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Chapter 1
Seth didn't even attempt to hide his sigh of relief as the previous customer finally walked away. He gave the next customer, evidently unpertubred by the last exchange, his usual salutory grunt and wasted no time scanning their items without any further word. Whatever it took to get each customer out of his sight as fast as possible, and whatever it took to get through the day. To say that a few rouge people here and there pushed Seth's buttons hardly described the situation. Many people employed in customer service positions complain about interactions with more disreputable customers. Seth had certainly encountered his fair share of reprobates in this dead-end office supply store job at Office Locust Queen.
No, even those customers who didn't believe the jackass-centric model of the universe grated on Seth's psyche. Worse still was the now indisputable fact that these interactions amounted to the entirety of Seth's existence. Never mind the rudeness or the tedious tasks themselves. The monotony and mediocrity had absorbed him and now defined him. To be Seth Nichols was to be surrounded by office supplies, warehouse boxes, and people he didn't like. Every day. Every. Single. Day. Interuppted only by legally mandated time off wasted on the televisual pursuits of men who have no drive or time for anything else.
As he mechanically dealt with each customer Seth's mind drited to now seemingly fantastical visions of what he wanted to be doing instead. What he wanted to do? The idea seemed rather novel. As a child, Seth had wanted to be a paleotologist as far back as he could remember. The fickle lady Adolescence meanwhile had wanted many other things, and had a funny way of crushing old dreams before they got started. Things never really seemed to go right. It had been this way long before his divorce or dropping out of college. Seth was a nobody, had always been a nobody, and would no doubt die a nobody.
Seth's introspection was disturbed by his boss asking him to take a lunch break. He made a beeline for the break room, eager to be alone and pity himself some more. Before reaching the office area next to the supply warehouse Janette jumped out from behind a box with a "Graaah!" to scare him, as all Office Locust Queen employees frequently did to each other. Still lost in thought about his slowly decaying life, Seth jumped out of his skin.
"Woo," he breathed. "You really got me there." He genuinely laughed despite his poor mood. All of his coworkers had always been like that. Whenever they weren't really working-- or when they weren't split up by management who insisted that working together was inefficient-- work didn't feel like work. They could all make him laugh when he didn't feel like laughing, whether it was Joshua's after-hours mopping karaoke, or Bridgette squishing people between her fingers, or Brody making up his own dialogue for their conversations at a safe distance.
Janette let out the hearty laughs and snorts of success and slapped Seth on the back. "I better get right back to work, just saw you coming and had to take the opportunity!" she said as she waved and trotted away. Janette wasn't exactly what Seth considered attractive. A little overweight and boyish for Seth's tastes at any rate. Nevertheless, she was a sweetheart and hardworking coworker, so he genuinely admired her. He uncharacteristically went out of his way to treat Janette and his other coworkers right. They were the only thing that made this place occasionally beareable to him.
That thought, however, sent him spiraling right back into his melancholic abyss. He pressed on to the break room, breifly nodding to Joshua, who was messing with stacks of printer paper and going off about the latest Zelda announcement with Brody. Seth finally plopped in his break chair with another sigh. Though it wasn't the least bit comfortable, just being in it and away from the hustle and small talk of the people outside was as rejuvenating as a swig of Gatorade after a tennis match. The lights flickered and there was a mighty crack of thunder as he reached over and grabbed a sandwich from the mini fridge. Hmm, the storm must be coming in early this evening, he thought, as at least four or five customers had mentioned it might. He shrugged and tried to enjoy his respite despite the dark thoughts still plaguing him. This place is really getting to me, he thought. Though he had not smoked for four years, for not the last time that night, Seth really wanted a pack of Dorals.