he turned from the stacked box
display of liquor bottles to the entrance where the automatic glass doors ssshushed
open and a silhouette walked in
the sun flooding in behind them
blinded him
the silhouette walked directly towards
him as he blinked and into their darkness he wished them Welcome to
Total Wine
an attractive young woman materialised
out of the sun and silhouette and veering at the last possible moment they brushed
shoulders she said Why thank you very much
Youre welcome he said and pivoted
and watched her walk up the aisle under
his breath saying Handsome
he was a teletype an ingénu of the
Walmart pioneered and inspired(and sneered) greeting a practise corporate demanded they also engage
in despite it lacking originality
he typically concluded his
Welcome to Total Wine with an over-the-top leering smile a scarcely suppressed bit
of laughter that flowed through his clenched teeth implying a kind of inside-joke which at
first often startled patrons but then recognised whether ever a Walmart shopper
or not humoured them and they returned his laughter unfettered honestly
initially he was verbally reprimanded
for his overt insincerity his unprofessionalism but since his manager made a
point of not being up front when he arrived for his hours so he couldnt overhear
him and be forced to waste their time
his manager was an uptight young man
whose Faith and Church informed him he was the Man of the HouseHead of the Family whose wife and young children were subservient to him
candidly he told his manager if corporate was
inclined to always have their name mentioned as if their customers didnt know
where they were as if they were a lost soul a babe-in-the-woods he wasnt budging
off his preposterous greeting because at the very least it was original and no one said or intimated they were offended
he also carefully told him that the manner his family was inclined to provide him he ought
to leave at home
he was at the register when the handsome young woman returned holding a bottle of Chopin by its neck in her fist
Ah my kind of woman Enjoys my same taste
Why thank you
Youre welcomeHave you ever sipped Chopin and eaten raw oysters
No But I can imagine that would taste delicious
Yes I like you can imagine
Thank you
Again Youre welcome
Now listen youve got a babyface May
I please see your identification
he
took the Chopin from her hand
she
went to her kellygreen jacket pocket(it went with her eyes) and retrieved her
drivers license and creditcard
Chelsea
Yes
Ive never met a Chelsea before
she
was of age
Never
No Not ever
Im feeling shortchanged if youre any indication of other Chelseas
she smiled
Thank you he said as her handed
her license back which she promptly pocketed
ever so slightly she shook her head
blonde
he
was rarely attracted to blondes
her curls turned at the neck of her open jacket accentuating a gold
necklace and pendant at her chest
she
wore a black Superman S tshirt
Chelsea I cant help but notice your S
You noticed my S
Yes
I noticed your Ss
she
smiled quickly
They appear very nice
her smile grew Thank you
Ohno Thank you
thendramatically she planted her feet
a shoulders width apart grabbed her jacket lapels with either hand yanked it
wide apart and thrust her chest her S forward
he took a good long look
she was intimidating
the Man of Steel hadnt pecs to
challenge hers
My
he said under his breath
No Mine she said then relaxed and released her
jacket it hung up at the sides of her breasts so that she had to
shrugshrug her jacket refused to be shrugged she pulled its lapels
forward and letting go they fell against and over her Supermans S
she took him in with her bright green
eyes
he liked that she was unabashed
unapologetic
Are you
more powerful than a locomotive
he
liked people who were comfortable in their skin people who didnt look for
other peoples approval who didnt seek to be part of a tribe
I suppose that would depend on the
locomotives youre familiar with Wouldnt
it
It would Indeed
she slipped her creditcard into
the chip-receiverbottoming it out the reader
shook
they stood quietly possibly admiring
one anotherhe was admiring her as the transaction processed and the receipt was
regurgitated
Chelsea Would you care for your receipt
Yesplease she said
handing it to her she laid it
beside the Chopin took up a pen that laid on the counter and bent over to write
on it You know she said as she wrote youre an extremely attractive man then
standing upright she smiled she handed him her receipt Im faster than a
speeding bullet
Call me Please
Superman left him to a line
that formed behind her but nobody was restless or impatient
they wore the humoured smiles he
gave them when they entered
1440, Day-between-Two-Ts, 11 1.
17
1022, Thursday,
12 1. 17
