rhinestone cowboy

—  but I'm gonna be where the lights are shinin' on me !

joey had to admit that he was taken by surprise when he heard the back door open. he for sure thought he was in trouble, especially since just like jess, he was taking another long break. he had no idea who was working in there, but it definitely wasn’t the two of them. he was even more relieved to see when he went back inside, trying not to laugh at jess’ attempt of excuses that they weren’t smoking out there, but now at least they could take longer than previously planned. “no problem, if it were up to me i would stay out here all day… although i’m pretty sure that’s not the greatest idea…” he said with a shrug, as he looked at jess. “no thanks, last time i smoked that i’m pretty sure i went to jupiter and back… but ask me later.” he said with a small chuckle escaping his lips.

another drag of their joint and jess was shaking their head like a maniac, smoke drifting out of them like a broken fog machine. “not a good idea? buddy, that’s an incredible idea,” they laughed. “we’ll stay out here from now on and be entertainment for the people who pass by.” there was no complaint from jess when joey said no to the joint, but they had a strict no-harm-no-foul policy when it came to passing up on drugs of any kind. in fact, they kind of respected it. “as long as you promise to say hi to the little green guys on jupiter for me, i’m sure i’ll have a little something-something to offer up later,” they promised, tipping their imaginary hat to their coworker. they look at long hit and held it in for a long time, looking out at the sea way off in the distance. it wasn’t often they got lost in thought, but that ocean seemed to do it better than anything else. “hey, what are you doin’ later? i was thinking we could snag the keys and come back to skate off hours, but i could probably use a lookout if you’re up to it.”

what the man doesn’t know won’t hurt him, “amen.” joni agreed, climbing up onto the fire escape in pursuit of jess. “dude…” she scoffed, looking over at them and leaning back against the building. “i dunno how you even got a job to begin with…” she teased, “like, you…actually working…bit of a funny concept.” it was all well meaning as joni swapped the joint for a cigarette and looked straight ahead. “you’re not gonna get sacked.” she assured, “just remember the man needs you more than you need the man…now pass it.” joni urged, impatiently. she set her cigarette down on the fire escape and snickered when jess coughed, “chump.” joni inhaled deeply as she thought of ways that they could get out of work midday, “could throw up. pretend your grandma is in the hospital… or you could just leave, beg for forgiveness later.” she offered the joint back to jess, then picked up her cigarette again, “your choice.” 

jess... actually working. now there was a concept. “i don’t know what to tell ya, boss,” they said with a shrug and a grabby hand toward the joint. but even they couldn’t hold back the smug little grin that nudged its way into place. “back home, i worked a million different jobs. no joke. besides workin’ at my pop’s place, i waited tables at the all-night diner, did a shit job at the car wash for a while, tore tickets at the movie theater...” they counted the jobs off on their fingers, only stopping when they ran out of breath. listening wasn’t exactly their strong suit, but boy, could they talk. the joint went back to joni and jess leaned back against the wall, mirroring the no-fucks-given vibe that joni so graciously put out. they thought about the options that had been given to them and grinned that no-holds-barred smile, letting the joint burn out. “if i dip outta here without a word, are you comin’ with me? if i don’t get a snow cone or a burger soon, i don’t know if i’m gonna make it, jonesy.”

—  i’d be safe and warm if i was in la !

Ronnie couldn’t help but smirk a bit after Jess’ boss left, only for that smirk to turn into laughter upon seeing the thick smoke that exploded from Jess.

“Of course I wouldn’t blow your cover. I’m not a narc. Yeah I’ll take a hit, thanks for the doobie.” Ronnie replied as she took her own lighter out from her cleavage and used it to light the joint they had passed to her.

She put it to her lips effortlessly and took a puff, the smoke from it leaving her lips as she took a hit.

“So, do you always sit around here smoking pot and getting paid for it? I already like to hang out here but if that’s the case I might quit working at the Vinyl shop and work here, ya dig?” Ronnie joked with a smirk as she passed the joint back to them.

It took a second for Jess to catch their breath, but they still hummed appreciatively as they passed the doob over to the blonde. But any hint of composure was lost when they caught Ronnie’s lighter extraction. After that, they were like a child, all giggles. 

“Way more often than they know, I’ll tell you that for free,” they answered with a quirk of a smile, thinking of how little the managers seemed to actually care about what they did behind the roller rink. That would require effort, which Jess didn’t think almost any of the higher ups knew anything about. 

joni had barely strolled up to the figure that was jess when their boss started bitching about smoking out here. ‘like it isn’t 1977, man′, joni thought and rolled her eyes. chomping on the inside of her cheek, she contained her laughter until jess’ boss was safely inside. joni flashed a parting thumbs up, then let her chuckle filter out in a series of scoffs. “ya tokin, man?” she asked, shoving clenched fists into her pockets. the question was quickly answered when jess extended their joint. wordlessly, joni both accepted and communicated no problem with a nod and a swift drag of the j. “ya gettin paid to sit out here and do this?” joni taunted, vague grin blooming onto her face. she handed their joint back and clicked her tongue, “i gotta get a new gig.”

the sound of joni’s laughter would’ve been enough to light jess up any day of the week, but the thumbs up was what really set them off today. they hopped up onto the little landing of the fire escape on the building next to the rink, ignoring the creaking metal as they settled. “what the man doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” they teased back as they retrieved the joint. “i dunno how long they’re gonna pay me to get stoney-baloney out the back on my breaks, man. like, how many times can they almost catch me before they sack the shit outta me?” a long drag and a flick of ash made them pause; even longer when they inhaled the smoke through their nose and fucked up so bad they had to cough into their jacket sleeve to muffle it. they passed it back to joni on instinct alone. “and like, how many times can i bail on work halfway through the day before they figure out i don’t always have the flu?”

𝐖𝐇𝐎: marilyn mcfadden & OPEN

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: crescent paradise

Working at Crescent Paradise wasn’t Marilyn’s first idea at a stellar job. She’d much rather be interviewing criminals or modeling for Vogue, but alas, that would never happen. Instead, she settled for the easiest job she could and what was easier than laying out in a swimsuit all day? It’s not like people drowned or got eaten by sharks and if they did… well, that’s what her one day CPR training and the police were for! Other than that, she could kinda just do whatever and blow her whistle at ugly people.

Marilyn had long abandoned her post, something she did fairly often, and instead of sitting in her lifeguard chair she was instead laying on a beach towel. If no one was dying, then she was going to sunbathe. She didn’t need to look like some pale freak. As she laid on the towel, soaking in the rays that would eventually give her some kind of skin damage in her late adulthood, she felt the presence of the sun go away. Thinking it was simply the clouds coming out, she raised her disco glasses to sit atop her head, only to be met with a person who was blocking the sun instead. “What?” She snapped. “Unless someone is like, literally dying or combusting into flames right now, I need you to get out of my sun.”

☆

Jess flipped the dark sunglasses of their favorite aviator glasses-sunglasses combo up, leaving the clear lenses visible. Even the snappy lifeguard couldn’t kill their mood or their crooked, dopey grin. Everyone in California seemed to lose their accent the moment they reached Los Angeles, but Jess’ was still thick as honey and twice as sweet. “You must be pretty special if that sun came out just for you,” they drawled. “Kinda seems like you wouldn’t move even if someone was flailin’ out there. California’s wild, man.”

Despite the likelihood that it wouldn’t at all be what this lifeguard wanted, Jess flopped down onto the sand next to her, leaning on their elbows. “I was going on a smoothie run, one of the other lifeguards said you might dig one. But if it’s gonna harsh your whole vibe, I wouldn’t dare.” Still grinning, Jess flipped their sunglasses back into place to shade their eyes as they soaked up the rays of Marilyn’s sun.

‘you’re not smoking out here, are you?’ the voice of jess’ boss at the roller rink rang out behind the building, where jess was taking an indulgently long break. the back door opened and the manager poked their head out, looking between their employee and the person standing with them. “no one’s smoking out here, man. we’re like, zero percent interested in that stuff. swear on my life,” they assured boss man, who gave them the ol’ stink eye after hearing jess’ strained voice, but still went back inside. the cloud of smoke that exploded out of jess was thick and potent, leaving them coughing, laughing, and extending the joint they’d been hiding behind their back to their partner in crime. “thanks for not blowin’ up my spot. you want a hit?”