Categories > Celebrities > My Chemical Romance > Of Comics and Coffee

Hobos and Bazinga!

by GAClive 3 reviews

The red headed man jumped in surprise and slammed back into a cardboard cut-out of Sheldon Cooper

Category: My Chemical Romance - Rating: G - Genres: Humor - Published: 2012-03-16 - Updated: 2012-03-16 - 1453 words

1Funny
Lauren skidded to an abrupt stop just short of crashing into the hobo that had pushed his cart in the way and executed a pivot that would've made Grant proud. If Grant liked football that is... She let her thoughts wonder what kind of sports Grant enjoyed, oblivious to the screamed insults behind her as the homeless man struggled to right his now overturned cart. Life was all fresh donuts and chocolate-covered espresso beans for Lauren that day. The prospect of the date later that day even managed to drive out any anxiety she felt for the interview. A job interview she was currently late for.

She glanced down at the clock on her phone and shoved any more thoughts of Grant out of her mind. The comic store was closing in five minutes and she was seven minutes away. She increased the pace of her jog and resorted to jaywalking across the crowded streets to shorten the distance. A screeched halt, four curse words, and three honks of a horn later and she was finally at the shop.

She paused outside the door and rested her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath. Literature majors were never known for being in shape. Her hair fell over her eyes as she panted but when she looked up she saw she was too late.

Gerard was inside the store, flipping the closed sign on the door before walking past her by the long window that took up the side of the shop. With a gasp she covered the final few feet and slammed both hands into the window in a frenzied and desperate attempt to get his attention. To hell with decorum, she needed this job.

The red headed man jumped in surprise and slammed back into a cardboard cut-out of Sheldon Cooper, knocking it over and causing the speaker device attached to sound off a deafening and warbled, “BAZINGA!” Gerard twisted around to catch it but was too late and only succeeded in tangling his feet up in the cardboard supports and toppling himself as well.

When Gerard finally composed himself, he got up and looked for the source of his fumble. His gaze met an apologetic and shocked Lauren, her eyes as round as saucers and her jaw slack in surprise. “Sorry!” Her muffled voice filtered through the glass to him.

He glanced back at the ruined display and looked back at her. “You owe me a new Sheldon!” He shouted. “What?” She pointed to her ear to indicated she couldn't hear. He waved his hand dismissively at her and gestured to the door. She nodded and reached it the same time he did and walked in once it was open.

“I'm sorry I'm late... and for that,” she pointed at the mess by the window. Gerard bobbed his head once and decided to shrug the whole thing off, “No big deal, now let's do this interview.” He pointed a long finger to a door at the back of the store, “My office is back there.”

She nodded and followed him to the back door, carefully stepping over Sheldon, to find a one-windowed office furnished with a large drawing table facing the window and a desk with a chair before it in the middle. She took the chair in front of the desk and he sat in its facing mate. “I'm so sorry I'm late! My paper took longer to write than I expected and I had to do laundry before tonight and then I lost track of time...” Her words petered off when he started to shake his head.

“Seriously, no worries,” he said, “I would have had to shut down the store for the interview anyway.” He repositioned himself in his chair to get more comfortable and noticed the way she perched anxiously on the edge of her seat. “Um... Did you read the comics?”

Lauren nodded and immediately pulled them from the messenger bag that served as her purse. “Here, and here also is a resume,” he took the items from her and set the books aside while he began to peruse the paper. “Literature major... Music minor... voice performance?" He smirked slightly to himself and continued reading, "So what did you think of Blackest Night?”

Lauren was a little unsettled by his current multitasking but ignored it, “It was... a lot. I mean, so many superheroes and I only knew a few of them! It was well set up though, so I got used to them all quickly. It was cool... and... that was pretty much the only good thing about it.” His hazel eyes flicked up from the resume and focused on her, very much intrigued. “Oh?”

She suddenly felt unsure of herself but decided her honest opinion would be more valued than false praise... she hoped. “Ok, well the artwork was good, but I don't know much about that stuff,” she conceded with a shrug. “But the story? It was decent but it literally felt like overkill. All those superheroes who cheated death got killed again and then zombified,” she cringed at the made up word, “and then they got killed AGAIN and brought back AGAIN! Except Batman! And he was so cool! Zombie Batman? Cool! He beat up everyone and then he was the only one not to come back from the dead in the end and then we find out he wasn't even dead... I think that's how it went though...” She noticed a concerned Gerard staring at her lap and she looked down to find her wringing her hands till they turned red. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her sweatshirt and coughed awkwardly. “So all in all, it made for a fun and interesting read but it was just so overdone and over dramatic,” she concluded her monologue with a self-assuring nod.

Gerard placed her resume on the desk before him and considered her words. “Well you just proved you can keep a critical head and not get carried away by pretty colors... they just distract from any story flaws, in my opinion,” he looked up at her and grinned. “Well then,” he continued, “you have experience in customer service from your receptionist job and you obviously don't get scared off by us nerds.”

Lauren's hands had left the security of her pockets and were again wringing themselves in anticipation. She wasn't sure if she agreed with him about her bravery with nerds but so far this interview was going well. Gerard chuckled a little when he saw her hands and decided to end her anxiety, “You'll work with me on weekends and any nights that you can until I trust you enough to run the shop on your own. I might still bring in another employee or two to help so expect coworkers in a few weeks. We're obviously closed early on saturdays but all other nights we're open till 9. Pay starts at 9 an hour but we can discuss a raise after a few months. Does this all sound good to you?” She nodded in excitement and he continued on, “Come in tomorrow at 10 and I'll walk you through the job before the shop opens at 11, clear?”

She was grinning manically by now, “Yes!”

“Good, that settle's it,” he reached over and shook her hand. She stood up and followed him out of the office to the shop. He opened the door for her and waved her on her way. “Thank you so much!” She called to him once she had made it a few feet from the door. He nodded to her and turned back to finally close up the shop for the second time that day. He locked the door and turned to leave through the back, though this time he didn't pay attention to his pathway and tripped once again over the cardboard body. “BAZINGA!” The obnoxious voice called out from the carpeted floor. Gerard rolled his eyes and kicked the display to the side in annoyance. “No kidding, Sheldon,” he muttered.



A/N: For those not in the know: Sheldon Cooper is a character from the sitcom Big Bang Theory. It's a really funny show and I totally suggest you look up clips of it on youtube. Blackest Night is in fact a real comic series that revolves around the Green Lanterns (as well as the other colored Lanterns) and the Justice League. It's a really fun read and totally embodies all the fun and silliness of typical superhero comics. (Oh heavens I'm such a nerd...) Thank you for reading and please leave me a comment! Thank you also for the lovely reviews I have so far... you two are lovely people.
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