Work Is Weird Sometimes

So yeah, work. Night shift at the warehouse, you know? It's one of those jobs where it feels like everyone just wants to get through their shifts without setting off any alarms or getting caught breaking rules. And honestly, I try my best too. Keeps things chill. But there was this one time, I don't know if you've ever had a coworker who makes you so uncomfortable you want to hide in the bathroom for an hour every night just to avoid them. Yeah, that's Tom. He's not exactly nice, but he’s not outright mean either. Just kind of...awkward and unsettling. Anyway, we're on this one night where it's supposed to be a quiet shift with no deliveries coming in. So I'm doing inventory checks at the very back corner of the warehouse when Tom shows up out of nowhere, starts asking if I've finished my rounds yet. Normal stuff, right? Then he pulls out this big bottle of Mountain Dew and asks if I want one too. We're not supposed to bring in snacks or drinks from outside. But it's night shift, you know? You get a little lax with the rules after being up for twelve hours straight. So yeah, we sneakily share the soda while trying not to look suspicious. Then Tom starts going on about how he has this crush on a girl who works in accounts and she never even notices him. He’s talking like it's totally normal small talk but...you know, you don’t usually chat about crushes with coworkers. Anyway, next thing I know, we're both laughing over his awkward confession when suddenly the boss rounds the corner right as Tom is spilling soda all over himself and me trying to hide behind a stack of boxes. Talk about timing! We ended up having to clean everything up before he could even scold us properly. And now every time I see Tom, we both get super quiet and try not to look at each other, afraid that the boss will notice something’s weird between us. But honestly, for a moment there, it felt like maybe someone understood my crazy night shift life. Maybe that was just me being silly, though.