Short Stories

The Cashier (𝕟𝕠𝕟-𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟)

~•~|🛍️|~•~

  I smoothed out the wrinkles in my uniform before sitting down at the cash register. It was mid afternoon and my long shift was only just beginning.

A girl in her late teens, not much younger than me, came over and started unloading her groceries onto the conveyer belt.

"Girls' night?" I asked with a smile as I scanned snacks, face masks and nail polish.

"Girl night." she corrected me with a sad sigh, "My best friend canceled on my because her boyfriend asked her out on a date tonight. Oh well, more snacks for me."

She tried to sound optimistic but I could hear the loneliness in her voice. I gave her a sympathetic smile as I bagged her items.

"42.60" I told her.

She payed and collected her bags.

"Have a fun girl night!" I told as she left the store.

She waved and sent me a cheerful smile on her way out.

'What a nice customer...' I thought.

~•~|🧁|~•~

"Oh, hello again!" I said cheerfully as I recognised the girl from a week prior.

"Hi! I was wondering if you would remember me!" she answered with a smile, unloading her groceries onto the conveyer belt.

"Of course! How was your girl night?"

"It was great, thanks for asking!"

I scanned a bag of flour, sugar, some baking powder, butter and a few other various baking ingredients.

"What are you going to make with all this?" I wondered as I carefully set the carton of eggs into a plastic bag.

"Chocolate cupcakes!" she replied enthusiastically, "My church is holding a bake sale to raise money to buy Christmas presents for the kids in the orphanage tomorrow and I thought I'd contribute something."

"And, who knows, you might meet a cute guy who falls in love with your baking." I said with a playful wink.

"I hope you're right." she laughed "Like they say, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach! And I make a mean batch of cupcakes."

"I can't wait to hear how it goes!" I smiled.

~•~|💌|~•~

"I'm assuming the bake sale went well?"

The young woman smiled and nodded. I scanned the white teddy bear and heart shaped box of chocolates as she told me about it:

"It went swimmingly! We sold all of the treats and raised more than enough money. And, as you've probably guessed, I met someone."

"Well, I'm happy for you." I grinned "Do you want these in a bag?"

"No thanks." she said, collecting her three items- the teddy, the chocolates and a cheesy valentine's day card.

"Goodbye, and have a great date!" I told her.

"I will!" she replied.

~•~|💍|~•~

My eyes lit up as I saw one of my favourite customers approaching my cash register.