The Shop at the Mall
Author: Milady Dragon
Disclaimer: I don't own either Torchwood or "Shop Around the Corner".
Author's note: So much for posting every day! Sorry about that, real life is a bitch right now. I'll try to post more regularly, since this story is done, but I'm really sorry about the delay. Thanks for your patience, and I hope you continue to enjoy!
Chapter Three
"That's a nice bracelet," Jack commented, seeing the flash of gold on John's wrist.
"Thanks," he answered proudly.
"Must have cost a bit."
"No idea," John answered. "It was a gift from a friend."
"Hart's got himself a sugar-mama," Owen teased, then went back to his computer game.
"You're just jealous," John returned, buffing his fingernails on his jacket lapel.
"All right everyone!" Rhys' shout was heard throughout the shop, drawing Andy from the stockroom and Ianto and Toshiko from the employee lounge. "I've noticed that our front window display looks terrible. I want everyone staying over tonight to work on it, and to redecorate the entire store for the holidays." With that, he disappeared back into his office, shutting the door behind him.
Jack couldn't believe it. The one night he had plans…and no way to let his 'date' know he wouldn't be able to be there. He'd finally gotten up the courage to ask the man to meet him, and now he was stuck, redecorating the shop for Christmas.
Without even thinking about it, he made his way over to Rhys' door, and knocked on it. He heard a muffled conversation inside, and realized his boss must be on the phone so he let himself in.
"A thousand pounds?" Rhys was saying. "But Gwen, I just gave you…no, I'm not complaining but it's a bit of money, isn't it?...Yeah, all right, I'll send it over as soon as I can…yeah, goodbye." He hung up, turning to look at Jack. There was something in his eyes…Jack couldn't identify it before Rhys was nodding. "What can I do for you?" he asked, the cheer in the question sounding false.
"I'd like to talk to you for a moment," Jack answered.
"Is it important?"
Jack was surprised. Rhys had always listened to him before, not even bothering to ask such a question. "It's important to me." He really wanted to get the night off.
"Is it important to Williams Electronics?"
Now Jack frowned. This really wasn't like his boss at all. "Not exactly," he confessed.
"Well then, I'm sorry. I'm busy. You'll have to see me later." Rhys turned away, heading around to his desk.
"Rhys, is something bothering you?" The question was out of his mouth before Jack could pull it back in. He knew from experience that one couldn't force Rhys Williams to do anything; he simply became even more stubborn, or would go off on a rant.
"What do you mean?"' Rhys asked, not looking at Jack.
"I mean, that for the last several weeks your attitude toward me has completely changed."
"Has it?"
If Jack hadn't known something was going on, then that simple two word answer would have given the game away. Rhys was one of the most up-front people Jack had ever met, and for him to give such a blatant misdirection was completely out of character.
"Yes, it has," he said, "and I'm at a complete loss to understand it."
"Are you?" Now, that response almost seemed like a challenge.
"Yes, I am," Jack said, puzzled. "I'm always on time, I do my work – "
"And you get paid for it, don't you?"
"I do, yes."
"Every two weeks?"
"Yes…"
"Then, everything seems just fine to me. Get back out there and do your job."
Jack knew then he wasn't going to get a thing out of Rhys. That he wasn't going to get an explanation as to what was going on, and why his boss was treating him like a complete stranger. "Fine," he answered. He could do nothing but beat a dignified retreat.
He came out of the office to discover that Suzie had returned. "Did you talk to him?" she asked eagerly.
Jack sighed. "I did. But I just don't know what he wants from me." He stopped, pulling her aside toward the large computer display in the centre of the shop, passing John Hart on the way. "Something's going on. Suddenly it's like he has it out for me, and I don't know why."
"Listen," she tried to soothe him, "maybe he's got some business issues? Or maybe he's having trouble with his wife. It could be anything getting him down, and you're just a convenient target."
"Is that true?" John asked, startling both of them. "You think Rhys is having trouble with his wife?"
"How the hell should I know?" Suzie sniped. "Why should you care, anyway if he does? And besides I was talking to Jack, so fuck off."
She grabbed Jack by the arm and led him away from a stunned John, and toward another counter. Jack really didn't want to talk about it; he was angry and hurt, and all the weeks of being the bosses' scapegoat were getting to him. He began to go through some items that had been left on the counter, not really paying attention to what they were. "I can get a job anywhere," Jack muttered, piling the small boxes up, and then tearing the pile down again.
"Don't be an arse, Jack," Suzie whispered. "The economy isn't all that good right now and there are too many people out of work. Do you really think it'll be that easy to just go out and get another job?"
She had a point. But Jack could be stubborn too, and he wasn't certain how much more he could take of Rhys Williams' attitude. "I'll take that chance. I'm not afraid."
"Think it over," she urged. Then she sighed. "Those were really nice letters, weren't they?"
He flinched. She knew just where to hit him. It meant a lot that his date tonight thought well of him, and if he was unemployed…well, Suzie was right. He had to hang in there, on the off-chance that anything happened between his mysterious letter-writer and himself. While he didn't think the man was so shallow that he'd refuse to see Jack if he didn't have a job, Jack still wanted his good opinion. And being fired from a long-term position could damage that opinion.
No, he'd have to be patient. Perhaps Rhys could come out of whatever funk he was in. It still meant he'd need to speak to the boss later about tonight, but he could put it off for a short while.
Jack picked up the stack of boxes and headed into the rear, nearly bumping into Andy on the way in. "Sorry," he said, dancing around him.
"No problem," Andy assured him. "Hey Jack? You think I'll have to work over tonight? Rhys is always saying I'm stockroom only, and the last time I checked we don't decorate anything in here…"
He considered. Andy did have a point; there really was no need for him to stay. "No," he decided. "I'll clear it with the boss." He didn't know how much influence he had anymore, but even Rhys had to see the reasoning.
Andy grinned. "Thanks!" He disappeared back among the shelves.
Jack busied himself with the boxes he'd brought in with him, seeing that they'd need to go up on one of the higher shelves. Sighing, he set them down and reached for the ladder they kept for such reasons.
"Can I help?"
He almost jumped out of his skin at Ianto's question. He turned toward the voice; Ianto was leaning against the nearest shelf, his hands in his pockets, his professional mask lowered just a little.
It was almost as if Jack was seeing him naked.
"Sure," he took up the offer. "Hand me those please?" He climbed the ladder, leaning against it and reaching down for the first of the boxes that Ianto handed him.
"Jack," the young man said, "I know you and I don't get along, and I wish there was something I could do to fix that, but I do understand you're doing the best for the shop."
Of course Ianto knew exactly what Jack was holding against him. "Yes, I am," he answered, taking the boxes he held and putting them away. The suspicious part of him was thinking that he was being buttered up for something.
"I wanted to say you were right about that shirt. It actually was somewhat inappropriate, but then my sister gave it to me, and I felt like I was defending her when you brought it up."
Jack was somewhat mollified by his acceptance of what he'd said earlier. "I am sorry about that, but Rhys really didn't care for it. I'm not sure why…"
"It's all right." Ianto handed up another few boxes, which Jack put away. "What was worse, I was actually going to wear it on a date tonight."
"Didn't you hear?" Jack asked. "We all have to stay over tonight and decorate." He was suddenly getting suspicious again.
"I did, yes." Ianto took a deep breath. "Do you think you might spare me tonight? It's really important –"
"I see," Jack replied icily. He should have known the man would have had an ulterior motive. "So this is why you agreed with me? To get on my good side so I'd let you leave?"
"I'm sorry," Ianto said…no, practically begged. "I would accept it normally, but tonight – "
Jack snorted. "Oh, you almost had me going too."
Something shifted in the young man at the bottom of the ladder, and the mask was gone, anger and hurt evident in his eyes. "Ever since I was hired, you've done nothing but try to antagonize me –"
"You haven't been very nice to me, either!"
"In self-defence," the Welshman protested. "But whatever I do, it's wrong. If I suggest something, it won't work. I work on something, if you catch me you take it away and give it to either Toshiko or Suzie, and it doesn't matter that they're the ones who gave it to me to do in the first place. The installation today…I was perfectly capable of doing it, and yet you still made Suzie cancel a vital appointment with her father because you couldn't trust me with it. You want everything done the way you demand, but then it's still not right!"
Jack hadn't heard so much from Ianto in all the time he'd been there. "You can always find another job," he snapped back, his own anger getting the better of him.
Ianto suddenly seemed to lose all his ire; his shoulders slumped, and he sighed heavily. He said nothing, instead leaving the stockroom and closing the door quietly behind him.
Jack should have felt a sense of victory over what just happened. But he couldn't get over the look of utter defeat that had been in Ianto's eyes as he'd given up the argument.
And he heard the unspoken, 'But who would hire me?' that followed Ianto from the room.
Jack made his way back out to the sales floor, to find Ianto speaking with Rhys. Their boss caught Jack's eye, and motioned him over. "Jack, can you get along without Ianto tonight?"
Of course he'd gone to Rhys when he couldn't get his own way with Jack. Well Ianto wasn't the only one who had a private life outside of Williams Electronics. "Actually, that was what I wanted to speak to you earlier –"
"You want the night off too?" Rhys demanded incredulously. His normally placid face changed, and Jack knew Rhys the Rant was coming to the fore. "Once a year," he fairly shouted. "Once a year, I ask you all to stay!"
"I talked to Jack earlier," Suzie stepped in, daring to get in the way of a full-blown rant and lying through her teeth, "and I know what his ideas are for the decorations. Tosh, Owen, and I are more than happy to stay on our own –"
"Did I ask you for your advice?" Rhys asked sharply. "And what do you mean you talked it over? Just who's the owner of this shop anyway?" His face was turning an interesting shade of puce. He spun on Jack. "So you want the evening off then, Captain Harkness?"
Jack couldn't help but flinch at the tone. Rhys only called him 'captain' in jest, the nickname harking back to his time in the RAF. He'd never heard it said with such disdain before. "This is the first time in years I've ever really asked for anything," he defended himself.
"Fine," Rhys spat. "You have the night off. What more do you want…a brass band maybe?"
"You're being unjust," Toshiko said quietly.
"Unjust? How am I being unjust? Once I year, I ask for you all to stay. Men and women who stand around, tell jokes, play on the computers that I paid for; while I pay their salaries, and the rent and bills and taxes on this shop! One day a year, I ask you all to stay and decorate for the fucking holidays. And you," he spun on Jack, "have the nerve to ask to be let out of it…you, the oldest employee here and my manager no less, who should be setting a good example for everyone else!"
Jack was practically blown off his feet by the strength of Rhys' anger. He couldn't keep quiet about this. "What have I done? You've been at me like this for weeks, and for no reason whatsoever!"
Rhys' anger suddenly ended, and it was more impressive than Ianto's had been back in the storeroom. "With no reason?" His face turned haggard. "Maybe I have more reason than you think."
It wasn't an answer, but Jack didn't think he'd be getting a proper one. "It's obvious you're not satisfied with me." He didn't want to think that, but it was true…everything leading up to this just proved it.
Rhys Williams was unhappy with his service in the shop.
"You can draw your own conclusions," Rhys answered quietly.
Jack's heart sank like a stone. He'd spent many happy years in the shop; he enjoyed his work, and didn't want to think about working anywhere else now that he was really on the verge of possibly getting the sack. No matter what he'd said to Suzie earlier, he didn't want to leave, and was about to say something to that effect when the shop's phone rang.
Toshiko answered it. "Williams Electronics, Toshiko Sato speaking…yes, Mrs. Williams, he's here…just a moment…" She held the phone out for Rhys, who took it gingerly, as if he was afraid it would bite him.
"Yes, Gwen?...No, I won't be home tonight…all right, I'll send it right over." He hung up, and turned to Toshiko. "Can you put a thousand pounds in an envelope and address it to Mrs. Williams? Get Andy to take it to her, please."
"I can't," Toshiko said. "Andy's gone on the lunch run, and he's taking a special order over to one of our clients afterward."
"Jack and I can take it," Suzie volunteered. "He and I usually go to lunch near your house. It wouldn't be any trouble."
"No, thank you." Rhys turned to John. "I don't want to break in on your lunch hour – "
"I'll be glad to take it," John answered. He took the envelope from Toshiko and beat a hasty retreat.
Jack couldn't blame him. The atmosphere was so thick it was like breathing treacle.
