"Come on, [Your Name]. You're so slow" [Best Friend's Name] whined, stomping back towards you as she wrapped her hands around your wrist and started to forcibly drag you forward. You dug the heels of your shoes into the ground, groaning as they slid roughly across the concrete. It always amused you how one minute [Best Friend's Name] was too lazy to throw a dodge ball and the next she could drag another human being across the sidewalk with little trouble. "I really want to check out that new place that just recently opened up a few weeks ago" she said, continued to drag you behind her.
"But I don't want to" you whined as you leaned your head backwards so that you were looking up towards the sky. You hated going shopping, you hated it even more when it involved dresses and jewelry. You released another loud groan as your friend pushed open one of the glass doors that consisted of the entrance, the smell of perfume immediately assaulting your senses. You let your head roll to the side and ended up making eye contact with the young woman behind the front counter. One of her eyebrows were raised as she looked at you and your friend in slight amusement before looking back down at a magazine she had out on the counter.
"Oh, those look nice" [Best Friend's Name] suddenly said, picking up speed now that your feet slid more easily across the waxed floors of the store. The minute she came to a sudden halt, your body lunged forward and caused you to throw your arms out to save yourself from face planting the ground. [Best Friend's Name] didn't seem to take notice or didn't care enough to say anything as she started to shuffle through the rack of dresses. The word 'sale' plastered at the top of the rack, causing you to raise an eyebrow. You moved around, barely looking at anything as you let your eyes just scan the interior of the building.
It used to be an old warehouse and very spacious, now it was filled to the brim with women's clothing, makeup, jewelry, and many other items. "[Your Name]" you blinked your eyes and looked towards your friend who was now holding up two dresses. To you it looked as if she was holding them up in front of herself and silently asking for your opinion on which looked better on her.
"What?" you asked, deciding to play dumb in hopes she would get the hint and decide herself. You didn't want to be here in the first place and you certainly weren't going to help her on this small shopping spree of hers.
"Aw, come on. Just tell me which one you think is the best, pink or blue?" she asked, her lower lip jutting out as she pouted. She continued to hold the two dresses up, moving them back and forth while closing one eye in thought. For a minute, it looked as if she was trying to imagine what you would...look like...in one...of...them.
"No" you suddenly said, your eyebrows furrowing as you shook your head. Letting strands of your hair fly around. Your friend didn't respond as she lowered the dresses and moved to drape them over the same arm. Neither of you blinked as you stared down one another, getting a few curious looks from strangers that were walking by. The minute your friend lunged forward you took a step back, only to end up tripping over your own two feet which caused you to lose balance.
Your heart skipped a beat as you quickly tried to grab hold of one of the racks closest to you, instead your back made rough contact with the one behind you. Pain shot through you while the rack itself tipped over and knocked into another rack. [Best Friend's Name] watched on in horror as a domino effect took place as the racks that were placed behind you were knocked into one another. All the dresses on them ripping at the sudden force that tugged on their fabric before the final rack was struck and tipped over onto a glass table that held expensive jewelry inside. You flinched as you heard glass shattering, shakily you looked behind you and paled at the mess that had been created.
"Fuck" you breathed out as you scrambled to stand and face your mess. You looked around at the nearby customers that stood there gawking at the damage. As if they couldn't believe the mess that had been created themselves. Taking a hesitant step back, you continued to slowly back away from the mess before your back had contacted something that stopped you in your tracks. "[Best Friend's Name]?" you lowly whimpered in hopes that it was indeed just you friend standing there in a horror-stricken daze and not any sign of authority.
As you turned your head back to look, your face had paled even more as you quickly spun around to face the blonde-haired woman behind you. She was dressed in a professional outfit, her perfectly manicured hands resting on her hips as her lips were drawn back into a tight line. She looked to be in her late twenties, young for someone like her to be the owner of this store. At least that's what you were guessing at. "Tell me young ma'am, exactly what is your name?" she asked, grinding her teeth.
Her perfectly painted lips now drawing back into a sneer showing a row of pearly whites. You shrunk back from her aggressive aura. Giving a nervous chuckle, you wondered how she could have guessed you made the mess. "Um, [Your Name] [Last Name]" you mumbled, wishing to curl up into a ball and just die as her glare harden.
"Well, Ms. [Last Name], I'll cut you a deal" the woman suddenly said, her attitude changing as she straightened her posture and crossed her arms. You blinked your eyes, confused at this sudden change before swallowing thickly.
"W-what kind of deal?"
"I assume that you don't have the money to pay me in full for the damage that you had caused to my store" she said, as if stating a fact that you knew was true. Nodding your head, you looked back at the mess one last time before facing the woman once again. "As I suspected, well seeing how we're quite low on staff members, my offer to you is that you work here to help pay off the mess" the blonde said, giving a strain smile as she waited for you to respond. You stayed quiet, your eyes searching around the area as you desperately looked for your friend before concluding that she had already taken her leave. If it wasn't for the woman that was staring you down, you probably would have shouted as many colorful words as you could in hopes of your friend hearing you. Wherever she might be.
"Or do I have to get security involved" the minute you heard her say that, you snapped your attention towards her and shook your head.
"N-no ma'am! That's quite alright, I don't mind taking the job!" you quickly exclaimed, watching how the blonde smiled at your reaction. As if she enjoyed watching you suffer.
"Great, now come along, we have lots of paper work to fill out. I don't suppose you'd want your parents finding out about this incident either, am I correct?" she asked, causing you to shiver at the tone of her voice as if she knew just the right things to say to make you wrap yourself around her finger. Swallowing thickly, you shook your head, growing more and more nervous by the second as she nodded her head and motioned for you to follow after her. By this time the other customers had long since gone back to what they were originally doing before being side tracked. With quick steps, you followed behind the woman as she walked further towards the back of the store.
-Later-
"There you go, you officially start tomorrow after school and on weekends you start work at around ten in the morning" the woman said, straightening out the papers on her desk while handing you a bag with your uniform inside. "You may go now" she said, waving her hand in a motion that told you to leave.
"Um, can I at least know the name of my new boss?" you asked, wondering why she hadn't told you yet. You watched as she stopped all movements and her face became flushed with embarrassment at having forgot.
"It's Elizabeth Taylor, now go on, shoo!" she snapped, you jumped not needing to be told twice as you turned around and left the office.
-Later-
You gave a quick hello to your mother as you entered your house. Giving a small update that you had gotten a job, not going into too much detail as to why before heading upstairs. Your eyes were focused on your phone as you entered your room and plopped down on your bed. You went to your contacts and called your friend, listening to the phone ring before narrowing your eyes as she picked up. "Hello" she said, her words muffled as if she had something in her mouth.
"Hey" you grinded out. You could audibly hear her swallow as soon as she heard your voice.
"Oh, hey, [Your Name]. How are you?" she asked, her voice raising a bit in pitch near the end.
"Oh you know, just great. Especially after being left all alone to handle a mess all by myself!" you snapped, already imagining [Best Friend's Name] moving the phone away from her ear. "Now I have a job at that stupid place thanks to you" you huffed out as you glared up at your ceiling.
"Well I mean you always said you wanted a job, so that's a plus. Anyways I must go, see you tomorrow, bye" [Best Friend's Name] said.
"Wait don't...hang up..." you trailed off as you heard the dial tone respond back to you. Groaning in frustration you had thrown you phone somewhere in your room, as you turned onto your side and curled up. Ready for sleep to take you over and help you forget about today.