Page 2 of Tiger Betrayal

Rita went to weighing the fruit too fast for Laramie to keep up with what buttons she was pushing.

“Can you slow down so I can see?” Laramie asked.

“You have a whole fucking line built up.”

“Don’t cuss at me. I’ve been asking for help,” she whispered.

“Well, it’ll be the last time you’re asking for help. This will be your last day.”

“Wait, what? No, I need this job. Please. I’m really trying—”

“You are slow, have no common sense, and are pissing off all of our customers.”

“You know what?” the bright-eyed man said. “Good.”

Laramie froze with her mouth hanging open.

Rita puffed up. “Sir, the police are already going to be called for you grabbing me by the neck—”

“She doesn’t need this job, or this absolute lack of management. You suck,” he said. “I’ve literally never seen anyone be a worse manager. Move,” he gritted out to the older gentleman, who had just paid with the tap function on his credit card.

“Gladly,” he said. “I’m never coming back here again.” The man pushed his cart off and the bright-eyed man had herded the woman in front of him directly out of the lane so he could face off with Rita.

Oh lord, Laramie had never seen someone with eyes like his. They looked even brighter now, but perhaps that was just because of all the fury. Were they gold?

“You should be the one on your last day at this job,” he snarled in a voice that was absolutely terrifying. “I watched you give every cashier a break and left her as the only open lane and she doesn’t know how to do anything. And then you were eating fucking macaroni and cheese in the break room, just watching her crash and burn.”

“It wasn’t my choice to hire her in the first place! She’s only here as a favor to my boss, because she fucking slept with him!”

“What?” Laramie asked, mortified. No she hadn’t!

“Oh, that’s it? You got a crush?” he accused Rita. “Someone else had your boss’s attention. Look at her!” he yelled suddenly, jamming a finger at Laramie. “It’ll always be her over you.” He turned for Laramie. “Let’s go.”

“W-what?”

“Take that stupid apron off, flip this bitch off, walk out of here with dignity.”

“O-okay. Right. Take the apron off,” Laramie narrated as she untied it and slid it over her head.

“Throw it down,” the man said.

Laramie threw it on the ground and looked at him. What next?

“Flip the bitch off,” he said, tilting his head toward Rita.

Eeek, she’d never done this before! She flipped her off.

“Good Lord. Have you never flipped someone off before?” he demanded.

“No,” Laramie said, full of energy and anger and something she couldn’t describe.

The man pulled his hand up and flipped her off. “Like that. Don’t grip all your fingers down but the middle one. Stay relaxed. Make it look cool.”

“Right.” She pursed her lips in concentration and relaxed her other fingers slightly, careful to keep the middle one rigid and shoved it at Rita’s face, who was currently on the phone with someone. From the sounds of it, the police.

“Now walk out with dignity,” Laramie uttered under her breath to herself, reciting what he’d told her. She lifted her chin higher into the air and brushed past Rita, then began to walk out, remembered she left her purse in the break room, and turned to run into the absolute wall of muscle that was the bright-eyed man.

“What are you doing?” he gritted out.