Archers was as lively as ever that afternoon. Scott did his best to entertain people as they entered the store. He greeted them with friendly smiles and the occasional exaggerated wink. Most people were happy to be there, so he pretended to be happy to greet them. It was a reasonable trade-off for the pittance they paid him.

Roughly an hour into his shift he walked past the food court and noticed Ashton sitting alone in the corner, a cup of coffee in hand. She stared at her cell phone intently as though she expected that it would ring at any moment.

"What's the deal with the boss lady?" Scott asked the hotdog woman, an older lady who wore both a hotdog shaped hat and the world's surliest smile. She had a name, they all had names, but he still thought of her as Hotdog Woman.

She leaned forward conspiratorially and whispered, "Who? Tits McPouts?"

"Yeah," agreed Scott, readily. It seemed everyone liked to use his nickname for the boss nowadays.

Hotdog Woman chuckled at him then adjusted her silly hat. "Dunno. She just ordered a cup of coffee and has been living off the free refills for like an hour."

"Pumpkin spice?" he asked her candidly.

"You know damned well she ordered it," said the woman snidely.

"White girls, am I right?" he asked her lightly.

Hotdog Woman waved him off. "I'm offended by that. I used to be one, you know."

"Really? That was a thing?" asked Scott.

Her surly smile cracked and became a slightly more pleasant one. "I wasn't always in my forties."

Scott's eyes widened and he stared at her as though he were both shocked and scandalized. "The hell you say..."

She took off her hat and smacked him with it twice, and then a third time for good measure. "Someone ought to beat you."

"I thought you just did?" asked Scott flippantly. "For that matter, who beats a man with a hotdog hat? That has to be some sort of hate crime."

"It is not!" she groused.

He stopped short then tilted his head, "Well, maybe it's not a hate crime. Still definitely a crime, though... a hat crime."

His pun caused Hotdog Woman to draw back slightly, as though the terrible nature of its existence proved to be an affront to her dignity as a human being. Her surliness returned, but her smile stuck around for a little while longer. "Don't you have something to do?" she asked him curiously.

"Yeah, came to get some water for my team. Probably need to send someone out to collect the carts soon," he admitted.

"By someone, you mean you?" she asked him, her lips pursed and her eyes half-lidded.

"Absolutely," he said without a hint of humor in his tone. Oh yes, those glorious few minutes outside would be his and his alone. He would get the carts and in so doing he would receive a reprieve from his retail nightmare.

Scott stopped discussing the nature of his escape attempts with Hotdog Woman not long after that. He grabbed a tray and some cups then headed toward the drink machine to get some ice water for his front-end team.

Normally, they would find a quick moment without customers and go get their own. However, he liked to do this sort of thing early in his shift. His team stayed hydrated, and it also allowed him one other opportunity. When someone had to use the bathroom due to his generosity he could hop on a register and force his guest services team member to cover for him with the guests.

"Thirsty?" asked Ashton as Scott walked by her with his tray of cups.

"I haven't had a date in a while, but I hardly think that's any of your business boss lady," said Scott flippantly.

She snorted a little then laughed in spite of herself. Her glasses came off and she sighed a little.

Scott immediately looked away from her and back to the drink machine. Dark whispers began to percolate inside his mind as he worked on filling his water cups. Ashton was quite pretty with her glasses on, but she became a total fox the moment she took them off. His inner demons would never pass up the opportunity to torment him if he gazed too long into that beautiful abyss.

"Is everything going all right on the front-end?" she asked him after an awkward moment passed between them.

"So far, so good," he said. Scott continued to look away from her for a moment before he gave in to the little incessant part of his mind that still pretended to care about people. "Everything alright on your end?"

"Yeah, totally," she said with a nod of her head. "Just thought I'd chill here a while..."

"You need Netflix in your life," said Scott as he changed one cup out for another.

Ashton actually laughed at that nodded. "I have it! We just don't have it here at the store..."

Scott tilted his head to the side. "Someone should take the hint, and improve morale..."

"I knew that was you!" she exclaimed, her eyes beginning to sparkle a little in the light.

Scott snickered a little, but kept a cool expression. "Whatever do you mean?"

She eyed him carefully, her lips forming into a genuine smile at last. "You're the one who stuck that suggestion in the morale improvement suggestion box every day for a month."

"Who? Me?" asked Scott before he reached over and began putting lids onto his cups of water.

"Yes, you—" she began, only to be interrupted by a deep masculine voice cutting through the air.

"You ready?" asked the newcomer.

Scott turned toward the questioner. He saw a tallish man with dirty blond hair and a manly scowl. Dressed in a muscle shirt and jacket combination, obviously to show off his muscles, he held the appearance of a man who was physically fit and man-pretty.

He eyed Scott for a moment then wrinkled his nose and snorted. "You on break or something?"

The mannerisms of the man before immediately set Scott's teeth on edge. His mask slipped and an icy tone leaked into his words. "Is that your business?"

"Scott?" asked Ashton, surprised by how he responded. The chubby weirdo who stood before her had always been such a happy-go-lucky sort of person, but that response was almost as rude as the one to whom he had responded.

"Seriously, Bruh?" asked the man, his eyebrows pressing inward. He took a menacing step forward.

Before he could take another step Ashton had risen from her seat and stepped between them. "Yeah, I'm ready. We can go, Bradly."

Bradly snorted at her then looked at Scott. For a moment it seemed like he wanted to say something, but then he grunted and turned away.

"See ya later," said Ashton to Scott. The moment the words left her lips, Bradly reached down, grabbed her arm, and dragged her forward.

"Hey!" she snapped. Ashton tore her arm away from him and asked, "What's gotten into you?"

He glared at her for a moment. "Whatever. I'll be in the truck when you're done fucking with that fat ass."

Scott's body tensed. It took every fiber of his being not to respond to that blatant insult. He was at work. As much as he hated his job, if he were to speak his mind right then he would have to worry about keeping a roof over his head. One self-important dude bro was not worth becoming homeless.

Bradly stalked away, and Ashton was left behind to stare incredulously at his back. "I..."

"You alright?" asked Scott tersely, far more tersely than he intended. Some of his venom had leaked into his tone and been misplaced toward Ashton.

"Yeah... Sorry, I should go," she said. However, she did not move from her spot. Her eyes lost focus and she tried to get a grasp on what happened a moment ago.

"Why would you apologize to me?" asked Scott, his tone still colder than he intended.

"For..." she shook her head, "He's never like that. I'm sorry."

Scott stared her into her eyes with the same cold murderous intent that he exuded when he thought of the men who kidnapped Saelil. His tone calm and measured, he said, "I'm sorry, too."

Ashton took an involuntary step back. The intensity of Scott's gaze was something she had not been prepared for by any stretch of the imagination. His meaning was also clear. The one he was sorry for, was not himself. He felt sorry for her.

She coughed once then clutched her purse fretfully. Who was this? It couldn't be Scott!

Sensing that his mask had slipped, Scott rubbed his eyes then took a deep breath. A smile came to his lips and he cheerfully said, "Hey, you have a good night and see you soon. Alright? We work together in a few day, right?"

"R-right," she said while nodding her head rapidly. "See you then..."

He offered her another eerily cheerful smile then turned away. She watched him carefully as he began to lightly hum a merry tune while he finished putting lids on the drinks.

"Who are you?' she asked herself in a nearly inaudible whisper. The chubby weirdo who merrily went about preparing water for his team was not the same man who just spoke in such a cold manner. Today had turned out to be quite the eye opener.