cat remarked. Trina chuckled softly.

"That's Anton. I haven't seen him before." Cat whistled and quickly grabbed one of Trina's three double chocolate chip cookies. She swat playfully at her friend's hand and smiled as Cat devoured the cookie.

"Can't help myself. I see chocolate, I'm eating it." Cat's eyes lit up and her smile grew wide. "Anyway! Are we on for the movie tonight? I've been wanting to see this thing forever."

"Of course. I'm helping another store though, until Four." Cat raised her eyebrows and dropped her hands to the table.

"Really? Trina, that's amazing!"

"I know. I really feel like they like me here."

"Seems like they value you at least." Cat flung her hair back and sat upright. "I mean they've been ignoring the drama getting stirred up by Beck and your family, and now they're asking you to help another store for a bit? They definitely like you."

Her heart rose high into her chest and she gazed out the window hopefully. "Yeah…" She bit into her sandwich, chewing slowly until Cat started to shake her arm.

"Tell me about Jason." Trina's face turned red and she stared down at her sandwich with nervous hunger. "You told me you were going on a date with him-you're going to give me details, right?"

"Well…"

"Ri-ight?" Cat leaned in, wagging her eyebrows and smirking. Trina moved back, laughing aloud for a brisk moment. "I mean seriously, you can't go on a date and expect your best friend not to want deets."

"Okay, okay." Her laughter subsided and she carefully placed the sandwich back on the wrapping paper. "If anything interesting happens, you'll be the first to know."

"Yeah, I'm just proud of you for finally deciding to date again." Cat tilted her head and hummed. "How long has it been?"

"A few years."

"What made you decide?"

Trina shrugged. It just happened that way for her, she didn't have any 'come-to-jesus' moment about it. "It wasn't like I had an epiphany or anything. I just…he seems like a great guy." She rolled her head to the right and bit down on her lip. "Different, I guess. He's different than some of the guys I've dated in the past, and this time it isn't like Tori or any of the others can influence or affect him."

Cat snapped her fingers and pointed out. "True…I remember that last guy you went out with. The guys convinced him you weren't worth dating, then he asked out your sister." Trina narrowed her eyes and frowned at the redhead.

"Thanks for the reminder." Cat flinched and cupped her hand over her mouth.

"Sorry." The redhead rolled her eyes and blew out a sharp breath of air. "I wasn't a part of that, it annoyed me then and it annoys me now. They took their dislike of you too far." Cat stretched her arms out and flexed her fingers. "But enough of that. Good luck helping out that other store."

"Thanks. It's only for an hour to two, if you want to wait around we could hang afterwards."

Cat took another one of Trina's cookies, broke it in half and tossed one half into her mouth. "We'll see." Cat chewed fast, then smirked as she swallowed. "Or you could pay a visit to your future hot-blooded lover." Trina rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Mature." She flashed a smile and sipped her drink. Cat shrugged and wagged her eyebrows.

"I have my moments."

She popped the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth and leaned forward, folding her wrists before her. "You said you once tried to date him…how'd that work out? I know he said he hasn't dated for real in years."

"Yeah it was just that one night." Cat shrugged and cast a bored glance at Anton while talking in a tone of nonchalance. "I dragged him over to Tori's, but he was uncomfortable the entire time. I know I made him uncomfortable with my constantly clinging to him."

"Oh?" She furrowed her brow and pouted her lower lip. She wasn't worried about clinginess, but hoped she wouldn't come across that way. "How were you clingy? You didn't like try and guess future lives did you?"

Cat's eyes popped out and she laughed. "Oh god not like that." Trina nodded and watched her friend wave. "I mean I latched onto him and never let go, from the moment we left Sikowitz's."

"Ah, I got it. I hope I don't come across clingy." Cat's lips pursed and she shook her head.

"You don't seem it."

"Not anymore, anyway…"

"Yeah. You're more grounded, whether or not that's because of shyness or your anxieties, or because you've grown…that's to be seen."

She'd changed, that much was true. Shyness and anxiety was certainly the cause, and she despised it. "I um…I am nervous." She swallowed the lump in her throat and shook her head. "I guess I need to get over it."

"No." Cat smacked her lips and stood up, slinging her purse over her shoulder. "Never say that to yourself, and never let anyone tell you to just 'get over it'." Trina mustered up a tiny smile and stood from her chair. "You were picked on by everyone, you were left alone by your parents and your sister-you were hurt. You shouldn't ever dwell on that or let it keep you down, but it is impossible to ever just 'get over it'."

"How do I not focus on it?"

"Just don't." She walked out the door with Cat, waving at Sandra and Nancy. They moved to her truck and she leaned back against it. "What I do when I find myself struggling with dark thoughts is I recognize the triggers, I recognize when they come, and I try my best to concentrate on something else."

"Does that work?"

"Sometimes it's hard. When you realize you can't do anything about the past, and focusing on what hurt you does nothing but damage you more, then you learn you have to change that. Being positive is always essential. Then when you can't be positive, you have friends to call on." Trina smiled more as her heart skipped a beat. Cat snapped her fingers and clicked her tongue against her cheek. "If you can't talk to me, you seem to have good coworkers, then there's Jason."

"Well Jason is…we haven't really gotten that deep, Cat."

"But you will." She sighed and shook her head at the girl while moving into her truck. "See you in a bit."

When she made it to the other location, she saw a tall dark skinned girl with her black hair tucked under her hat. The girl looked up from the cash register and Trina could see relief flowing away from her.

"Oh good, you made it."

"I hope I'm not late."

"Don't worry about that." The girl motioned to the door. "Code's 6-7-9. I'm Jess, by the way." Trina hurried in through the back, taking a notice of the restaurant.

The layout was almost diamond shaped, the back was a bit smaller and not as clean looking as Sandra's store. The line was also much different-with the meats and veggies almost reversed.

Even the toaster looked different. "Oh wow this is a change." Jess laughed and waved her over. "So where's Maddie?"

"She isn't here at the moment. I get off at four and the guy showing up isn't coming in until then. I also have a bunch of stuff to take care of, so let's get you in our system here…"

The register was different as well; instead of being a computer with an external fingerprint scanner plugged in, this one had one attached on the side as a part of it.

She went to put her finger up, but stopped when she noticed some tape. "Why is there tape?" Jess removed the tape quickly.

"Sometimes it gets dirty and we can't scan in, so we press the tape down on the scanner to pull off any dirt and stuff."

"Strange."

"Yeah."

They tried to register her, but for some reason she wasn't able to sign in. After ten minutes of trying, Jess gave up and said she'd let Sandra know so she could at least get paid. "I'll have to ring customers up, so don't worry about it." Trina tightened her lips together and nodded.

"Okay." She tried getting used to the line, and to the back, but it didn't feel at all like the store she considered home. She also didn't like being in a shopping square corner next to the freeway.

Customers came and went, surprisingly not as many as she was anticipating. Jess was hard at work stocking chips and sweeping the lobby. She was nice to work with and friendly.

The woman was in her twenties as well, which was a comfort-since she was slightly insecure working at a fast food restaurant where high school students tended to work. So having people like Jess, Nancy, and Sandra was a huge comfort.

Throughout the week, she helped more frequently with Maggie's store, taking great pride in being able to do so. It wasn't often, so she didn't feel like she was taking time away from her primary store, but it was Sandra that asked her to.

One day during that week, there was a strange older Indian man in the back talking to Sandra while Vincent was crushing boxes. She didn't know who he was, but was caught off guard when she brought the trash bins in after taking them out to the dumpster.

"Sandra is a good person," he said while rubbing his chin. Sandra was smiling brightly and looking up at the ceiling. "You listen to her and do what she says?"

"Yes." Trina nodded and started pushing the trash bin to it's usual spot. "Always. I like learning from her."

"Good. Keep it up and you definitely can stay." She raised an eyebrow and nodded once more, thinking that this man might be Mr. Shay himself, but she wasn't sure. He left and Sandra instructed her to go ahead and do the dishes.

Her first time doing the dishes, and it took forever because of the stack. She worked longer than she was supposed to be clocked out, so she was afraid of what might happen.t wasn't until the next morning she got the greatest shock of all. Vincent's name had been crossed off the employee hours roster. Sandra and Nancy were behind her. "Have some bad news," Sandra said calmly. "Vincent no with us anymore." Trina's jaw dropped and her eyes grew wide.

"Aw, he was your friend," Nancy remarked with a smile. Her heart started to sink and she looked towards Sandra for an answer.

"What happened?" She stuttered.

"He was fired." Sandra closed her eyes and shook her head. Trina was terrified it was something serious, because he was a much more seasoned worker than she was. "The owner saw him watching videos while working and fired him." Her knees started to buckle. She held her breath and closed her eyes.

"Oh god."

"That said…" Sandra approached her and she looked up into her eyes. "Can you work until five for me today? I know you were planning to work until two…"

Her first date with Jason was also tonight, but fortunately it wasn't until later. "If you need me, I'd be happy to." It hurt, but it was the best thing that could happen. Sandra smiled and took a deep breath.

"Thank you. I cannot find anyone else right now, so I appreciate it."

"Of course. I'm happy to work." She wished Vincent the best of luck, but she wouldn't mourn now, since it was time to get to work. This was going to be an interesting week, since she'd never seen an employee termination before. She was just surprised she lasted this long, but she was also frightened-even if that fear was only slight. She didn't want to be the next to lose her job.

Well, what are your thougths and observations?