"Hello! Welcome to Flip's food and fuel!" Lori said with mock enthusiasm, though the customer didn't seem to care. They simply passed her and went to search for whatever people buy in gas stations nowadays. She just sighed and continued her shift.
After her mom left, Lori was left to be the responsible female role model in her siblings' lives. Therefore, she had to also earn money to support her siblings. With only one parent working, it was hard to get any money to do groceries or go shopping. And since there were ten kids that needed feeding, she had to work extra shifts to get at least three days worth of groceries just to sustain everyone. With her mother being a dentist, there was enough money to at least get all the necessary essentials, especially with the majority of the family being female.
Her dad still worked, but he could only do so much. He wasn't as high of an official as there mother, so he could only switch shifts when he worked hard enough. And no one was ever home to take care of the others. So, she gave the job of watching her siblings to her boyfriend Bobby, but there a consequence to that, too. Whenever she'd come home from work, Bobby would leave right when she entered the house, obviously exhausted from watching all of the children play whilst trying to forget of the emptiness that plagued them. So she never had time to spend with Bobby, either. Not that she could have, because of her job.
Sometimes she wished her mom was still there, making homecooked meals that could feed everyone. Not to mention that they were of higher quality than the slop that their father made. And that was when they actually had ingredients to work with. Now with the lack of food, he could barely make a meal for one person.
Lori rested her arms on the counter, waiting to greet another customer who happened to enter the gas station. She was lucky Flip gave her this job. She really needed it after the fiasco with Gus' Games and Grub. In fact, Flip gave her the job as soon as she asked. The only catch was that she had to put up with whatever happened at that place, and by that, she just assumed to not quit because a customer was overly rude or something. And she could agree with that. It's not like she could quit anyway, she needed the money.
Flip came out of his office, yawned and stretched, obvious signs that he was sleeping in his office. Again. He saw Lori behind the counter and gave her a grin. Lori nervously smiled back. He approached her behind the counter and moved closer to her.
"How d'ya like your job here, little missy?" he said cheekily. He was still grinning from ear to ear, which made Lori's heart speed up a bit.
Lori put on a fake smile. "It's great, Flip, thank you."
"No problem sweetie, as long as you're working for me, you'll be alright." he said slyly, placing his hand on hers. Lori's stomach lurched.
"Um, alright then." she said, moving her hand away.
Flip then moved his hands on both of her shoulders, massaging them. "You're in gooood hands." He said singsongly. He moved his mouth close to her ear. "You might just be my best worker yet.
With no other choice than to comply, Lori realized what price she had to pay just to get money for her family.