He had a reasonable excuse he thought for why he skipped the last two orders.

The coins. They were pumping. so he took the money and invested it.

They hadn't tanked. But they didnt' go up either. Now down 20 percent he didnt' want to sell. Wanted to wait it out.

What would he tell 

Imogen Howe

when she asked about the money? That had been his biggest fear. But on the phone she never asked about the money. Only asked why he hadn't done the orders.

"Uh. I just forgot I guess. Sorry. It won't happen again."

She said she was already on her way. Enough toilet paper for that day and the next and maybe another. But he would have to do the regular orders that day so supplies would arrive in time.

"Buying from the regular store like this is expensive," she had said.

He liked her voice. Had never heard it before. Only seen her text once in a while in the group chat. Jazzmyn didn't have a nice voice. More annoying.

He kept thinking about Imogen now. In fact he wondered what she looked like. He had never seen her before. He was no longer worried about customers and the empty 

toilet paper

. Now he was looking for reflective surfaces. He caught himself in teh espresso machine's silver. Checked out his hair. He frowned. The way the metal bent distorted his face unflatteringly. He wanted to go to the bathroom and check himself out in the mirror. Instead he took out his phone and caught a glance. He wished he had shaved that day.

The bell rang. He looked up. It was a man. A regular.

"The usual?" he asked him.

"You bet, shooter!" the man stuck out his finger like a gun and smiled at him.