#i also just realized i could’ve checked thru the cameras

[saetoru]

one thing about me is that i just don’t open the door ever if i don’t know the person

[pineapplesfordayswrites-blog]

The Big Mac That Changed The Lives Of Two Men

I know that a good way to get your writing out to more people is to post it on more sites so I figured I would attempt to figure out tumblr. This is one story I’ve written so far. It’s already posted on Ao3 in its entirety but I had to start posting stuff to tumblr somewhere. Here is the link for it 

Full story on Ao3

Jesse had had a rough day and he just wanted his big mac. He wasn’t expecting the manager, that he planned on yelling at, to be quite as handsome as he was.

Hanzo sighed as he buttoned up his shirt, he was scheduled to work today but he absolutely hated his job. Working as a manager at McDonalds wasn’t exactly what he planned on doing at 38.

This isn’t how his life had always been though, about a year back he was a world renown professional archer who competed all around the globe and placed first every competition he entered. He was set to be the best archer in the world until his sensei, Mihara Haru, forced him to do something he never wanted.

Haru-san had been his first and only sensei and had stuck with him through every competition. When a new competitor came onto the scene a few years back named Genji, his sensei seemed to hold some kind of grudge against the young man, always complaining about him and saying how he didn’t deserve to be here. The ebony-haired archer wasn’t too terribly worried though, the younger man was good but Hanzo was better, so the Japanese man learned to tune out the master archer when he got going.

Then one day the older man forced Hanzo to listen. He started telling him that the new competitor needed to be dealt with before he became good enough to surpass the superior archer’s expertise. He would tell the younger man this every training session and every competition until his student started to believe it too. His sensei had spread his hate for the green haired archer to Hanzo and he was beginning to hate the other man as much as Haru-san did.

He allowed Haru-san to continue to fill his head with this hate for the younger archer so when his sensei told him he needed to deal with the problem of Genji, Hanzo didn’t hesitate to do just that. The two men waited for their opportunity to bring his opponent down.

It happened at one of the competitions, Genji had mistakenly left his bow unattended, sensei saw and told Hanzo to tamper with it before he came back so when he went to fire the bow it wouldn’t shoot straight. The student told him he didn’t know how because Genji’s bow was an entirely different model from his own and so, Haru-san told him what to do. Hanzo felt wrong the whole time, bows were not something to be tampered with, but he did it anyway because he believed Genji needed to be dealt with and if he couldn’t hit the target he couldn’t compete at such a high level, if at all.

Hanzo returned to his sensei and watched as Genji came back to retrieve his bow. Both men watched as the green haired archer stepped up to the line and aimed down at the targets. He went to pull the drawstring back and then it happened. The screw Hanzo had loosened appeared to be one that held the drawstring in place so when the younger man pulled it back the screw couldn’t withstand the pressure and the drawstring snapped back.

The sound it made when it collided with Genji’s jaw was sickening. There was a loud snap and crunch before the blood started to pour from his face. The green haired man dropped his bow and collapsed onto the floor before people started rushing in. Hanzo was frozen in place, this wasn’t what he wanted, he wanted the aim of the bow to be skewed he didn’t want the younger man hurt.

Hanzo’s sensei pulled him backstage where the ebony-haired man turned on him. Haru-san admitted he knew what would happen and he had wanted a more permanent solution that just a lack of aim for one competition. Hanzo was livid with this man who he trusted explicitly using him to hurt someone else. The younger man fired the sensei right then and told him he never wanted to see him again. That he was not to come to anymore competitions and that he was not his sensei any longer.

Hanzo thought that was going to be the end of it until his next competition where he was stopped at the doors and ushered off to a closed off area where he was told that cameras had caught him tampering with Genji’s bow and how he was probably going to end up in prison for the injury to the other archer.

In the end Genji didn’t press charges after he heard the whole story and so Hanzo avoided jail time but he was also banned from competing in any archery competitions for the rest of his life.

The older archer could not fathom why the younger man hadn’t pressed charges. When he saw Genji he had his jaw wired shut and couldn’t even speak. His entire lower face was covered so he couldn’t see the extent of the injury but he saw it happen, he knew it was bad.

Hanzo shook himself out of the haunting memory, he had lost everything, his sensei, his career in archery, and any hope of doing something impressive with his life. The Japanese man still practiced with his bow as often as he could but he didn’t have any other marketable skills aside from archery. He’d managed to land the manager position about two months after the incident.

Hanzo parked his car before walking into the McDonalds on Horton Ave. Adjusting his shirt he went behind the counter and right into the back to check on everything for the day. He sighed again when he realized the freezer order needed to be placed and went off to find a coat.

~~~

Jesse stomped his way out to his truck to head home for the evening. Today had been a hard day and he just wanted to go home. He loved his job as an instructor at the firing range but some days just got to him. First there was the young purple haired girl who tried to steal one of the semi-automatic pistols from the range after her session.

Then there was the gamer who wanted to see how hard it was to fire guns in real life as opposed to her video games. She didn’t take the lesson seriously at all and wouldn’t listen to a single thing Jesse had told her. She insisted on trying to fire the gun sideways like a gangster even after Jesse told her that was a horribly unsafe way to hold a gun.

Then the older solider that ran the front desk while Jesse was in the back instructing called in saying he had some “personal business” he needed to attend to. After 20 minutes on the phone Jesse was able to convince the young DJ that sometimes helped them out to come in and cover the front desk. Jesse liked the DJ well enough but he insisted on listening to his techno pop music very loudly when there were no customers in the store and even when there were customers the music was only slightly quieter.

The end of the day brought a very stuck up French woman into his shop. She had on deep blue lipstick and a glare that made you feel stupid. She was looking at the selection of sniper rifles they had at the range to practice with. She went through every one and explained to Jesse how she had already mastered it and how she could probably out shoot him any day.

Any remark Jesse came back with just resulted in a scoff from the woman and a story of all the impressive shots she’s made with her unnamed organization. By the sounds of some of the stories she wasn’t exactly working for the French military.

Jesse was exhausted and hungry. He was thinking about what he was going to have for dinner when the golden arches came into his view. A big mac and some french fries sounded really good after the day he’d had. He knew he shouldn’t but he deserved it after listening to the French woman go on and on for close to two hours. So, when the drive way came up Jesse found himself turning in the McDonald’s drive thru.

He sat in the line, ordered his food, paid, and got his food all in about 15 minutes which was a bit long but Jesse didn’t mind. He pulled up and stopped so he could check his order before getting all the way home and realizing they’d screwed something up. He let out and exasperated sigh, he’d ordered a big mac not a single with cheese. He didn’t even know how they could’ve possibly messed that up that bad. He parked his truck and went inside.

He waited until the cashier was able to talk to him which took another 10 minutes as the store was busy. At this point Jesse’s patience was wearing thin. When the dark-haired woman at the counter turned to him her face looked as if she would rather be anywhere but here.

Jesse glanced at her as he sat the bag on the counter, “I just went through the drive thru and I ordered a big mac and they gave me a single cheeseburger.”

The woman glanced at the burger in his hand and with a very clipped tone asked if he had his receipt. He handed it to her and she looked it over before handing it back. With the same tone she said, “it says right there single with cheese now if you’d like to order something different I’m going to need you to do so as I have customers waiting.”

Jesse looked over the receipt and saw that it did say single with cheese. He looked back up at, her name tag read ‘Satya’ and continued, “okay, but that is not what I ordered.”

Her expression didn’t change, “I’m sorry sir but that’s what the receipt says so if you’d like to get something different please order it, you’re holding up the line and I need to help the next person.”

Jesse’s patience was gone now he just wanted to get his big mac and go home. He’d already spent way more time at this store than he had wanted and he still didn’t have the food he ordered. Jesse wasn’t usually one to make a fuss but he’d had a rough day and he wanted someone to fix this mess so he could go home. He asked to speak with the manager and the woman just looked at him for a second before turning and going off. A moment later she returned, “He will be up momentarily.” Jesse stood at the end of the counter and waited for the manager growing more irritable by the minute.

~~~

Hanzo hated freezer orders. It was stupid cold in the freezer and his hands always felt like ice cubes when he was done. The order usually didn’t take very long but today it seemed to be taking forever. When he was just about halfway done the door opened and Satya was standing on the other side. “There’s a customer up front who wishes to speak to you.” Hanzo nodded and the door closed, that was just great, he wasn’t going to be able to finish the order before he’d have to talk to the customer so he was going to warm up and then have to go right back in the freezer. He’d much rather just get the order done so he could leave the freezer and not have to go back in.

He left the freezer and set down the order and his coat before making his way to the front. He hated having to deal with customer complaints. Most of the time the complaint was for something stupid or something that wasn’t the store’s fault. Most of the time the customer would expect the item replaced or refunded when it was their fault their clumsy kid dropped their cheeseburger on the ground. Hanzo took a deep breath and approached the counter.

~~~

Jesse had turned his back to the counter to watch all of the people enjoying their meals. After another 6 or 7-minute wait Jesse heard a voice behind him that had an eastern infliction to it so when he turned around he was expecting to see the Japanese man, what he wasn’t expecting was to see one of the most beautiful men he’d ever laid eyes on.

The manager was standing behind him all dark eyes, broad shoulders, and lovely lips. His black hair was pulled back with a golden ribbon and his name tag read 'Hanzo’. The expression on the manager’s face reminded him of the young woman who went off to get him, he looked like he would rather be anywhere but here. The cowboy had intended to sound angry but once he managed to speak the only sound that came out was a quiet 'oh’ and the manager just raised his eyebrow before asking again what he could help him with.

Jesse tried to get his mouth to work but he was having a hard time of it. The only thought running through his head was 'get his number’ on repeat and the brunette was having a hard time remembering why else he was here.

The manager spoke again, “Sir, I am very busy so, if I can help you with something you need to tell me what it is.”

Jesse blinked a couple times and looked down at the bag on the counter, “I got the wrong order, I ordered a big mac but the receipt says single with cheese and I definitely said big mac in the drive thru.”

“May I see your receipt?” He handed the Japanese man the receipt and he looked it over. He glanced up at the cowboy before turning and walking off into the back calling 'one moment’ over his shoulder.

Jesse stood there dazed and slightly breathless. When he had handed Hanzo the receipt he could’ve swore he saw a bit of blue ink peeking out from under his sleeve. He would love to be able to see what Hanzo’s tattoo was, he could only imagine it was as beautiful as the man who bore it.

The manager returned a few minutes later with the same expression on his face and a freshly boxed big mac in his hand. He placed it in the bag folded over the top and handed it to Jesse. He took it but didn’t move from the counter.

Hanzo raised his eyebrow again, “is there anything else I can do for you today?”

Jesse blinked a couple times and then blurted, “can I get your number?” It probably came out a little louder than it needed to.

The manager just leveled his gaze at him before responding, “no”, and quickly turning away from the brunette. As he walked back behind the counter he called back, “have a nice day” and then he was gone.

Jesse stood there dumbstruck with his bag in hand for a moment before a grin split his face and he turned to leave the store. He wasn’t going to give up so easily on the Japanese man. He would have to be shot down at least three more times before Hanzo would be left alone, Jesse was amazingly good at handling rejection. He exited the store, got in his truck, and started home.

~~~

Hanzo returned to the freezer. He wasn’t surprised that the brunette’s order was wrong, they had a new person running drive thru. He was a tall scrawny kid with blonde hair that was always sticking straight off his head and his entire body always seemed to almost shake when he was standing still. He was doing alright but he hadn’t quite mastered the register yet.

He was surprised, however, by the man’s parting request. His number. Naturally to call him at a later date he assumed, that was why most people asked for someone else’s number. It wasn’t that the man was unattractive, he had a scruffy handsomeness to him, with soft looking hair, a plush body, and beautiful eyes. He wore a flannel and a cowboy hat but on him it didn’t look as ridiculous as it maybe should have. It just kind of caught Hanzo by surprise and he turned him down out of habit.

He couldn’t decide if he was upset or not that he’d turned the brunette down. He tried not to dwell on it too much, he figured he’d never see the man again and turned his full attention to the clip board in his hands so he could get the order done and get out of the freezer.