A couple of familiar faces, more or less.

Mara didn’t really talk to Leonard once it was time to clock out. She just texted somebody, waited on the curb, then got picked up. A ride-share, he figured.

“You think she’ll make you a manager, or something?” Erica asked. “I think that’s illegal, but I’m not sure she cares.” she added, as the pair started walking to their mutual transport. There was a specific section for employees, located at the far end of the Prift-Mart parking lot relative to the store itself.

Lenny sighed “Honestly, I kind of hope not. We’re eventually quitting anyways, so it’d be better if I don’t get too tied up in Prift-Mart. A promotion would do just that…” before noticing a familiar figure standing next to his car.

“Good evening, am I interrupting something?” Cheryl asked, now wearing a pair of capris and sandals, as well as a sleeveless button-up and various bracelets. No hijab this time though, he could see her hair was tied in a bun.

Erica whispered “Is that her…?” as she seemed to shrink due to pure awkwardness. No small feat, when you remember how tall she actually is.

Cheryl’s gaze was drawn to her nonetheless, and the woman purred “My, my… you have outstanding proportions. Has anyone told you that you could work as a model?”

“N-No…?”

“Then you’ve surrounded yourself with fools.” She pulled out a business card, handing it to Lenny’s statuesque roommate. “We’ve no surplus of quality models at my college. If you show up and stand exactly how I tell you the whole time, I promise you’ll be paid handsomely.”

“Y-Your college…?” the diminutive man blanched.

“Yes, the college wherein which I happen to hold all of my lectures and workshops, my college.” the stylish woman explained, a slight disgust coating her expression. “Dear sweet mercy, how are you that slow?”

Leonard’s face reddened. “Wait, no, I, buh…!?” he stammered, unable to string together enough words due to his flustering. “Your girlfriend/ex keeps leveraging insane wealth, you people have my expectations calibrated for lunacy…!” he screamed within his mind. He had a point, of course.

Cheryl sighed “No matter, I will just generously overlook that glaring flaw out of the goodness of my heart…” before giggling “… and for the sake of that python we both know you’re hiding. It’s astounding, your pants are so small.”

“Hey, uh, I-I don’t think you should be t-talking about him like that…!” Erica blustered, her own face growing a shade of crimson as the words were **** out of her mouth.

Ms. Faheem raised an eyebrow. “Right, you’re Erica, his roommate. Suffice to say, I’m not sure this concerns you. He and I have an arrangement, after all.” she chuckled, a smirk draped across her face.

“Well, uh… it does!”

“It does?” she asked.

“It does?” Lenny echoed.

“Y-Yeah, cause… he’s my b-b-boyfriend…” Erica mutters, doing something with her fingers like she’s unsure what they should be doing at the moment. “… s-so there.”

Cheryl’s eyes widen, and she freezes up. Then she shouts “Fucking shit, Ann! Ugh, she told me he wasn’t seeing anyone…” while massaging her temples as a migraine starts developing. “Apologies, I told Ann that I didn’t want to be a home-wrecker this time and it appears she once again fucked the poodle till it walked funny…”

“I-It’s fine, I… may have told her as much. S-She asked him before, and things changed since then, so…” The muttering continued, albeit at a slightly higher volume. “B-But it’s, uh, fine! W-We have an a-arra-arrangement, so it—“

She closes here eyes, groaning “Please, just take a minute to think about your sentences before you say them. I cannot stand the stuttering…” until she snaps them open in a laser-focused gaze on Erica. “Wait, arrangement? Explain.”

It was made clear that Leonard and Erica had a kind of open relationship, though mostly Leonard was actually having sex with other people. Cheryl had a hard time believing it given how attractive she was relative to him, so Erica told her how there was someone else sleeping with Leonard as well.

Erica later whispered to him that this was because she was concerned. Specifically, that Ann and Cheryl would stop their physical relationship with the man if they felt they had to, and thus would then opt to cut ties with him immediately. In the worst case, by way of a posthaste firing. Leonard supposed he understood, but still had his own concerns.

Nevertheless, the three of them found themselves at Jenny’s apartment door.

“Thank god, I was just about to call you. This pussy is fucking aching, I te—” she laughed, clearly excited as she opened the door. The former man was currently wearing a tank top with various pasta sauce stains near the collar, as well as a ripped pair of denim cutoffs. “Wait, who’s she? I told you, I’m not fucking sharing my dick-time.”

Cheryl was simmering. Erica was panicking. Lenny asked “C-Can we come in, first…?”