Chapter 12

Chapter 12 – The Part-Time Job


The next week passed by rather uneventfully. Salomus was quick to get settled into his new classes, and he grew closer to Sudoku in the meantime. After a while, he summed up the confidence and courage to ask her out. It was to be nothing overly fancy, just dinner at a nice restaurant that Ambrose recommended. Sal had found a part-time job working at a local convenience store that was just a few kilometres from the campus. It paid reasonably well, and he decided to use his first paycheck, coupled with whatever money he had gathered elsewhere, for this occasion.

He then faced a new challenge: the restaurant was a semi-formal place, and he needed to find some nice clothing in his size. When he finally found something he liked that fit both his stature and his budget, he made straight back to the dorm.

Meanwhile, Sudoku had an even more difficult time finding a suitable dress. While the supply of them in her size was plentiful, not much seemed to fit her taste. She wanted to go for something elegant, yet simple. Something that would look nice without revealing too much. She eventually chose a knee-length black dress, the sides of which parted slightly at mid-thigh to allow for more comfortable walking. Hiding it from her roommate ultimately proved to be a quite daunting task. She was forced to resort to stowing it in the trunk that she kept under her bed, hidden from view.

The trunk was not terribly resplendent, being more of a crate than anything else. She had received it secondhand from her sister, Jigsaw, during her first year at MemTech. Though she had since replaced it with a newer trunk, she still kept this one as a means of personal storage. Several half-forgotten items lay there, including the yearbook from her third year. Sudoku smiled fondly as she recalled the events that took place during that time. It was the year that she went to her first real party, and the first time she snuck out past curfew to go to said party. She remembered how nervous she had been, traversing the grounds and avoiding the staff and prefects on patrol, along with the immense relief  she felt upon reaching the main gate. She then remembered with a laugh how much trouble she got in when she was busted sneaking back in after the party. Such innocent mischief back then. Even though she was capable of much more chaos now, those days were over.

Setting aside the yearbook and her reminiscing, she closed the trunk, careful to avoid shutting it on the hem of her dress, and restored it to its former position under her bed, unnoticeable to the casual observer. Just then, Salomus walked in carrying a grey fabric bag, which unzipped to reveal his suit. The two looked at each other, startled for a moment, and Sal quickly stowed away the bag in his dresser before Sudoku could ask any questions.

"I hope you picked out something nice to wear tomorrow," she warned him, a tone of mock severity in her voice. "And it had better be good."

"I should say the same to you. I sure as hell don't want you to embarrass me when we're in public," he replied jokingly, trying hard not to laugh at her indignant expression.

"Me embarrass you?!? I think you've got it the other way around, buddy. Just remember who asked who out."

"Don't remind me. I was beginning to think you would never shut up until I said yes."

At this, they both burst into laughter, their hard-kept serious manner abandoned entirely. When they finally calmed down, Sudoku regained her composure.

"I seem to remember it a bit differently. In all seriousness, though, I really hope you chose something nice. Just promise me its nothing dilapidated, which others will point and laugh at."

"Don't worry; I think you will like what I'll be wearing. And I hope you've picked out a nice dress, but nothing skimpy or anything that would attract the wrong kind of attention. I'd really rather not have to cripple someone else."

"Heheh, relax, Sal," she said, hugging him warmly. "I promise that you'll love it. We are going to a nice restaurant, remember? Speaking of which, what was its name again? Salvatoire's or something like that?"

"Er..." He thought back to the conversation with Ambrose. "Yeah, I think so. A friend gave me a calling card." He looked in his wallet and pulled out the card for the restaurant, checking it just to be sure. "Yep. Salvatoire's, that's the name. Speaking of which, I might as well call and make a reservation before I leave for work, or I might forget."

Salomus called the restaurant, and he set up a reservation for the following evening. The whole time he was doing that, he was also changing into his work uniform as quickly as possible, before Sudoku returned from her shower. She emerged in her nightgown just seconds after he hung up, with his shirt still unbuttoned, revealing his toned upper body. Sudoku just smiled and stared for a while, clearly enjoying the view.

"...May I help you with something?" he said after a few seconds. "'Cause if not, I'd like to finish getting ready for work. They'll have me in the storeroom most of the day, so I need only wear this shirt, which I still need to button. That's assuming, of course, that you've finished with your ogling."

"What?" she seemed to snap back to reality. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to stare..." she mumbled quietly, blushing. She strode over to him. "Here, let me help you with that."

She started buttoning his shirt while he stood there, his nose flooded with the scent of her shampoo. He really enjoyed the various pleasant scents and aromas that she always seemed to give off whenever she was near him. She finished fixing his shirt and gave him a small hug.

"Be careful at work. Try not to kill yourself while you're in the storeroom, okay?" she cautioned him.

"Can do," he replied, returning the hug and stepping out of the door, into the afternoon sun.
* * *
Sudoku looked up from her book at the sound of a lock being turned. Salomus entered the room, looking thoroughly beat. He staggered over to his bed and collapsed onto it, his face turned toward his roommate.

"Tired, are we?" She asked, slightly amused by this odd behaviour.

"More like half-dead," he replied, not bothering to move. "They had me working overtime because some idiot co-worker decided to skip out on his shift. I was running around the storeroom for most of the day, but they put me on register three times. To top it all off, a hobo came in, drunk as hell, and tried to buy some heavy liquor. When I asked for his ID, he started playing dumb. Once I explained that I could not sell him the liquor without some form of identification, he started getting angry. Relax," he added, seeing her concerned expression. "He just stared yelling at me, but he was so drunk that his speech was slurred almost to the point of nonsense. It was really quite amusing.

"So then he tried to walk off without paying for the liquor, and I calmly walked over to the door and locked it. He then got himself really worked up and started yelling at me again, but this time I couldn't understand a word. The really horrible part? He eventually gave up and headed back to the isle to return the liquor, only to throw up all over the floor, and then he passed out on the spot. So I was left to clean up the mess, and drag him out of the store."

Sudoku burst into a fit of laughter after hearing this story. "Sorry, I know I shouldn't be laughing at your expense," she apologised after calming down. "But it really was funny."

"Yeah, for you maybe," he chuckled. "But on the bright side, the manager felt so bad for me having to deal with everything, he paid me double my usual payment that night, plus overtime. So I guess everything turned out okay." He held up a wad of fifty-Magen notes. "I think I know just what to do with these," he said, giving Sudoku a small wink.

"Oh, I'm sure you do," she returned the wink. "Anyway, you seem to have suffered enough today, so I'll let you get some rest. You'd better be wide awake tomorrow evening. I don't want you falling asleep in the middle of our date."

Salomus didn't reply, because he was already sleeping deeply, completely oblivious to what she just said. He didn't respond when she prodded him in the side, nor when she gave him a light shove.

"Good night, handsome," she whispered, and then she too fell asleep within minutes.