Convenience store at night.
On the in-store cable radio, a recording of a popular idol's speech was being played tirelessly to advertise the season's flagship juice.
The burly Okamura-kun stood behind the cashier, putting on a not-so-good-looking smile to do business.
Store manager Kawai Ikumi is also in the store tonight, checking the products on the shelves with the inventory.
Kamiyagawa, a part-time employee in the store, took a week's sick leave. During this period, the widowed store manager personally came to the store every night to help.
Ding dong——
The electronic doorbell at the door rang.
The glass automatically opens slowly.
Another customer came into the store.
What came was a woman of about 25 years old, dressed very professionally, with a white shirt, a hip-covering skirt, black pantyhose that outlined her shapely and voluptuous thighs, and a pair of black high heels.
Stilettos that look good but are very tiring will make a crisp sound when stepped on the smooth floor of the convenience store.
"Welcome, Miss Maruta."
Okamura greeted the other party with a bright smile on his face.
"Good evening, Okamura-kun." Miss Maruta forced a smile on her tired face. There was a tear mole under the corner of her right eye. When she smiled, she looked very beautiful and charming, "And store manager Kawai ,Good evening."
After saying hello to the two people in the store, Maruta began to concentrate on choosing oden in front of the counter. After choosing, he put the bowl in front of the counter: "As usual, add some udon."
"OK, wait."
"Thank you." Maruta nodded and said casually, "Oh? Kamiya-kun isn't here tonight either?"
"Yes, Kamiya-kun has taken a week's sick leave."
"Ah? Is it so long for a week? Is it a serious illness?"
"It doesn't seem to be the case. He said you'll be fine if you rest." Okamura skillfully tore open a pack of udon noodles and continued talking without looking up, "Has Ms. Maruta worked overtime to this point again?"
Maruta: "Yes, there is nothing we can do about it. The club has a quota of 40 hours of overtime per month. Otherwise, you may be laid off."
At this time, the store manager Kajing on the side also came over and said: "It's still as hard as ever."
Maruta: "The more money you make, the more you can get a foothold in a big city like Tokyo."
Widow Store Manager: "You can get a foothold here if you marry a good man. Maruta, your appearance is so good, why don't you try to work in this direction?"
"Don't make fun of me, Manager Kawai." Maruta just smiled.
this
. A beautiful and capable OL, she is a hard-working part-time worker and a regular customer of the convenience store.
The president of the company she works for is an old vampire worthy of hanging a street lamp, and he squeezes his employees very seriously, so Maruta often works overtime until very late, and he doesn't even bother to eat dinner.
After I finally finished working overtime, I had time to go to the convenience store near my home and order oden to fill my stomach.
As time went by, Okamura-kun, Kamiyagawa, and even the store manager Kawai Ikumi, who worked in the convenience store here, all knew her.
However, everyone only knows her surname is Maruta and does not know what her first name is.
…
"The oden you asked for is ready, Miss Maruta."
"Thanks."
Udon noodles are added to the hot oden.
Large pieces of radish and thick-tasting lucky bags are piled on top of the hot soup.
It looks very appetizing.
Sister OL took the oden, walked to the dining area with dignified steps, and started to taste this dinner and midnight snack.
"Ah - I feel alive." A mouthful of juicy white radish was a bit hot in his mouth, and Maruta gasped for air, but he felt satisfied.
Okamura behind the counter looked at the OL quietly, with obvious admiration in his eyes.
In the convenience store at night, the lighting in the dining area is a bit dim, and the completely transparent glass on the side allows you to see the dark street scene outside.
A beautiful but slightly tired OL was sitting there, sipping something and quietly scrolling through her phone. Dressed in a uniform, she looked ascetic yet inexplicably alluring.
This kind of picture is actually quite beautiful.
Halfway through the meal, Maruta stood up and went to the freezer to get two seasonal drinks.
The store was quiet.
Okamura didn't speak, and the widow's store manager silently tidied the shelves, with only the sound of the cable radio blaring.
About ten more minutes passed.
Maruta finished eating the oden, but there was still one bottle of drink left.
She stood up, her high heels tapping lightly on the floor, and walked to the counter: "Pay the bill, Okamura-kun."
"Okay, the total is 850 yen."
Sister OL took out her wallet, counted out some money casually, put it on the counter, then turned and walked towards the store door.
The unopened bottle of matcha-flavored drink was left on the table.
"Um, Miss Maruta! You haven't gotten your drink yet!"
"A drink for you."
Maruta turned back and smiled, his bright smiling eyes, matched with the mole on the corner of his right eye, charming and beautiful.
Okamura scratched his head: "Oh...oh, hehe..."
Wait for him to come back
. When he came to his senses, Miss Maruta had already walked outside the door, and the automatic door in the store was slowly closing.
So Okamura hurriedly spoke again: "It's very late, be careful on the way home, Miss Maruta!"
The OL at the door obviously heard this and turned around with a smile and waved his hand.
The store door closes.
After Miss Maruta's back disappeared, Okamura finally came to his senses and slowly picked up the drinks and change on the counter.
One count.
"ah?"
Okamura noticed something was wrong.
The amount of money the tear mole OL has is wrong.
Not less, but an extra 1,000 yen.
I guess I didn't pay attention when I took out the money and accidentally got it in there.
"What's wrong?" The widow manager came to the counter.
Okamura scratched the back of his head: "Ms. Maruta paid too much."
"Tsk. You're just looking at other people's faces, and you haven't even done your job well." The store manager sighed, "When Miss Maruta comes over next time, I can pay her back the money."
"I...didn't, didn't, didn't look at her face." Okamura began to stutter.
The widowed store manager showed a somewhat sarcastic smile. How could such a clumsy lie possibly deceive such a experienced young woman:
"Okamura, you like Miss Maruta very much, right?"
"Ah? I don't, don't, don't like Miss Maruta very much!" Okamura blushed.
Denial plus restatement, a typical clumsy lie.
Although he was a frequent visitor to the custom town, Okamura surprisingly had little experience in talking to girls in that kind of place.
"There's none?"
"Uh..." Okamura did not deny it this time, but looked discouraged, "But Miss Maruta, she probably prefers boys like Kamiya-kun, right?"
"Kamiya-kun is good-looking, but he is too young for Maruta."
"Then me! Then me..." Okamura suddenly became excited.
"You...well, if I tell the truth, Maruta is beautiful and hard-working, but Okamura, you are not worthy of me. Stop thinking nonsense." Kawai Ikumi shook his head and told the truth with a bit of venom:
"Besides, I just bought you a bottle of drink. She works alone in a place like Tokyo and doesn't know many people, so this may just be an expression of goodwill from acquaintances? She has also invited Kamiya, who works the late night shift, before Jun, do you drink this refreshing matcha?"
Okamura: "Uh..."
The store manager continued to make up for it: "She seems to like me, but this is one of the common illusions in life. Wake up and work hard."
Okamura began to cry and look disappointed, but he felt that the store manager's words were reasonable and the world was sober.
.
