Spinning Around
"Team meeting everyone!" Marcus whistled.
"Great, what is it this time?" Matt grumbled.
"Today is a sad day, because after 3 years of service here, Rina has decided to put in her last day. We're gonna miss you so much, kid!" Marcus hugged Rina.
"Aww, you're leaving? Why?" Nokia smirked.
"I decided that I'm just not comfortable working here anymore," Rina shot a dirty look at Matt. "Anyways, I was offered an opportunity to hone my hacking skills a bit, so I'm excited about that. It's been a while since I've done anything with computers, because I'm always here, this will be fun!"
"Congratulations! I hope you enjoy the next chapter of your life," Nokia gave her a slight hug.
"Yeah," Matt forced a smile.
"Marcus, if Rina is leaving, what does that mean for our store? Do you think we'll be able to cover Rina's section?" Nokia asked.
"Don't be silly! I already hired someone to start! Everyone, meet Mimi!" Marcus whistled.
"Hi!" Mimi ran to the group and tripped on a CD rack, knocking everything over. "Oops, my bad!"
"Oh boy, this will be interesting. Good luck everyone. I don't want to be late for my first day on the job," Rina smirked.
"Have fun," Nokia smirked back.
"Are you freaking serious?" Matt gasped.
"Everyone, be nice to Mimi. She's new to the whole music experience, so please help her out until she gets comfort- uh, where did Nokia go?" Marcus paused.
"I don't know, but I should have bounced when she did," Matt groaned.
"Alright, Mimi. So since you'll be Rina's replacement, you'll be taking care of the Dance and Pop section," Marcus said.
"What? Shouldn't she do country like all the other new hires have to do?" Matt yelled.
"Dude, I don't have time to keep shuffling sections of the store. I literally had to replace Rina at the last minute, is it really that important? Ugh, she's right…you kinda are creepy aggressive," Marcus rubbed his forehead.
"The two of you were talking about me behind my back?!" Matt yelled.
"Look, just show the new girl the ropes, like how to organize and clean up her section of the store, yadda yadda yadda. I think I need an aspirin," Marcus shook his head and walked off.
"Ugh. Alright Mimi…I don't know how you got this job, but let's get started," Matt gritted his teeth.
"I just remembered, do I have to alphabetize here too? Because I swear, I did that at the bookstore and that lady was a biiitch. I literally did A, B, C, D…to all the titles of the books! But it was so hard because do you know how many books start with the letter A? Wouldn't it be easier if you organized the books alphabetically by like the author's last name, or even first name instead?" Mimi rambled.
"What?" Matt slid his hand down his face. "Did you organize the books by TITLE?!"
"Yeah. People look for Harry Potter, not…whoever the Harry Potter writer is, right?" Mimi shrugged.
"Mimi, we have section cards for each artist. They're already in the right order so for the love of God, please do NOT touch ANY of them! NONE! Got it? Good!" Matt groaned.
"I thought this job was supposed to be fun," Mimi frowned.
"You and me both," Matt grumbled.
"Hey Sora, I'd like you to meet our newest recruit, Jeremy," Coach Fujieda pulled Jeremy over.
"No offense, but aren't you a bit young? I thought you had to be 18 to work here," Sora frowned.
"Originally, but there's been a lot of people who got let go from their jobs, and as you may have seen…we could use a helping hand. I can't afford to be choosy," Coach Fujieda put her hands on her hips.
"Thank you for the opportunity to work with you guys! I'm excited to help out in any way I can!" Jeremy stood up straight.
"That's the enthusiasm I need! Sora, you could learn a thing from him," Coach Fujieda shrugged.
"Don't tell me I'm gonna be shown up by a kid," Sora muttered.
"Now that we're better staffed, I think it's time to figure out who would be the best fit for my right hand man!" Coach Fujieda pulled out a badge.
"Does it come with a pay raise?" Sora crossed her arms.
"Yes, a $2 increase on top of what you already make," Coach Fujieda nodded.
"So I could make $17 an hour?" Jeremy gasped.
"Hold on, does that mean you're making $15 right now? I'm only making minimum wage! What gives?" Sora yelled.
"I'm sorry, but we probably shouldn't be disclosing wages. It's kind of a private matter," Coach Fujieda turned red.
"No! We're talking them right now! I've worked here longer! How is he getting paid more than me off the bat?" Sora protested.
"That's a corporate matter. I don't determine the numbers," Coach Fujieda clenched her fists.
"Then you can tell corporate that until they make this right, I'm going on a long break!" Sora threatened.
"You wouldn't do that! I can't train him by myself! We'll be understaffed again!" Coach Fujieda exclaimed.
"I'll be back when this issue is resolved. Let me know what happens," Sora stomped out of the store.
"What a hater. No wonder I get paid more," Jeremy sipped at a smoothie.
"Thank you for taking the time out of your day to help us out, but I think we'll only need one person for the job!" Barbie Q bit her nail.
"Pick Rina then," Davis whispered.
"I heard you," Izzy crossed his arms. "Look, I called out of my shift for this-"
"And I quit my job for this," Rina interrupted.
"Who told you to do that? That's not my problem!" Izzy yelled.
"Girls, so what exactly can I help you out with?" Rina clapped her hands together.
"We want to have an electronic way of keeping our client profiles organized, in case we have any repeat customers. Also, we need a digital calendar to record any upcoming reservations, and we'd like to do some basic bookkeeping for our expenses as well," Suzie Q listed.
"Ah, you're planning on making this a serious business! I like this," Rina grinned.
"Thanks! We're hoping that if we kept everything on computers, it would make things much faster, and Davis can have a job being our receptionist," Barbie Q nodded.
"That should be interesting," Izzy muttered sarcastically.
"What did you mean by that?" Rina slyly kicked him in the shin.
"Ow, what is your problem?" Izzy gasped.
"I think I got it!" Rina snapped her fingers. "I can get you guys running up and ready within the end of the day, as long as you have your own computers!"
"We have the laptops that our school lends out," Suzie Q hands out.
"No! That's a bad idea already! They should get their own personal computers!" Izzy yelled.
"Won't that be expensive?" Barbie Q frowned.
"We do have the money for them though," Suzie Q pointed out.
"But you could save it for something else! That's a waste of money!" Rina scoffed.
"Okay! We won't get the laptops," Barbie Q nodded.
"Ugh…well, if you don't get the laptops, you should at least get your own internet," Izzy rubbed his temples.
"Why would they do that? There's so much free WiFi at this mall! Again, that's a waste of money!" Rina stuck her thumb down.
"Using free WiFi is a bad idea! Do you know how easily it can be compromised?" Izzy exclaimed.
"Yeah! I'm a hacker, duh! Don't worry girls, I'm on your side. You can't beat a hacker if you have a hacker on the other side," Rina tapped her forehead.
"That doesn't even make any sense!" Izzy huffed.
"I don't know, it kinda sounds like you're the one with the problem," Davis awkwardly stuck his hands in his pockets.
"Do you want this done fast, easy, and cheap? Or do you want this done the slow, boring, and definitely expensive way?" Rina shot Izzy a condescending look.
"We want it done like ASAP!" Barbie Q excitedly clapped her hands.
"You know what? You guys do what you want, but don't say I didn't warn you!" Izzy grabbed his hair.
"Sorry, we're gonna go with Rina for this project, but here's something for your time," Suzie Q handed Izzy a couple of $20 bills.
"It's the least we could do for making you miss your shift at work," Barbie Q awkwardly shrugged.
"Much appreciated…thanks," Izzy sighed.
"Alright, who's ready to get started?" Rina clapped her hands.
"Hey Kari, nice of you to stop by!" Tai winked.
"Oh, hey. I forgot you worked here for a second," Kari sighed.
"What's wrong?" Tai walked up to her.
"I think she's got some love problems," Miki whispered.
"What? What did he do? I'll kick his ass!" Tai growled.
"No! Nothing happened! I'm upset because I don't have a job yet! Mimi got a job instantly, but I haven't gotten one. Even my weird coworker got a job, and he was kinda bad at my old store. This sucks," Kari whined.
"Something will come along soon. Here, have a Diet Coke," Miki cracked open a can of soda.
"Thanks," Kari gingerly grabbed the soda.
"Yeah, Miki is right. The right job will come along soon. And screw that guy, he sucked anyways!" Tai scoffed.
"That's not very nice. I thought you guys were friends," Kari frowned.
"Who? That dweeby manager of yours? In what delusional world-"
"Honey, are you sure you're upset about not having a job? Cause it looks like you have more on your mind than that," Miki pouted.
"Uh…yeah. Just the job. I should go," Kari turned red.
"Alright! But keep me updated on the job search. I'm rooting for you!" Tai crossed his fingers.
"Yeah, sure!" Kari ran out of the store.
"Hey Tai…I think your sister wants to tell you something important, but she can't because she knows you'll get a little mad," Miki pinched the air with her fingers.
"What would I be mad about? She's mostly an unproblematic girl, except that one time she let some kids 'borrow' her clothes and she wore her gym uniform the entire day. Basically, she's too nice," Tai sighed.
"So maybe she needs someone to be just as nice to her, especially since she's probably dealing with this alone," Miki rubbed Tai's shoulders.
"What are you trying to say?" Tai tensed up.
"Have you considered that maybe she likes that dweeby friend of yours and she could use your support? Cause god knows she didn't receive any support from her other friends," Miki frowned.
"What? How did you know?" Tai gasped.
"It was during a paint and sip session. Sucks we can't go to them anymore, they ask for ID now," Miki sighed.
"Wait, what? Kari went to a paint and sip?" Tai asked.
"Yep. And she opened up to the rest of the group, without sparing any details. I already knew who she was talking about though, but I didn't want to let on. Basically, all of her friends were telling her she should shake it off, but I don't know…she looks so sad," Miki hummed.
"And they're right!" Tai nodded.
"What's honestly the worst that could happen? Is this guy really bad news or something?" Miki tapped a makeup brush against the back of her hand.
"No…I guess out of the bunch, I think I'd rather pick him than anyone else for Kari," Tai winced.
"Then what's the big deal?" Miki smirked.
"They're going to kiss…like all the time! That's my little sister!" Tai exclaimed.
"You're worried about them just kissing? You're cute," Miki fluffed the brush in Tai's face and walked away.
"No…no…nooooo! Why did you have to do that to me?" Tai whined.
"Ugh, did Miki schedule you open to close on Saturday and Sunday too?" Megumi huffed.
"Are you freaking serious?" Matt gasped.
"Yeah, I'm so mad!" Sora pounded her fist against a shelf.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Mimi hopped over to them.
"Weird question, Meems…but how much are you getting paid?" Matt cocked his head to the side.
"Uh…I think $23 an hour?" Mimi counted on her fingers.
"What the hell? That's literally a whole $10 more than I'm making!" Matt gasped.
"I know I'm deaf, but did you just say that you're making $23 an hour?" Nokia snuck up behind Mimi.
"Yeah. Why?" Mimi smiled.
"I've worked here for over five years, I've seen this store go through several business tactics, I know this place from the back of my hands, I was never offered a managerial position- not that I would take it, but all I got was a $5 raise from the time I was hired until now! And I had to argue for it!" Nokia yelled.
"Wow, I never seen anyone flip like a switch so fast," Sora grimaced.
"I never heard her speak so fast," Matt awkwardly rubbed his neck.
"MARCUS, WE NEED A TEAM MEETING NOW!" Nokia growled.
"Oh boy…what's wrong?" Marcus ran up to everyone.
"Can you explain why this newbie is getting paid $23 an hour? Did someone mess up in accounting?" Nokia gritted her teeth.
"No, the figures are correct…she is taking over Rina's responsibilites, and she has prior retail experience at other jobs. That was the rate that corporate deemed appropriate. She actually gets paid more than I do," Marcus sheepishly said.
"You've gotta be kidding me! How incompetent are you? Maybe Rina was right…that's it. I quit," Nokia took off her badge and tossed it to Marcus.
"You just sound like a hater," Mimi frowned.
"Because I am. I don't like you," Nokia stuck her tongue out and walked out.
"You're lucky that was the only thing she did," Matt winced.
"Matt, aren't you going to quit?" Sora asked.
"I'm sorry, but I can't afford to quit. I'm just gonna have to deal with it," Matt sighed.
"Marcus, I'm very shocked and disappointed in you. How can you not only fight for your staff that stood by your side for years, but you're not even standing up for yourself if you let corporate pay someone who doesn't know their ABC's better than you?" Sora shook her head.
"I do know my ABC's," Mimi pouted.
"You got fired from the bookstore for not alphabetizing correctly," Matt muttered.
"Dang, I guess you're right…I got some tough calls to make. Matt, if it all goes well, I owe you one. Can you please just help out with the store while I'm on the phone?" Marcus pleaded.
"Sure boss," Matt sighed. "Mimi, what the hell did I tell you about the title cards?"
"Don't touch them?" Mimi awkwardly smiled.
"And what are you doing?" Matt clenched his jaw.
"Touching them," Mimi giggled.
"Then knock it OFF!" Matt yelled.
"Oh my goodness, I know you're not much of a social butterfly like me but man, this mall gossip- so spicy!" Yolei fanned herself with a stack of papers.
"Cool, don't care," Izzy rolled his eyes.
"Maybe you should! I was just at Southport and they found a bunch of juicy secrets about a lot of people in the mall…and you were mentioned," Yolei smirked.
"What? Why would someone talk about me? I'm probably the most boring person I know," Izzy looked confused.
"Apparently, somebody doesn't think so…someone's got a sweet spot for you," Yolei teased.
"Stop messing with me and get back to work!" Izzy turned red.
"Oooh, you know, maybe one day you could be a good manager. You almost made me listen to you," Yolei winced.
"Hey, hey, hey! Where's Izzy?!" Davis frantically ran into the store.
"What's wrong?" Izzy stood up straight.
"You need to come quick! Something's wrong with our computer system!" Davis pulled Izzy by the wrist.
"Hey! You can't just steal my employees!" Yolei barked.
"Don't worry, I'll give him back to you in like five minutes!" Davis yelled back.
"Davis! What's going on?" Izzy struggled to loosen from Davis's grip.
"Soooo, maybe we should have listened to you from the start?" Davis sheepishly said.
"Why? What happened?" Izzy gritted his teeth.
"I'll have Rina explain it to you…," Davis bit his lip.
"Hey pal…," Rina awkwardly smiled at Izzy.
"Don't 'hey pal' me. We're not friends. Now what happened?" Izzy crossed his arms.
"So, we ended up doing the 'express' method of setting up their office, which also meant leaching off of one of the nearby store's WiFi signals to download a pirated version of-"
"Are you freaking insane?! Do you know how unsecured that is? Not to mention illegal?!" Izzy yelled.
"I was getting to that! Anyways, some of the client info may or may not have gotten infiltrated by the staff at Southport, and you know how bitchy they are…maybe you wouldn't, but-"
"What?! So Southport can read all of our secrets?" Kari shrieked.
"Kari, what are you doing here?" Izzy asked.
"I…I was here for a free consultation," Kari turned red.
"Rina, I'm gonna need you to take your hands off the computers. Just don't touch anything!" Izzy's eyebrow began to twitch.
"Okay, you got it," Rina raised her hands up in the air and backed up.
"We have to disconnect everything and start from scratch," Izzy angrily clicked and pressed buttons.
"Oh great, so we gotta go backwards," Rina rolled her eyes.
"If you want to go forward," Izzy retorted as he pulled some cables from the sides of the laptops. "If you want it done right for the next time, forget what you know. Otherwise we'll be running around in circles and I don't enjoy this part too much."
"Meh meh meh meh meh," Rina mocked him.
"Davis, why do you like her? Forget it, I don't need to know. There's someone for everyone." Izzy grumbled.
"So will everything be okay?" Barbie Q looked concerned.
"I stopped your files from syncing onto Southport's internal cloud, but unfortunately anything they saw, I can't take it back. Now, if you're still interested in having your info set up in an electronic system, please come to me. Or at least follow my advice and please don't go to her anymore," Izzy jerked his thumb at Rina.
"Okay, I think we will follow up with you. We probably should start by getting our own computers," Suzie Q nodded.
"That was a nice run. I'll take my payment now," Rina held her hand out.
"Are you kidding? You almost ruined their business!" Izzy yelled.
"Izzy, she worked a lot of hours trying to set up a system for us," Davis wrapped his arms around Rina's waist.
"Girls, you do what you want, but for someone who is supposedly skilled at computers, she could have wrecked your business's credibility in less than a couple of days. Consider that. I'm going back to work," Izzy shook his head and made his way back to his store.
"Hey, wait up for me!" Kari ran up to him.
"Kari?" Izzy turned around.
"Hey, I just wanted to say that was cool what you did back there helping Davis's coworkers. It was really neat of you and you made it look so easy," Kari bit her nail.
"Thanks. I had years of practice, especially because of Tai and Matt," Izzy snorted.
"Uh…," Kari paused.
"Downloading free video games, which is illegal by the way. Sorry, I should have clarified that," Izzy turned red.
"So…did you get a chance to hear any of the 'secrets' that were leaked?" Kari nervously rubbed her arm.
"No, but I'm not interested in that. I just hope that the leak didn't get spread too far. The girls look like they were doing pretty well before the whole Rina dilemma," Izzy put his hands in his pockets.
"Me too," Kari hummed. "Hey…so, it's probably gonna be a long day, so would you want to grab a coffee or something after we're done with your shift? Just the two of us?"
"Sure…," Izzy shrugged.
"Okay! I'll meet you back here at the end of your shift," Kari smiled.
"Alright, see you then," Izzy waved goodbye as he headed back to his store.
"Sora, I know that it sucks finding out you're getting paid less than the new guy, but you're not going to be that stubborn, are you?" TK looked concerned.
"I'm not working until she comes to me with an offer. Either the brat leaves or she at least matches my pay!" Sora peered through a pair of binoculars. "I'm older than him, it's not fair!"
"I don't think that's how it works. What if she never reaches back to you? She just quietly replaces you?" TK said.
"You think she would do that?" Sora paused.
"Yeah…look, isn't that Davis's girl?" TK took out a pair of binoculars.
"She's giving her a baseball jersey! What the hell? Is she hiring her?" Sora gasped.
"Hey creepers, whatcha doing?" Tai asked.
"Watching Sora get replaced by some skank ho," TK smirked.
"I'm not being replaced!" Sora protested.
"Oh yeah? Then why don't you make a stop at the store and ask what's up?" TK raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe I will," Sora got up from her chair and stomped away.
"Give me those," Tai grabbed the binoculars on the table.
"Hmm, I don't think it's looking good. Do you?" TK asked.
"Hell no," Tai scoffed.
"Oooh, did she throw a basketball at that kid's head?" TK winced.
"Yep. I can't hear it, but I can see her boss blowing that whistle," Tai remarked.
"I see boobies!" TK excitedly said. "I mean, they're Sora boobies but I didn't think she was stacked."
"Holy crap! Maybe we should piss Sora off more," Tai smirked.
"I don't think she meant to flash everyone, but shit…," TK put his binoculars down.
"Yeah, she was just trying to give uniform back to her boss. Lame…," Tai put his binoculars on the table. "So Teeks, you talk to Kari lately?"
"The same amount I would with anyone else," TK started to organize his fruit.
"Weird response, but I have a weird follow-up question. Did you guys go to a paint and sip a couple days ago?" Tai asked.
"Yeah. If you want to know if she drank, she didn't really. But even if so, it's not your concern. Besides, you drank three glasses in your session," TK said.
"No, not that! And how did you remember how much wine I drank? I didn't think you were that observant," Tai peered at TK.
"No one does," TK leaned over the counter. "So why are you asking about paint and sip?"
"So my coworker was saying that Kari was talking about something important and basically all of her friends shut her down. Do you remember what that conversation had to do with?" Tai asked.
"Oh that? I actually wasn't paying attention to whatever was going there, so I couldn't tell you. But you like these ladybugs I painted on my shoes? I did them during that session. I also tried to paint a kitty cat, but the paint got messed up, so it looks like a flower. Also, I can't draw cats. See?" TK extended his leg to show off his sneaker.
"Mmph…," Tai struggled to smile.
"Listen, Kari is your sister. Maybe you should actually talk to her instead of trying to ask other people what her issue is. But that's just me," TK washed his hands.
"You're right. But what if I don't like what she might have to say?" Tai exhaled deeply.
"Just think, your support would mean the world to her, it might change things for the better," TK tapped his forehead.
"I didn't think about it like that," Tai nodded.
"Can you believe I got fired?!" Sora stomped over to the boys.
"Yes," Tai and TK said in unison.
"She let me go! She wasn't even going to tell me at first, she was just gonna have me off the schedule and think I wouldn't notice! The scumbag!" Sora pounded her fist on the table.
"I'm sorry," Tai squeezed her shoulders.
"That's why you should never fight for your principles," TK hummed.
"I hate Rina so much too, she was being smug the entire time! Why do guys like her?" Sora gasped.
"Not all guys. Trust me, I'm not fond of her either," Izzy trudged over to the smoothie stand.
"What did she do to you?" TK asked.
"She was supposed to help set up a computer network for Davis and his coworkers. They asked me for help too, but they could only pick one person for the project. Anyways Rina insults me and my ideas the entire time, only for Davis to come crawling back to me to get me to fix her mistakes! And as I'm fixing them, she still has the audacity to mock me. I can't tell who's worse, Yolei or Rina," Izzy ranted.
"She can't be that bad," TK gasped.
"She's up there," Izzy looked at him with a gloomy expression.
"She's working at my store," Sora pouted.
"If she knows about sports as well as she knows about computers, she won't last long," Izzy scoffed.
"I think they'll keep her around awhile. They hired her to replace me," Sora sighed.
"I'm sorry," Izzy paused.
"Don't be. That job sucked anyways," Sora shrugged.
"Team…uh, I guess group meeting? I know, we're small, and unfortunately we're gonna be even smaller," Marcus sighed.
"What do you mean by that?" Matt asked.
"Unfortunately, I have to let Mimi go," Marcus fiddled with his hair.
"What? Why?" Mimi gasped.
"So…accounting in corporate messed up some numbers and they thought it would just be easier to let you go," Marcus winced.
"Wait, so I'm being let go for something that wasn't my fault?" Mimi asked.
"Not necessarily! As you can see, you never kept up with your stations…so I had to let you go regardless," Marcus winced.
"Oh. I can see that," Mimi bit her lip.
"Did you seriously mess up the title cards after I told you specifically not to do so?!" Matt yelled.
"I gotta go…it was nice working with you, I'll receive my check in the mail, right?" Mimi nervously laughed and darted off.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Matt chased after her.
"Oh, isn't this fun…," Marcus groaned.