Percy learned long ago that you couldn't judge someone based on how they look. The nicest looking grandma could actually be Satan, and that lady with a scowl on her face could be a saint. Percy had made the mistake of going off first impressions before, and it really bit him in the ass. That was why he now waited for the person to speak before he judged.
As they made it closer to the returns counter, Percy studied the scene in front of him. Reyna had walked with him the entire time and seemed to be taking it all in as well. The manager for the front, Hazel, was standing next to another woman, who Percy assumed ran the returns desk.
On the other side of the counter and closest to Percy was a woman, a customer from the looks of it, who had a scowl on her face. There was a receipt in her hand that looked like it had a staple in it, so Percy guessed the return had been finished. Why had they been called up then?
Experience allowed Percy to read a situation pretty well. Since there was a stapled receipt in the woman's hand, the return had to be finished. She just didn't like how it came back or how it went, and Hazel had been called. It escalated beyond Hazel, and Reyna had been called. Percy just didn't know what had escalated.
"What happened?" Reyna questioned as she stepped up towards the counter. Percy stayed a few feet back and just observed. The woman with the receipt turned on Reyna and looked her up and down. Then, her gaze moved to Percy, and she fully turned towards him.
"Are you the store manager?" the woman interrogated, and she put her hands on her hips. Percy was allowing himself to form a first impression, and it was not a good one. And, Percy had another question. How was he supposed to answer? Technically, he was an assistant store manager, but he was also still in training.
"I'm the store manager," Reyna corrected. The woman turned on her so fast she almost gave herself whiplash. "Hazel, what's going on?"
"Well, we returned this ice cream," Hazel began.
"And, I have a big problem with it," the woman interrupted. Reyna remained impassive and didn't say a word. The woman looked her up and down before her gaze moved back to Percy. Did she think that Percy was like a super manager? Or even the regional manager? He was just training, and he really hated situations like this.
"Did you want the return back in cash?" Reyna questioned. "Because if it went back on your ca-"
"That's not the problem," the woman snapped. Percy jumped slightly and focused completely on the conversation. The woman waved her receipt in Reyna's face before grabbing the bag and practically throwing it at Reyna's chest.
Reyna caught the bag without even looking at it. If it wasn't for the fact that Percy felt like he was going to have to separate a fight, he would be impressed. All he could do now was look in between the two nervously. Percy took a step closer to them.
Hazel and the woman working the counter were staring in surprise. Out of the corner of his eye, Percy saw that Thalia was starting to walk towards them. This was not going to end well.
"What is in the bag?' the woman demanded. She seemed to tense up and almost try to make herself look taller like it would intimidate Reyna. If Percy was a betting man, he would take Reyna over this forty-year-old woman. Now, he really hoped it wouldn't escalate that far, as he would have a lot more work to do at that point and no training to do it with.
Reyna studied the woman for a long moment. Then, she opened the bag and raised an eyebrow. Reyna spoke, "Ice cream."
"Exactly. Ice cream," the woman hissed. "And, I fed it to my child!"
Percy stared at the woman and blinked a few times. He looked in between Reyna, the ice cream carton now in her hands, and the woman. Percy was missing something. He loved ice cream. He loved to eat ice cream. Humans ate ice cream, so why was it such a big deal that she had gave ice cream to her child? Was the kid lactose intolerant?
"Let me get this straight," Reyna said, and she placed the ice cream on the counter. Percy tilted his head slightly as he studied the ice cream container. It was a small black container that had three dogs on it. That was weird. Because Percy knew that image pretty well. It belonged to his favorite dog food company: Cerberus Bites.
"You found this in the frozen section, bought a carton, and fed it to your child. But, you did not notice the three dogs on the front or the fact it says ice cream for dogs?" Reyna questioned. If looks could kill, Reyna would already be six feet deep.
"Why would you have this with the ice cream?" the woman demanded. Her face was starting to turn red. Around him, Percy became aware that everyone was looking at them.
"Because we do not have a freezer in the dog food section," Reyna answered like it was obvious. Percy crossed his arms and rested his mouth behind his closed fist, mostly just to hide his smile. Hazel was still staring in shock.
"This shouldn't be with the ice cream. It is for dogs. Not for humans!" the woman hissed.
"Which it says on the front, along with the image of the dogs," Reyna pointed out, tapping her finger on the carton. She crossed her arms, and Percy could see how tightly her fists were clenched. "I'm failing to see the problem here."
"The problem is that this is false advertising. You can't put this near the other ice cream! Children eat this!" the woman hissed.
"I'm sure a child would read the fact that it's for dogs. Or, they would question the picture on the front," Reyna retorted. Percy was starting to get the feeling that he needed to interfere. At the same time, that would be stepping on the toes of the other assistant manager and the person who was supposed to be training him.
The woman opened her mouth to rant again, but Reyna beat her to it, "It looks like you already received your refund. I'm not quite sure what else you want."
"An apology and for you to move the ice cream to the proper place," the woman snapped. Percy was going to hate himself for this. Reyna was also going to hate him for this, but he couldn't just stand by.
"We are sorry about the confusion," Percy said as he stepped in. He made sure to stand next to Reyna, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw her tense. "Unfortunately, we can't just move the ice cream to a new location. Our agreement with the vendor puts it in that location, but we will get up some new signage that points out it isn't for human consumption."
"Again, we're very sorry. If you have a dog at home, please feel free to take the rest of the ice cream home for them. If not, we'll throw it away for you," Percy continued. He focused on the woman and no one else around him. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"No," the woman answered. She looked at Reyna and snatched the receipt out of her hands. "I'm just glad that someone here actually listens."
The woman turned and stalked out of the store. Percy watched her go, mostly because he was scared of turning back around. He almost flinched as heard the bag crinkle. Thalia stepped into Percy's vision and gave him a scorning look. Percy tried to apologize with his eyes.
"Hazel, make sure to take it out of inventory," Reyna said. Percy tried to ignore the pit in his gut. He bit the inside of his cheek. Then, he turned towards Reyna. Part of him expected to be yelled at. The other part, well, he wasn't sure what that part was expecting. It wasn't anything good though.
"Reyna, I didn't mean to jump in there," Percy began. Reyna studied him for a long moment. She finally sighed and uncrossed her arms. Percy wanted to apologize more, but he just forced himself to keep it zipped.
"It's a good thing you did," Reyna said softly. She sighed and looked down. Her shoulders drooped. "Come on. We should finish your tour."
Percy nodded and remained silent. Reyna turned and started to walk. It took a moment for Percy to follow, but he saw that Thalia was giving him a murderous glare. He shot her a small grin and a thumbs up, which only caused Thalia to glare more.
It wasn't like Percy wanted to make Reyna feel bad, but he could see that the woman and Reyna were just going back and forth. It wasn't going to end well, and Percy could see the woman was losing her temper. And a mad customer could easily become a crazy customer.
They didn't even make it ten feet until someone else rushed up to them. An annoyed sigh left Reyna as Octavian stopped in front of them. Percy wasn't sure how to feel about Octavian. Thalia didn't seem to like him, but the HR back at Percy's old store had been one of his good friends. He wasn't sure if that would be the same situation here.
"Reyna?" Octavian questioned. He didn't say another word, but by the way he crossed his arms and gave Reyna a look, Percy could tell there was a lot of unspoken words there. Reyna looked away and kept walking. "Reyna!"
"I'm fine," Reyna muttered. Octavian followed behind. After a few moments, Percy took up the rear. He felt very uncomfortable now, but there was nothing for him to do.
"I saw what happened. You're not fine," Octavian professed. He walked in front of Reyna and stopped once again. Reyna stopped walking this time, so she wouldn't run into him. Octavian looked like he wanted to say something, but he also made eye contact with Percy. "Perseus, can we have a moment alone?"
"Uh, sure," Percy said, and he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. Percy quickly stepped around them and started to walk.
"You and I both know what happens when you don't keep up with this," Octavian insisted. Percy wanted to slow his pace, but he knew it wasn't his place to hear more. That would come after he got close to Reyna and learned more about her. Percy made his way towards the electronics section.
Two people were standing near the counter at the front. One of them was sorting through sale signs, and the other one was checking out a customer. Percy walked towards the counter but waited until the customer turned away. The woman sorting through the sale signs looked up at him and smiled. She had blonde hair that was back in a ponytail and light brown eyes.
"Are you Perseus?" the woman questioned.
"I am. But, please call me Percy. I'm just trying to introduce myself to everyone," Percy corrected, and he held out his hand.
"I'm Leila," the woman said as she shook his hand. "I'm the manager for our electronic sections. This here is Lynda."
"Nice to meet you," Lynda greeted as she held a hand out. Percy shook her hand as well.
"It's a pleasure to meet both of you," Percy said. He smiled at both of them. "I look forward to working together."
"I'm sure Reyna is happy to have another manager to work with her. I think it's been five months since Jason left," Leila recalled. Percy wanted to ask them how they liked working for Reyna, but he knew how bad of an idea that was. They would tell Reyna about his question. Percy needed to find someone who could tell him about Reyna, who was also an unbiased source.
Thalia was very biased. He didn't know anyone else well enough to ask them, so he was stuck trying not to piss off his fellow manager anymore. Percy bit back a sigh and smiled at the two women. He turned around and saw a huge row of carts being pushed.
"Hey," Percy said as he looked at the man at the end of the carts. The man looked to be a few years younger than Percy and had black hair. "Let me help."
"I can get it," the man began. He looked Percy up and down.
"I insist, and I'm Percy by the way," Percy said. He walked to the halfway point of the row of carts and separated the two halves. Then, he started to push his half towards the front.
"Frank," the man said as he followed behind. "Are you the new assistant manager?"
"I am," Percy confirmed. He carefully navigated the row of carts to the other carts near the entrance. As he started to pivot the stack, Hazel moved to the front of his row and helped him. She then moved to help Frank. When they got the carts settled and in place, Frank turned towards Percy.
"Thank you," Frank said.
"Anytime. Just try not to push more than twelve carts at a time," Percy said. Frank smiled slightly.
"Reyna tells me that all the time," Frank said. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I know it's a bad habit. I just want to get all the carts settled before customers flood the store."
"Safety always comes first," Percy said. Frank nodded. Percy held his hand out, and Frank shook it. "It's nice to meet you though. I'm guessing you're the cart pusher."
"He's the best one we have," Hazel declared. Frank blushed. "Even when we are slammed, he doesn't need that much help to get carts."
"When he does need help grabbing carts, who helps?" Percy asked.
"If Reyna isn't busy, she'll help and drag Octavian out with her. If she's busy, she sends another manager or two," Hazel answered. "I think one of the most impressive things I've seen was Silena pushing carts in heels."
"I haven't seen her wear heels since," Frank said with a small smile. Percy smiled as well and heard someone clear their throat.
"Perseus," Octavian called. Percy turned around. "I'm going to finish your tour."
"Please just call me Percy. And lead the way," Percy said. Octavian turned and started to walk. Percy quickly followed behind. "Is everything okay with Reyna?"
"Reyna's fine. She just has a meeting," Octavian said. Now, Percy knew that Octavian was lying. Mostly because Reyna was going to give Percy a tour, and she probably wouldn't have finished the tour even if they didn't get sidetracked by the lady with the dog ice cream. So there would have been no time for a meeting. That meant Octavian was covering for Reyna, but where had she gone?
Percy shook his head. He knew it wasn't any of his business. All he could do now was focus on the tour. There were plenty of names to learn and faces to remember. A few things were bothering him though.
"How long has Reyna been the only other manager?" Percy questioned. Octavian glanced at him and then sighed softly.
"Don't let today ruin your opinion of Reyna. She's a great manager and a better person. She's just had a bad run of luck lately," Octavian stated. He looked away. "Today has just been a bad day."
"We all have our off days," Percy said. He shrugged slightly. "I totally get it. I'm sure you saw that I slept in late. I still want to jump into the freezer."
"Not without a coat you won't," Octavian replied. Percy smiled slightly. "It's been almost half a year since Jason left out of the blue. Being the only manager has taken its toll on Reyna, along with other things."
"Why hasn't anyone been hired before me?" Percy asked. Octavian fell silent and seemed to be lost in thought. He finally sighed.
"Our store manager, Lupa, is very hands-off. She comes in every night with the night crew and does her duties. Then, she helps them stock shelves. We rarely see her during the day, and while Reyna has done a great job, she's been overworking herself. Lupa didn't know about it until someone told her. That was when Lupa realized there needed to be another manager," Octavian explained.
"It almost seems like we are the store managers instead of Lupa," Percy noted.
"That's why you get paid so well," Octavian commented. "The two of you have the power of a store manager, but make no mistake about it. When Lupa is here, she is in charge. And until you're trained, I would listen to everything Reyna says."
"Understood," Percy said. He followed behind Octavian and tried to relax. His first day hadn't been perfect, but it had also just started. He needed to focus on remembering everyone and learning everything he could. He would also buy about ten more alarm clocks when he got off. But, Percy just needed to calm down, and everything would work out.