Good Guy Gavin

She shrugged and didn’t think much about the question. Her job was her job and it kept Belly from disappearing without a trace. If she didn’t show up to work, that would be strange for her - the only routine Belly ever adhering to was her shift. “Oh they straight up suck, especially when I’m not jigsaw puzzling them into the wall display. My manager likes to give me hell because I always come in high as balls and they make me free hand these colorful pepper pyramids and you know what? That’s fine with me. I spend hours doing shit like that and if I can get paid to do in real life iPhone Tetris games, then lit.” Belly offered a small smile. “Carrots are easy, they just go in a bin on the wall and most of the time they’re in sacks. It’s the free standing displays that make you wanna rethink your career path. Good thing I have like sixty more years average or I’d feel inadequate. -Oh, like, I dunno? Six months? Maybe more. Time’s an illusion anyway. What do you do?”

Gavin nodded in both fascination and sympathy as she describes the trials and tribulations of being the vegetable stacker at a grocery store. Thankless work really but someone had to do it. “Well I have to ask, do you have other aspirations outside of just what you do there or is bell pepper art all you’re ever thinking of doing for yourself?” He asked as he pulled a joint out from behind his ear and let it sit between his lips. Thinking that maybe possibly it would make him seem more approachable when he told her what he did. He reached into his pocket to light it and took a quick drag before offering her the joint. “I for one am a big fan of carrots. I know they’re not for everyone but I think they might be in the running for my favorite vegetable. Did you know they can be traced back to like 5,000 years ago? Which in the grand scheme I feel isn’t actually that long considering how much longer the pumpkin has been around.” He pointed out as he rubbed his chin. “But yeah I’m a therapist. That’s my 9-5.” 

While she was out getting coffee, Melody ran into a slightly familiar face, though only just a little bit. She hadn’t had much of a connection with Gavin quite yet, but she liked his calming energy. There was something about the male that drew her in, but that might’ve just been that he was a counselor and Melody had recently experienced trauma. “Gavin, right?” she asked, looking up at the taller male curiously.  “You up for a cup of coffee with me? I promise I’m not here to vent to you or anything. I could just use some company while I enjoy this lovely seasonal latte.” She offered her explanation, giving him a sweet smile.

@goodguy-gavin​

Gavin’s morning coffee was a ritual. A routine that was almost sacred. He wasn’t sure how he would get through his first couple of sessions for the day without it. It was also typically time he liked to spend in silence. Often with his head sets in so that other patrons knew that he didn’t want to be disturbed. Today however he had forgotten them at home and he knew that was going to make him a fiar target. This would have bothered him a hell of a lot more if the girl that had approached him hadn’t been a blonde bombshell. “Gavin indeed.” He said, stopping in front of the shop and offering her his hand to shake. “That actually sounds very nice. I don’t have anything until a little bit later so I’ve got some time. What did you order? A seasonal latte sounds pretty bomb dot com.” 

“I found them, I swear. I thought my grandma had gotten my stash but she didn’t,” She explained. “took nothing, I swear,” She explained. “I was a terrible addict. I swear I never sought this out,”

“See that kind of sounds like an excuse but I want to believe you. Are you sure that’s all this was Simone. If something is going on, you know you can tell me.” He assured her as he looked over the bottle, pulling out his key from his top drawer and locking it away in his control box. “So wait. You have a stash for your grandmother to take from and you still expect me to believe you didn’t take any? That’s awful sus Sim.” 

“I brought you a McGriddle. Hope you’re not vegan.” Andi smiled wide and plopped a McDonalds bag onto Gavin’s lap. The deal was just too good to only get one for herself and since she was already on the way to see Good Guy Gav, she thought ‘what the hell’. She sat across from him and crossed a leg over her knee, arms finding home against the arm rests of the chair and her back pressing flush against the cushions. “How’ve you been, hmm? You look better than the last time I saw you. Still gotta big mouth though, it’s like… all I can see when I look at your face.”

Okay, she also had smoked half a blunt on her way here too. Which was probably the reason why she got two breakfast sandwiches instead of one. Specifics? Who cared. 

@goodguy-gavin​

There were three things Gavin loved most in the world. Helping people, blow jobs, and McGriddles and Andi had just delivered the third of the holy grails into his lap. “Andi I could kiss you right now! I was starving!” He said excitedly as he reached into the bag to pull out his sandwich. “Of course I’m not vegan. I don’t have that kind of time in my day to miss out on the quick and easy of most fast food.” He explained as he dug into his sandwich with reckless abandon. His eyes glancing up to examine her face as he savored his first bite. “What can I say. I was blessed with a luscious mouth. The better to eat this with and it makes for a great speaker which I do a lot of in this field.” He added as he took another bite. “I swear to god I haven’t had a break of people coming in and out of my office but not for reasons as glorious as this one.” 

“Those are two very different lists. 

First 3 would be 

1. Shane

2. Dylan 

3. Harper 

Top three I would like to see in my office to…

1. Evelyn

2. Callie

3. Simone”

“Easy peasy! You just call my referral line and enjoy the soothing sounds of some very relaxing ASMR until you hear my voicemail and then request a happily ever after. That’s what we call it when you’re super successful in treatment!” 

“The only rawing I’d like to do is getting to that raw and vulnerable place where we can really get to the depths of what’s bothering you.” 

Simone tapped her foot nervously. “I um…. I found this, She handed him the bottle, preferring to be honest. “And I… I need you to take this. Dump it. I just… I can’t screw up anymore. I don’t really have anything left. I want to be sober,” She said, tears pouring down slowly.

Gavin wasn’t sure what to think when he saw the bottle sitting in her hands. Reaching out and taking it as he looked over the label before glancing back up at her. “Where the hell did you find these? This isn’t the kind of thing people just lose Simone. How’d you come by controls like this without actively seeking it out? You didn’t take any did you?” He asked, mostly out of concern that perhaps she’d already taken some and that it was a little too late to be considering sobriety. “I’ll get rid of them but you’ve got some explaining to do.” 

Belly wasn’t prepared, half snorting up some of her water she had been sipping on when the dad joke was pushed through her ears. A giggle pulsed out of her throat, zinging into the air followed by a couple of coughs. He kept going, chatting away while Belly nodded along, waiting for a break in his speech. “-Oh, I uh, I very luxuriously stack bell pepper towers at the Aldi. Sometimes I even get to make those crazy displays out of coca cola boxes? You know how sometimes when you go into a grocery store and there’s like a fuckin’ throne made out of Aquafina packs? I’m a motherfuckin’ artist.”

Gavin sat with a fascinated grin on his face. He was one of those people who could find interest in just about anything someone said. Or at least he was really good at pretending to. So when Belly mentioned her job as a Bell Pepper and box stacker, there was a look of utter delight on his face. “I think that’s awesome! I’ve always admired those things. They make shopping so much more fun! I would imagine that bell peppers are probably not the easiest vegetable to stack. I can’t actually think of any veggie in general that has a super stackable shape. Second though maybe those are the best for stacking. Or maybe carrots? So long as they don’t roll away right? So how long have you been doing that for?” 

Shane normally loved exercising, but the hardest part was getting back into it. She was typically very strict when it came to her diet and work out routine. Hell, growing up, she was on the track to be a professional soccer player until her drug habit got in the way. But now, after years of smoking and using, it was catching up to her because she couldn’t even make it through a run without getting winded. Wiping her forehead clean, she heard someone coming up behind her and turned to see her therapist Gavin racing over on a hoverboard. “Oh, hey Gavin,” she said with a semi forced smile as she pulled her head phones out. “Yeah, but I think that kind of defeats the purpose of working out. You know, you gotta actually move your body to exercise, right?” she teased him. 

Gavin wanted to give himself a bop on the forehead for being such a silly sally. Of course the hoverboard wasn’t doing his body any favors. It sure as hell wasn’t passing out any of the endorphins he so desperately needed. He was quick to start pumping his arms as though that would be enough to get the blood pumping but eventually opted for hopping off of the board all together. “I see your point, but I was never going to catch up to you on my own two feet so the hover board felt necessary. So is this a new routine we’re going to be starting because I absolutely support i?. So much healthier than some alternative behaviors you’ve been messing around with.”