Peas, sweet corn, tinned tomatoes, tinned beans... bit by bit the shelf filled with goods, each product with the label facing clearly forward for the ease of the customer. This sort of thing was repetitive, but for a man with other things on his mind, this sort of repetitive thing which one could do without any major consideration for, was just right. His phone vibrated in his back pocket. He ignored it. It was another message and he could even guess just who it was from. He was working, it wasn't like he intended to ignore Zandre or anything... well maybe he did... he hadn't yet forgiven him after all. It wasn't very nice of him to have taken advantage of himself when he was drunk, twice. Ichiro conveniently swept aside just who threw themselves onto the ever willing Alpha. Zee wasn't the sort of man, after all, who wasn't about to refuse to eat what he had been craving and happened to conveniently be served on a platter before him. A quiet alarm went off in his pocket causing Ichiro to sigh inwardly with a little relief; finally, this shift was over. From beginning to end his patience had been stretched somewhat thin. Not only suffering from his thoughts and some lingering pain in his lower back and even lower... he'd been suffering due to... A loud smash came from the aisle on the other side, shattering glass as well as Ichiro's train of thought. It was followed by a loud cry as well as the voice of a woman; "I am so sorry!" "Ah, accidents happen." That slurring and slightly sleazy tone belonged to the owner's nephew, an almost carbon copy of the man himself. Only this one didn't only love money... well, it no longer had anything to do with him! He passed the end of that aisle that now had broken glass and granules of premium instant coffee splashed across it, caught the eye of the nephew and gave a gesture that he was off the clock. The man, whose age was a little younger than his own, narrowed his beady eyes. "Ichiro, go grab a dustpan and brush and clean this up!" Ichiro couldn't help but frown with the thought; you do realise that your uncle doesn't pay overtime right? However he went unheeded due to the excuse that someone had to ensure that customers didn't hurt themselves on the breakage. Unfortunately, despite the fact that there weren't many customers in store and Ichiro would be doing this off his own back, the bastard had a point. But just going to grab the cleaning equipment should be enough, why should he have to clear it all up as well? "What are you still doing here?" The owner questioned him some thirty minutes later after the floor had not only been cleared of all fragments of glass and coffee, but mopped and wet floor sign added as well. The older man's eyes narrowed, clearly his mind questioning whether his employee was after more of his hard earned cash. "A kid broke a jar of coffee," Ichiro replied, "I was just clearing it up." "I'm not paying you overtime," the man grunted, causing Ichiro to almost roll his eyes with a snort. "So this kid pay for the breakage?" "Um, can't really charge a toddler," Ichiro scratched his head with a mirthless chuckle. "But the parent should cough up," the owner was relentless. "That's going to have to come out of your pay check!" Bastard, Ichiro thought to himself as he watched the stingy middle-aged old man head to the back. Swallowing down his anger, he left the store and took a deep breath. He still needed this job, no matter how rotten it was, no matter how he hated it. The cash kept them all afloat, he couldn't afford to lose it now! But so help him, if he ever managed to find a better job, he was going to report this guy to trading standards.. anonymously! Tonight was the exercise class he lead, however the new attendants that had enrolled with all 'New Year's' intentions had already dwindled to nothing, their self made promises forgotten for whatever reasons they had. And what with the sudden wave of illness on top, each person who managed attended the class had become precious to him. Jogging home, in order to have a shower and hopefully something to eat before the class started, his phone began to ring. Ichiro paused, taking a deep breath before withdrawing his phone and taking a look at the log. As expected, it was Zandre. His finger pressed upon the red button, ending the call without hesitation. He didn't have time for him right now, he was already late home and would be lucky to be able to grab a sandwich, let alone deal with anything else! ***** For the umpteenth time the following week, Zee's call was declined, the beep of the failed connection all that came to ear. Zandre swore, unhappily, throwing the offending phone onto the sofa before his large hands covered his face in frustration. He knew Ichiro had been too smooth in his responses after he'd dropped him off home after their night together and hadn't thought anything much when the first text that he sent afterwards didn't receive a response; it had just been a 'good morning' after all. But after the proceeding messages were ignored and his calls were declined, he soon realised he'd made a mistake in his thinking. Ichiro was sly, skittish, let him out of your sight and he'd quickly forget whatever he didn't wish to recall. The week had dragged on. He'd been caught up in a new regime of training and the agent, who assigned him when he'd first been convinced to sign up to that same entertainment agency as Elani was signed to, back before they broke up, had roped him into an endorsement. Some businessman's car brand, so he'd had no choice but to allow Ichiro his space. But it had been difficult. Like a drug addict no longer able to take his usual fix, now he'd joined physically with his Omega in the act of lovemaking, he was completely desperate in want to reconnect with him. He needed his scent, needed his touch, needed to hear his voice. Even if they couldn't do it, he just wanted him in his sight! But despite everything, Ichiro continued to ignore his messages and refused to answer his calls. After almost two weeks, he was teetering on the edge. He also had no more time to wait Ichiro out. He was due to leave town for a few day, firstly heading north to be a model for that car brand and then he was heading abroad for the world rugby tournament. Originally, it was another excellent rugby player due to fill the ranks, but during the seasonal home tournament, that person had sprained ligament, he could no longer play this season. So Zandre had been lucky enough to have been chosen to fill the space. Most likely, he'd just warm the bench for the most part, but no matter what, he hadn't been able to give up this opportunity to play amongst the best of the best rugby players in the world! So he'd accepted it; wondering just how could things get any better than this! That had been the day after Ichiro left his bed, naturally at that time, he'd thought life was sweet, perfect even, he'd been a happy man. The first person he tried to call to share the news with had been Ichiro... only... Two weeks on and an hour after the last call had been declined, Zee watched from his car as teenagers ran out of the Hall and down the street, waving goodbye to each other as they took different directions, presumably home. With the sun having not long set and the lights ablaze inside, Zandre could clearly see Ichiro inside the hall, dipping out of sight for a moment before reappearing in the next. It didn't seem as if he would exit anytime soon, so Zandre decided that he would therefore go in. Ichiro had been humming to himself as he dragged the crash mats to one side, pulling them on top of the other, so they were out of the way when a woody scent drifted into his nostrils. It was thicker than normal, more potent. Ichiro couldn't help but shiver as his body automatically began to respond. His muscles felt lax and his knees weak as every cell within him seemed to demand that he submit to the burning aroma. Ichiro straightened, attempted to brace himself, before slowly turning to face he who he had been avoiding. But he couldn't make himself lift his head to look into Zee's eyes, which he suspected were burning with anger. He licked his lips nervously. "Hey, long time no see..."