It was half past close, unfortunately close was at 12:30 and i had been on the clock since 1. Not a double by any means but still long enough to find annoyance with the new guy. He was essentially useless and made more of a mess than he could clean up.
“I dumped out the mop bucket, is there anything else you need Rose?”
The mop bucket I told him to leave so I could finish up in the back. Nice. Bad enough he didn’t know how to clean up after himself when he spilled its earlier contents all over the front of the store.
“No, just go home I can finish up here.”
I walk to the front with him, examining the remnants of his mess. I would get to that after I refilled the mop bucket.
“Have a good night”
“Yeah, you too.” I lock the door after it closes so no one wanders in thinking we’re still open. I walk back behind the counter and look to my left;
“Alone at last beautiful”
She smiles softly at me, her eyes slightly crinkled at the ends. Her hair is in a braid that has loosened throughout the shift, but i think she looks better this way. Her fingertips touch mine and then we walk to the back to fill the mop bucket. I pull out my near dead phone and turn on our favorite pandora station, ad free courtesy of my older brother.
My phone in my back pocket and her looking into my eyes we start belting the first song that comes on. I fill the bucket with water and grab the mop off the rack. Newbie didn’t even empty the bucket properly. Figures. But that won’t bother me now, i am alone with the woman I love. Our out of tune voices echo in the empty store.
“You sound better than ever!” I say over my shoulder, I hear her laugh bounce off the walls filling the store completely with a warm feeling.
I dance my mop across the floor and i watch as she does the same. Dancing with a look of true happiness, she dips the mop like he's her partner. I laugh when she slips on the floor she just moped and giver her my hand to help her steady herself. I return our trusty partners to their racks and the buckets water swirls down the drain. I walk to the back and she rings the extra water out of a rag for me. I catch it out of the air after she throws it straight up towards the ceiling, droplets fall on our faces and we laugh together watching them stream down our faces like happy tears.
We take our damp cloths and damp faces to the metal counters lined up around the kitchen. We dance to Billy Idol as we wipe down opposite sides of the counter. The song rings true as the night deepens, so long as you listen shallowly anyway. I check the ovens on my way back to the sink and throw the dirty rag into the laundry hamper. The song begins to fade out as I walk to the counter to clock out for the evening and look to my right, my reflection smiles back at me in the two way mirror.
“Same time next week?” I ask my dance partner;
But the store is silent.
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