3 Just a Convenience Store

Gray entered the little decorated store at the corner of the street that appeared only a few blocks away from his apartment complex. He had decided to check it out once he spotted the little 'hiring' poster taped onto the glass doors.

A little bell chimed as he opened and closed the door behind him. Strangely, it seemed that he had entered the little store when no customers were present. He glanced up and down the shelves as he walked through the many aisles, examining curiously at the neatly placed and sorted items and snacks.

There was not even a speck of dirt on the white laminated floor.

Whoever owned this place was probably a clean freak.

He shrugged and went to the register. Where are the workers?

He chewed on his bottom lip and leaned over the counter, turning his head left and right. "Hello?" he called. "Anyone? ...Hello?" He took a glance behind him at the aisle of snacks. "If you're not coming out I'm going to take a few things...for free."

A minute passed and there was still no answer. Gray scratched his head and shrugged, turning to leave when he caught sight of a door towards the back behind the counters.

It didn't look very neat back there; boxes were knocked over, items lay sprawled across the floor...

Gray tilted his head to the side. "Welp, they said curiosity killed the cat, but it can't kill me," he muttered as he climbed over the counter. "I've already died once."

He landed with a light tap on the ground and walked over to the door. He glanced down and noticed that the handle was busted, as if someone had smashed it with something earlier.

He knocked on the door and tried the handle, but he pulled away immediately as he felt the metal burn to his touch. "What the-"

He took a closer look at the handle and then realized.

The handle was melted, not busted.

A small smile crept onto his lips. "A pyrokinetic mage, no doubt," he mused. "Too bad he's weak, considering his messy job."

He rolled his muscles and took a few steps back. "Whoever's in there, I suggest you back away. I have to break down the door," he notified as he cracked his knuckles.

He heard a faint shuffle from the other side, confirming his guess that there was someone locked inside.

Then, on the count of three, Gray rushed at the door and rammed his shoulder against it. The door gave in with a loud bang and swung open, the lock now broken and the stiff material cracked.

Gray stumbled into the little dark storage room and almost tripped over a fallen beam. He really had overestimated the sturdiness of the door and used too much force after not exercising for a long time.

He flicked on the light switch and took notice of the young woman standing with her back pressed up against the corner of the room, her feet surrounded by overturned shelves and products. She stared at him with wide, amber eyes filled with fear and uncertainty. Her brown hair was askew and the color was nearly drained from her face.

Gray let out a breath. "Hey, miss. It's not a good idea to get into trouble with mages, you know," he conversed. He glanced down at her crooked name tag.

'Althea', it read.

"Whoever it was, was a fire-wielding one," he hummed. "Even if they're weak, they can still burn things. Aren't you afraid they'll burn down your shop?" He pointed his thumb out behind him at the store.

Althea fidgeted and lowered her head, taking a step forward over the mess. "Uh...t-thank you. Who are you?" she stammered.

Gray held up his hands and backed up. "Hey, woah there, miss," he startled. "How can you be sure that I'm not another perpetrator?"

Geez, people used to be afraid of me in the past, Gray said in his mind. What's up with people these days? Do I really look harmless? ...That's just an insult to the previous criminal lord I used to be.

But, it's good, right? That people find me a harmless person now that I'm not...Rune.

Althea rubbed her arm uncertainly and pursed her lips. "Well...you're not. You broke the door to let me out and warned me of mages," she remarked. "So how can you be a bad guy?"

A grin broke out across his mouth. "Hehe, you've got a point," he said. He stepped out of the storage room and examined the mess around him. "So...are you the store owner? Or the store manager? What happened here?" he asked.

"You can say both," Althea answered quietly as she stepped out past him back to the cash register. She stood there unmoving.

"Eh? Then what about my other question?" Gray asked. "What happened?" He walked up the counter and leaned against the wall facing her after closing the door to the messed up storage.

She shook her head. "It's just those boys again," she confessed. "They belong to the school nearby and they just like to skip classes and make trouble since one of them is a, you know, a mage."

"Do you need someone to go sort them out for you?"

She shook her head. "It's best if we not. They'll eventually get tired of it anyway. I can't risk getting my shop destroyed by a mage just because of that. I just have to put up with it."

Gray frowned, disapproving. Put up with it? Seriously?

He opened his mouth to retort, but then stopped when he thought better of it. If he said something like that, then wasn't he just being a hypocrite? Didn't he do the same in the past?

She gestured at the entrance. "The store's closed right now, in case you're wondering why there's no one here. It opens around the time the schools' dismissal, and that's when the students come," she told him.

Gray straightened awkwardly and pointed at himself. "Then, I'm not intruding now, am I? The door was unlocked."

Althea sighed. "Yeah, I know, it's fine." She looked up at him and forced a smile. "I glad you stopped by, though. Who knows, if no one came, I might've been locked in there forever. What's your name, by the way?"

"...Gray," he answered.

Althea raised an eyebrow. "Just Gray?"

Gray puckered his lips and crossed his arms, moving to lean his back on the wall. "Yeah. Just Gray...," he mumbled, only half-truthfully. He cast a side-glance at the shorter woman.

She seemed much better now that she was out. The color had returned to her face, and her cheeks were a bit pink. Her hair was flattened out and fixed, though it was still a bit messy. Her hands were shoved into the pockets of her black, half-apron as she rocked back and forth on her sneakers.

She's...looks pretty...

Althea cleared her throat. "So what'd you come here for? To buy something or what?"

Gray's eyebrows shot up as he was suddenly reminded of his search for a job. "Ah, right. I came here because I saw the hiring poster at the front. I'm actually looking for a job...so that I can pay rent," he responded.

Althea stifled a giggle. "Well, I guess you're hired now," she said.

Gray brightened. "Really? Just like that?" he exclaimed.

She nodded and smiled. "It's the least I can do to thank you, I'm short on hands anyway. I do a lot of cleaning, especially after the teens come in and make a mess."

"Ah...that's why," Gray remarked.

Althea wrung her hands together, looking down at her shoes. "Can...can you start working today?" she asked anxiously. "I- I might need some extra help."

Gray raised an eyebrow before realizing what she meant. She was afraid that the mage will come back again to see if she was still locked in the storage. Well then, if that was the case...

"Of course," Gray said with a reassuring smile. "I'm good with solving those kinds of problems," he hinted.

Althea's eyes widened. "Are you sure? Can you really?"

He gave her a pat on the shoulder. "No worries! Just tell me what to do, and if those brats come back, I'll have my ways of dealing with them. Trust me."

Althea released a grateful breath. "Alright then. Let's get started. School ends in an hour."