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“Who told you I was pregnant?!”
Catie flinched, “Sierra said you were sick the other day, and that—”
“Oh, not this again,” George murmured under his breath.
“Sierra.Sierrasaid I was pregnant?” Gwen stared at the pair, incredulously.
What in the fucked-up HR violation?!
Catie bit her lip, but Gwen knew. Emotions didn’t lie, despite what people said with their mouths. She could feel Catie’s shame, her insecurity and minuscule remorse. George was still stuck in surprise, but there was a growing sense of awkwardness clearly indicating that he did not want to be there right now.
“I wassick,I ate something that made my stomach upset! Why the hell would she think I was pregnant?!” she ranted, making small circles on her skates in front of the register.
When neither spoke, Gwen swore she could feel a blood vessel explode in her eye. Weren’t there any rules about gossip at work?! More importantly, why would Sierra spread a rumor like that about her? She barely spoke the mandatory words needed to get through a conversation with her, so why—
“Maybe because you slept with Tom?” Catie quietly supplied.
Gwen froze, her back toward the pair. Her hands paled beneath the fluorescent lights, familiar blue veins suddenly prominent. Slowly, she turned her head toward Catie.
“I did what now?”
George rolled his eyes when Catie clammed up.
“Supposedly, Tom told some of the delivery guys that you two hooked up,” George supplied. “I had to pull him into the office and talk to him about inappropriate conduct at work. I don’t care who you sleep with—”
“Ididn’tsleep with him,” Gwen hissed.
“I didn’t sayyoudid, I’m just telling you what happened,” George explained. “You’re a decent worker, Gwen. You’re quiet, mostly keep to yourself. Personally,I’m glad you started changing, but a lot of people don’t like change and—”
“So, the solution is togossipabout them?! To spreadlies?!”
Of course this was happening. Gwen was just too oblivious to have noticed. Sierra was nice to everyone, but she wasn’t the first ‘nice girl’ to have crossed paths with Gwen. The last nice girl was named Mallory, and she had thoroughly ruined Gwen’s reputation among her coworkers. And that was when Gwen wasbetterat pretending like everything was okay. When she could smile and give her coworkers an encouraging word. Back when she could take the verbal lashing of a stressed-out businessman, who just wanted his two espresso shots and why was it taking so long?
Gwen wasn’t the same woman she was back then. She had followed the script, but it felt hollow. There was nothing left of her to give to retail, so Gwen had survived. Done whatever she could to make it day by day, all the while the quiet thought in the back of her head had been screaming.
I can’t keep doing this.
Ambrosius had been right about her.
He was right abouthumans.
They really are loathsome.
“Look, Gwen—”
She ignored George, abruptly leaning across the conveyor belt to snatch the intercom phone from behind Catie’s shoulder. Gwen leaned back, cord taut as she brought the receiver to her mouth and pressed the button.
“Attention Master Basting shoppers! This is Gwendolyn A. Gooch, yourfavoriteemployee here again to tell you all about our fabulous going out of business steals!” Gwen grinned, lip smearing along the intercom receiver. “Let’s start with the Frame Department! Tonight,only you can get a great deal on frames, two for one! Our handy dandy frame expert,Tom,will be happy to answer all your questions. Hey, Tom, if I wanted to buy four frames, how many women would you have to lie about fucking in order for you to feel good about yourself?”
Somewhere within the store, Gwen could hear a loud gasp.
“Like, four? I’m bad with numbers, maybe eight? It is a two for one deal after all! Speaking of two for one, let’s give it up for our second favorite cashier, Sierra! See, Sierra’s a summer hire, but she runs around like she knows everything. Even when a complete stranger is expecting! Who knew! She must bepsychic!After all, only a fucking lyingassholewould spread a rumor about their coworker being pregnant, right?!”
Gwen didn’t need to look at her coworkers to tell they were uncomfortable. She could feel it. Not just from them, but from every person in the entire store. Gwen had never been able to feel this vastly before, but it was like the more she spoke, the more the world around her had started to open up. There were at least thirteen people in the store right now, including Sierra and Tom.
“I’m only going to say this once. I am not pregnant and Ineverslept with anyone who works here. Tom, you’re a shitty coworker. You clearly don’t want to be here, and it wasreallyfucking obvious that you were staring at my tits. And as for you, Sierra, whatever drama high you’re chasing, you can leave me out of it. I hope you have the lifeyou deserve.”
Gwen went to put the intercom back, before thinking better of it. She brought the receiver back to her mouth.