Just Looking - Prologue: Retail Hell
Hey, readers. This is the first story I've ever posted on this site, so do me a favor - give it a good read and get introduced to a few of the main characters. As stated in the title, this is a prologue. You won't find any hot scenes in this particular installment, but you can look forward to those in the coming chapters. The idea of this series is to be appealing to all sexual orientations and audiences by mixing together a little retail comedy, maybe a little drama, character development, and some steamy encounters of several flavors. Throughout the story's progression you'll be treated with straight, gay, and lesbian encounters with certain characters when the time is right, but in the meantime we'll get to know the characters a little better.
And for the record, I love feedback. Throw a comment at the bottom and tell me what you think! If you like where things are going, let me know. If not, that's fine, too. As writers we cannot grow without critique, so do me a favor and tell me how I'm doing. That being said, enjoy the prologue!
~Torvi
~
JUST LOOKING
Prologue: Retail Hell
Consumer Electronics Store Rule No. 1: The first day is always the worst. There are no exceptions.
I have found this particular rule to be wholeheartedly and undeniably true during the few years I've put under my belt in this industry, despite the interjections of that happy little optimist inside of me that wanted so badly to be recognized on this particular first day. "Today's gonna be different! Today's going to be one of the best of your life!" he said to me as I padded towards the sliding double doors that nearly didn't open - a clear omen that I should have heeded right then and there. I had to stop awkwardly for a second and wait until this glass-and-metal mouth debated with itself on whether or not I was worth devouring, and it took every courageous fiber of my being to venture in farther when it finally decided I was.
The Loss and Prevention Associate stationed by the front door, a very tall and very muscular brown Clydesdale, cut me a look as if I were something of an inmate as I neared him. And without further a due, this brings me to my second decree:
Consumer Electronics Store Rule No. 2: The Loss and Prevention Associates will ALWAYS have a six pack (or a beer gut to match), will ALWAYS be assholes, and will ALWAYS weigh roughly around six times as much as me. Any exception to this rule (in the very unlikely event that there is one) will be transferred to a sales floor or customer assistance department before you can say "I bench press around two-fifty."
I swear, this guy's nametag could have read, 'Hi! My name is: ASSHOLE' and I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised. He took one good look at my pressed khakis and tucked-in green polo and rolled his eyes. "New guy?" he asked with that deep bass voice, his undertone hinting that he was already enjoying the less than comfortable predicament that awaited me. I would have set him on fire right where I stood if I thought I could have gotten away with it. But that probably would have made a bad first impression on my bosses...
The equine nodded his head toward the center aisle behind me; my curiosity left me no choice but to turn around wearily. Sprinting along the canyon of DVDs and video games was a brown bear wearing the same getup as me. I really don't know what scared me worse: the over-friendly smile that danced across his muzzle or the beer belly that hung slightly over his pants, flopping around like Jell-O in a tube sock, or maybe it was the fact that this behemoth of a bear (large even by his race's standards I would assume) was charging straight for me, gaining momentum with every giant step he took. For a second I just knew he wouldn't be able to stop once he got to me, and as fate would have it my life would end right then and there, squeezed to death between the LP's cluttered desk and the furry gut of an overweight Grizzly. But it seemed as though God had decided to smile on me this day, seeing as the giant was able to skid to a halt a few feet away from me - with some difficulty and a few heavy breaths, I might add.
But the more I observed this guy, the harder I found it to hate him. He had one of those faces that made you feel all warm inside whether you wanted to or not, because he just looked so happy and content with the world. He had soft blue eyes that stuck out above full cheeks, tiny ears propped up with a gleeful curiosity. Soft brown fur covered him from head to toe, and the mix of perhaps a bit too much cologne and his own musk made this boyish spirit seem much more like a man once it hit me. He extended a paw that was as wide around as my head, and with a bit of hesitation I returned the gesture. "I bet you're Adrian," he said excitedly as if someone had told him earlier that he was getting a shiny new toy. The twang in his voice was as thick as his waste, but I was beginning to get used to that. In the few weeks since I had moved to this sleepy little mid-southern town, I had learned that pronunciation and grammar were of very little concern here. "We haven't had a new face over in Home Entertainment in forever. I'm Joey, by the way."
I wouldn't have been more surprised if I had woken up with my tail sewn to the floor. I blinked a couple times before I was able to assemble a comprehensible sentence. "Home Entertainment? As in TV's and home audio systems?"
He nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, they decided to transfer you over here cause we needed another guy. Somebody else got hired in computers at the last minute. Some software programmer's son or somethin', I dunno."
"Oh, well that's fantastic," I managed to say, feeling my white tail make its way between my legs. Point me in the right direction and I could sell the crappiest laptop and every service under the sun to go with it, but I wouldn't know how to hook up an audio system to a flat screen if I had a manual in front of me and a gun to my head.
"Well don't sound all down-and-out about it!" Joey said with a laugh, slapping his giant paw against my back so hard that I nearly saw my morning toast a second time. "Entertainment's the big leagues, man. Don't you worry about a thing; I'll show'ya everything you need to know." He padded ahead and motioned for me to follow, flashing that goofy and irresistible grin over his shoulder. Paralyzed where I stood, I scratched my head and looked back towards the computer department with a silent longing, but somehow managed to turn back and follow in my fellow associate's ridiculously large footsteps.
~
Joey and I must have walked back and forth along that wall of TVs for hours before he finally took a breath. Somewhere between the difference in 720p and 1080p, LEDs and LCDs, and something about the difference in Hertz processors, my brain reached its maximum capacity for new information and I soon feared I'd be spazzing on the floor from an aneurism. But somehow as I refrained from checking my ears for blood, I managed to look interested, smiling and nodding at the appropriate times and asking the obvious questions. Joey's eyes lit up like fireworks every time I seemed to be getting what he was teaching me. He was probably just happy to finally be able to talk to someone new, and those kind-spirited eyes wouldn't dare let my typical cynicism overshadow his mood.
As we passed along the heat wall for the eleventh eternity, a female Pit Bull Terrier rounded the corner, scribbling something quite furiously on her clipboard. Unlike me, she wore a black button-up with her khakis and a nametag that very boldly identified her as the Home Entertainment supervisor. Her brown eyes narrowed in suspicion as she looked me up and down.
Maybe it was the alpha vibe I was getting from her, or maybe it was just the way those pants hugged her sizeable hips that made her so undeniably attractive to me. She looked a little older than me, but not by much - she was probably in her late twenties, maybe early thirties. Her creamy white chest (that I couldn't help imagining stretching down to her unmentionables and that rock-hard rump) was nothing to write home about, but what she lacked in the front of her shirt was compensated for in every curve and dip in her muscular body - the kind of body that takes work to get, and lots of it. But the thing that made her the sexiest was without a doubt that big spot of darker brown fur that covered her left eye and ear like a half mask. I had to smile and stretch out my hand to keep myself from staring. "I'm fairly certain I belong to you now," I said, suddenly realizing how utterly stupid that sounded. "They didn't need me in computers apparently, I mean."
She didn't answer immediately, of course, nor did she shake my paw - that would have been far too comforting and fairly enjoyable for my luck. Instead, she gave me the kind of look that quite plainly told me she was less than amused and even less interested in my obvious attraction to her. Clearing her throat, she shifted her weight and held the clipboard to her hip. "Charmed, I'm sure. You know anything about TVs?"
I struggled for an answer that sounded better than the sad truth. I could feel the sweat collecting on my furry white brow as the seconds lurched by like eons. "I know some," I said, nodding towards Joey. "This guy here was in the middle of showing me the ropes. I'm a computer guy, so all this stuff is-"
"So that's a no," she said with a sigh, returning to her clipboard. "Another baby to train. Awesome." The tone of her voice was the most bizarre mix of authoritarian and sexy I'd ever heard. If anyone else had said the exact same thing, I would have found it hard to keep my mouth shut. But there was something about this one, something...
Gay! That was it.
There was something definitely gay about her, made even more apparent once I caught a glimpse of the rainbow tattoo peeking out beneath the hemp bracelet on her left wrist. I could almost hear the dejected bang of a piano somewhere in the background as the realization sank in. She was my boss, she was gay, and she was ridiculously attractive.
Why was I always drawn to the impossible? Which reminds me:
Consumer Electronics Store Rule No. 3: Women who have power in this industry are never to be trusted under any circumstance, nor are they to be taken lightly. Cross them once, and they will have both your balls and your career before you can even hope to put in a two-weeks notice, much less retain even the smallest shred of your dignity. Hell hath no fury like a supervisor scorned.
"I'm a fast learner, though." It was the best I could come up with.
Joey stepped in to clear the tense air. "This is Beverly, by the way. She's the department supervisor."
Really? Because I had no idea, I wanted to say, but dared not make the attempt. I wouldn't want him to start crying or something, and possibly make Beverly hate me any more than she already did. Then again, that was probably impossible.
She nodded heavily as her valuable time continued to be consumed by this God-awful conversation. "Here's the deal, kid. I need someone that can push out about three thousand bucks of in-home services every single weekend, and I need that person right now." She placed the clipboard on an endcap shelf and began straightening a few converter boxes that had managed to topple over. "No offence, but that's not exactly easy, and it's gonna be even harder for someone who doesn't have a background in Home Entertainment. Some of my seniors can't even get the job done." Joey received a very direct and disappointed stare that sent his paws into his pockets and his eyes to the floor.
"I sold more services than anyone in my department back at my old store. TVs and audio equipment can't be that different from computers, and I'm willing to bet it's just as easy."
That was definitely the wrong thing to say, considering Beverly had to suppress her laughter. "Speaking of numbers," she said, jabbing Joey in the stomach with her pen, "go sell something - anything. It's four o' clock and we're not even fifty percent to budget. Change that, or suffer." The bear quickly scampered off to speak to an elderly skunk couple further down the aisle. "If I get another call from district, I'm gonna be pissed! You hear me, McAndrews?"
I swallowed hard, scratched the back of my my neck nervously. "Should I do the same?"
Beverly turned back to me with a sinister grin. "You? Oh, no - not you. I've got something special planned for you, tough fox." She spun around on her heel and ventured deeper into the jungle of technology. "Try to keep up."
"Fuck my life..." I rubbed my temples with a sigh and followed behind her - at a distance, I might add.
"What was that?"
"Nothing! Nothing at all. Right behind you."