𝐁𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐑 | 𝐀𝐌𝐘 𝐒𝐎𝐒𝐀

two.

"just checking over your new hire forms." kristen slid a box carefully onto the shelves behind dina. she wasn't deliberately eavesdropping on dina's interviews it was something that had just ended up happening, not that she was complaining considering she had felt like she was missing out on something with the interviews. maybe now she could see why dina was being so picky. and she was also trying her best to avoid amy who had asked her to reduce electronics. her scanner lay discarded while she unpacked barbecue supplies over in patio and wondered how long it was until the brunette realised that she was not anywhere near electronics.

dina was currently grilling the man sat across from her, his discomfort not going unnoticed by kristen. "it just doesn't say anywhere on here if you've got a girlfriend." the blonde rolled her eyes at the lack of subtlety from her coworker. "i didn't, is there space for that?" kristen shook her head at the conversation unfolding at the table behind her, she was becoming slightly more grateful that glenn had been the one to interview her. "but you are heterosexual, right?" kristen almost dropped the box she was holding, the man at the table making direct eye contact with her, both of them staring at each other in total surprise. "are you allowed to ask that?"

"no," dina chuckled while kristen tried to regain her composure. she didn't know what that had to do with the hiring process and she was becoming slightly more grateful that it had been glenn that had interviewed her and not dina. "i can start now," she overheard him saying and she breathed out a sigh of relief, dina seemed to be on a hiring roll today which was proving to be extremely helpful. she hadn't yet caught sight of the other new hire but she knew he was definitely around, amy wasting no time in assigning him a section.

she pushed the final box onto the shelf and swung around just as dina walked away from the table, not even noticing kristen's presence. "i'm sorry for her being so...weird," kristen waved towards where dina had went. "you'll get used to it." she couldn't exactly promise him that dina wasn't usually like that because she was always like that. bossy and incredibly nosy was the first two words kristen had used to describe the woman to her friends and nothing had ever changed. "oh it's fine, it doesn't matter," he shook his head. "i'm jonah, by the way." she smiled at him. "i'm kristen," she replied. "you need to get a vest," she gestured to the double doors at the back of the store. "and a name tag if you weren't told."

a thump came from down the aisle, kristen's attention turning to where a customer had knocked down the toilet paper display, amy trying to save the rest of the display from falling across the aisles. "oh god," kristen groaned, fixing the displays was the last thing she wanted to do but jonah was already halfway down the aisles so maybe she didn't actually have to try and be helpful on this one. he said something that kristen couldn't quite catch but the way amy's posture shifted was definitely not a good sign. six years of working alongside her and kristen had definitely picked up on how she stood based on what she was feeling. it was helpful, especially in moments when kristen screwed up.

she started towards the pair, mainly because dina wasn't the only nosy employee in the store but also because nothing was ever going to get done if jonah stood around pissing amy off for any longer. cheyenne, however interrupted them before kristen even had the chance to. the blonde silently thanked the universe for having her back for once. "yes, of course," amy smiled softly towards cheyenne, her annoyance from whatever jonah had said seemed to have faded. "i'll take carly off express and vivian can bag so take as long as you need." cheyenne thanked the brunette before walking away, holding onto her bump.

"little tip," amy turned back to jonah, ignoring the fact that kristen was stood behind them, any ideas she had of diffusing the situation had left her head considering she didn't even know what was going on. "don't let the other workers here know how much better than them you are. they hate that. i don't know why, maybe because it sounds condescending. welcome." she turned and walked away from both of them, kristen remained where she was, unsure of what to do next. "don't worry about it," she sighed. "i constantly put my foot in it with her so welcome to the club." she spotted the brunette's pen on top of the toilet paper display and nabbed it. it's not that she wanted to chase after amy but she was bored and any sort of conversational topic sparked her attention. especially if it was someone who was going to be more awkward than she was.

the brunette was over near menswear, sighing in exasperation at the mess a customer was creating searching for a sweater. "hey." amy turned away from the man who was oblivious to the small woman glaring him down barely two feet away. "you dropped this." she handed the pen back to the woman. "i can clean that up," she continued, gesturing towards the mess of sweaters that were piling up, some of them falling to the ground. amy raised a brow at her questioningly. "what?" kristen didn't know why she felt the sudden need to be helpful, it wasn't like she had to try hard to be better than the new hires. or at least she didn't have to try hard to be better than jonah who had already landed on the wrong side of amy. "nothing," she replied. "thanks for offering but i might assign one of the new hires to this."

"and by new hires you mean jonah?" kristen asked, biting back a small smile at the woman. "yeah, maybe." she tapped her pen against her clipboard and kristen knew she was studying it to see was there anywhere worse she could put him. "take this." she passed her scanner to the brunette with an amused look plastered across her face. "i'll fold them." amy rolled her eyes but took the scanner anyways. "what were you doing?" she studied the clipboard once again, kristen tapping where her name was written. "reducing electronics," she lied, knowing that she hadn't even started to reduce anything.

amy scoffed slightly at that. "ok now this all makes sense." kristen hated having to reprice or reduce anything, it was incredibly easy to make a mistake and she was far better off stocking shelves than anything else. "ok," amy waved the scanner in the direction of the clothes. "you can do that, i'll show jonah how this works." she turned and walked away from the blonde, leaving kristen to clean up the mess that the man had since discarded.

she turned back, watching amy scan the aisles for any sign of jonah and she couldn't stop herself from thinking that if there was someone that was just a little worse than her, maybe she wouldn't feel so scrutinised by amy all of the time. and maybe then they could strike up some sort of friendship. because while kristen would like to pretend like she didn't need to be liked by everyone, it was becoming increasingly obvious that it was not the truth.