A/N: Now that I have a little time on my hands with the 'Rona disrupting our work hours and daily lives for a while, I have some more space in my schedule to update this little story. I still don't have an outline, but I've found that this story works best without a set outline, just writing from the flow of it.

Stay safe out there. Wash your hands. If you're sick, stay home if you can. Don't go outside if you can't. Take care of yourselves.

Chapter 5

I was grateful for an empty house, but I wanted to make sure my mom was really away. "Mom?" I called out. My voice echoed a bit against the apartment walls. "Thank God," I sighed as I walked past the kitchen, down the hall and into my bedroom. I flopped onto my bed after placing my bag near the edge of it, burying my head into the pillow.

A few days later, I walked into work and saw him again.

Edward was at the last register near the Men's section of the store wearing our store uniform and name tag, with Carmen showing him how to work the cash register. My breath caught in my throat as I sped past the front and ran through the Sportswear section. Sportswear was a big enough section, separated into smaller subsections: Pants and Jeans, Tops, Juniors, Women's Plus Sizes, Lingerie and Intimates, and Dresses. It was easy for me, who was kind of small and short to begin with at 5'3", to get myself lost and unnoticed. So I sped around the Dresses section and towards the back room to sign in for my shift.

I had a feeling Edward would get the job, but I was also hoping he wouldn't because that would make my life a little harder for my growing interest for him. Not that I was looking for a boyfriend or anything, but I couldn't help but imagine…

Remember what happened last time you let your mind imagine? I thought to myself and shook that bad thought away before more showed up.

I signed in and pushed the door open, bumping into Angela. "Oh, hey Angie."

She smiled as she moved out of the way. "Bella, hi. How are you?"

"I'm doing good. You?"

"Good, too. You know that guy started today." She smiled knowingly with a smirk across her lips.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, looking down and hiding a smile. "Yeah, I noticed. That was fast, I thought he wouldn't start until next week or something. I wonder how long he'll last."

"Maybe a good while, if you're still here by then."

"Believe me, I'm not looking for anything other than work this year. Forever, actually." I smirked. "And besides…you know what happened last year right? With him." I could feel my breath shaking already. Why did I bring him up again?

Angela's smile fell as she remembered the drama last year. "Oh yeah. I'm sorry, I was just joking…"

I nodded. "Yeah, I know. So can you please not, like, joke about him anymore? I barely know the guy."

She nodded too. "Yeah, yeah, sure. I'll stop or whatever." I sighed deeply in relief, shaking off the chilling feeling of the memories that I was still working through. "So you're closing tonight?"

"Yeah, again." I replied, rolling my eyes playfully. "You too?"

"Yeah. Looks like it'll be an easier night though."

I put my stuff away in our locker and we walked together to the women's fitting room to check how messy it was or wasn't. The fitting room was basically a long hallway separated into two pathways of four narrow cubicles with small seats on the inside. The hallway's walls were an off-white color, with the narrow cubicles and seats a tan color. Each cubicle closed with a door for privacy.

We walked up behind the cashier line to check our break times, past Edward's spot. My heart sped up a bit as I walked past him, and his head turned towards me as if he knew I was watching him. He turned to throw me a crooked smile before tending to the next customer who walked up to his table. I couldn't say anything back, of course, but I still smiled a bit before turning back to the break schedule.

Angela stayed behind to help with the line of people forming in the checkout line, while I left to go back to the fitting room to clean out some of the rooms. The hardest part of my job was picking up the clothes left behind haphazardly in the cubicles, hanging and sorting them by section onto a yellow rack, and literally pulling the racks from the fitting room onto the floor to run the clothes out. It was repetitive, tiring and sometimes exhausting, especially if the store was busy, packed with people coming in and out of the stalls.

After I finished one small rack of clothes, 2 long beeps over the loudspeaker sounded and Edward's smooth, velvet voice called, "Bella from Sportswear to register 12 for a price check."

My heart sped up in my chest all over again as I sighed deeply. Hiding a smile, I left the small rack on the edge of the floor and walked up to register 12, where Edward stood holding a floral skirt. On the other side, a young mother smiled a bit, while holding a little boy in her arms.

Edward smirked nervously. "Sorry, Angela's here so I didn't know who else to call."

I smiled too. "It's ok, I'll kick her ass later for abandoning me." I accused jokingly glancing over to her, making sure she heard that last part. On the next register next to Edward, I caught her sticking her tongue out before bagging her customer's things. I rolled my eyes and went back on the floor to the Junior skirts. I searched the Junior skirts for either the same brand or a similar-looking skirt, my eyes finally landed on the same skirt in a different floral pattern. I grabbed it, checked to see if it had a price tag, then walked back up to register 12. I handed Edward both skirts, and he scanned the one with the price tag.

"It's $7.99," He told the customer, who nodded and said okay. He handed the skirt back to me. "Thanks." His dimple popped out for a minute as his lips curled into a crooked smile again, and I could feel my cheeks heat up in a blush. I nodded, smiled back and walked away.

Am I in trouble already? My thoughts wandered. This is going to be a long day.