24 Weeks...
Chapter Two
What is the worst thing that you have to do on the first day of your brand new job?
The answer is � fire the person you were replacing.
That is exactly what Jena was told to do when she entered the Seven Eleven of 200 E 30th St, New York, NY.
When Jena was a freshman she had gotten a part time job at her town�s Seven Eleven for some extra cash. Before she even finished the semester, she found herself getting drawn into the boring business of retail sales. She was fascinated with the profits of nickels and dimes that accumulated to thousands of dollars at the end of every quarter. Luckily her interest in the business wasn�t un-noticed by the owner, who took her under his wing and taught her the basics of business. Before she knew it, she had graduated college and was working full time for the man whom she fondly called Uncle Guru.
This particular Seven Eleven was owned by Uncle Guru�s company too, except it had been going under for over a year and the Seven Eleven Franchise was pressuring Uncle Guru to close it, which of course he didn�t want to do. It was then that he had made Jena an offer she couldn�t refuse. He told her that Seven Eleven had given them three months time to bring the store back to profit, if not it will cancel their Franchise license. So, if she saved the store from losing the Franchise license he would give that store to her for the exact amount he had bought the store five years ago.
As soon as Jena walked into the 2500 square foot store she knew right away what a bargain she had been offered.
She stepped in and decided to look around noting the products and its placements and display before she made any formal introductions to the staff and fired the manager.
�Why the fuck isn�t anything in the same spot every time in this place?�
Jena heard an irritated voice of a woman who was standing in front of the cooler and searching for some drink.
�What are you looking for?� Jena found her courteous customer service voice as soon as she had heard the complaint.
�Lemon Lime Gatorade.� The taller woman answered.
Jena�s eyes quickly scanned for the product and found it two doors down, next to the coke. She walked over and took one out and handed it to the customer.
�Who would think that Gatorade would be with Coke?� The woman complained as she took her drink.
�Well that will be changing soon.� Jena said aloud as well as made a mental note of it.
�I am Jena Rollins by the way. I�ll be managing this store from now on.� Jena introduced herself to the head shaven beauty.
�I am Jaq. I hope you do better than the ass who does it now! This place is convenient, but very disorganized.� Jaq said taking the hand that was offered to her and shaking it but before she let go her eyes noticed a thin rainbow friendship band on the wrist. Jaq smiled with recognition as she finally took a good look at the flat short straight hair cut like those of Chinese kids but without the thickness of the Asian hair the hair just fluffed on the forehead almost floating on top of a small white face with just lip glow on and no other make up. ***Tomboy, *** Jaq immediately categorized her new acquaintance. *** Not my type, but cute *** Jaq thought to herself as she kept her stare for a couple of seconds longer.
****Butch*** Jena was thinking as she watched Jaq walk towards the register.
End of Second week
Couple of weeks down the road, Jena had fired her manager, settled right into staff apartment upstairs and of course already had a formulated a step by step plan for keeping the franchise license. Yet amidst all that, Jena who was always a master at juggling managed to form a budding friendship with the shaven headed girl she had met the moment she had entered her store. The friendship flourished so automatically that before Jena realized, Jaq made Jena�s living room her bedroom.
�JAQ you bang that door one more time, I am gonna fucking call the cops.� She screamed as she threw the pillow that she had used to cover her ears, to the door that was constantly being banged at.
�You got to get up Jen� or else I�ll miss my roll call.� Jaq pleaded from the other side of the closed door.
�I am up, just don�t bang the door.� Jen screamed as she put on a t-shirt ran the comb through her hair couple of times before opening her bedroom door.
�It�s bad enough that I have to listen to you fuck the freaking night in my living room and now I have to get up before dusk just for your fucking roll call. Why couldn�t that bimbo that you were banging last night drop you?� Jena was certainly not pleased to be up and she made sure that her friend knew about it.
�She does it all the time, last night she just had to leave.� Jaq explained then quickly retorted as an after thought, �Why are you complaining anyway, I invited you to join in.�
Jena managed to only give her a look that clearly said **Not even in your dreams** while she dug inside her pocket for her stick of cigarette.
�Please don�t smoke right now, I can�t be smelling of cigarette when I show up for the drill, the drill instructor is going to have my head chopped off.� Jaq begged her friend when she saw her put a stick on her mouth.
�I am driving at six in the morning with no caffeine and no bloody nicotine.� Jena never had a problem expressing her inconveniences, as she screamed with an obvious agitation. �Who am I doing it for? For a friend who doesn�t even bother introducing me to some cute recruit!� Jena added seriously, reopening the topic she had been bugging her friend with for couple of weeks.
�Come on Jen I told you, just coz they want to be cops doesn�t mean they are gay.� Jaq answered once again defending the orientation of her fellow recruits.
�How the hell do you know? You are hardly in the dorm to befriend anyone so that you can know anything. Not everyone walks around with rainbow bands so that they are easily recognized.� Jena was now fully awake, finding a topic that she loved to taunt her friend with.
�There is a specific reason why I don�t like being in the dorm.� Jaq wished Jena didn�t push the topic but in the short time she had befriended the dark-haired woman. She knew that when Jena wanted to know something she found a way to find it out.
�So what is this specific reason?� Jena asked knowing fully well that her friend had provided her with the opening on the conversation that they had been circling at. �Except for the fact that it must be terribly hard to get a good night�s sleep in a room full of sexy women, no matter how long that dormitory of yours is.� She added giving her friend an escape if she chose not to answer.
�Well, my specific reason is named Gina Ramsey.� Jaq said, as she felt ready to share with her friend.
�Ahh� it�s a woman. Why am I not surprised?�
�Well, we were together in county college, just friends though. Anyway, she was this all hyped up feminist and I followed her around regardless to say coz I was totally falling for her. And I really thought she knew because hell, look at me, I got gay written all over me.� Jaq took a second to let Jena look at her, which of course was unnecessary as Jena had tagged her butch as soon as she had seen her attire, leave alone anything else.
�I don�t know what she was playing at but she claimed she didn�t know and I made a fool of myself when I confessed my fucking love.�
Jena could see that the subject still provoked Jaq, even though she was trying her best to mask it.
�Long story short, she hates me right now. Not that I tried anything. And now she and her friends tip toe around me like I was plagued. Chris is kind a cool, but the other one, and this one�s bunk is right under me, she just ignores me and I fucking can�t even see what I have done wrong to her.� Jaq finished outlining her dorm life just before Jena parked the car on the lot that was on a slight hill that overlooked the field where the military drill for the cadets took place.
�Oh fuck I missed the roll call.� Jaq screamed recognizing few of her fellow recruits on the field below.
�Yes you did.� A voice said that was jogging towards the car.
Jena got out and turned to make sure her eyes got a feast full of the blonde whose hair was tied back and who was wearing the skimpiest shorts that didn�t cover any part of her leg not to forget a sports bra that was getting wet with her sweet sweat.
�Here, I can�t do this all the time.� The woman complained handing Jaq a small bag and jogged away.
�Nice.� Jena said staring at the ass that was jogging away.
�She�s straight.� Was all Jaq said as she took out her sneakers from the bag and started to change her shoes.
�I never knew the recruits came that sexy.� Jena said still watching the blonde woman�s back.
�Yeah that�s Stacey. I heard she was a cheerleader.� Jaq explained.
�Now I can see the reason why you can�t sleep at night in the dorm.� Jena said getting back to teasing her friend.
�Yeah Jen, that�s the very reason why. I want to do them all. Actually I want to have a freaking orgy every night.� Jaq had only said that when she saw another of her dorm mate jogging from behind the car.
�Oh fucking shit.� Jaq reacted as soon as she recognized who it was.
�Oh yeah, fucking shit.� Jena was repeating but her tone was nothing of that of Jaq�s. She was actually mesmerized by the woman with whom she could have sworn her eyes had met for a shortest fraction of a second. Her eyes were still transfixed at the body that was becoming tinnier by the passing second but her mind was still focused on the eyes that had looked right through her.
�Stop staring.� Jaq said, breaking Jena�s trance.
�That�s the woman I was telling you about. I am sure she is just gonna run and tell G what she heard and now I�ll be hearing more bullshit from her.� As much as Jaq hated being subject to ridicule by Gina, she never retaliated because she thought she had given Gina the right to be pissed at her. But, now that Gina�s friend had heard what she was saying, she didn�t even want to imagine the kind of shit Gina would come up with. She knew her orgy quote would certainly show up in the most inappropriate time.
�So, what�s her name?� Jaq�s words hadn�t even registered as Jena kept her eyes transfixed on the figure, which was already in the field talking to two other women.
�Olivia. Ok I got to run.� Jaq managed to answer before she sprinted towards the field.
Jena stood on the hill for a while as she saw her friend reach the bottom, and also kept looking at the woman that had left her breathless even as she just passed by.
Olivia did not want to look up. First she had no reason to look up, second there was every reason to not to look. First and the fore most being the fact that the top of the hill was behind her and her drill instructor was in front of her; so looking up was not an option.
�Not an option.� She repeated under her breath, as the voice in her head wasn�t convincing enough.
Just before the drill instructor got ready to scream attention, she turned and looked up hoping� She didn�t know for what was hoping, but as soon as her eyes landed on the woman; the woman who was standing beside Jaq when she was jogging past the car. She had only managed to catch the last of Jaq�s words which she didn�t even remember at that moment, because for the second time within just few minutes, her eyes lost their movement as they peered up. And Olivia knew that whatever she had hoped had come true, as the woman was still there. Even with the distance between them, she could tell that she was smiling, just as Olivia was smiling oblivious to the rest of her.
Jena tilted her head and pulled a strand of her hair. The soft smile on her face refused to go away, as she knew that she had just lost her heart right then and there.
End of First Month