A Precious Gift



Written By: Mariann & Artist Poison

A girl doesn't like her life, always having to do as others say, that's how she feels about this, parents try to teach her a lesson (you could say her parents or at least step father is a bit messed up, I have a back story for him too) and within 3 days she learns what it is like to be alone. Therefore she goes to work, Charles, her boss (I hope to control since i know him well) notices and tries to get her to talk. Then her parents shows up and say they are taking her back home, but, she is 21 and chose to move out already. This would probably be a bit emotional, but, she is stronger than most would think.

Name: Alara Raine
Age: 21
Info: Alara hates how her life has become useless, she doesn't blame herself, but, only blames her choices she made, and she found out her family never really loved her like she thought they did. Just another mouth to feed is how she sees it. Now as a cashier she remembers all of her problems and keeps dealing with more, especially when her family decides to teach her a lesson. She is constantly on her laptop or doing things around the house.
Personality: Nice, kind, sometimes depressed, keeps to self, quiet, childish, imaginative, creative, and a good - loyal friend.
Occupation: Shop N Save (Cashier)
Looks: Realistic Alara - Anime Alara (both eyes are blue)

*Beep beep beep beep* Alara smacked her alarm getting up from her bed, she had to work 7:30 to 11:30 in the morning. "This is really annoying, even for a Wednesday" Alara had hated the mornings, more like Wednesday itself, since most of her part time hours were concerning early Wednesdays. Getting up she got dressed & brushed her black hair back into a ponytail like she always did. It was a habit to do things almost in order, things rarely ever changed, and relationships would work, but, she didn't want to be away from her family. After making sure she had everything, knowing she took her shower the night before, she walked out of her room. It was quiet, that was odd to her, and it wasn't part of the every day routine she kept with her hours. Turning her head to look into her parent's room, the door was closed meaning they were probably asleep, and so she turned her head to see her brother safe in bed again. It was 6:45, she grabbed a travel coffee cup to take with her, and then she walked out of the door with her purse, which was all she would need for the day. She took 15 minutes to walk to work ignoring the stormy weather that brewed above her, for a Wednesday, it was always slow in the mornings until 10 am that is.

Name: Kuratu Sugisaki
Age: 22
Appearence: Light blue-ish hair; blue eyes; slightly tall; wears jeans, T-shirt, and jacket - speaks with a slight English accent (Just, erm, go with it xD;; I was twelve and going through an intense anime phase, and I've never been able to imagine him with any other apperance.)
Background: Kuratu was always a good student. Though lots of people liked him, he never really had any friends. He was always quiet and preferred to read than anything else, and never got invited to talk with people much, despite his apparent popularity. When he was fourteen, his parents died, after which his classmates began supporting him more. Despite this, he still kept mostly to himself.

When he was eighteen, he began supporting Dennis, his ex-girlfriend's son, on his own (the full story behind that can't be related here because of the forum rules, so if you want the story, which shows Kuratu in a better light than this does, it'll have to be off-forum...though that'll have to happen at some point anyway, if Alara ever asks about him). This complicated his career plans, but he went ahead with them anyway. He now works to put himself through med school and has opened up a bit to his coworkers, though he hasn't told them much about his past.

--

'Dennis! Come on, dear, time for school,' Kuratu called; it was 7:30, and they'd have to leave soon if he would have time to drop the boy off and get to work on time. The brown-haired, hazel-eyed five-year-old was still stuffing a piece of bacon in his mouth as he ran over to get his rain things on.

'You put your plate away, right?' Kuratu asked, as he wiped the boy's hands. 'Mhm!' Dennis said proudly. 'Good,' Kuratu said, putting Dennis' coat on him and fixing the hood over his head. He got on his own coat as Dennis pulled on rubber boots, then the pair grabbed their knapsacks and left the apartment.

The boy walked alongside the man, holding his hand until they got to the school. Kuratu kissed him goodbye, then hurried to work, and managed to get there a couple minutes early, by which time it was raining in earnest. Kuratu came in, shaking the rain out of his hair and removing his coat. 'Morning,' he said to his coworkers.

Danny looked over, he was probably in his early thirties, but, looked like he could almost be older because the way his hair was almost a grey looking color. "Morning" Danny spoke to Kuratu as he came in through the doors of Shop N Save. Alara had already gotten there and dressed in the ladies room, she wasn't really smiling as if she was happy, buy, more because it was her job. However, this morning she was actually just really tired "Alara, you're 7:30 right?" Danny asked, the only other person besides Danny being there was Maggie and she was normally the checker along with someone who did go backs along with switching out the candy.

"Yea, why?" Alara asks looking over hearing him reply "Charles wants to see you upstairs" "He's here this early? I didn't think any of the managers were up this early...well, at least not here that is" "yep, now go up there before you start work in 30 minutes" Danny turned to Kuratu "You must be the 7:15 shift or is it a different one?" Danny asked not looking at the hourly sheet knowing Alara was here to help out too.

Alara walked behind one of the cashier spots and to the front, left side of the store, she had to walk up the stairs to get to the upstairs break room, and stopped at the first door before the break room. "Hey Charles" she smiled kindly, she always thought Charles was really nice, the father she wished she had, and she hated her step father enough as it was. "Oh hey, Alara, come in, come in" Alara walked into the room as Charles spoke "Why don't you have a seat?" Alara took her seat, still a bit away, she was now a bit leery coming into the room, she wished she wouldn't have. Most of the time it wouldn't be good if the manager asked to see you in the morning. "Wait, I'm not in trouble am I?"

beep beep lalalalala

(Crap. I was never told this was here. And do you want me to take the manager? And if so, what's he talking to her about?)

'Yes, I am,' Kuratu said, taking off his winter things. 'Morning to you too. How are you?'

(I want to play Charles the manager, but, there would be two managers besides him :P and an assistant manager who does the jobs they don't want to do. Also, don't worry about it, that's why I posted, if you want to be him, just remember he is nice & more caring than the others managers, we could probably wind up sharing him if you wanted) (Charles is the kind of nice guy that wants to know what's wrong with Alara, because he knows what she does when she gets upset, and winds up hurting herself a little. It's a little side effect of her bottling up things, because she can't say them or anything in her family.)

"Would you want to start 15 minutes early & use the sign up sheet? Maggie needs her break and Alara just went upstairs to have a chat with Charles" Danny stated as he looked at his sheet that showed who worked & who didn't. He was hoping to find someone to give her, her break, and at least in the mornings it was slow. So if you didn't keep up on the work and just focused on checking out customers, that was alright, it's not like Connie was there. She never allowed anything besides working really and Jenny wasn't working today either so it made the day easier too.

- - -

Alara went upstairs to where Charles was in the second room, she saw that he was on the computer, and went over to sit next to him "Hey Charles, Danny told me you wanted to talk to me" Charles looked over to Alara, he had to ask about how things at home were going, lately she had been sick a couple of times, but, she even took some closing times until one in the morning, that was how late Shop N Save stayed open.

(You can be Charles)

Mariann: Also, is your username your irl name?

(All righty, I'll take him. Sharing him sounds good, because otherwise I haven't got much to do and my posts are going to be pretty much filler :P No, Mariann's just the name of one of my characters. Also, do you have AIM or MSN? I can talk more freely about Kuratu's background there, and we can do planning there so that we're not jamming up our thread with it.)

'Sure,' Kuratu said, going to sign in. 'Also - can I get next Thursday off? It's Dennis' birthday.'

'Yes, I did,' Charles said. 'Don't worry,' he added, 'it's nothing serious. I just wondered...' He paused, considered, then said, 'You're here all hours. You hardly take a sick day. I was just...wondering if things are all right with you. Anyone else I'd say it was just being overworked, but I have a feeling that's not the case here.'

(Lol just wondering, I have skype i tend to chat on with everyone the most, i dont have the others- Skype = Immy-Immortal )

"Next Thursday?" Danny scrolled through the names and looked at it "Yea, I think we can find a filler, I'll write it down" Danny took down the note "As soon as you can, Maggie needs her break, after that you'll both be on a register, so you can relax, Connie isn't coming today, so you don't have to worry about that" Danny stated going into the back room.

Alara listened to what he had to say and stood up "I just want more hours, more hours means I can get into college sooner, and more art supplies" Alara loved to draw, she was getting better each time she drew more. "Nothing is wrong, it's all the same" Alara stood by the door "I need to get ready for work" she smiled, she still had 25 more minutes, they barely spoke for five minutes when she realized she might say something she shouldn't.

Kuratu nodded. 'I can cover for you now,' he said to Maggie as he took her place. 'Can you pick up a coffee from next door as well? I'll pay you back for it when you get back.'

Charles watched her for a few moments. 'Not yet. I still want to talk to you about this. You're not telling me the whole story here.'

(sorry im not yet online, my brother is driving me nuts)

"Yea, sure" Maggie smiled, she was 29, but, had her fair share of experiences. Short dark red hair and hazel eyes, she was thin, but, a bit old looking (Not really old). Maggie left, she would have a fifteen minute break before having to come back, so she went next door and went to get something to eat while she took a break.

- - -

"Charles, I've been here for about four months or so, you of all people know I never speak to anyone. I know you're trying to help, but, not even me losing my job could make me tell" she state blankly staring at the ground, if he kept insisting, she might actually say something by accident. However, she didn't leave the room, she feared what would happen if she left the room without an okay, and she knew she couldn't lie to her boss. Well not Charles that is. Her smile was gone as she stared at the floor not looking him in the eyes. She liked Charles, he was very nice to her, and she thought of him more of a father that she always wanted to have, but, never had. She still had her wrist band on her arm, it covered a band aid covering what she did to herself, three days ago.

'Thanks,' Kuratu said. He told her how he liked it before she left, and took her place.

Charles watched her for a few moments. He considered everything she said, everything she was clearly avoiding saying, and how likely it was he could get any information out of her. Eventually, he said, 'Well, I need you downstairs so you can set up and start working. I'll let you go, but I won't let this issue drop. I think there's something here you're not telling me, and I'm concerned.'

Before Alara left she stated, knowing how cold it would sound, "Just because something isn't being said, doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing, and it doesn't mean you have to play the little angel and look into it" and she walked off dressed for work and went downstairs, she still had some time, Maggie just finished her break about fifteen minutes later and came back so that Kuratu could have a short break before actually starting, the three of them would be working soon, but, it wouldn't matter. Alara went into the room behind customer service and got her Gatorade, Danny didn't bother her about it today as long as she kept it hidden because he knew what Charles had spoken to her about. "Alara why don't you open up on the self check out lanes?" the self check out was three individual computers that people could check themselves out on.

Alara nodded "Not until I get my breakfast Danny, you know that" and she went next door to Dunken doughnuts and picked up an extra box of 36 doughnuts when it came to the mornings. Returning back she had her own small box along with a coffee she liked to warm up during that time, and went over to Customer service "Doughnuts" "Want one Kuratu?" Alara asked half awake still which meant, attitude mode, though she wouldn't care if someone didn't want any. "Thanks Alara" Danny stated and also took the extra coffee she brought over.

'I'm fine. I prefer the Tim Hortons ones, and in any case I ate before I came,' Kuratu said, with a small smile. 'How was your night, Alara?' He suppressed a small yawn as he waited for his coffee.

"Oh, it was fine, we actually had family game night" she smiled half heartily, she went to the fast lanes, and started to open them up, there was a certain way she had to open them up, and hide her drink before any of the managers would come in around noon. Maggie handed him his coffee "Here you go, I'll take back over now" Maggie said watching Alara, but, looked back over, she liked the girl, but, knew she didn't like to open up to people, thinking she would be hated for some reason.

'Thanks,' Kuratu said, fishing some change out of his pocket and handing it to Maggie. He took an appreciative sip of the coffee, then went to stock items near Alara at the fast lanes, partly to continue the earlier conversation. 'Which game did you play?'

( I will write as much as I can, but, I have several threads to reply to)

"Monopoly, the game called Sorry, I love playing those games, it was fun." however this morning she had no idea of where they went, she figured they went for a walk or something, which was odd, but, what else could it have been? "It was nice to have that kind of night again" she mumbled as she greeted someone early in the morning. A few hours went by, she had been there for a few months now, and knew the basics of what she was doing.

(hey, do you like magic within a story? I wanted to try to add a little something fantasy/magical/supernatural like into the story for interest)

(That's fine, I like short posts. And I don't mind magic stuff at all :))

Customers soon began coming into the store at a higher rate. Kuratu was assigned to the till a little bit into the shift.

(Aaaand minor writer's block. Damn brain-deadedness.)

Eventually it was time for Kuratu's lunch break, Alara was already outside with her soda, and just relaxing for the lunch break she had just went on about 15 minutes ago. Lunch breaks were 30 minutes long on days like today with how busy they were. Otherwise it was normally just fifteen minutes long. Alara had been on the fast lanes for about 2 almost 3 hours, seeing as the lines kept getting long.

"Kuratu close for break" danny said over the intercom phone thing and went back to helping customers while Nisha had checked others out in the ten items or less lane by customer service.

Kuratu checked out, took the lunch he'd brought, and went for lunch. He took a seat near Alara, gave her a small smile in greeting, and began eating.