Susan #99 - At Work (Patreon)

First entry of the year! And hopefully one of many that are uploaded on time!

Auc Vault / Drive link

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December 19, 2017 - (6 days after #98, 26 weeks into Susan's pregnancy)

As Clay made his way through the automatic sliding doors of the mall, he couldn't help but notice how peaceful everything seemed. The sun hadn't quite risen yet, casting an eerie blue light across the concrete floors of the shopping center. Only a few early birds were already setting up their respective stores for the day ahead; the sound of clanging metal and rattling plastic echoing throughout the hushed space. Despite the lack of activity, however, Clay couldn't deny feeling a sense of anticipation building within him.

He entered the pet store, the nervosity setting in his mind as he started his first day at the job. As he walked inside, the smell of animal fur mixed with disinfectants hung in the air. The familiarity made him recall two weeks prior, where he applied for the job. He wasn’t too thrilled about sacrificing his free time on a part-time job, but he needed the money. However his boss didn’t seem too bad, and he did enjoy the company of animals more than humans.

He looked around, past the shelves stocked with pet food, toys and accessories. No-one was around in the store to see him yawning, thankfully. The store was already open, so someone had to be there. Carefully he made his way to the door leading to the back.

“Ah Clay! Right on time.” Lauren said as she was washing her hands at the cleaning station in the hall. She wiped her hands dry before shaking his hand. “Let me welcome you to your first work day. You look great in the outfit.”

Clay nodded and thanked her, trying not to show his nervousness. “So... what should I do first?”

Lauren glanced at the clock on the wall, the doorbell ringing in the distance. “Well! Let’s see... Usually, the mornings here start with restocking the shelves from the storage back here. That’s something your colleague Susan usually does, while I focus on the clinic side of things. She’ll be there to teach you the ropes, before the sweetheart has to go on maternity leave.”

“Got it.”

The door leading to the store swung open, revealing the person Clay would have to work with for the coming day. It was hard to glance over the woman as she took up quite a bit of space, reaching almost a head taller. What immediately struck him was what extended from her body. Three almost equally massive orbs, contained by the very same cyan colored polo shirt. Sure he had seen sizes similar to hers pop up every now and then, but seeing them up so close intimidated even aloof Clay.

She waddled up to him to shake his hands. “You must be Clay!”

He returned a firm handshake. “-and you must be Susan.”

Lauren quickly interjected. “You know that offer is still on the table hun, you’re free to go on maternity leave whenever.”

Susan chuckled in response. “I know, but like I told you before I want to stay active as long as possible. Plus... I’d like to know who is going to fill in for me once I’m away.”

“Very well, now... if you’ll excuse me I have to prepare the room for today.” Clay and Susan watched as she entered the clinic room.

Some awkward pauses later, Susan clears her throat. “So uh... let’s start with restocking the shelves, huh?”

They went to the tiny warehouse and filled up a trolley with products that Susan told him to grab. It didn’t take long for the two to adopt a work distribution, where Clay would reach for the lower items and Susan would instruct but also grab the items on the medium and high shelves.

With the trolley full they moved into the store, and filled the shelves with the same distribution. Beside instructions neither of them had really said anything to each other. All they shared was the mutual experience of the quiet humming of the light beams above and the aquariums behind them.

“So uh...” She started, while reaching far high up to put away the box of cat treats in her hand. “What do you study?”

“Accounting.” Clay responded with a sigh.

“Oh, that’s impressive! Do you... enjoy it?”

“Uhh...” Clay stood up, wiping his knees clean after he had just kneeled down. “Not really. I didn’t really know what to do, but my parents pushed me to do this for a ‘stable career’.” His deeper voice imitating his father.

Susan finished arranging the boxes on the top, tugging her polo down as she felt the air touching her exposed belly. Clay didn’t seem to see it, to her relief. She took a moment to think. “I’m sure they have a point but... you have any hobbies then?”

He chuckled. “I like playing games, but that’s really about it.”

“Oh yeah? What do you like to play then?” Susan’s voice clearly picked up.

“Uhm- just a bit of everything. MMOs, Battle Royales- basically anything I can play with my friends.” Clay paused, he did actually recall a different game that he was impressed by. “...Actually also God of War, not that I honestly expected to like.”

“Ahhh I’ve been meaning to play that...” She said wishfully. ”Just haven’t gotten the time around to it, or even any game really. So... you’d give it a recommendation then?”

Clay nodded firmly. “Yeah totally. And you don’t even need to have played the previous parts.”

“Awesome, I’ll have to give it a try then!”

Maybe this job won’t be so bad after all. Clay thought to himself. As long as he could geek out about games to his colleague, time would fly by. However he had a few curious questions swirling in his mind. Susan shares his love for games, but she was clearly heading towards the next chapter in life.

“How far uh, are you along?” He asked without establishing eye contact, still performing the monotonous task of moving products off of the trolley and onto the shelves.

“About... 6 and a half months now, with seven babies. So I’ve uhm... got some more time to go.”

Clay could see from the corner of his eye that she was caressing her belly with one hand during her response. “Jheez... I mean- congratulations...” Clay stumbled on his words, muttering his pleasantries.

“Y-yeah... It was quite the shock. Still is, if I’m honest.”

He simply nodded, not sure what to say after that. Shortly after he noticed her eyes were turned towards him. Clay looked over, and saw that Susan instead was looking at one over the products and was leaning over.

“I should’ve pointed this out before we started, but it is best if we organize these based on expiry dates...” With one hand leaning on the selves, Susan reached over to rearrange the items. She acted so quickly that he didn’t want to interfere.

“There.” She said, preparing to pull herself back up. “These don’t expire for a few months but that way, we won’t have products stuffed in the back that have e- Eerrgh!”

Susan froze the moment she felt a sharp pain jolt through her back. She had it happen before, but nothing compared to what felt like daggers shooting through her spine. The shock left her lungs empty.

“Oh shit.” Clay said, shoving the trolley aside to try to help her. Susan didn’t speak, merely lifted her arm so he could nestle under it and give her the support her back that her muscles couldn’t give. While he moved instinctively, he had no idea what to do next.

“-in the back... chair...” She mustered out of her lungs. With her back still bent over the way it was, they carefully walked towards the back. With Clay opening up the doors with his legs so they could walk through uninterrupted. With her guidance they entered the lunch room, and Clay gradually lowered her into the comfiest chair available.

He took a deep breath once his pregnant colleague was fully seated, she slowly was catching her breath as well. “Are you okay? Is there anything you need me to do? Should I call the bos- Lauren?”

Susan nodded and then shook her head. “N-nah... Just-... I just need a moment to breathe.”

It was then Clay noticed her eyes were getting teary, realizing that her voice was also quivering. But he thought it was best not to comment on it. “Sure... is there anyone I need to uhm... call for you?”

The girl shook her head again, as she took out her phone and using it to signal instead of words.

“Good, good... So... I think I’ll give you a moment to yourself, and check in on you in a little bit. Is that okay?”

She nodded, giving Clay all he needed to know. He excused himself and tried to focus back on the job he was doing before all this transpired. Now making extra sure that every product he touched was sorted appropriately.

Some time had passed, Clay figured about 10 minutes. He was about to finish up and check in on Susan, but was interrupted by the door bell ringing. He had a moment of panic, his first customer. He couldn’t ask Susan to help- Lauren seemed busy as she hadn’t left the examination room ever since.

Clay had been a customer plenty of times before however, so surely how bad could it be? He just had to be the person on the other side of the interaction He leaned over to see who it was. A guy who was clearly out of breath and looking around. He spotted the ring around his finger, looked about the same Susan was wearing but Clay wasn’t sure.

He spotted Clay. “Have you seen Susan? She-”

“Yeah, she’s in the back. Follow me!” He found himself inspired by the man’s urgency. The two quickly went to the lunch room where Susan was seated. Clay held open the door so they could reunite.

“Are you okay?!” He immediately kneeled to her side to hold Susan’s hand.

She nodded kindly. “Yeah... I think I just-... overexerted myself... Because of what happened, yknow...”

“Sshhh... it’s okay now.” He gave her a hug, making sure she didn’t have to move a single muscle for it. “Were you trying to make up for what happened at class? I knew you felt bad about it but... Well, let’s just get you home.”

While Susan and Nathan while preparing to leave, Clay went and relayed what happened to Lauren. As she normally would, she dropped whatever she was doing to check in on her favorite employee. Almost freaking out more than Susan herself did. She shushed any attempts from Susan trying to plan when she would return, telling her she needs to focus first and foremost on her recovery.

Clay himself didn’t have much to bring to the conversation, receiving mainly thanks from Susan and Nathan. In an attempt to lighten the mood, he told Susan that maybe now she would have the time to try out the game that she really wanted to play. Her frown turned upside down and replied that she very well might.