Around noon, a relatively short man strolled into the shop with a smile. His outfit was formal on the casual side, with a well-fit, blue jeans and a cream shirt, which was tugged into the jeans. A fashionable, brown belt decorated his waist, held together by a biker buckle showing a Route 66 logo. Probably in his 50s, his hair was gray and short, but he had no bald spots. His brown eyes were obscured by rectangular, frame-less glasses. He extended a greeting to every single customer and headed toward Laureen, who attended to a customer that was just about to pay. "Hello, Mr Dean!", Laury smiled at her boss, who nodded back and didn't want to interrupt. Instead the man walked into the storage area, where he found Giselle sorting through a few boxes. "Oh, hi, Mr Dean", Giselle looked at the arrival and smiled.
"I see you're done with the new collection. Good work there, Giselle!", Mr Dean said in his deep, rusty voice that marked him as a heavy smoker. She knew he had quit smoking a few years ago, but that rustle inside his voice may never go away now. She nodded proudly, "Yeah, I finished the store yesterday. Today, I found a box here from the collection, that we sold off previously. Do you want me to offer the box at a discount?".
Curiously her boss looked at the box and raised both eyebrows, "Oh, these are old indeed. But the expensive end of the collection. How about we wait until a table clears up and we try them at ten percent off? And after a week we go up to twenty?". Giselle made a mental note to update their computer and wrote onto the box in capital letters "OLD OLD COLLECTION". The man chuckled when he read it. His mood was very pleasant. "Did you need anything specific today?", she asked him when she pushed the box next to other boxes from the current collection. He shook his head and shrugged, "I need to run through the finances again and make a few calls. I'll be around until you're closing up, probably". Giselle smiled and was about to head out into the store again, when he tapped her arm lightly, "Tell Laury thanks, too. You're a really good team. The store is running well because of you two!".
Giselle walked to the counter with a blush and a bright smile. Mr Dean liked the two of them, complimented them frequently and gave them enough space to run the store. Most of the store was run by Giselle, but she had to admit, without Laury by her side, the sales would go down and there was no way she could deal with everything on her own. When Laury took vacation, then Mr Dean frequently helped out, but that made her realize how good Laury was with the customers. In contrary to her own vacations, where Mr Dean supported Laury. He did an incredible job at organizing the store himself. She had picked up much from him back when she started out.
Stolen novel; please report.
When the current customer left with a bag, Laury saw her smile and blush and she grinned, "He likes it, huh?". Giselle nodded with a grin, "He does and he'll also hang out until we close up". Her coworker didn't exactly put on a caring expression. Instead she wondered, "I'd like to grab a coffee for lunch, do you mind if I take off now?". The brunette nodded approvingly and so she manned the counter and was alone for almost an hour. Then she went for some takeaway Chinese herself.
The remaining day was a blur. At 5:30pm they closed up and counted through the money. After saying their goodbyes to Mr Dean, Laury hugged Giselle and they both went home. Laury by car. Giselle by bus.
The closer the bus got to her stop, the darker the clouds became. Suddenly a bright flash followed by an immediate crack of deafening thunder. A second and third rumbled across the sky in short succession. Huge raindrops hit the window next to her. First only a few, occasionally, but the downpour got worse quickly. The cars all around them slowed down and visibility dropped to a few meters. Lightning and thunder chased another. Giselle's face had a frown as she had no umbrella on her. Today she'd get wet.
When the bus stopped in her neighborhood, she jumped outside onto the wet sidewalk with a huge splash. She couldn't even see her apartment complex, the rain covered everything like a dense fog would. Already feeling the wetness soak into her clothes, she started walking.
By the time Giselle's key opened the door into the stairwell, her appearance was no different from having a bucket of water unloaded over her head. Even her shoes made squishing noises when she walked. Grumpily she climbed the stairs to her apartment. Above her something clicked. Then quick footsteps hurried down the stairs. At the next turn she glanced up, into the surprised eyes of a woman. Her throat suddenly went dry, her stomach twisted in shock and her quickening heartbeat suddenly made her hands tremble. Uncertain whether to smile or scream, she stood there affixed until she croaked quietly, "Hi Annie".