Title: Right Round
Summary: The prompt was for an AU Toy story fic with the characters as humans, what came of it was Jessie working at a record store
Characters: Mostly Jessie a little Buzz
Notes: This one's for Rosie White (*cough*goreadherstory*cough*) as it was her suggestion and I apologize again for taking so blinking long with it! Actually, this was my second attempt at the prompt and I like it a bit better (especially cause I got a little crazy with it and developed everything much further than it needed to be even though it's not in this short piece *facepalm*). I cut it short, but to be honest, if I ever have the patience for it, I very well might extend it (not here in a separate piece). No promises thought (*ignores those that point out that she's still not working on that Star Command AU* ^_~).
Letting only a small sigh escape her lips, Jessie Pride resisted the urge to slap herself on the forehead. Instead, she forced herself to smile and kept her attention on the computer screen in front of her as she typed in the same two words for the third time. The man in front of her- a small nebbish looking fellow with larger horn rimmed glasses, a receding hairline and terrible posture- fidgeted where he stood flicking his gaze from Jessie to the back of the monitor and then to her again. She wondered what made him quite so twitchy and simultaneously didn't care. He drummed his skinny fingers annoyingly against the counter top as if the motion would make time or the search go faster.
Jessie was far too tired for this, especially so late into her shift. It wasn't like she had been blessed with much in the way of patience to begin with, but with the idea of only 20 minutes between her and sweet freedom it was a miracle she hadn't told the man exactly where to shove his request. The red-head waited as the archaic machine processed her request, as if it too couldn't believe that it was checking for the unfindable again. It came back with the same "0 search results found matching criteria" message that it had already shown her two other times. She firmly grabbed the sides of the monitor turning the screen to face the man in order to quell any thoughts that she might be lying. "I'm sorry sir, there's still no record in this store of a band called Luxo's Dream."
The man stared at the screen, blinking his owl-ish eyes repeatedly at it. Jessie tried not to glare at him too hard while he paid no mind to her, afraid that her face might freeze that way and she'd have to fully explain her distain when he looked back up. "If you don't mind," he said, finally as he eyed her wearily. "I think I'll go check for myself."
"Knock yourself out," Jessie said, turning the monitor back toward her and slumping down in her chair, but he was already out of earshot, hell bent on finding a cd that didn't exist.
She was glad for his hasty retreat. Jessie had always considered herself top notch when it came to customer service, but when someone acted the way the last man had it was hard for her to stop herself from calling them stupid to her face. Ultimately something like that didn't matter in the long run, but Anderson's was a record store that survived on word of mouth. It was likely that the man who was now nose deep in the oldies section didn't have many friends, Jessie thought ruefully, but it still wasn't in her to ruin her reputation or that of the store.
It wasn't just customer that was irking her so bad, but she couldn't quite place her finger on what that matter was. Maybe it was having to be up for internship orientation at five am that morning, maybe it was the day of classes that had followed said activity, maybe it was that Mr. "Oldies Search" had been one of four people in the store during her five hour shift, maybe it was that said shift had felt more like five days, maybe it was missing her third and arguably most essential cup of coffee for that morning. Or maybe just maybe it was the impending dinner tonight. When Woody had called the day before he had sounded so strange that Jessie couldn't help but worry what her brother was up to. He hadn't explained much just said he and Bo hadn't seen her in far too long and he wanted to catch up. It was just how he said it that had her confused.
Jessie was so preoccupied with her musing that she didn't notice the new person who had stepped up to her counter. He cleared his throat and jarred her from her thoughts "Excuse me miss," he said in an overly serious tone, "You wouldn't happen to know when my girlfriend's shift ends would you?"
A grin quickly overtook Jessie's entire face as she looked up at the broad-shouldered, blonde haired, blue eyed man standing in front of her. He looked rather dashing she thought in a mint green button up shirt and black slacks. Jessie practically dove over the counter, grabbing him in a hug. "I'm so glad you're here, Buzz."
"Did you think I wasn't coming?" he asked in confusion looking at his watch. "We're supposed to meet Woody and Bo at eight right?"
Buzz Lightyear was always terribly efficient about time and it was one of the many things Jessie loved about him. She had last count of how many times his punctuality had saved her from being late be it to class, work, or social gathering. Letting go of Buzz and glancing at the clock, she bit her lip. "Go browse around, I'll be right back." Jessie gave him a quick peck on the cheek and hurried back to the backroom to find her boss.
If she asked in just the right way Dolly might be willing to let her leave early even though the next shift hadn't arrived yet. Changing in the bathroom the cramped bathroom was sure to be a challenge all on its own. Trivial thoughts like that kept her from going back to dwelling on the night ahead. Whatever Woody had in store, Jessie knew having Buzz by her side would make it all that much easier.