Chapter 6
Her pharmacy was just a stone throw away. After dropping Anna at Mrs Goodridge's (well, the older woman is doing business as a daycare), she had dragged him down to the establishment and draped an apron over them both.
The pharmacy was like any other. From outside, it was squished in between a saloon and a boutique, the overhead sign blue with the words "Olivia's Pharmacy" in bold Arial. It was lined with some pretty practical plants, giving it a welcoming presence. The inside was just a clean basic square-ish platform, lined with aisles smaller than the ones Cas saw in Tesco, filled with items that he has never even heard of. The walls were painted pastel yellow, and had built in shelves that contained plastic bottles of various shapes and sizes. There was a long counter with a cash register at the end, and right behind it was a wall of shelves filled with boxes of medicine.
"It's pretty small, but I take care of it like my own home." She said, bristling with pride. She walked to the register, powering it on with a few clicks. Cas felt lost, a little unsure of what to do. He fidgeted down a couple of aisles, his eyes scanning the healthcare products. Starry started the computer on, and disappeared behind a door at the back.
The main door opened, revealing a pretty brunette with medium length hair, her hand holding a deep green apron, similar to Starry's. She put it on, unaware of Cas' presence.
When he was actually right in front of her, she yelped in surprise, her hands coming up in a defensive position, her face as pale as sheet.
Then she took a deep, shaky breath.
"HELP! A BURGULAR!" She yelled loud enough to burst someone's eardrums and then some, and scrambled to hit him with a nearby umbrella. She had landed a few hits on him, when Starry popped out of nowhere and held her back.
"Dorothy, calm down! You're hurting him!" She ordered, her hands holding down the rather dangerous umbrella. Cas was on his feet, propped up on one of the aisles looking as dazed as ever.
"Starry? He's not a burgular?" She asked, confusion playing in her eyes. Her large round spectacles was now crooked, and she looked like she just got mugged.
"No Dorothy, he's our new employee." Starry said, her voice testy. "His name is Cas, and I'd like it if you didn't hit him every time you come for work."
Dorothy laughed sheepishly, her hand coming up to scratch her scalp. Starry helped the angel up, checking if he was harmed. Dorothy's hand extended to him in an attempt to shake his own, a timid sorry coming from the younger lady.
Even though he was practically assaulted after being in the presence of the woman for less than 5 minutes, he shook it anyways.
He finds himself holding a broom, sweeping the floor of Starry's pharmacy, just like how she showed him. He played with the collected dust, keeping his head amused with the particles that pooled at his feet. Starry had held a quick employee meeting in the back room, and announced he'd be working here, cleaning or doing inventory (which she will teach him how later on), until he has to leave.
He'll be paid, of course. A small amount is deducted from his pay, the necessary money for his food and accommodation (She says it's a small amount, but the truth was she didn't even take a single cent from him.), but the money he earned through hard work will be going straight to his pockets in cold hard cash.
It'll do for now, Cas thought.
In the back room, a heated debate was exchanging between Starry and Dorothy.
"You did what?!" Dorothy hissed in disbelief.
"Well what do you want me to do? He was just lying there, in pain! You can't expect me not to help!" She defended, wringing her hands.
"But he's a stranger, Starry! What if he killed Anna?" Which was low for Dorothy, and even she herself knew it. Using Anna as a leverage to win this stupid debate is low.
"Well he didn't, did he? Look Dorothy, I saved him, and he didn't kill anyone." Starry said, her fingers carding through her hair in frustration. She had kept it loose this morning, because she was eager to show Cas her pharmacy. Now she thinks she should braid it, since it was flying everywhere.
"I get your point about saving him, Starry. I do. But right after he gets better, I'd kick him out. And by kick him out, you know I don't mean it that way." The brunette said knowingly, her dainty fingers pushing her slipping spectacles up the ridge of her nose. "He looks better already."
"He doesn't have a home." Starry said, her eyes casting downwards. This will get ugly, she cringed
"AND YOU LET A HOBO STAY IN YOUR HOUSE? STARRY! THAT'S-" Dorothy bellowed, and in a split second her jaw was shut by the older woman. Sometimes it scares Dorothy how her boss can move that fast without her noticing.
"Shhh!" She hissed through gritted teeth. Starry doesn't get angry, but Dorothy's reaction to the issue was rising her temperature through the roof. She kept her hands on the girl's mouth, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"He's looking for his home, and until he finds them, he's staying with me. I appreciate it of you'd be friendly towards him, since we needed the extra hand for the pharmacy."
A knock on the door pulled them both away for a moment. "Umm, Starry? There's a customer." Cas' voice came from behind the door, unsure of what to do.
Starry lets Dorothy go, and the younger woman made her way to the door.
"Okay. But Starry, I can't help but think you're just doing this because you needed a substitution for Adam." Dorothy said with finality, her back turned to the older woman. She opened the door to one very frazzled Cas, and went on to greet the customer.
Starry sighed, feeling very depleted as she slumped into the worn couch. Dorothy's last words tugged at her heart strings, and her eyes burns at the mention of Adam.
No, she wasn't looking for a rebound. Cas is not a rebound. Adam was the love of her life. There was no way she's going to open her heart to another man, no matter how unfair it was for Anna to grow up without a dad.
She kept her face buried into the couch, trying to keep herself together. Minutes later, she stood up, tied her long hair into a thick braid, and stood up with a renewed fervor. When she opened the door, she was determined to get through the day as positively as she could.
Dorothy flickered her bespectacled blue eyes to the man who was rearranging baby diapers on aisle 3. It was a pretty slow day, and the last customer she had came in about an hour ago. Currently she's on her lunch break, and Starry's in her office, calling the numbers for more stock.
What was his name… Cas, was it? Dorothy thinks he's a little weird. He moves like he doesn't really have a clue on what he was doing, but he does it anyways. Like he has nothing else to do. Sure, the slightly built figure under that blue polo and apron Starry insisted as a uniform just confirmed he's too much of an eye candy, too well kept to be homeless, but maybe that's because Starry had cleaned him? She doesn't know, she doesn't know anything about the man, and that really rubbed her wrong.
Dorothy doesn't like "unfamiliarity". Heck, she worked here because she practically lives there, even before Starry turned it into a pharmacy. Her grandmother had it as a sweet shop, where the very same aisles were lined with chocolate bars and liqourice. Her mother had told her stories that liqorice was just sweetened rat tails, and chocolate was just condensed glucosed mud, but that never stopped her from sneaking a bite every time she comes in.
After her grandmother died, the sweet shop went downhill and closed down, and soon after that, Dorothy went to college and put the shop at the back of her mind. One day she came visiting, and there was a woman at the front door putting down potted plants.
She wasn't in her right mind at that time. There were actual cat claws and raised voices on that day, and she went home with a bloody scratch on her arm.
Starry was in the same state as her.
But they got over it and Starry had agreed to let her work in the pharmacy. She kept everything that was the old sweet shop in place, only giving the space a new lick of paint and stocking it with medicines and healthcare products. Dorothy thinks it's as close as she can get to her old grandmother's sweet shop, and happily worked under the older woman.
But she's not happy with Cas. Usually the employees in the pharmacy would be chosen among familiar faces, not someone who was a complete stranger, homeless and currently living with her boss. Fran, the last employee Starry ever hired, left town years ago. No one has ever heard from her since.
She didn't hear Cas came over to the counter, so when she looked up from her focused thinking and saw Cas too close for comfort, she yelped for the second time that day.
"I swear dude, you'll give me a heart attack one day." She hissed, trying to calm her erratically beating heart. Cas cocked his head to the side, and looked like he was about to apologize. Instead, he took a step back.
"What do you want?" She snapped, testy and pissed. The angel sank his hands into the pocket on the front of his apron, and produced a bag of m&m.
"Would you like some? Starry gave them to me." He said, tilting the plastic package her way in invitation.
She loves chocolate. Starry knows that. Dorothy can't help wonder if her boss is setting this up, a conspiracy against her so she'll take a liking to the new employee.
Cas' blue, blue eyes are honest. She knows they are, because she was born with the ability of knowing when someone lied. Her beloved grandmother would sing praises about that—
"If you don't want them it's alright," he had said, stopping her train of thoughts. He started to withdraw his hand, his head hung down and looking rather dejected. Unconsciously, her hand came up and trapped his. "N-no! I mean, I want them, thank you Cas." She stammered, her eyes shifty with guilt.
She's not really that social. If anyone asked her, she'll tell them she's never even had a crush before.
She tore at the seam, and popped a few of the colorful confectionary into her mouth. She didn't realize she was smiling, since her mind was running back to the memory of a 7 year old Dorothy, sitting on a big dictionary prepped up on a chair because she couldn't reach the very same counter she was leaning on, savoring chocolate bars alongside with her beloved grandmother.
"I like chocolates. Yesterday Starry let me eat lollipops." She heard Cas say. Popping a few more into her mouth, she chuckled openly, even though her head says she shouldn't be so comfy with the older man.
"Dude, what is it with you? It sounds like you never had chocolates before." She finds herself saying.
"Actually, I never had the occasion. This would be my first time eating these." He said, eying a small blue m&m between his fingers before putting it into his mouth. Her eyes catch the curiosity and the amazement that flickered in Cas'.
"Are you for real? Never?! Wow, you must have an awful childhood." She said with a laugh.
He looked confused, but shook his head anyways.
"My grandmother owned a sweet shop." She said when her laughter subsided. Her eyes widened, surprised that she was letting a stranger know about her life. She couldn't stop the words,
"Actually, this very shop we're standing in."
Or maybe she just didn't want to.
Cas went very silent, intent on listening to whatever she said.
"There was that day, exactly like this, when I was 7. I just won a medal for the science show, and she was smiling so wide I couldn't stop laughing." She laughed a little, before continuing. If she closed her eyes and listened carefully, she can still hear her past self's laughter echoing through the room.
"She said she had a new treat for me, something she made herself. And right there, on her pretty plates was a bar of chocolate. She gave some to me, and I hesitated."
"Usually she'll let me eat the usual peppermint candy, but that day she gave me chocolate. She said to me that I need to be adventurous, and try something new." Her voice came to a soft note.
"Open your doors to a whole new world of possibilities, and never regret it." She whispered, a distant look on her pretty bespectacled face. Cas nodded along, and took in another bite of the malty goodness.
She went off work at 5, taking off her apron and stuffing it into her handbag. After she waved goodbye to Cas and Starry, she switched on her scooter and headed to the nearest Wal-Mart to get some milk, and probably some take out for Andy.
One the way in, she was suddenly shoved to the ground, and a man wearing a black mask zoomed past her and took her purse. Then he ran away, like a game of ding-dong-ditch.
"HELP! THAT MAN JUST STOLE MY BAG!" She yelled, clambering up and trying to chase the perpetrator. She had her knees bleeding when she hit the ground, and it was proving to be hard on her to run. Dorothy could feel the despair, seeing the evil man's figure disappearing into an alley, along with her bag.
Another man zoomed past her, and with a loud yell, promised her to catch that thief. She didn't really see his face, but he was well built and fast.
It was a cold night, but that didn't stop Dorothy from caving on to her knees, as she waited for the man to come back. She didn't know how long she waited, her knees just bleeding into the pavement, how many passerby's that gave her long, pitiful looks. A good 20 minutes later, she stood up, and limped all the way home.
The next day she came in late for work, since she had to arrange Andy's accommodation to school, and then find a ride to work, and in the midst of all got caught up in a horrifying traffic jam. And she haven't even eaten breakfast yet.
When she pushed the pharmacy's door open, a tall, well built man was at the counter, animatedly chatting with Starry while Cas rearranged the medicine on the shelf behind.
The man- scratch that, fireman, was telling a story, enchanting a few of the customers with his tale. His hat was on his noggin, and he was wearing an undershirt so tight it stretched across the plane of his chest. In his hands was his orange uniform, and his smile was as dazzling as his obvious washboard abs.
His eyes met hers, and her breath was caught in her throat. Suddenly the room was silent, everyone somewhat acknowledging her presence.
He pulled out her bag, the one that got stolen away, and with a shy gaze he grinned.
"I promised you I'll catch him." He had said, exactly the same voice she heard last night.
Open your doors to a whole new world of possibilities, and never regret it. All she could do was smile, thinking that her grandmother's words were right, and she should follow it.
The fireman, Rudy, winked at her when he caught her staring.
Dorothy finds herself feeling good with something new, for the first time in a very long while.