Time is all we have - II
chapter moodboard
chapter summary: A closed corner store, paparazzi and an orange juice
word count: 1813
chapter warnings: paparazzi, slight angst,
authors notes: short chapter! but i'm hoping the next chapter will be longer! thanks for the love on my first post, hope you enjoy what's to come <3
Your fingers tapped mindlessly on the counter of the store as you rested your cheek against the palm of your other hand and stared up at the clock on the wall.
It had been a month since you found yourself in 1983 and it had been interesting to say the least; Through the helpful directions of Bill you’d managed to find the motel, and thankfully had just enough to scrape at least a night and a bit for a cheap room that had booze staining the carpet and sex oozing from each crevice. Late in the night as you struggled to find sleep you’d found a balled up auto receipt that you messily wrote a resume onto and waited until the sun had gone up to venture out of your room to find jobs.
The first one was a gas station just down the block, the man at the counter had taken one look at your nervous expression and promptly turned you away. It was a kind old man that noticed you walking through the aisles of the corner store who took pity on you and hired you after a five minute impromptu interview for the late afternoon to close shift. Even being so kind as to let you sleep in the storage closet- so long as you found yourself an apartment within a week.
It was a win-win situation.
You watched for a split second when the clock hit 10:30 and stood up from the seat behind the counter, the keys already clinging in your pocket as you made your way towards the windows and pulled at each blind until they clinked at the bottom frame of the window-sill. You then made your way to the door and pulled the door from its place and shut it with a muted click. Your hand had a gentle hold on the handle of the door as you fumbled with the set of keys until you found the right one and slid it into the lock-
And jumped when you heard a dull thud from the storage closet.
“Hello?” You called out only to be met with the sound of silence
Must be the rats.
...You’d get back to properly locking up in a minute.
With silent steps you made your way towards the storage closet and pushed the door open with the tip of your finger, taking a step back in case a rat came running out at you. But nothing did, you stepped inside the small dark room in confusion and blindly felt around for the light switch until you found it and gave it a quick flick.
The room was illuminated and..nothing; “Huh.” you murmured with furrowed brows as you took one step inside and promptly shivered at the goosebumps rushing behind your neck “God I hate this room” You flicked the light off and shut the door in quick succession
Back to locking up.
You pressed your fingers against the key and began to turn it when the handle suddenly jerked and flung open; “Hey! What the hell?”
You’d had your fair share of customers arriving just as the store was shutting, but none had ever slammed the door open in your face.
The figure was cloaked in darkness as they hurriedly closed and locked the door, their heaving figure sliding down the door as they quickly peaked through the slats in the window and physically relaxed when whatever they were running from was nowhere to be found.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing running in here like-”
“Please!” a familiar voice pleads “Please keep your voice down” a slat in the window had illuminated the figure in the moonlight
“Michael,” You whisper, keeping a respectful distance as you kneel on the ground “What’re yo-”
“Shhh!” He rushes over and presses a hand to your mouth “They’re after me.”
Wh-” You flick his hand from your mouth and give his gaped expression a warning look “Who are you talking about?”
He opens his mouth to explain but a banging on the door pulls you away; “Wait- Please don’t..”
You shush him and stand from your crouched position, unlocking the door and cracking it open just enough that only part of your face was visible. “Can I help you?”
A balding man whose sweat had you curling your nose up was standing at the door, hot breath fanning in your face, “Have you seen him?” He asks with a failed attempt at peeking past you
“Seen who?”
“Michael Jackson!” He exclaims “Saw him walking a few blocks away. Ran down this way when he noticed us.”
“Haven’t seen him.” You attempt to push the door closed but he wedges an arm in the crack and tries pushing in “D’you mind? I’m trying to close up shop here.” He attempts once more at a peek but your warning glare sends him off into the night
You shut and lock the door once more, letting out a long exhale as you crane your neck to where Michael once was but now is missing, “Michael?” You whisper
“Over here.” You turn your head to the counter and lean over to see Michael huddled under the lip of the desk, his doe eyes peeking up at your form “Are they..?”
“Yes, Michael, they're gone.” You round the desk “What happened?”
“Went for a drive with Bill to clear my head” He starts, “I just wanted to have a moment outside in peace and they saw me” He scrubs a hand down his face, inhaling sharply “They just kept chasing me. I tried every door but they were all locked except…” He briefly glances at you then looks away “Thank you..”
“Of course” You go to place a hand on his arm but pull back
You didn’t want to make him more uncomfortable than he already was.
You slip towards one of the fridges just a few feet short of the counter and grab a glass bottle, briefly eyeing up the now cold pot of coffee beside the fridge and shake your head, grabbing a second bottle and making your way back
“Here.” You kneel down and pass the bottle over, he takes it with hesitance
“How did you know?”
“Know what?” You uncap the bottle and take a sip
“That I love orange juice”
“Just a hunch.” You shrug, settling yourself onto the linoleum floor and taking another long sip when you’d situated yourself comfortably
He sits there silently for a minute, his brow slightly furrowed as he takes in your words. Only to let out a small chuckle as his mind finally catches up, “Something funny?” You ask and glance side-long towards him
“Didn’t take you for an orange juice type of girl” He finally uncaps the bottle and downs at least half of it
“Huh? Oh. Yes, that.”
That was the whole reason you met him in the first place.
Coffee.
You inhale deep and shrug “Too late in the night for coffee.” You glance over at Michael whose face had morphed into something of amusement “Heyyyy,” You drawl, bumping your shoulder against his “I had to stay up because I had some very important work to finish”
“Oh? What kind of work was that?”
“A uni assignment..” You pause, fingers pressing tightly into the curve of the bottle “Doesn’t even matter anymore.”
Michael frowns slightly but doesn’t press you for an explanation instead leaning against the wood of a drawer and finishing off his orange juice, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“What you told me last month, about the music video…Thank you”
“Told you people wouldn’t take it the wrong way.” You smirk “It’s a good video”
“I guess you’re right-”
“No no, I am right” You say with a bright grin “You just haven’t realised what you’ve done, yet.”
“How do you know?” His shoulder bumps against yours as he leans closer “You seem so sure in everything you say”
“‘S just a hunch”
The room falls silent, Michael fiddled with his fingers absentmindedly as you polished off the last of the juice with a final gulp, “Bill has a phone, doesn’t he?”
“Sure he does, why?” He pulls the trashcan forward to throw his bottle away before reaching for yours, the tips of his fingers pressing against your knuckle as he takes your bottle away and putting it in the trashcan
“Just think he might be looking for you” You point at the clock on the wall, it was nearing 11 and Michael visibly winced
“Yeah…Might need to give him a call”
“There’s a phone in the backroom” You nod your head in its direction and Michael jumps to his feet, smoothing out his pants and walks away in quick succession
Michael didn’t return back to behind the counter after that, instead choosing to lean against the wall beside the doorway and occasionally peek through the window slats. The silence was deafening to your ears as you continued the rest of your close It hadn’t even been five minutes when you heard a tap on the glass and you looked up from your spot where you’d been organising the till. Michael slid the door open and ushered a frazzled Bill inside
Bill grabs Michael firmly by the shoulder and checks him over. Once he realised that Michael was unharmed he let out an exasperated sigh, “Do you realise how worried I was?” Bill exclaims, “I’ve been looking for you everywhere! How long were you here?”
“The whole time…” Michael responds
“And you didn’t think to call me at any point?”
“I-”
“No, Michael.” Bill cuts in, “I’ll admit-”
“Wait, it was my fault.” You step away from the counter and walk up to the two men “I told Michael not to call you just yet. It was safer for him to wait out the paparazzi” Michael stood off to the side, his brows knitted together and lips parted in confusion, whatever he was going to say dying on his tongue
Bill frowned as he regarded you silently, “I know you.”
“Not really. But we did meet once” You reply softly, “Outside MGM studios.”
“Oh yeah, coffee girl.”
Seriously? Was this how you were going to be referred to for the rest of your life?
Bill has already turned away from you, “Let’s go, Michael” With a soft hand on his shoulder he guides him through the open doorway and towards the awaiting car. Michael glanced back briefly, his gaze catching yours before he slipped the car door shut. You’d turned away for a moment to reach for your apartment keys when you realised Bill had yet to leave the store
“Have a good night.”
“You too…” You looked back and realised that Bill had already disappeared into the night, keys dangling off your finger as the frigid cold December air began sweeping into through open door, “…Okay then.”
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