“This reminds me of the time me and Dante got stuck in the cooler.”

Liv, who had been trying unsuccessfully to open the door to the cooler, spun around at the Randal’s recollection.

“It does?” she said.  A brief glimmer of hope replaced the absolute horror that she had been wearing seconds before.  “Do you remember how you got out last time?”

Randal tapped his chin, humming as he tried to rack his brain.

“Y’know, now that you mention it… It slips my mind.”

“Right.”  The smile of Liv’s face faded.  She sighed, running her hands down her face as she slid down the wall to the floor.  “Of course, it does.”

“Hey, chin up,” Randal said.  “It’s not so bad.  At least this time I’ve got you here instead of Dante or those assholes outside making fucking Star Wars reference.”

“Why do I have the feeling it was you making Star Wars references?” she mumbled behind her hands.  She lifted her head, looking around the cooler while hugging her knees.  Her eyes landed on the racks of drinks and groceries in front of them.  “Do you think we could empty those shelves, take them off, and push our way out?”

“No can do,” he said.  “Even if you took the moveable shelves out, there’s still these metal bracket things in the way.”

“Fuck!  Goddammit!” she exclaimed, causing him to roll his eyes.  Her panicking was really starting to grate on his nerves.  She was starting to act as whiny as Dante.

“I don’t know why you’re freaking out,” Randal said, pulling a Gatorade off the shelf and twisting it open.  He took a sip before gesturing around.  “You get to chill out for the remainder of your shift.  Dante should be here in like an hour.  He’ll let us out and you get to go home.”

“Because it’s dark and I’m freezing!”

Randal looked over at her.  It had been a warmer day today, and she was not dressed for the occasion.  Her jeans had tears all down the front, and she was wearing a tank top.  The thin flannel shirt that had been tied around her waist was already on her arms, but she was still shivering despite it.  He shook his head, walking over to where she sat and sinking to the floor beside her.  He threw an arm on her shoulder and pulled her closer.

“Come on.  Don’t cry,” he said.  “It’ll just make your face all cold.”

She nodded, knowing he was right.  Crying would only make the situation worse.  She took a deep breath to settle herself.  She needed to remain calm.

“Yeah,” she said.  “Yeah, you’re right…  You, um… You said you and Dante got stuck in here before?”

“Mhm.”

“Damn.  When was that?” she asked.

“Oh, about, uh…  Last week, I think?”

“Last week?” Liv exclaimed.  “Randal!  Oh, my God!”

“What?”

“You didn’t tell me you got stuck in the cooler last week,” she said.

“Yeah, well.”  Randal glanced away, rubbing his neck.  “What guy wants the chick he’s fucking to know he’s a dumbass that got stuck in a cooler at work?”

Liv snorted at this.  “Touché…  But now the chick you’re fucking is also a dumbass stuck in the cooler at work.”

A chuckle left Randal, glad to see he had eased her tension just a little bit.  Despite the fact that she seemed less frantic now, she was still trembling and he could hear her teeth chattering.  He pulled her against his chest and began rubbing her arm.

“So… It’s just the two of us, all alone in this cooler,” he started.

“We’re not having sex.”

Her blunt interjection had him laughing.

“You know, for a chick so hot, you can be so cold sometimes,” he said.  “I was just trying to distract you.”

“Well, distract me in a way that doesn’t involve me taking clothes off,” she said.

Randal hummed at this, trying to think of a way to get Liv’s mind off the current situation.  Just reminiscing always helped to pass the time whenever him and Dante got stuck like this— which was a lot more often than he was comfortable admitting, now that he thought about it.  After a moment, he snapped his fingers.

“Do you remember that time Leonardo Leonardo opened that convenience store across the street?” Randal asked.

Liv’s brows furrowed.  As long as she had been in Leonardo, NJ, there had been apartments on the other side of the road.  They didn’t even look like new apartments.

“Huh?” she asked.  “Who is Leonardo Leonardo?  When was that”

“Oh, wait.  Wrong continuity,” mumbled Randal.  “What about the time we had sex in the bathroom and Dante caught us?”

This memory brought a hearty laugh out of Liv.

“Oh, God,” she said.  “Which time?  Before I left for California?”

Randal hummed in response.  “Yeah.  That time.”

“I remember being so uncomfortable on that long flight since we didn’t get to finish.”

“I mean, that’s your fault.  We could have finished, but you were so embarrassed about being caught by Dante.”

“Hey, I don’t like giving people a show for free!” she said.

“Oh yeah?” laughed Randal.  He squeezed her tighter, bringing his mouth to her ear.  His warm breath fanned over the skin.  “But you sure didn’t mind giving Jay and Silent Bob a free show.”

“… What?”

“That first time we fucked?” he whispered.  “On the counter.  They saw me going ass to mouth.”

Liv gasped and stiffened.  “No way!”

“Yes way.  Jay even walked in while we were doing our thing, but you were enjoying yourself too much to notice.”

“That’s bullshit,” Liv muttered.  “You would’ve yelled at him and threatened to call the cops.”

“You should ask them sometime.”

“I’m good,” she said. 

Randal smirked, looking triumphant before saying, “Suit yourself.”

She shook her head, but was ultimately grateful for Randal’s foolishness.  These memories of all the spicy happenings inside of the Quick Stop had warmed her right up… part out of embarrassment, but largely from being turned on.