Gregory weighed the oranges and typed some numbers into the register. He was wearing a plastic name tag that said "Gregory". Andrew nodded and gave him some money. Nathan stood behind Andrew looking at Gregory. Gregory put the money into the till and counted out the change. He scooped each coin out with a flourish, throwing it from his right hand into his left. He gave the change to Andrew.
Andrew was awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of a cat meowing in the apartment above his. He sat up in bed, in the dark, listening to the cat. He looked at the alarm clock and saw that it was 3:42 am. The cat meowed. Andrew reached down beside his bed and picked up his laptop computer. He opened it and checked his email. The light from the screen illuminated the corner of his room. He looked and saw that there were no unread emails. He closed it again. He got up and walked through the dark apartment to the bathroom. He urinated. He went back and sat on the bed, crosslegged, with his eyes closed. The cat was still meowing. He sat that way for a long time listening to the cat meowing.
In the breakroom, Andrew stood watching Nathan make coffee. He was measuring coffee from a large tin using a soup spoon. Some well dressed women came in to put things in the refrigerator or take things out of the refrigerator. Andrew moved over to give them room. He didn't speak to them.
Andrew chose 2 oranges and went to wait in line. The person who was 2 places ahead of him in line paid Gregory with cash. While Gregory was counting out the change and throwing it from his right hand into his left he dropped a penny. He blushed and kept his head down. He recovered the penny and gave the change to the person without looking at them.
At home, Andrew sat crosslegged on his bed with his headphones on, eating noodles. His laptop computer was beside him on the bed. He was looking at it. There was only one lamp on in the apartment, it was on the floor beside his bed. There was no furniture in the apartment except for the bed that he was sitting on and 1 chair which was near the stove. He ate the noodles and closed his eyes. He nodded his head rhythmically. He wrote an email to Nathan in which he stated, among other things, that 1 of the only 2 times he had cried in the last 3 years was when he was thinking about his cat and the other time was when he was thinking about Gregory.
Andrew walked to work in the rain. He dripped water on the floor of the vestibule. He went up in the freight elevator with a well dressed young woman who got off at a different floor. He leaned back against the fire-retardant padding on the elevator wall and left a damp print of his body.
"Thank you," said Andrew
"Thanks much" said Gregory.
Gregory reached over to the printer and tore off the receipt. It was the end of the roll. Andrew looked at it and saw that it had pink stripes on it which ran the entire length of the paper. He took it from Gregory's hand.
"Thanks much" said Gregory.
Andrew stood for a few minutes at the exit watching Gregory put a new roll of paper into the printer. Then he watched him helping Nathan. He watched him sweeping Nathan's items across the glass scanner and putting them into a bag. He was rocking back and forth very gently as he worked, almost in time with the rhythm of the scanner's beep.
Nathan finished paying and joined Andrew by the exit. They left the store. Andrew was looking closely at the receipt with the pink stripes. At the very bottom of the receipt there were 2 rows of asterisks and between the 2 rows of asterisks a large amount of information printed in very small type, including some information about monthly chances to win $2000 and where to redeem store points. It also showed the date and time and there was one line that said "Cashier Name: Greg". Andrew folded the receipt carefully and put it into his wallet and put his wallet into his pocket.
Andrew was awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of a cat meowing in the apartment above his. He sat up in bed, in the dark, listening to the cat. He looked at the alarm clock and saw that it was 3:42 am. The cat meowed. Andrew reached down beside his bed and picked up his laptop computer. He opened it and checked his email. The light from the screen illuminated the corner of his room. He looked and saw that there were no unread emails. He closed it again. He got up and walked through the dark apartment to the bathroom. He urinated. He went back and sat on the bed, crosslegged, with his eyes closed. The cat was still meowing. He sat that way for a long time listening to the cat meowing.
In the breakroom, Andrew stood watching Nathan make coffee. He was measuring coffee from a large tin using a soup spoon. Some well dressed women came in to put things in the refrigerator or take things out of the refrigerator. Andrew moved over to give them room. He didn't speak to them.
"I wonder where Gregory gets his hair cut," said Andrew.
"He is so well groomed," said Nathan.
"I saw that he cut himself shaving the other day," said Andrew
Nathan poured water into the coffee maker. A well dressed woman came in, looked at the coffee maker, then turned and left without saying anything.
"I noticed that he had a very small cut on his upper lip which I assume was from shaving," said Andrew.
Andrew chose 2 oranges and went to wait in line. The person who was 2 places ahead of him in line paid Gregory with cash. While Gregory was counting out the change and throwing it from his right hand into his left he dropped a penny. He blushed and kept his head down. He recovered the penny and gave the change to the person without looking at them.
"Thanks much," said Gregory.
The next person paid with a debit card. While they were waiting for the transaction to be approved, Gregory cleaned his counter and barcode scanner with a bottle of Windex and a red cloth. He took great care in his cleaning. After he had finished cleaning, there was still a period of waiting for transaction approval. He put the bottle of Windex and red cloth back in their place beneath the cash register. When the transaction was approved, Andrew stepped forward.
"Hello," said Andrew
Another cashier came up behind Gregory.
"Greg, it's break time," said the cashier.
Andrew watched as Gregory signed out with his security code and walked away. The new cashier signed in with her security code. Andrew paid her for the oranges. On his way out he looked at the receipt and saw that her name was Naomi.
At home, Andrew sat crosslegged on his bed with his headphones on, eating noodles. His laptop computer was beside him on the bed. He was looking at it. There was only one lamp on in the apartment, it was on the floor beside his bed. There was no furniture in the apartment except for the bed that he was sitting on and 1 chair which was near the stove. He ate the noodles and closed his eyes. He nodded his head rhythmically. He wrote an email to Nathan in which he stated, among other things, that 1 of the only 2 times he had cried in the last 3 years was when he was thinking about his cat and the other time was when he was thinking about Gregory.
Andrew walked to work in the rain. He dripped water on the floor of the vestibule. He went up in the freight elevator with a well dressed young woman who got off at a different floor. He leaned back against the fire-retardant padding on the elevator wall and left a damp print of his body.
In the kitchen he saw Nathan washing out his coffee cup.
Andrew said "I think I would die for Gregory"
Nathan looked at Andrew.
"Like if I saw him in the street and someone was pointing a gun at him and they shot the gun, I would jump in front of him and take the bullet and it would kill me," said Andrew.
"You should tell Gregory that," said Nathan.
"Or if I saw him in the street and there was a vehicle speeding towards him, I would run over and push him out of the way and let the vehicle hit me instead."
"Would you intend to get hit by the vehicle?"
"I just know I would do it."
"Would you save yourself if you could?"
"No." 4/8/2012