"Did you get taller?"
"No..." Tyler scratched his cheek. "Though you say that every time."
Right in front of him stood Hana, the daughter of the convenience store owner.
She was petite and slim as it gets. Despite being 20 years old, her height didn't pass 155 centimeters.
Hana had long and flowy black hair, big eyes, and a pretty strange personality.
Currently, she was on the tip of her toes, reaching as high as possible towards the top of Tyler's head as if to measure his height.
She rarely laughed or frowned. Tyler had no idea if she liked him or disliked him, though the fact that she talked to him from time to time made him think it was probably more the former.
Hana was as neutral as it gets.
"Shoo!" The owner, Hana's mother, gestured to her daughter. "Leave Tyler alone, will you? You're making him uncomfortable."
"I am?" She asked her mother before turning towards Tyler. "I am?"
"Haha, no, not really." Tyler answered while smiling awkwardly.
"See?" Hana told her mother as she turned towards her.
"Come on, let's go. Your piano lessons."
"Right, right..."
"Thanks again, Tyler." Hana's mother waved with a smile. "Really sorry about calling you in so suddenly."
"Don't worry, Miss Nakamura. It's my pleasure." Tyler nodded and waved back.
The two exited the convenience store, and Tyler let out a sigh.
While Hana was a bit hard to read, her mother was difficult for a different reason.
She was just as hot as her daughter, and one could easily mistake them for sisters.
'I might really have a thing for older women...' Tyler scratched his head. 'Time to restock some shelves.' He shook his head, trying to forget about it.
***
"See how hard-working he is? Why can't you be more like that? I call, and he's here to work, eager, happy to!"
"Yes, Mom..." Hana answered, not really listening.
"You really could learn a thing or two from him, you know?"
Hana stared for a moment, before deciding to strike back.
"Is it because he called you Miss that you're acting like this?"
"Huh?" Miss Nakamura raised an eyebrow. "W-What's that supposed to mean?"
"Did he make you feel young again or something?" Hana asked cheekily. "Wait, don't tell me you like him or something?"
"D-Don't be ridiculous." Miss Nakamura shook her head. "We're going to be late. Let's go."
"Yes, yes." Hana chuckled. "Let's go, Miss Karin."
"Don't call me by my name."
"Oh, is it Tyler you want calling you by your name? There's nothing wrong with it, Dad divorced you a while ago."
"Child...!" Karin muttered under her breath, acting as if she were about to kick her daughter, causing the laughter to jump away while chuckling.
***
Tyler's shift at work went mostly without trouble.
Mostly. Three significant encounters happened, each lasting less than five minutes.
"Well, well..." An arrogant smile walked closer. "Who do we have here?" The young man readjusted his glasses with one hand.
"John, hey." Tyler nodded.
"You know him?" The woman in his arm asked.
"Yes, we used to be classmates." John rudely put his arms on the counter. "We had plans to go to the same university. Unfortunately, it only worked out for one of us."
The young woman he came in with pressed her lips together, feeling the awkwardness.
"Just wasn't smart enough," Tyler told her while shrugging.
"Oh, come on. Don't say that. You shouldn't put yourself down." John said, acting like he was defending Tyler. "He was smart enough. Unfortunately, he just didn't have the money."
"Right." Tyler nodded. "So, what can I get you?"
"A pack of Camel Lights, please." She said while pointing, happy that the conversation had come to an end.
"As for me, I'll take..." John's words trailed off as his hands dug deep into the soda cooler, causing half a dozen cans to hit the ground as he took out his chosen flavor. "Oh..."
"Sorry about that!" The woman said quickly as she bent down to pick up the fallen cans.
"Leave them." John said, roughly grabbing her arm and pulling her back up. "You can take care of that, right?" He turned towards Tyler.
"Don't be rude," The woman complained. "You dropped them so-"
"Oh, come on. It's his job. What's he getting paid for if not to pick up what we drop...?"
John's words trailed off.
Before he'd realized it, Tyler had gotten up from his seat and circled around the counter to stand right next to him.
'He's...' The young woman raised her chin to meet Tyler's gaze. 'Really tall.'
"Excuse me," Tyler said with a polite smile.
"O-Ah, sorry." The young woman stuttered and jumped out of the way, allowing Tyler to bend down and pick up the soda cans.
"It's sad, isn't it?" John smiled as he watched Tyler with a knee on the ground. "You could have been preparing to be a proper businessman, a proper citizen, just like I am. Instead, you're forced to work a job with no future prospects." He let out a long sigh, acting as if he felt sorry for Tyler. "It's crazy to think that we were once in the same classroom."
"Different lives for different people." Tyler shrugged, not giving John's words much thought. "Anyway," He closed the soda cooler and walked back to the other side of the counter. "It'll be nine bucks fifty."
The young woman pursed her lips and glanced at John from the corner of her eye.
She did not know whether to take out her wallet or not.
"Now that I think about it," John smiled, leaning on the counter. "Can't you give us a discount? We're old friends, aren't we?"
"Can't do that, sorry."
"Sure, you can. Come on... You're not going to make this beautiful lady pay, will you?"
"John, this is a bit..." She scratched her head awkwardly.
"Sorry," Tyler sighed. "I'm working a job with no future prospects. If I owned the store, I could give discounts to future businessman on their soda cans. Unfortunately, I do not. Future businessman's gotta pay."
John clicked his tongue.
"What's your name?" Tyler asked.
"Elisa." The young woman answered, caught off guard by the question.
"Preparing to be a businesswoman?"
"No," She scratched her head with an awkward chuckle. "I work at the coffeeshop two streets down from here."
"Oh, that really popular one?"
"Yes, exactly."
"Guess I see why it's so popular now." Tyler said with a slight smirk, causing Elisa to blush a bit. "The waitress can smoke for free." He added, handing her the pack of cigarettes. "You owe me a cup of coffee."
"Hehe, you got it!" Elisa grinned.
Tyler turned towards John and found him frowning.
"Five bucks."
John clicked his tongue, took out the bill from his wallet, and threw it on the counter, purposefully missing Tyler's hand.
"Let's go, this place sucks." He grumbled, walking away while pulling on Elisa's arm.
"Hm...?"
"T-The sodas... The selection is pathetic."
The two approached the exit.
"Come back whenever," Tyler said as he waved.
Elisa remained silent, but she did wave back.