Project: Socialize (Chapters 1-197)

145. How Not To Deal With An Awkward Situation

I walked out through the automatic glass doors at the empty lobby and P.O. box area of our building and stepped foot on the paved road that was underneath the winter sky. All around, there were plenty of lights sourcing from buildings near the ground level as well as the tall residential and office towers that lined the Lumina skyline. 

I shivered in the nighttime wind that blew in from the direction of the nearby Helliger river, which was out of my view at the moment as the riverbank and the park trail could only be seen if I were to exit from the other exit of the building. Instead of that exit, the one I used was considered the main exit as it lead to the main city streets of the Lumina district of Palisia.

I shoved my hands into the pockets of my winter coat as I started walking towards the nearest convenience store which was about two minutes in walking distance from the foot of the high rise that I lived in. Since the night was still young, there were still plenty of traffic about on the main road that was separated from the wide sidewalk by safety railings. In addition, there were also plenty of pedestrians walking about on the sidewalk with most being people who were out with friends or couples in order to go shopping. There were also some office workers who were returning home after possibly staying behind to work overtime at their workplace.

Upon seeing these fatigued office workers, I was reminded of Loriana, who was also forced to stay at her workplace to work overtime hours. It would appear that the research that she was doing is one of the most important in her career, and apparently, it is highly valued by the government. I guess I can understand why she's opting to work overtime in order to make sure that she get everything right...

As I continued walking down the bright nighttime streets of Lumina, I saw the bright illumination of the convenience store sign up ahead. One thing that I noticed as numerous cars passed me by, shining their lights on me for a brief second before they drove right by, was that every convenience store chain, no matter if it was Hawson, Zero-Eleven, or Family Market, all had these illuminated lining patterns running across the little section outside of the building they were in at the spot of their roof. Like if you've seen any of these stores, you would know what I'm talking about.

I entered through the automatic sliding glass door that slid open as it sensed my arrival. A soft notification music played as the doors slid open to notify the employees of my arrival and I was quickly greeted by the single employee who manned the cash register. As for the other employee, the young man seemed to be restocking the shelves at the moment of goods. The employee at the counter was a young girl who appeared to be in high school and the young man seemed to be in his first year of college. I believe these two were part-time workers who are working for spending money.

The inside of the convenience store wasn't particularly busy as it was simply just me and a couple other customers who were in a line at the cash register to pay for the items that they chose to buy. Since I didn't want Luna to be waiting for too long, I made my way as discreetly as possible over to the travel use section in the corner of the convenience store that was away from the refrigerated food items such as pre-made lunch boxes. Then, I started scanning the shelves for the product that I was after.

I blushed as I came across the one-time use panties for woman and was reluctant to pick it up. I just realized that since the cashier was a high school girl, that'll make things awkward for me. Well, it'll be awkward for the both of us, but more so for me. Like if it was a guy at the register and he sees another guy approach the counter to buy panties, then the male employee at the register might just assume that it was for academic purposes, which is abbreviated as FAP. I know this might sound like a stretch, well... it kinda is in a way.

With an embarrassed blush, I closed my eyes and quickly grabbed the white one-time use panties that was in the plastic packaging and quickly walked over in the direction of the counter in order to pay. I shook my head and closed my eyes in embarrassment as I walked, knowing that a scene of great awkwardness will be happening soon. Why does it have to be like this? I should've gone to a different convenience store instead of this Hawson. This Hawson is the store I usually go to since it's so close to my house, and almost every morning I would buy a pre-made lunch box here to eat during lunch break at school. This means that people here have seen me around quite often, and in fact, I do recognize the two employees that were currently working at the moment.

"Welcome back to Hawson," the cute high school girl employee who worked at the cash register smiled as she greeted me.

"H-huh..." I looked away as I brought up the plastic package with my trembling right hand and placed it on the counter. "G-good evening..."

"Good evening," she responded, but that was before she looked down to see what it was that I was buying. "Um..." She glanced up at me with a troubled frown on her face and then back down at the product that I had placed on the counter. "Are you sure that this is the product you wish to purchase?" She asked professionally albeit with a forced smile on her face.

"There's... situations," I sighed and confirmed.

"Okay..." The girl then brought the bar code scanner over and scanned the product with it while having a look of creeped out disgust on her face. "That'll be 35 Vil..."

She gestured over towards the scanner and I brought my phone to it, allowing the money to be deducted from my virtual wallet. Then, following a beep, the transaction had went through and I had bought the one-time use panties.

"Um..." the female employee seemed quite nervous as she fidgeted about somewhat. "Thank you for visiting Hawson."

There it is, that look of disgust. It looks like to this employee I'm just a weird creep that would buy female underwear at night now. I can feel that piercing glare she's throwing in my direction. How painful...

Just before I exited, I heard the female employee calling towards the male employee who was stocking the shelves. Since the store was empty following my departure, the two were free to talk as they want, and it would appear that the girl was telling the guy about what had just occurred. The guy appeared quite astonished at first, but not after long, there appeared to be a look of understanding on his face as he nodded his head and tried to comfort the girl. 

Please, talk trash about me all you want but just don't ban me from here and don't talk of this again...

My journey back home was a quick one as I quickly scurried down the city sidewalk and towards the building of my residence. I quickly pressed my hand print against the scanner by the door and entered after the verification went through. Luckily, there was no one in the lobby and it would so that saved me from a period of awkwardness as I waited for the elevators to descend to the ground level. When it did so, I quickly hopped on and spammed the close door button after selecting my floor in hopes that no one else would be able to board this very same elevator as me.

When the elevator door opened on the floor that I lived on, I let out a sigh of relief as I realized I wasn't far from safety. Just as my breathing and heart rate became regular, Muria's presence led to the abnormality in them once again. She was standing by the waste disposal slot in the wall where one would simply toss their garbage and it would slid down to the dump. It would appear that she had just took out the trash and was about to return back to her home when the elevator door opened to reveal my presence.

"G-good evening," I did my best to say so in a casual manner so as to progress the awkward situation.

"Good evening," she responded in a polite manner. "You went to the convenience store?" She asked as she looked over and saw the logo on the plastic bag that I carried.

"Y-yeah," I said, shifting my arms so that the bag was brought further from her and somewhat behind my back as I tried to conceal what it was.

Muria then stared at me for a brief moment with those azure blue eyes of her's which for some reason made me quite nervous. It just felt as if she was judging me and that she knows about what it was that I was buying. Therefore, I was totally unprepared when she asked me her next question.

"Did Luna get home safely?" she inquired.

"Huh?" I was astonished by this inquisition and began brainstorming for a response. I couldn't tell her that Luna will be staying over, so I lied. "Y-yeah."

"Is that so? That's nice to hear." Muria seemed to have believed my lie as she started walking for her door as our conversation came to an end. "Well... See you."

Then, she closed her door behind her, leaving me alone in the small hallway that separated our two places of residencies. My heart pounded in my chest as I gasped for air. That was so awkward that I felt as if I was going to suffocate in the dense air... Luckily I made it out alive.

Author's Note:

Please vote and comment. Don't just comment and not vote. Don't just vote and not comment. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ,PLEASE. Thank you.