Ianna Kovac looked down into the box and forced herself to keep a straight face. She cast her gaze slowly over the contents, trying to see whether or not there was anything salvageable or at the very least worth taking into the store. She glanced up and did her best to keep the frown off of her face. It wasn’t easy, given that about everything in there was either covered in something Ianna didn’t want to ask about or too old to be worth anything to this particular location. She reminded herself to be professional, to smile the entire time. Especially with the eyes she felt on her from only a few feet away.

“I’m afraid that in the present condition, we wouldn’t be able to accept what you’ve got here,” Ianna said, “There’s a pawn shop about three doors down you could look into, I’m sure they might be willing-” She trailed off as the woman’s face went dark and a cold lump formed in her stomach.

“What do you mean, ‘in the present condition’?” The woman mocked her, crossing her arms and nodding down to the box, “I take plenty good care of my belongings.”

Ianna looked the woman over, trying to avoid the pressure of her gaze, and focused her eyes on the woman’s narrow throat. What kind of idiot did she take her for? She called up a mental image of some kind of horrible monster ripping into the woman’s throat, the body flopping around like a ragdoll. The image faded as soon as it came as the woman crossed her arms and leaned forward, her gaze demanding an explanation. Ianna felt herself shrink a little, her heart rate spiking in the face of confrontation. A bead of sweat ran down the back of her neck.

“I’d like to speak to the manager on duty,” The woman spat.

“I am the manager on duty,” Ianna fumbled, her chest tightening a little more, “Ma’am there are roaches coming out of your system.”

The woman looked inside and scowled, “Then clean it out, isn’t that your job? You take what I bring in and give me money.”

Ianna paled, “That’s not entirely-” She never got to finish her statement, the woman snatched her box off the counter and turned away, marching toward the door.

“This whole goddamn store is a scam!” She shouted, “No one should shop here!”

Ianna felt her shoulders sink as she cast her eyes around the room. The other customers were staring at her but offering nothing in the way of affirmation. Of course they didn’t, they didn’t care. Ianna rolled her jaw and exhaled, looking up to the ceiling and begging for some sort of relief. She was barely into her shift and her chest already hurt. She felt that burning sensation behind her eyes begin to change to pressure as a hand clamped down on her shoulder. She flinched, turning to look at the offered hand before looking up into it’s owners face.

“Come on Ianna, let’s go talk in the back for a second,” Tony said, nodding to the door leading into the storage room.

Ianna nodded, forcing herself not to drag her feet as the actual store manager opened the door and stepped aside for her to enter. He followed her in and closed the door behind them, crossing his arms before walking over to a clipboard he had set on one of the many counters. Ianna eyed the loathsome piece of wood, turning her attention towards the man holding it while he read it over. He looked over at Ianna a few times before setting it back down.

“So tell me what you did wrong out there,” He said, leaning on the counter. The way he looked down at her made her feel smaller than ever. Tiny. She chewed on her lip and forced herself to breathe. What did she do wrong? Nothing, that’s what. What kind of idiot would bring a roach ridden device into a store that had just got its bug problem under control? He had to be kidding with her, right?

“I handled the customer situation appropriately,” Ianna said, “I don’t think I did anything wrong.”

“Is that right?” He sighed and rubbed his eyes, “Look, let me be real with you Ianna. Your metrics this month are pretty bad. You’ve only hit thirty percent on your attach rate and you haven’t signed up more than ten members this week.”

“The goal is twenty-five!” Ianna protested.

“Forty,” He corrected, “Changed this morning.”

She rubbed her face, trying to will the stress away. How on earth was she supposed to hit forty percent? More micromanaging, more pressure, she wanted to scream. She wasn’t paid enough for this. She sighed and looked up to the ceiling again, resisting the urge to rub her chest where the pressure was the most intense, the last thing she needed was him eyeballing her too. She pressed her palms to her eyeballs and held it for a moment before letting out a steadying breath. “Well that was this morning, wasn’t it? What does that have to do with how I’ve done so far?” She demanded, forcing herself to look him in the eyes.

“Easy there Ianna,” He warned, holding up the clipboard, “I’m just the messenger.”

“And what does that have to do with the bitch with the roaches?” She pressed.

He sighed, “You’re getting emotional again,” He said, shaking his head, “We need product, besides, you can’t control what a customer comes in with but you can control what they leave with.”

“She didn’t want to buy anything!” Ianna protested, “She was here to dump her trash on us and make a quick buck.”

“You don’t know that, I don’t know that. Did you ask her?” He countered.

Ianna barked out a laugh and stepped away, walking towards the bathroom door and pressing her head against the cold surface. She felt her chest tighten again, she really needed to see a doctor, it sucked that the insurance the company provided even an assistant manager like herself was shoddy at best. Even if she went to a doctor she couldn’t afford medication. She squeezed her eyes shut, “No, I didn’t ask her.”

“You didn’t, no,” He said, “Look, Ianna, if you don’t want this Job you need to tell me.”

She rounded on him, pointing a finger in his face, “Excuse me? I make a judgment call on the best interest for the store and you start asking me about my job? You and I both know she wasn’t planning on buying anything.”

He shook his head, “Go home Ianna, we’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

She froze, her blood going cold, “What?”

“I said, go home, you’re done for today. You need to cool off.”

“Cool off?” Ianna protested, “I’d be fine if I wasn’t getting cornered in the back like this, I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Last time or I’m writing you up, go home,” Tony pressed. “Leave your emotions at the door next time.”

She felt her whole body shrink again, anger coiling in her stomach with no outlet. Her whole body shook and she had to force herself to march over to her cubby and grab her bag and keys. This was what she got for trying to stand up for herself, kicked out of the store and down what little money she’d earn for the day. She forced herself to breathe through the pain in her chest and marched past Tony. He shook his head at her when she glanced up at him and all she could do was scowl, throwing the door open and stepping out onto the sales floor. Eyes, more eyes, so many eyes were on her as she stormed past the sales counter, around the displays, and out the front door.

She glanced back at the building door as she stepped out, her eyes falling on Tony’s name just above the door handle. She rubbed her arm, thumbing the fading tattoo of a set of dice she’d got during better times. She clicked her tongue and turned to the street, passing a few cars before stopping at her own vehicle. She froze, following the frame of the car and how it seemed to slump a little to one side. She looked down at the tires and let out a miserable sigh. The passenger-side tires were flat, long gashes stretching across the rubber in a way that couldn’t be fixed. She’d have to replace both of them. She muttered something dark under her breath and strode over to the windshield, checking for damage and instead found a folded slip of paper under the wiper. She snatched it up and opened it.

“Playstyles employees hoarding GS3 systems, whistleblower reports,” She growled, reading the title. She tossed the article over her shoulder and sighed, “Bullshit, we just don’t have any.”

She reached into her pocket and tugged her phone free, dialing out to the roadside service she and her roommates shared. It only took a minute to get to an operator who told her the service had expired a week prior for non-payment. She blinked, her roommate was in charge of paying that bill. She reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose before hanging up, dialing up her roommate.

“Hey Stella, are you busy?” She asked, leaning against her helpless vehicle.

“Nah, what’s up?” Stella’s voice came through the other end.

“Did you pay the roadside bill?” She asked.

“Ahh… no I’m broke,” Stella said, “Had a shit day at work the other day and bought something nice for myself to cheer up.”

Ianna licked her lips and closed her eyes, her temper rising with her heart rate, she clenched her chest and bit down on her words. The last thing she needed to do right now was to start a fight with Stella. What she wouldn’t give just to go off on her, though, how was she supposed to trust anyone? She let out a quiet snort, that was her problem, wasn’t it? She trusted way too easily. Her mom had warned her about that when she’d made the rash decision to move in with Stella after only a few months of knowing her. She let out a heavy sigh and cleared her throat.

“You think you could pick me up? I’m stuck,” Ianna said.

“Sorry, I’m heading to an audition right now, can I pick you up after your shift? I gotta let you go anyway, let’s talk later, yeah?” Her roommate said, hurrying to hang up. Ianna looked down at her phone and swore, just another goddamn person making her life difficult. She rolled her jaw and slipped her phone back into her pocket before glancing down the street. She was only about twenty blocks away from home, it wasn’t a terrible walk. It did put her at risk for a ticket once her meter ran down but there wasn’t a lot she could do about it. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, pushing herself off the side of her car. She might as well get started.

She was about three blocks down from her store when she noticed them. A half dozen guys walking the same sidewalk and keeping an eye on her as she made her way towards the next intersection. She stopped once or twice to glance back at them before picking up her pace. They did their best not to make eye contact which only made them even more suspicious. Her heart rate spiked again, her chest getting tighter. Fear worked its way up her spine and turned into something a bit fierier. She licked her lips, glancing over her shoulder a third time and making eye contact with one of the men. Hadn’t she dealt with enough today? Couldn’t she get a break, just one?

Ianna turned on her heel and stopped dead in her tracks, anger getting the better of her, “What? What the hell do you want?” She demanded, pinning the guy with a look.

The guy blinked, surprised at her hostility, “Uh, I’m just walking here with my boys,” He mumbled, looking at the others before scratching his chin and looking at her. “Is that a problem?”

Her blood went cold and she backpedaled, “N-no, sorry, sorry, just having a bad day.”

“You wanna talk about it?” He asked, one of his friends moving to get a bit closer.

“No,” She blurted and ran. Her legs pumped against the sidewalk as she darted around the corner at the next intersection, rushing headlong into the plastic netting around a construction site. She snarled out a curse and looked toward the street, it was crammed with cars. She looked to the right and spotted a place where she could slip into the nearest alley. She took a risk, bolting between the net and the nearest building, charging into the alley, and looking for a place to hide. Her vision swam, she could see stars, she coughed and felt her legs go weak as she staggered towards the end of the alley. Behind her, hurried footsteps slid to a stop.

“You work at Playstyles right?” One guy shouted, “You got any GS3’s in the back?”

“Go away,” Ianna pleaded, gripping her chest.

“She’s got keys,” Another said, walking over to her.

The gathered group of men began to surround her, she felt her arm go limp as her vision swam again. Something was wrong, something was really wrong. She struggled to breathe, her head feeling funny. She tried to focus on them as they approached, reaching into her pocket with her good arm and struggling to pull something out. No strength. Nothing. She stumbled backward, her foot slipping on something as she fell onto her back. Eyes. She could see eyes. So many eyes. Then something else, she could hear it very far away, words echoing through the back of her mind as her arms grew heavier.

Connection Established…