Filed to story: The Healer and The Wolf PDF Free
I also had to hope the secondhand washer and dryer I’d gotten off Facebook Marketplace wouldn’t suddenly stop working. It was a skinny unit, with them stacked on top of each other, but it was so much better than biking into the city to use the laundromat. That was the risk of thrifting pretty much everything I owned, but I’d rather have secondhand than nothing at all. Besides, I liked to think I was giving everything a second life. Another chance to be loved and valued.
Did I wish I had a car or land I could truly call my own? Did I wish I didn’t have to bust my ass in a dead-end grocery job just to stay afloat? Or that I didn’t have to budget so strictly that even buying a new pair of work pants was something I had to carefully consider? Yeah, of course. But that didn’t stop me from being incredibly grateful for what I did have. I’d worked hard for it, and I’d come so far from that fateful night when I’d watched everything I knew and loved burn to the ground.
By the time I’d settled into bed, I was outright exhausted, though that was how I ended most my days. As I put my long, wavy hair into my bonnet and pulled up the covers, I couldn’t help but think about that wolf.
I hoped it was okay.
“Excuse me, miss?”
I looked up from the flavored waters I was front facing. An older gentleman stood next to me with one of the smaller carts meant for people who only wanted to pick up a few things. Considering how expensive groceries were, that was becoming more and more people.
“Yes?” I asked, grinning broadly. Tiffany wasn’t scheduled, so I was having a great day. It sucked how much she could influence an entire shift, but it was it was.
“I’m looking for
Frozen Coffee Rich.”
Frozen Coffee Rich?
I’d never heard of it, but the name gave me a pretty important context clue.
“Ah! Everything frozen is kept in our frozen section in the corner of the store.”
“It’s not there.” The man said it with such fierceness, you’d think I’d suggested he slap his grandchild.
I blinked, taken aback, and blurted exactly what I was thinking. “Are you sure?”
“Of course, I’m sure. I checked twice.”
I had no idea what to say. My area of expertise was the fruit and vegetable section of the store while Carlton was the expert in frozen, and Tiffany, the closest thing I had to a nemesis, had dairy. Although we didn’t get along, we made a great team.
“If you’d like, I can walk over there with you and find it.”
The man puffed up again like I had suggested some sort of act of violence against his family. Jeez, was he having a bad day or what? I hated when people took it out on me, and as much as I tried to empathize, sometimes it was just so out of pocket.
“Why don’t you just do your job and find out where
Frozen Coffee Rich is?”
I breathed in. I breathed out. I liked to think I wasn’t a violent person, but the temptation to deck the little old man was palpable. I didn’t, however, because I needed my job, so instead I nodded tersely.
“I’ll go get a manager.”
It wasn’t a long walk to the manager’s office, where I knew I would find Chuck, but I took my sweet time. Once I popped my head in, I relayed the conundrum.
“I’m pretty sure that
Frozen Coffee Rich is kept in the frozen section,” the middle-aged man said, a heavy sigh quickly following his words. It might have been just me, but
Frozen Coffee Rich was beginning to sound like a random jumble of sounds rather than actual words with meaning.
“That’s what I told him, but he won’t believe me.”
“All right, I’ll take him there without telling him we’re going to frozen. But while you’re here, I need to update you on something.”
“Oh?” Were we getting a new shipment in? Did he need me to pick up overtime? I’d taken the next week off, so I could use the extra funds to make up for it.
I wasn’t going anywhere, but I had some big projects to do on the corner of land I was renting, and it would be nice to have a physical and mental break from biking to and from work.
“I’m afraid I have to cancel your request for time off.”
“What?” I blurted, my mouth moving faster than my brain again. “But it was already approved!” I’d made sure to get the request in two months ahead of time.
“Look, we have a massive restock coming in for the holidays, and we need all hands on deck.”
“I’m sorry, but I already made plans,” I said, trying to put all the steel into my voice I could. Sure, my manager didn’t know that I was having a little staycation, but he didn’t need to.
“That may be, but I need to ask you to move them around. Remember our conversation yesterday? That point still stands. I need you to be a team player, especially if you’re ever looking to move into management.”
I bit my tongue, wanting to tell him where to shove it while also knowing I very much couldn’t. Technically, it wouldn’t hurt to bump my time off to a week later, and I could use the extra money from working overtime.
“Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”
“That’s my girl,” Chuck said with a grin and headed out. “You’re a lifesaver.”
I grumbled under my breath, but it didn’t really matter. What was done was done, and I would just have to live with it.
Still, I was rather glum for the rest of my shift and just went through the motions. Thankfully, I wasn’t approached by the