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televiarc · 1 month ago

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Have You Ever Seen The Chief?

(There's a context down there, please read it)

My name is Kent Arrow, I'm 29 years old, I've been working at a store called Indian Motorcycle since 2022, and in the 2 years that I've been working here, I have never seen the chief.

I'm most certainly not stuck in life right now, I may be working at a clothing store with an, at least misleading name, but I'm happy with what my life has turned out to be, even if my manager, a cocky and annoying girl called Kimberly Deal that’s 10 years younger than me makes me question if working at my favorite clothing store was actually a good idea. As I said, i’ve been working here for two years now, since october 2022, and I have never seen the chief, the most I know is that their last name is Sullivan, and that, apparently, is Kimbery’s role model, since she never shuts up about “Wanting to be like Sullivan”. This guy has been a mystery wrapped around enigmas since the beginning, but i'm done with that, tonight, i'm gonna ask Deal where is the chief, or if she has ever seen him to begin with.

— Deal, I need to talk to you.

— Am, It’s Miss Deal for you, cutesy.

Trying to keep a conversation with this woman is a torture.

— What did I tell you about calling me that? I already told you I don't like it, keep on and I'm failing the report.

I wasn't about to do that at all, if she ends up being fired I'd be ascended to management, and I like having free time that I can spend how I please, plus, I'm pretty sure I'm not actually qualified.

— Agh, whatever Arrow, just tell me what you need. —Her condescending tone just gets worse with her fact that she's eating a lollipop and watching her phone as she speaks-.

— Didn't someone tell you that we can't use our phones during- Ah, whatever!, Deal I meant to ask you, do you know why Mr. Sullivan never shows up around here??

— He's a busy man.

Kimberly Deal is as useful as a homeopath during a medical conference when she doesn't wanna talk, my bad for thinking I would get an actual answer.

I'm not gonna get anything out of her like this, but I'm done not knowing the chief.

I'll accept that asking her just at the beginning of our shift was a pretty bad idea, she's most likely at least a bit hungover, so she must be kind of moody, however, I would like to argue that I'm even more moody since I don't even know who I've been working for during the last two years. December is about to begin, so we'll most likely be busy during our shift, so I won't even bother to ask her, if I ask her during the shift, even if there's no one aside from us she'll just wait for a client to appear, or make up a reason to go to the back so she can avoid the question, however, if I ask her during closing hours she won't have it as easy to escape answering me, it's her turn to fix the jacket section, so she can't just say that she's going home, not if she wants to get that extra job paid at least.

— Deal!

— Miss Deal, Arrow, Miss Deal

— Whatever it is! I need to ask you something.

— If it's another question about the chief you already know the answer, Arrow.

Fuck.

This woman is a goddamn mule, I'll have to play her game if I want to know who I'm working for, from what I know he could perfectly be a criminal! This is humiliating at the very least, but I'll have to do it.

—...¡Miss Deal!

— ¡HA! What's with the sudden courtesy? You think I'm gonna tell you what you want just because you call me how you should, Arrow?

Jerk.

— No, it's just that I think that you're… right, I should treat you better and stop lowering you just because you're younger.

— Well- that's certainly, um, Flattering but… Wait, you said that you do what-?

— Shhh, that's not important.

I'll admit that shushing her putting a finger on her lips was a bit dramatic, but I'm not letting her finish that sentence, because first, I would most likely be at least scolded and second, she wouldn't let me ask what I wanna know.

— Listen, Miss Deal, I think we had a pretty rough start, we should try and get along better, don't you think?

— If you're trying to flirt with me, Arrow, you should know that I'm no easy girl to charm.

That smirk makes me want to puke, but if I want to get my way then I'll have to keep on with this, I just hope that she forgets about all of this next week.

— Wow! Not so fast Miss, I was just talking about being nicer to each other, I don't like girls 10 years younger.

— 9, Arrow, not 10, 9.

— I don't care, I don't like them that young.

— No one's too young for love, Kent.

— That… that didn't sound as good as you thought it did.

God, this is a waste of time, I NEED to ask about the chief… if I miss this I might not have any more chances.

— So, tell me… Miss Deal, Why are you working at Indian?

— Life happens, Kent, I used to like the brand's style, but I ended up growing out of it and getting

— Trendier?

— Yeah, that's the word, tho I wouldn't want to say that Indian's style is not cool, they still have pretty sick pieces to complement outfits.

— I was ready to object! I think it's pretty obvious, but I like this brand a lot, it's basically the foundation of my outfits.

— It's pretty obvious, take that as you will!

Ok, we're talking about the brand, so I can go and ask about the chief at any moment.

— Yo, Kent.

— Why are you calling me by my name? Did you finally get bored of my last name?

— Nah, it's just that I've always found it cute. I was merely waiting for us to get a little bit closer so I could start using it.

This woman has no shame.

— It's ok, thanks for the compliment I guess, Kimberly.

— Ah, please, call me Miss Deal during our shifts, be professional, but if you want you can call me Kim once we get out~.

— Kim Deal, of course, like the singer.

— Hahaha! Took you long enough!

Why is she laughing? Does she find the situation funny?, agh, whatever, I can't leave her be for much time, I have to keep the topic in line.

— So, since when have you been working here, Miss Deal?

— 3 years, since my sweet 17.

— Oh yeah, because you're suddenly 20.

— My b-day is in a few days, on the second.

— December the second… Happy early birthday I guess!

— What are you giving me, Arrow?

— What? You don't like my name anymore?

— I'm just using my position to address you as I please.

It's almost impressive how she can change topics as she wishes to, she really knows how to take advantage of her position, but I can't just give up.

— Well, maybe a shirt from here, I already used a ton of coupons for me.

— Ah! As if I couldn't get one with my own coupons.

— You get a better discount or something? Who gives it to you? The chief?

— Yup!

She's getting something out of her pocket?

— You have physical coupons?!

Jackpot. Deal can slack off once she gets cocky, those coupons are clearly not printed by her, the material is obviously not printer paper, plus, she just admitted that she chief gave them to her.

— So, if the chief gives them to you, that means you’ve seen him face to face, doesn’t it?

— Yup, but I'm not saying anything.

Of course, she has been waiting for a while to brag about seeing the chief, though… I think she’s getting a little excited, she’s… getting a bit close.

— Why not?

— Why do you wanna know?

— I don’t know, just wanting to be safe that I’m not working for a criminal?

— WHY DO YOU THINK THE CHIEF IS A CRIMINAL!?

…What’s with the sudden outburst? I mean, the chief IS her role model but…, So I shouldn’t be surprised that she gets kinda mad but…, Why is she being so aggressive?

— Uh, YEAH?! I have no idea who he is, I can't say for sure that he isn’t a criminal if i haven’t met him.

— Listen to me, Kent Arrow: Shit talk Mr. Sullivan again and I’ll make sure that you never step foot on an Indian store ever again.

— You know the solution, Kimberly Deal, just introduce me to him, why does it have to be so hard?

— And what do I get?

— Keeping a cool coworker by your side so you don’t ve to overwork.

— You’re replaceable, Arrow, it can be anyone.

— Hey! What’s with the personal attack?!

Saying that was a mistake.

I'm not the tallest, but for a guy my age, I'm not that small, I'm average, as one says, Kimberly is smaller than me, but that doesn’t take away from me a pretty important fact, I'm weak.

Kim is no bodybuilder, but I know she frequents the gym, I’ve seen her arms before, I know she does weights, so no one would be surprised if I ever told them that she easily bring me down to her level by grabbing me from the shirt neck, just to then pull me even lower, she was staring daggers at me, and I’m sure things are just getting worse from here.

— You insulted the chief, Arrow.

— Does it matter that much?! Is he your dad or something?!

— NO, BUT HE’S MY HERO

— WELL, IF I KNEW HIM, MAYBE I WOULDN’T BE SAYING THIS THINGS.

Maybe yelling is not the best go to, but if that’s keeping her face away from mine then i'm doing it.

— YOU DON’T DESERVE IT.

— THE FUCK YOU MEAN BY THAT?!, IS IT BRAND LOYALTY? BECAUSE I’VE BEEN BUYING HERE SINCE I WAS 16, PLUS, I WORK FOR HIM.

— THAT’S NO ENOUGH.

— WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO THEN?

— EARN IT.

— HOW?!

— LET’S GO ON A DATE!

— OK!

…What did I just do?

Before I was able to process everything, the yelling competition ended with Deal kissing me on the corner of the lips, leaving a mark of her purple lipstick on my skin, just to then release me from the grab.

— Hope you’re a man of your word, Kent.

Her smirk just makes this situation even worse.

— I’ll choose the spot

— O-ok…?

— It’ll be… The cafeteria next door!, and since I chose the place, you can pick the day!

— December… The second.

— A B-day date! It's so cute! So, at Pumpkin Spice, next Monday at 10AM! Don’t leave me hanging!

And then she just …left, as if she didn’t just try to kill me over stuff I said about a guy I don’t know. She just acted like a mafia boss that came to get her money back from a client, leaving them traumatized at the very least just to then leave with a humble and almost warm smile…

— Eh? AH!

Was sending a message just now necessary?!

“Oh, btw, here’s everything if you wanna know about the chief ;p, C U on Monday”

— It’s… Our web page…

The chief is a man called Rocky Sullivan… and the manager is… “Kimberly Deal-SULLIVAN”.

So that's what happened,the girl I just gave a date to is not only 10- I mean- 9 years younger than me, but also my boss’s niece.

Context✨:

I've been in college for about 3 months now, and I have been taking writing classes during my first semester, and for my final I had to write a story, and since I had all good grades in that class I was thinking of not doing it but I ended up finishing it the day I had to send it thanks to my best friend saying it was pretty good, just to then get a mail from my teacher saying that it was so good she wanted to publish it on my college's magazine, so I decided to publish it here. If it sounds kinda odd at any time it's because it was originally written in Spanish.

This fic has an endless amount of references to the Japanese band "The Pillows", this is simply because I am severely autistic, so just in case I'm gonna list them all here:

Both of the main characters are a reference to two songs by the band, Kent Arrow comes from YOUNGSTER (Kent Arrow), a song from their album Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Up!, and the other one is not only a reference to The Pixies' lead vocalist Kimberly Ann Deal, but also a reference to the song Kim Deal from the album HAPPY BIVOUAC.

The name of the story is taken from the song Have You Ever Seen The Chief, a song The Pillows made for the 25th anniversary of a Japanese clothing store called Indian Motorcycle in 2022, this song has been out for like 2 whole years but it was available for just a limited time and never uploaded on the internet, so just a few people were able to hear it until the EP BLANK was launched on November 2nd this year, this absolute odyssey just to get a 3:19 MP3 file triggered the joke "where the fuck is the chief" among me and my best friend, and also triggered the plot.

The Chief himself, Mr. Rocky Sullivan, is named after the song Sullivan Ni Naritai or I Want To Be Sullivan from the album White Incarnation, even tho the Rock Stock Version is better, the guy is also indirectly named after Rocky Sullivan from Angels With Dirty Faces.

The cafeteria mentioned at the end of the story is named after a guy named Pumpkin Spice that's on a The Pillows fan discord, I don't really talk to him but I think he's cool, and the name is pretty good.

This story may, MAY, Have a sequel that will most likely be named Back Seat Dog, after their song from HAPPY BIVOUAC.

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