Honest

24

You oughta know,
Tonight is the night to let it go,
Put on a show,
I wanna see how you lose control,
So leave it behind cause we have a night to get away.
So come on and fly with me, as we make our great escape.
—

"Your total is $18.25." Mason mumbled after scanning the last item in front of him.

Watching the older woman, he sighed inwardly and almost rolled his eyes when she handed him a twenty dollar bill instead of just using her card. But after he got her change and handed it to her, she left, meaning he finally could as well.

Since he was taking a day off from his gym, he was spending his work day at Publix, trying to make some extra money and just get out of the house.

"You getting ready to head out?"

Looking up, Mason made eye contact with his coworker, Tanya, and nodded his head.

"Yeah." He replied, standing from his seat behind the register.

"You don't look too happy to be working up here." She said, noticing the bored expression on his face.

"I'm not." He said honestly. "Frank needed someone to cover for him and I had nothing better to do. But I don't think I'll ever do it again. I prefer unloading the trucks and stocking the shelves."

"I see that." She laughed softly. "You know... you haven't been looking your normal self lately. Everything okay?" She asked.

"Yeah." He nodded. Not wanting to dig too deep into his private life with her. "I've just been a little stressed. And my girl and I got into it a little this morning so that didn't really help my mood. Just kind of made my day more shitty since I haven't been able to talk to her all day."

"Cute." She smiled. "Is your pride not letting you pick up the phone?"

"Nah." He shook his head, letting out a sarcastic laugh. "I've never let my pride come in between my relationships with anybody. I just haven't called because I don't want to irritate her. She needs to focus on her classes while I'm here anyways."

"And do you really think that with you guys not on good terms is helping her focus?" She asked him. "Call your girl, Mathews. Do it before you get home so you won't walk into another argument."

Nodding, he watched her walk away and just shook his head. Pulling out his phone, he prepared to call Deja until he heard her voice.

"Who was that?" Deja asked, taking Mason by surprise as he turned to see her standing behind his register, a small bag of food in her hand.

"A coworker." He frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to see you." She shrugged.

"Really? I was sure that seeing me was the last thing you wanted to do after this morning." He mumbled, making her sigh.

"Mase, I'm sorry." She apologized.

"Oh, I bet you are." He mumbled again, staring at her shoulder instead of at her face.

"I don't get why it's so bad for me to want to go out." She frowned. "I never say a thing when you want to go somewhere."