Chapter 6

Ellie rubbed her eyes. The next time she decided to have a Professor X marathon with Maddy, she would make sure they started in the morning — she was getting far too old for late nights. She had practically dragged herself through to break time, and was the first to order a coffee from the machine. She sat, inhaling the steam from her cup when Cheryl Hudson joined her at the table, fixing her with wide, excited eyes. 
“Did you hear?” Cheryl asked, excitedly, flicking back her hair extensions.
Ellie shook her head. “Hear what?”
“About Gerry — he’s gone missing too. He turned up to work yesterday morning, did half his shift, and no one has seen him since!”
Ellie thought back to the warehouse, how Gerry’s scanner had been abandoned in the warehouse. It wasn’t like him at all. He didn’t always have the best work ethic, but he always turned up for his shifts.
“What’s the gossip, girls?” asked Olivia, who Ellie vaguely remembered as the new checkout assistant. She pulled out a chair and sat with them, placing a tupperware filled with what looked like acorns in front of her.
“Another disappearance,” said Cheryl, as always eager to share gossip wherever she could. “This time it’s Gerry.” She paused, realising Olivia might not know Gerry. “You know, the lazy one. I used to work with him on checkouts before he got moved up to entertainment — he was pretty much just a bum on a seat.”
Olivia stared at her blankly. “So he liked to sit down a lot?” 
Cheryl regarded Olivia with a frown, unsure whether or not she was making a joke. “Let’s put it this way,” said Cheryl. “If you wanted to get a job done, you’d give it to anyone but Gerry.”
That explains why my Professor X box set was in the warehouse rather than on the shelf, thought Ellie, but kept it to herself — the last thing she wanted was to become a gossip like Cheryl.
“I can’t imagine what his SPIMS score would have been,” Cheryl continued.
“You’re talking about him in the past tense,” commented Olivia. “How do you know he’s died?”
“What else is there?” said Cheryl. “I don’t see any of the other missing people rocking up, do you? Rumour has it there’s a serial killer on the loose in the city.”
“Oh come on, Cheryl,” said Ellie. “A serial killer with a penchant for Freshfields colleagues and shoppers? I don’t think so.”
Uncomfortable with the challenge, Cheryl stood to leave. “I’m only saying what I’ve heard, that’s all.”
Or made up, Ellie thought, and again held her tongue. 
Cheryl moved over to another table, no doubt to spread the gossip further, leaving Ellie alone with Olivia, who was eating the acorn-like food she’d packed like crisps.
“Does it worry you?” asked Ellie. “You know, starting the job here with all this going on.”
“Not really,” Olivia replied with a shrug. “Whatever’s happening will get solved and then the others— I mean we— I mean I will be onto the next job.” Her eyes widened, panicked. “Because we— I mean I, never really stay in one place for long,” she added hastily. “I’m always going from job to job.”
“Oh cool,” said Ellie. “I’ve always envied people who travel. I’d be too worried about going without a paycheck.” 
Olivia shrugged again, and crunched her way through another acorn.
The conversation seemed to have died, so Ellie asked, “Where are you from originally, Olivia?”
“Gendar,” she answered without thinking. Her eyes widened once more. “It’s… in Ireland.”
“Lovely,” said Ellie. “I’ve always wanted to go to Ireland. Would you recommend it?”
“You can’t go there!” said Olivia, panicked. She fumbled with one of her acorns and it shot across the table, hitting Cheryl in the back of the head. 
“Is it one of those places you can’t reach easily?” asked Ellie. “I’ve heard Ireland can be like that.”
“…yeah,” Olivia responded. “It’s totally like that, yeah.”
The conversation died to nothing once more. Ellie started to feel awkward, like she’d said something to upset her. She checked the clock and realised she was due back on shift. “I’ve got to go back down. Lovely to talk to you.”
“It was lovely talking to you too,” said Olivia. “Have a nice day!”
Her parting comment made Ellie feel better, but their conversation was far left of normal, that was for sure. 
What a strange girl.

Next Aisle: Chapter 7