"Are you really fucking pulling this shit?"
"Come on, man, just cover for me," Greg begged.
"Cover for you how?" Tyler asked, exasperated. Greg was lucky they were having this conversation over the phone; if Greg had been there in-person, Tyler would've dragged him kicking and screaming into the store to say he was skipping work on reset day himself. "Everyone's supposed to be here."
"Just say I got sick or something, come on."
"Dude, why not just call yourself?"
"I'm on thin ice with James as it is," Tyler said.
"Lucky for you, he's not actually here tonight. Melissa is."
"That's even worse!" Greg exclaimed. "That bitch has had it out for me ever since she got promoted."
"Yeah, so it sounds like you might get fired," Tyler said, not that he was really in favor of that notion. Greg was annoying, but he was also Tyler's roommate; the last thing he wanted was to suddenly have to shoulder the entire rent by himself.
"I know this is a shitty position to put you in, man, I just... Amy dumped me."
"What?" That one threw Tyler for a loop. When Greg had asked to have the place to himself earlier, he'd been happy to ditch out. He'd assumed the two were going to be hooking up before this hell shift, and he didn't want to hear more than he should through their wildly thin walls; he knew from experience Amy was a noisy girl. Turns out, any screaming the two had done had been of a far less pleasant variety.
"Yeah, just... it's over," Greg huffed. "And she's scheduled to work tonight, too, and I..."
"No, it's... I'm sorry, man." Tyler considered for a moment, biting the inside of his lip. He was going to catch shit from Melissa for this, shit that belonged to his roommate, but he figured Greg had maybe dealt with enough already tonight. "Alright, dude, I've got your back. But you fucking owe me."
"You got it, bro! You're the best."
"Just take care of... yourself..." Greg had already hung up. "Shit."
Tyler leaned back in his car seat, looking towards the building. The lights were bright, and he could see his co-workers milling about inside. He was on second shift for the overnight, and he still had about an hour to kill; last thing he planned to do was go inside and get asked to start early. So, he leaned back, ready to relax as best he could until it was time to start. At least, he was until he saw another car pulling into the lot.
Amy's car.
Tyler sat up and watched as Amy drove by. Her speakers were blaring, some loud, peppy song that she was singing along to. What a piece of work, dumping his best friend and rolling into work like nothing happened. He'd always thought better of her, but this? A dozen thoughts ran through his head as she pulled around the side of the building to park behind the store. Maybe he should let everyone inside know what happened, know how heartless she'd been. He briefly contemplated ditching out himself, but the last thing he needed was to be collecting unemployment right alongside Greg.
Instead, after a few more seconds of contemplation, he turned his car on and drove around the back himself.
Amy was parked when he got there, just sitting in her car. She looked towards him as his headlights flashed by, and he could see her visibly tense at his arrival. 'Yeah,' he thought, 'you're caught.' He pulled in two spots over from her and... wasn't really sure what to do next.
Tyler waited for a moment, looking over. It was well past dark, so it was hard to get another look at Amy from this distance. And when he did, then what? The more he thought about it, the more he could see Amy's probable reasoning. As put together as she was, he never understood how she put up with his flake of a roommate. Dumping him right before they were both supposed to be stuck at work together for 12 hours was a shitty move, but maybe Greg had finally pushed her too far. Lord knew Tyler had been pushed to his limit more than once.
Still, flake or not, Greg was his best friend. He had to say something, if only to try and address the elephant in the room before they ended up sorting throw pillows together for hours. Tyler shut his engine off and got out of the car, walking confidently towards Amy's. Whatever nerves he had about this, he pushed them down; he knew he was in the right to give her shit for what she'd done. Or, he thought he was, until Amy opened her car door and came at him.
"Did you know?" she asked, quickly putting him on the backfoot. "Did you know he was going to break up with me tonight, Tyler?"
"I..." Tyler stuttered out; if he hadn't known what to say before, he certainly didn't now.