working for Money

The city was filled with the sound of cars. The sun was still up, but it had lost the brutal edge of early morning. Sweat was running down Max’s face as he walked beside Ella and asked tiredly:

“Hey… why aren’t you sweating? It’s really hot out, I came out in a short-sleeve shirt and I’m dying here!”

Ella, hands tucked in the hoodie pocket and hood pulled over her head, answered:

“Well, I’m a vampire. Heat and sweating aren’t exactly my problems…”

Max asked, surprised:

“Oh… then why did you say sunlight is your weakness?”

Ella snapped:

“I said sunlight is my weakness, not the heat that comes with it, idiot!!”

Max answered with a mild smile:

“Alright, alright! I got it — why are you getting worked up?”

Ella murmured to herself:

He’s right, I’m way too irritable. Which makes sense, given the traits I wrote for this vampire character… Either way, I can’t do anything about it now.

She answered him quietly:

“Because you never use your brain…”

Max smiled back:

“Well, I don’t know much about vampires  but I’ll learn everything little by little, so you don’t have to get annoyed every time.”

Ella gave a small nod:

“We’ll see about that.”

A faint smile crossed her face.

No matter how strong I am, I can’t change a character’s base traits. But I can give him a sense of security.

She asked him quietly:

“So what exactly is your job? And when does your shift end?”

Max turned toward her:

“I work at a pizza place. My actual role is… kind of everything.”

Ella blinked:

“What? Everything? What exactly do you mean?”

Max smiled and explained:

“Well, it means I basically do all the work. The owner never comes in — it’s just me and one other person. They handle the register and I do everything else.”

Ella was taken aback:

“Oh. That’s… interesting.”

She murmured under her breath:

This is a mess. How much can changing a character’s name affect a story I already wrote? He was supposed to be a cashier — now he’s doing everything except cashiering. What kind of situation have I gotten myself into…

A few minutes later, they arrived at Max’s workplace — a large fast food restaurant. There were plenty of tables both inside and outside, and nearly all of them were full. Across from the entrance was a front counter with a staff door beside it. Someone behind the counter was wiping things down. The moment they spotted Max and Ella, they shot a hand up:

“Max!! Hurry up — why are you so late?!”

Max sprinted toward the staff door. As he went, he called back to Ella:

“Grab a table — my shift ends in eight hours!”

“Eight hours?! What am I supposed to do here for eight hours?!”

Max didn’t answer. He disappeared through the staff door, and Ella was left standing alone at the entrance.

As she made her way to a table by the wall, she thought to herself:

Okay… I can say the story I wrote was more or less on track up until now. But at this point, the whole thing has completely derailed from what I had planned.

She sat down and rested her hands on the table.

At least the upside is that none of this is really getting to me. Becoming a vampire has toughened me up.

She glanced around. Max had come back out — his work outfit was just his regular clothes with a kitchen apron, and he had a small notepad in hand for taking orders. He moved from table to table.

Midway through his route, there was a small patch of oil on the floor. Max was moving fast when his foot hit it — he slipped, and just before he hit the ground, time slowed from Ella’s perspective. Her power had activated. Without wasting a second, she crossed the distance and caught him from under the waist, pulling him upright.

Ella looked at him:

“Max — you okay?”

Max stared at her with wide eyes. It was obvious that if there hadn’t been customers around, he’d already be bouncing off the walls:

“I’m… I’m fine… that was amazing!!”

He took two excited steps back, pumped his fist in the air, and announced loudly:

“That was incredible!!! I genuinely loved that — what a move, seriously…”

Ella was irritated, but she stayed quiet and walked back to her table. Max was still celebrating when his foot found the oil patch again — and this time, he hit the floor.

“Owww — that wasn’t supposed to happen…”

Ella sat down and muttered:

I shouldn’t have stopped him from falling in the first place.

About two hours passed. The sun had set, and Ella was still waiting at her table for Max to finish. The restaurant had gotten significantly busier — so much so that customers were standing inside, waiting for a free seat.

Both Max and the cashier were completely swamped.

Ella was lost in thought when Max rushed over, face drenched in sweat, and said breathlessly:

“Ella!.. There’s a problem — can you come with me for a second?”

Ella answered, puzzled:

“Huh? Yeah, sure.”

Max led her to the staff room. Once they were inside, he turned to face her and said loudly:

“Please help me!”

Ella answered calmly:

“Help with what? Can you explain what you actually need?”

Max was in a hurry. He kept going at the same pace:

“Look — I don’t know what happened, but we have way more customers than usual today. We’ve never had this many in a single day, especially at this hour… and the two of us can’t handle all of this!”

Ella was a little caught off guard:

“Wait — two of you? I thought there were multiple people cooking here…”

“No — cooking and taking orders were both on me. It’s usually not this packed, so it was never a real problem. But today, for reasons I don’t understand, it’s completely out of control… Anyway — will you help?”

“No problem.”

Max lit up:

“Seriously?!”

“Yeah, seriously.”

“Wow — that was way easier than I expected!”

“Don’t start, Max. Just tell me what you need me to do.”

Max paused and thought for a moment:

“Well… worst case, you could deliver orders or maybe cook…”

Ella closed her eyes and crossed her arms:

“Max — go take orders. I’ll handle the rest. Just tell me what needs to be made.”

“Okay.”

Within five minutes, Max had walked Ella through every item on the menu. She absorbed all of it. When he finished, she told him:

“Alright — go take orders.”

“On it!”

He headed for the door, and halfway there, Ella said with a small smile:

“Don’t fall behind on the orders.”

Max grinned and jogged out. He moved between all the tables, collected every order, and passed the slips through the small window beside the staff door:

“Orders from five tables.”

Then he turned back to attend to the customers.

Ella picked up the slips and read through them. Five sheets. Eighteen orders.

She read them one by one:

“One burger, two chicken sandwiches with fries…”

She set the papers down.

This won’t work. I need to handle everything at once.

She took the apron hanging on the wall and put it on. She stepped up to the order window, laced her fingers together, and cracked her knuckles.

“Now’s the time to actually use this character’s abilities.”

From the window, everything was visible  the customers, Max, the cashier, even the convenience store across the street.

Ella leaned forward, looked out through the window, and activated her power. Everything slowed. Her vision shifted to blue  and so did the color of her irises. The customers were nearly frozen in place.

Now let’s see what our dear guests are in the mood for.

She used her mind-reading ability and scanned every person in the restaurant  those seated and those waiting outside. She memorized all of it.

Alright. One hundred and twenty-eight orders total.

She moved to the stove and lit the burners. In a fraction of a second, she pulled meat, potatoes, and everything else she needed from the refrigerator. She laid the meat on the grill and began chopping the rest.

Moments later, Max stepped into the kitchen  and what he saw was Ella moving between the stove, the refrigerator, and the deep fryer at a speed that was barely visible. Ingredients were being chopped in an instant. Patties were being flipped at exactly the right moment.

Max’s jaw dropped. He shouted:

“Oh my GOD  this is unbeliev—”

From Ella’s perspective, Max was moving in slow motion. Several orders were already done. She grabbed them at full speed, turned toward the door  and walked straight into Max. He hit the floor again.

From the ground, he watched as Ella moved at a speed beyond anything human distributing orders between tables while simultaneously cooking in the kitchen.

A smile of pure relief spread across his face. He exhaled slowly.

Ella appeared above him:

“Get up, Max!!! You’re slowing me down!”

“Oh  sorry!”

He got up and stepped aside.

This time, instead of snapping at him, Ella said with a small smile:

“Do your job well. Don’t let customers walk out.”

“Got it  but I wanted to say, you’re really—”

Ella was already gone. She was back to moving like a shadow between the stove, the refrigerator, and the customers’ tables.

Max took a deep breath.

Either way  I’m glad I was the one who found her.

And he ran back out toward the customers waiting outside.

It was around midnight. Max was sprawled on the floor, surrounded by the food scraps customers had dropped, breathing hard and dripping with sweat. The cashier had collapsed onto the chair behind the counter. Ella walked out of the kitchen quietly, pulling off her apron.

“Is it over? I didn’t even notice when it ended… Anyway  Max…”

She looked over and found him flat on the floor.

“How did you do this every day?”

Max slowly pushed himself up and sat:

“Well, it was never this packed on any other day.”

Ella replied:

“By any logic, two people can’t run a place this size… You should tell your employer.”

Max stood up:

“Yeah, you’re right. Even though you did most of the work tonight you really don’t look tired at all. Your abilities are genuinely impressive!”

He was getting excited again.

Ella pointed at the cashier:

“What about him? What are you going to do about him? He’s asleep.”

Max glanced over:

“Oh — Sam? He stays here.”

“He stays? Why?”

“He’s from out of town. He doesn’t have a place to sleep, so he takes a small cut from his pay to sleep here.”

Ella nodded:

“That makes sense… Anyway  let’s go home.”

She moved toward the door.

Max said quietly:

“Go home? We’re not done yet.”

Ella stopped.

“Not done?”

“Not yet.”

She turned and looked at him:

“Can you tell me exactly what’s left?”

Max scratched the back of his head:

“Well… we have to do a quick clean-up before we leave.”

Ella was visibly irritated:

“If that’s all it is, then fine.”

Max laughed a little:

“Well, my shift ends at one  so it’s still a bit early for the clean-up.”

Ella was clearly annoyed. Max flinched and stepped back:

“Ella, relax it’s only forty-five minutes!”

Ella took a slow breath and answered calmly:

“Fine. We’ll wait the forty-five minutes.”

Max and Ella sat across from each other at a table, talking.

Ella asked:

“Max  I promised I’d help you settle things with the mafia peacefully. Though personally, I still think the cleanest solution is getting rid of them.”

Max answered quietly:

“I told you  I don’t want anyone to lose something because of me. If a few of us are unhappy with them, there are plenty of others who aren’t.”

“Max, think about this clearly. They’re a mafia. They attacked you. They’ve been beating money out of you under the name of a debt you never owed. And on top of all that — you can’t trust a criminal organization. They might be friendly with people for a while and then turn around and cause damage for everyone.”

Max thought for a moment:

“In that case, the police would step in. It wouldn’t need to involve us…”

Ella went quiet and fell into thought.

Logically, we’re both right. But I want him to feel good about this — so I have to follow his lead.

She answered:

“Alright. So what’s your plan for the debt? One part-time job isn’t going to get us there.”

Max thought for a moment:

“Well, there are ways to make money  some risky, some not. With you around, the risky ones probably aren’t a problem…”

“Like what?”

“The safe ones — things like finding antiques and stuff like that. I’ve done it before. That’s actually how I found you.”

“You found something a little beyond an antique.”

“Yeah, but you were very different from what I expected…”

“Stop talking nonsense. This is what it is.”

Max thought for a moment and said:

“There’s also a riskier option… winning the prize at a fight club.”

Ella perked up slightly:

“A fight club?”

“Yeah — there’s one in the south part of the city. I’ve been there before… just to watch. The people who compete there are brutal. Even the thought of signing up terrifies me.”

He looked up — and saw Ella watching him with a slow, dangerous smile.

“Ella?! What are you thinking?! Your face just got really unsettling…”

Max added quickly:

“By the way — only men can enter. Might be worth knowing that…”

The smile faded from Ella’s face.

“What do you mean only men can enter? What kind of discrimination is that?”

Max put his hands up and answered with a grin:

“Hey, hey — take a breath, Ella! I didn’t write their rules.”

Ella paused and closed her eyes.

“Ella? What are you thinking about?”

After a few seconds, she answered with that same dangerous smile:

“I’ll dress like a guy and walk right in.”

“That won’t work either — they do a physical check.”

Ella raised her voice:

“Are you serious?! What is their obsession with the gender of their fighters?!! HUH?!”

Max raised both hands:

“I told you — I didn’t write their rules!”

Ella leaned back in her chair and asked:

“What’s the prize, anyway?”

Max rested his chin in his hand:

“From what I remember, the entry fee was five dollars — and the prize for beating sixty opponents was around four hundred thousand dollars.”

Ella’s eyes went wide:

“WHAT?! Four hundred thousand dollars?! That’s a lot!”

“It’s a lot — but not as much as we need…”

Ella froze.

“What?”

“I said it’s not enough.”

“What’s not enough?”

“The fight club prize.”

“Max.”

“Yes?”

“How much did you owe again?”

“One point two million dollars.”

“…”

Ella stood up from the table. Her eyebrows had practically climbed to her hairline. She walked over to Max, grabbed him by the collar, and shook him rapidly:

“What exactly did you DO to rack up this much debt, you absolute—?!”

Max, mid-shake:

“I swear to God I didn’t owe anyone anything!!!”

Ella let go and walked back to her seat. She turned to face him:

“Either way — I’m entering that fight club and I’m taking the prize. So we only need to figure out the remaining eight hundred thousand.”

“Well, I don’t think you’ll have any trouble at the fight club.”

“Obviously I won’t. Anyway — how much do you make here?”

“Two hundred and fifty dollars.”

“Good — so at that rate, working here for about three months should cover the rest of the debt, right?”

“Huh? No, you’ve got it wrong.”

“Why?”

“I make two hundred and fifty dollars a month. Not a day.”

Ella paused.

Max braced himself:

“Ella — wait, what happened? I didn’t do anything!”

This time, Ella swallowed her anger:

“I genuinely want to level this entire city right now…”

“No — don’t do that, Ella, the people here are innocent!”

“Obviously I’m not going to. I’m just furious.”

Ella stood up and continued:

“Anyway — your shift is almost over. I’ll enter the fight club and we’ll figure out the rest from there… Change your clothes while I clean up in here.”

“Alright.”

Ella used her abilities to bring the entire restaurant to a spotless shine, and then the two of them walked out together.

The air outside was dark and cool, with a faint breeze drifting through. The sound of crickets and the warm glow of streetlights gave everything a quiet, peaceful feeling. Nine out of ten shops were closed, and the rest were either in the middle of closing or still running.

Max walked with tired, uneven steps. Ella moved in a straight line, steady and full of energy.

Partway through the walk, Ella turned to Max unexpectedly and asked quietly:

“Hey — you go to university, right? Have you thought about how I’m supposed to help you there?”

Max answered tiredly, without thinking:

“Yeah, sure, you can help me — no problem…”

Then he caught himself:

“Oh wait — university!”

He put both hands on his head:

“I was so caught up today I completely forgot — I have an exam tomorrow…”

Ella looked at him calmly:

“Great. Do you have any plan for getting ready before then?”

“Probably not. What can I do at this point — this exam is already a write-off.”

Ella raised her voice slightly:

“But you still haven’t answered my question, Max. You said I should be with you and watch out for you — but I can’t exactly come to university.”

Max raised an eyebrow:

“Well… logically, the administration probably wouldn’t let a vampire walk onto campus, so… maybe it’s better to forget about university and just have you follow me outside of class hours. How does that sound?”

Ella answered flatly:

“Whatever works for you.”

She thought to herself:

Since I never wrote what happens from here on, I can’t predict anything — not even roughly. Before, I at least had some sense of direction. Now I can safely say everything that happens is going to surprise me.

Then Max broke through her thoughts:

“Hey, look at that, Ella — that clothing store is still open. We could go find something.”

A small shop was visible a few steps ahead, still lit up.

Ella answered:

“Good. Seems like a decent time to pick something up.”

Max and Ella stepped inside — going from what felt like a dark alley into a brightly lit store.

The shop wasn’t large, but racks of clothing lined every wall — formal wear, sportswear, and everyday clothes. On the right side was a counter where the shopkeeper stood, with shelves of folded pants stacked behind them.

They had barely stepped through the door when Max started moving deeper into the store:

“Come on, what are you waiting for? I’ll look around on my side — you browse for yourself.”

Ella made her way toward the hoodies on her own.

As she looked through them, she thought:

If the only goal is to not burn, a hoodie could work — but it’s a little ridiculous to walk around in the middle of summer wearing one…

She glanced around and spotted Max a little further away, waving her over.

She walked toward him. He pulled a t-shirt from the rack — red and black, in a pattern that looked almost like splattered blood — and held it up:

“Ella, what do you think about this one…”

Ella answered, irritated but controlled:

“Idiot!!! I’m looking for something that covers every inch of my skin — and you’re showing me this? I’d evaporate in direct sunlight wearing that!”

Max answered very quietly, a little scared:

“Well, it’s not always going to be sunny — you might need something like this for nighttime or just around the house!”

Ella settled down slightly:

“Okay… yeah, I guess you’re right. But honestly, I don’t care much about how clothes look. Right now I just need something that blocks sunlight from reaching my skin. That’s it.”

In the end, they left the shop with two more black hoodies and headed back toward Max’s place.