Page 104 of Strictly Against Policy

“It’s alright, Matt,” Jonathan said, smiling to ease the seriousness of the conversation. “The pharmacy employee handbook clearly states fraternization between employees is prohibited. Your father is just making sure he’s properly covering his bases. Right, John?”

“I have to,” said our boss. “Unfortunately, that’s what you have to do as the big boss.”

Jonathan’s smile grew wider. “No need to worry, Dr. Tsukamoto. Dr. Lee and I are well aware of the pharmacy’s work policies. Our relationship will remain strictly personal and out of the pharmacy.”

The older man nodded again, and I took my chance to speak up. “I apologize for what happened. If you would like to take money out of my pay to cover the costs of any repairs, please don’t hesitate to do so.”

“That won’t be necessary, Lina,” John said, waving his hand dismissively. “I should be the one to apologize to you all. I shouldn’t have waited so long to change the glass divider to Plexiglas for everyone’s safety. That divider has been there for essentially thirty-odd years, and I never thought it’d be a problem. This was an oversight on my part.”

I wanted to say more, but my words were cut short.

“It’s not for you to worry about. We have insurance for a reason. I’ll let them deal with it,” John stated firmly. I nodded as he glanced at me, Jonathan, and our bloody shirts. “You two should go home and rest. It’ll be another long day tomorrow.”

John gave us one final smile before going back into the pharmacy. Grace, Carmen, Sheryl, and Matt stayed behind. Jonathan and Matt seemed to be friendly with one another as they greeted each other with wide grins. Grace, Carmen, and Sheryl looked relieved. I tried my best to give all of them a smile, but it wobbled and shook.

“I’m so sorry for everything that happened,” I said to them.

“It’s alright, Lina,” said Grace. “I could tell you tried your best to stay calm.”

My head bobbed up and down stiffly. I looked over at Sheryl. “Thank you for calling the police.”

“Of course,” she said.

Carmen spoke up, “It’s a good thing you and Jonathan are fine.”

I reached for each of their hands and squeezed them tightly. “Thank you, all of you, for telling me to go with Jonathan.”

The three women shared the same knowing grin. They shrugged. “We figured something was going on,” Sheryl said, rather excitedly. My eyes grew wide, and my cheeks flamed.

Carmen laughed. “You two were discreet, but we knew something happened the week you both showed up with Jonathan openly watching you from across the room.”

“Before, he just pretended he didn’t notice you,” commented Grace. “After that week, he’d stand at his station and watch you from afar.”

Note to self: tell Jonathan to stop staring at me while we’re on the floor, I thought with blazing cheeks.

“I-I see,” I managed to say.

They glanced at each other, chuckling as Jonathan walked over with Matt and introduced me to the man. As I expected, he was John’s son. He had worked with Jonathan before as a pharmacy technician. Unfortunately, retail pharmacy wasn’t for him and he was now in business instead.

“I’ll try to convince my dad to shut the pharmacy down for another day,” said Matt. “Judging from what I saw on the security footage, you all went through a lot and must still be shaken up by it.”

“Thanks, Matt. We’d appreciate it,” Jonathan said, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it.

“No problem, man. Just rest easy. I’ll try to give you all an update later,” he said before heading back into the pharmacy.

Grace, Carmen, and Sheryl also called it a day after bidding us a quick goodbye, leaving us alone. I sighed, finally able to relax my rigid spine, though exhaustion seeped into my bones and my eyelids grew heavy.

“Ready to go eat, head home, and go to bed?” asked Jonathan.

“Yes, please,” I said. “Hopefully the pharmacy is closed tomorrow.”

He scoffed. “No. Running a pharmacy as an owner isn’t easy, so I doubt it. Matt will do as much as he can to convince his dad, I’m sure. But I’m pretty certain we’re expected to open up on the dot tomorrow with a plastered smile like nothing happened.”

“True. We are in retail pharmacy, after all.”

Jonathan nodded. “Exactly.”

To our utter surprise that night, we weren’t opening the pharmacy for another day.