Guilty Pleasures

                                                          Guilty Pleasures

Some have the luxury of saying ‘no day’s the same’ regarding their job. I don’t. I work as a sales assistant at my local petrol station and most days are the same. I stand at the desk. Re-stock the same snacks on the shelves. I see familiar faces, some of which I know by name. Kirsty always comes in and gets a grab bag of Quavers with a small bottle of Tropicana orange juice. Ronald comes in and always asks how my day is going and indulges me in a chat about what he’s read in the newspaper that day.

          Today, I’m stacking packs of Bourbons on the shelf, when this guy walks in. He’s been coming here regularly for the past two weeks. He comes in and gets a £3 meal deal. He’s good-looking. Tall, with dark blond hair, deep-set dark blue eyes, neat facial hair and a toned torso. He smiles at me and scans the shelves for a ham sandwich, Dairylea dunkers, and a pouch of Capri-sun. He’s been getting this consecutively for the last fortnight. He pauses before grabbing a pack of strawberry Fruit Winders. He approaches the counter.

‘The Fruit Winders aren’t part of the meal deal, since you’ve already got those.’ I tell him, pointing at the dunkers.

             ‘Yeah, that’s fine.’

 ‘That’s a nice lunch you got there. I’m guessing it’s for the kids?’

‘Yeah. My daughter. She loves them.’

‘I bet! I did too when I was young.’

         He smiles and pays for the petrol and lunch, before leaving and driving away in his silver Volvo. An hour later, I finish my shift and head over to the car park.  I wade through, trying not to get run over, when I spot a silver Volvo. I think nothing of it, until I see the blond guy from earlier sipping his Capri sun and in his other hand, held his Fruit Winder covered in the cheese from the dairylea dunker. He looks away guiltily. 

     I never saw him again after that.

Christmas Blues

Christmas Blues

After being sat for so long doing nothing, the intermittent muted low beep of the smoke alarm caused her to finally make a move from the sofa. Stretching her long legs out, she stands and stumbles over to the kitchen. She reaches for the half coffee pot on the surface and pours it into a mug. She drinks it, swallowing the tepid liquid in one large gulp. Closing her eyes, she immediately remembers the night before. A work Christmas do. A bit too much prosecco and way too many glasses of champagne. Did she share a drunken kiss with the new guy in accounts? Did she accidently call her boss a wanker to his face? Who knows? That was future  Elise’s problem. Right now, her main concern was curing her hangover and surviving tonight’s Christmas get together with her family. But before all that, she was off to her local coffee shop.

           She sits at her usual spot and orders an oat milk hot chocolate and a smoked salmon bagel with extra cream cheese. She peers out of the window to watch the pedestrians stride past, some at a leisurely pace, some in quick succession. She’s about to take a bite into her bagel when she sees him. She looks closer to check her eyes haven’t failed her, but she knows it’s him. He’s pretty hard to miss, with his spindly body and his dark mass of curls. Adam. Her dearest Adam, who ended things with her just days before because ‘they’d grown apart.’ He was with someone. A petite blonde woman who had her arm linked with his, looking at him adoringly. The way she had once looked him. Elise quickly lost her appetite but still took a bite into her bagel. It gave her something to do.

Tallulah, Trust issues and Toasties

Tallulah, Trust issues and Toasties

Tallulah’s train was delayed. She sighed and decided to get some dinner before going to the waiting room. She went to the small café near the station and bought a ham and cheese toastie and a cup of tea. When she entered the waiting room, she was glad to see it was empty, with only the sound of the news on a small, plasma screen tv for company. Tallulah smiled contently as she looked at her toastie. She was about to take a bite when a man entered the room. He was on the phone, his voice raised.

‘For fuck sake, will you stop being so insecure?! I can’t keep reassuring you. The fact that you can’t trust me is quite clearly a you problem.’

     He looked as if he was about to say more but the person on the other end had hung up on him. Tallulah watched as the man stared at his phone and shook his head. He turned to her, as if seeing her for the first time.

‘Sorry. Woman troubles.’ He told her, apologetically.

     She gave him a curt nod. An awkward silence ensued. He took on a chair opposite her and looked around the room, his eyes finally settled on the tv screen. Tallulah was about to take a bite when the man started speaking to her again.

‘I hate this advert.’

She glanced over and saw it was the GoCompare advert. She nodded and felt his dark eyes scan her body slowly, before they rested on her face. She shuddered and felt cold all of a sudden.

‘Can’t you speak?’

  She stared at him blankly. He moved and sat one seat away from her. 

‘Nice top.’ He sneered.

       She wrapped her coat around her tighter. A nasty smile formed on his lips and it was only when he moved closer; did she notice he stank of alcohol.  He reached a hand out towards her, when she suddenly stood up and hurried out of the room, without a backwards glance. She saw her train had arrived and got on and found a seat. She finally took bite out of her cheese toastie; it had gone cold.

Unwanted Acquaintances

Unwanted Acquaintances

Does this dress make me look broad?’ Carlene asked.

     I looked up from my phone and glanced over at her. She was in a navy blue bodycon dress with a square neckline that exposed her decolletage area. The dress clung to every lump and bump, emphasizing all the areas she wasn’t happy with. When she told me about her insecurities, I immediately reassured and told her all the things I knew she’d like to hear. I told her how she always looked lovely to me, even though I had noticed she had gained a bit of weight. Granted, her body had changed after she had the baby. Rufus, who was one now, was our raison detre. I read up online and found out how baby weight can be hard to shift, so I suggested she could sign up to the gym. She told me she will, when she had time. (That was three months ago.)

 I looked at her once again.

‘No darling, of course not.’ I smiled at her to reassure her. She smiled back.

‘Okay. Was just checking.’ She stepped closer towards me and held my hand.

‘I signed up to the gym, I start tomorrow.’

‘Oh that’s great darling. Now, we ought to get a move on.’ I replied, glancing at the clock. 

‘Yeah, sure.’

       We left the house and walked to our local chinese restaurant where we were meeting Cindy,  an old friend of hers. She was there when we arrived. Blonde. Attractive. Slender legs with a long body to match. Her blue eyes looked friendly as she greeted me with a smile and a hug.

 We sat down and ordered food. Her and Carlene caught up and reminisced on old times. I noticed Cindy kept holding my gaze longer than she needed to. Whenever I told an anecdote, she’d seem engrossed and would laugh at my unfunny jokes. Carlene looked at her with a quizzical expression, yet didn’t comment on her overt flirtiness. I was drinking my beer, when I felt her shoe touch mine. I moved it instinctively. Carlene excused herself to go to the loo. Cindy’s shoe made contact with mine. This time, I didn’t move.