Chapter Eight: Date – Part One
"Eren, you can go ahead and take your break now if you want." Mylius spoke, walking up behind the daydreaming girl. "Eren?" He quirked an eyebrow and poked her arm, trying to bring her back to reality.
"Hmm?" she replied, "what's up Myles?"
He looked at her a moment before replying, "It's Mylius, and I said you can take your break now, the store isn't too busy and I've already put away all the book shipments from last night so I can take over register duty for now. Log out so I can take over your station, and don't forget to clock out before you start your break."
Eren looked at him a moment, making no indication of leaving her station, "I'm actually alright, I want to get off a little early today anyway so I'm just going to skip out on break."
Mylius quirked his brow and stared at her for a moment. "Did you just decide that or have you already talked with Mrs. Shadis?"
Eren took in a deep breath. "I let her know before I clocked in this morning." She stopped and sent him a glare, "since when did you become the keeper of my schedule anyway?"
"Eren, no offense, but you're new here. I just want to make sure you're following proper protocol. No need to get offended."
Eren rolled her eyes and turned away, facing back out towards the empty bookstore. "Thanks, I'd say I appreciated the help, but I really don't so I'm not going to lie. Look Mylius, Mrs. Shadis paired me with Mina, and unfortunately she's not been feeling well, so I've been told to go directly to either Mrs. Shadis or Rico. So if I need clarification or guidance on anything, I'll just ask them, because no offense, you're new too."
"I've been here for a month." Mylius countered.
"And I've been here for half a week, while Mina's been here for two years, and Rico and Mrs. Shadis over ten. So I think it's better that we both go and ask those who have been here, hmm, I don't know, over a year and have actual experience. Don't you think?"
Mylius gave her a nasty look before returning to the back of the store to reorganize the already ordered books and their tags.
'He can be such a jerk sometimes, what the hell.' Eren thought. 'He's been really rude to me ever since I started here.'
She walked around the counter and went into the back to grab a pen and blank paper pad before returning to the storefront, where the snacks, drinks, and common needs products were located. She began taking inventory, first of the drinks, then the candies, snacks, and everything else in the aisles. Her process was interrupted several times by confused customers or overly concerned parents who either wanted every book used or every book new for their freshman students. These were the kinds of interruptions Eren liked because she got to guide people through the store and actually have decent conversation with them, and she generally didn't have to force herself to be pleasant or fake a smile.
The other interruptions, which Eren would gladly go without any day, were made by Mylius, randomly drilling her on what goes where and how to do certain things at the register and how to place this here or that there and what where. The only thing keeping Eren from snapping at him, was the thought that each moment she spent wasting away with Mylius chirping at her ear, was one moment closer to being able to spend time with Levi.
When she thought about him, she couldn't help but feel giddy and silly, like a young girl crushing for the first time middle school. Little butterflies would invade and flutter around her insides when she thought about sharing another meal with him, and when she thought about his perfectly parted, and undoubtedly silky black locks, or his piercing gray eyes, or his perfect complexion… and his body.
She stopped as she thought back to his appearance outside the apartment, the way his shirt clung so closely to his contoured and cut torso. She felt her cheeks heating up and had to quickly flush the image out of her head by thinking back to her earlier interactions with Mylius, which completely killed any pleasant feeling she'd just had.
As the bookstore neared closing time, Eren began to feel more nervous and excited. She began to mentally rake through her closet in hopes of putting together a few options so she could have as much time to get ready as possible when she got off. Unfortunately, the shipments that weren't scheduled to arrive until Monday, were walked through the door on an obnoxiously large excuse for a dolly. Ten boxes and only four people in the store, well two regular workers, the accountant Rico, and the manager Mrs. Shadis, which actually equated to Eren and Mylius doing all the un-boxing and sorting before they were released to go home.
The arrival of this shipment meant that Eren, despite already getting permission to leave right at 2 PM, now had to stay and help Mylius unload all the books from the boxes, record their arrival, and sort them into their proper place on the shelves. This also meant that Eren would be away from her phone for the better part of the next two hours, and into the third, when Levi texted her to let her know he was on his way to her apartment to pick her up. It wasn't until five minutes after 3PM that Eren was able to gather her belongings and clock out, before checking her messages.
2 missed calls – Mikasa, Levi. 3 messages – Mikasa, Levi, Levi.
Eren momentarily ignored the message sent by Mikasa and skipped straight into reading Levi's.
[Received 2:45 PM] Levi: I'm leaving in 10 minutes. No need to rush, but don't be alarmed when you hear a knock.
[Received 3:03 PM] Levi: Hey, I'm outside. You didn't answer when I called so I'm just going to wait in the car. Come on out when you're ready.
Eren paled. Looking at the time on her lock screen then back at the message. She quickly dialed his number as she raced towards the train station.
"Hello?"
"Levi, I'm so sorry, I'm running really late, there was a shipment that came in and I couldn't just leave and now I'm so behind and I'm really sorry I've made you wait."
"Eren? It's alright. Where are you right now?"
"Yes, um, I'm almost at the train stop near the campus. I'll be there soon, sorry."
"No, it's alright. Okay, turn back and wait in the lobby, I'll come pick you up."
"Huh? But wait-" the call was ended and Eren stood at the crosswalk between her campus grounds and the pathway to the train station for a moment before turning around and walking back towards where she'd just come from. Dragging her feet and feeling guiltier with every step she took.
Levi was waiting in the parking lot nearest to the lobby within 6 minutes of his call. After one more quick call to let her know he was there, and another 2 minutes of waiting, the pair were on their way back to Eren's apartment so she could freshen up and rid herself of the sweat she'd worked up from rushing to get home.
The car ride was silent, Eren was too ashamed to start a conversation with Levi and the only thing she was able to say during the short ride was, "Sorry" several more times until he told her to stop apologizing. Levi didn't speak because he could sense the waves of frustration emanating from Eren's awkwardly stiff form.
As they neared the complex, Eren instructed Levi to pull into the parking garage so he wouldn't have to wait in street above ground, where he'd previously been waiting for Eren. When she got out of the car, he hesitated for a moment debating whether or not to wait or go with her. His internal dispute was solved by Eren's quick and quiet words, "You can come wait inside if you'd like, I might be a little while because I need to shower."
She closed the door and slowly made her way towards the elevators, waiting for Levi to join her, which he did within a few quick moments of him exiting his Coupe and making sure it was locked. Eren guided him towards her modest apartment, silently thanking the Creator for Mikasa's earlier message which told Eren that she was going out with some friends who'd come back already and wouldn't be home until much later in the night.
Eren nervously searched in her purse for the key and the fumbled it a few times before she actually got it into the lock and unlocked the door. She walked in first, then left it open to allow Levi in. He nodded curtly and politely removed his shoes at the makeshift entryway to the living room and kitchen.
"Would you like anything to drink while you wait?" Eren asked while she slipped off her shoes and walked into the cramped kitchen space.
"A water is fine, thanks." He responded, following behind and accepting the cold bottle from her. The kitchen barely had enough space for both of them to fit, so he had to walk out before she could leave the cramped room.
"Well, feel free to make yourself at home," she paused and gestured to the cheap little sectional and sad excuse for a living space that paled in comparison to Levi's chic and mature style. She looked down, a little pink coming to her cheeks when she thought back to just how beautiful his home had been, and just how cheap and tacky hers was. 'Well, at least it's clean' she thought. "I'm going to make this as quick as I can, sorry about this Levi."
With that, she hurried towards her bedroom, grabbed her robe and some underwear to change into after showering then hurried back to her bathroom to start her bathing process.
She let the water heat for the better part of three minutes while she quickly brushed her teeth to rid her mouth of the odd flavor and dryness of nothing that comes from not eating all day. With her breath minty fresh, she undressed and hopped into the steaming stream of water, letting out a "Ack" when she realized she'd let it get too hot.
Her body quickly adjusted to the heat and she grabbed the bottle of shampoo and lathered up her hair, rinsing and repeating one more time for good measure, but mostly to make sure any smell of Mylius that managed to seep into her cuticles was removed. She then poured and layered a generous amount of peach scented conditioner and molded her hair to sit on top of her head while she started to scrub down her body.
She'd only been in the shower for about eight minutes when she deemed herself clean enough and leaned her head back to rinse the conditioner out. She was feeling okay, despite her lack of eating through the day so far. She was fine, until she quickly dipped down to grab her moisturizing, and lightly scented body wash. That's when the dizziness set in, and the nausea was soon to follow it.
This was Eren's normal routine, shampoo, condition, wash, shave when necessary, then rinse out the conditioner and do one final wash with a more expensive and fine smelling product so that the conditioner wouldn't clog her pores and cause any body blemishes to surface, and her skin would be softer, cleaner, and smell much better than cheap drugstore brands of body wash.
What was not a part of Eren's normal routine was the hot temperature of this particular shower, and fact that she hadn't eaten all day, not to mention missing out on dinner the night before in favor of cleaning. In her excitement about lunch, she'd completely forgotten to eat any breakfast or even have a small snack, she'd even skipped out on her break, and she was regretting it now, as she turned the stream of water off and weakly walked out the shower, trying her best not to move too quickly because of the strong nauseous feeling that set in.
Her body was overheated and weak and all she could think about was laying down. She sloppily threw her towel on the tiled bathroom floor and lowered herself, as slowly as she could, to lay on the towel and try to will away the feeling of sickness that had taken over her body.
She managed to loosely wrap the towel around herself, leaving most of her back and her legs completely exposed to the steam filled bathroom. 'Breathe Eren, breathe' she repeated the mantra to herself, trying to slow her rapidly beating heart and will her body to cool down so she could breathe normally. The trapped steam, from her too hot shower, continued to roam in the enclosed space, making it all the more difficult for Eren to breathe and cool down.
She lay there for what seemed like hours to her weak and woozy body, but in reality was only about ten minutes. She closed her eyes and hoped that the feeling would soon pass so she could get off the floor and at least put on her bathrobe. She didn't dare try to raise herself from the curled up fetal position she'd pulled into, she didn't want to risk feeling even more dizzy and lightheaded than she already was.
While Eren lay on the bathroom floor, trying to recover from her foolish string of actions, Levi sat, impatiently tapping his black socked foot against the cheap beige carpeting in Eren's living room. 'I need to pee. What the hell is taking her so long; I heard the shower stop, what, ten, fifteen minutes ago?' He looked around the room as he leaned forward and placed each elbow to a knee, while he tried to distract himself from the pressure building in his lower abdomen.
"I really need to piss." He said again, this time out loud as he impatiently looked back to the only bathroom in the cramped apartment. He stood up and began to pace before deciding to just go and ask Eren if he could interrupt whatever she was doing and use her toilet.
He stood in front of the white door and looked at, what he believed, was one of the crappiest excuses for a paint job he'd ever seen. He narrowed his eyes at the uneven strokes and little bristles of the cheap paintbrushes that were left behind. He then returned his attention to his original purpose and raised his hand to lightly rap against the sorry excuse for a door.
"Eren, sorry to bother you but can I use the bathroom for minute?" He questioned quite bluntly and calmly, despite his nearly desperate need to relieve himself.
He waited a moment for a response, and furrowed his brow even more when he received nothing. He tried to knock again, this time a bit harder and few more times than before.
"Eren?" he paused, and the continued, "Is everything alright? Are you even in there?" When silence was his only reply, he moved his hand down to the door knob, and turned it experimentally. 'It's unlocked.' He noted. He pushed it open just a sliver, and felt the warmth from the escaping steam glide across his hand and towards his face.
"Eren?" he tried once more, with the door slightly cracked, "are you okay…?" he opened the door a fraction of an inch more, allowing more steam to escape as he stood there confused as to why there was still steam if Eren wasn't in the bathroom, or had already left it. 'No, that doesn't make sense, I would have heard her, I've been in the living the whole time and she never came out.' A sickening feeling hit him in the pit of his stomach as realization washed over him, 'She never left the bathroom, and she's not responding.'
He then tried once again, "Eren, I'm coming in," and pushed the door open fully, allowing all the trapped steam to escape and stream across his face, partially obscuring his view from the curled form of a woman laying on the cold tile floor he now stood on.
"Eren!?"