Working Yourself to Death [Patricia Work Thread]

Y'know, you'd think by now that with all the robots and junk that the nerds were building they'd get rid of jobs in retail. Like, they could already do it, it's called vending machines. Wouldn't it be awesome if there was like a convenience store-sized vending machine where you could just punch in a number and get whatever you wanted? Like, Patricia was honestly thankful she got this job but it suuuuuuucked so much to do. Like tonight. There was nothing going on at all, a few customers here and there but most of it was just empty void. Like she wished her head was. The pain hadn't stopped all day which was weird because her hangover was normally gone by one in the afternoon but she must've drank a whole lot more than she thought she did. At least she, y'know, woke up at all and made it to class. Mr. Garcia tried to call her out for having alcohol on her breath but she just said she spilled mouthwash on her collar and like he couldn't prove anything so he had to drop it. That was pretty close though.

But anyway it was a slow night, a week night. It's not like nobody came in on week nights but nobody fun came in like the kids looking for beer or the already drunk college students going for snacks and making a mess. Patty didn't even care about cleaning it up because it was something to DO. Unlike now. She just sat up at her counter with her head in her hand and a book in front of her pretending she was doing schoolwork while on shift but really just taking a nap and snapping her eyes open whenever she heard movement. Man this headache freakin' sucked. It felt like steel caterpillars were burrowing around in her skull. What she'd give to drink on the job but even if she had Emma under her finger she could still get screwed for doing something obvious like that. All it'd take is the regional manager to walk in and say "Hey, you're not supposed to be completely fucking destroyed![" and goodbyyyyye job. Maybe she should apply to real jobs instead like at the mall. She was pretty and outgoing enough to sell cheap knock-offs better than most chicks there hawking cell phone cases. Shit she could probably do it better than Zack could and rub it in his face. She'd probably get into some dumb multi-level marketing garbage though, you couldn't take two steps without finding yourself in a sales pitch for some pyramid scheme nowadays. Welcome to Endymion, the city where business thrives. Psssh, shyeah right.

Patty's eyes snapped open as the sounds of soft scraping became louder. No one in particular, just Casey, her shift buddy. Casey was a good dude. Which was kinda sad 'cause retail was filled with terrible people like Patricia. Like, he volunteered for doing the work though. The delinquent student didn't plan on doing it and like, she wasn't gonna, he didn't have to pick up the slack but he did. Poor guy. His fault though.
"Hnnnmmm missed a spot," Patricia mumbled groggily, pointing at some random space on the floor. Casey just sighed and set his broom up against the counter.
"How's the register?"
"Chick chick... peow," the thuggish girl sounded out, making a cocking motion with her hand like a gun and putting it to her temple. She let her head bounce on the counter to further advertise her boredom. Only it was a mistake. It FREAKIN'. HURT. Patricia saw white for a sec before coming back up.
"...I mean it's better than doing nothing. Do you want to trade for a few hours? I need to sit down."
"Hmmmmm...?" Patricia mumbled in confusion, bleary eyes attempting to focus with the BURNING FLOURESCENT SUNS the called lights melting her face. For a few moments she forgot where she was and what she was doing. And who was that guy...?
"You weren't even listening, were you?"
"Mmmmnope," she spoke reflexively, rubbing her face. This was... this was Casey she was talking to but why was he here in her room...?
"Are you... okay Patricia?" he asked. Concern covered his face and she had no idea why.
"Huuuuuuh...?"
"Patty look at your hand."

Now it was apparent why he sounded so worried. Patricia looked down at her hand and saw blood. A lot of it. The sharp, intense pain rocketed through her scalp causing her to wince but it made thinking easier. Thank god for adrenaline or some kinda trash.
"Whoa shit..." she muttered, a faint smirk tugging at her open mouth of shock, "I uh... I think I took that gag too seriously and bloodied my nose haha."
"Patricia this isn't funny, look you're bleeding all over the counter. Listen, change out with me, go in the back and get washed up. I'll clean all this up okay?"
"Oh uh, sure. I-I can do that." Everything was hazy like it was floating in some kind of stressful fog, like her brain was swimming in, like, tobasco sauce or some shit. It was murky and unclear and it just stung for her to think and do anything. But Patty did as she was told and wandered into the back room while Casey grabbed a bucket of water.

The darkness of the dimly lit employee room was inviting. It made her want to just lie down and take a nap but somehow she knew she shouldn't or it would be bad. She had things to do tonight, she couldn't sleep yet. There were demons she had to blow up, honestly they had it coming. No one would ever miss them, it's not as if anyone cared about them or anything. The lanky girl shuffled over to the sink and washed her face clean of all the blood, dabbing at her collar to get what little stained her uniform. The cool water felt good on her face, it helped her focus and took away some of the hurt. She stared blankly into the mirror for a good while. Her eyes were bloodshot, more than usual after a night of drinking. This wasn't normal. Something was wrong. But she wouldn't admit it to anyone, they never cared before why would they start now? She had things to do tonight, after she got done she could go to the hospital not the hospital they'll just think you're a druggie, it'll ruin your life go to her room and sleep it off or something. Patricia dried off her face on her apron and dragged herself back out toward the interior of the store again.

"Hey, sorry about that, I'm all good now. Yo, you wanna switch? I need to get my feet moving."

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