Chapter 22

Around an hour had passed since Marie and May had taken their place behind the sales counter. The girls had become quite accustomed to wrapping giftsand tying ribbons in various styles, but until the six o'clock hour, they had no idea what it meant to perform under pressure.

Over the last forty-five minutes, customers flocked into the Green Clover at an alarming rate, as they did every evening during the six 'o clock hour. This provided the girls their first true test as sales associates. Marie worked the cash register as May focused on wrapping gifts and tying ribbons. Unfortunately, due to the sudden increase in customer demand, the girls found it difficult to produce the same quality product as they did at a slower pace.

The first few customers that appeared at the beginning of "rush hour" left the store dissatisfied and rather upset. Marie, while not unintelligent in the slightest, was the first to admit that math was not one of her strong points; she usually left number crunching to the mathematically inclined Lee and Double Dee. Accordingly, she struggled to be able to provide customers the proper change after a purchase, causing those who desired quick and easy purchases to leave unhappy.

On a similar note, May struggled with her job as well when subjected to the pressures of a large customer influx. In particular, tying the ribbons proved to be her major weakness. On one rather large gift request, May, while attempting to tie the ribbon, had used her foot as a "third finger" to hold it in place as she tied the bow with her hands. Unfortunately, while May had tied the ribbon perfectly, due to her absentmindedness she had tied her foot into the bow. Not realizing that she was tethered to the gift, she had attempted to walk towards the counter to fetch a roll of tape, causing her to trip. This unexpected trip caused May to not only puncture through the entire box with her foot, ruining the gift inside, but also caused her to fall into the entire chocolate display stand, ruining fifteen boxes of chocolates. Of course, this did not sit well with management; while the girls did not loose their jobs, they did receive quite the tongue lashing from the floor supervisor.

It was now quarter to seven; the large crowds had died down, and the customer count had within the store had returned to that typical of the early afternoon. This lull allowed Marie and May to focus on cleaning up the mess they had created a few minutes earlier.

As May tossed the crushed boxes into a trash bag held by Marie, the two girls began to converse.

"Geez," said May, "This is harder than I thought!"

"It's not that hard," said Marie in a rather frustrated tone, "Ya just have to remember to take your foot off the box before you tie it brainiac."

"Hey it's not all my fault!" yelled May in her typical adenoidal voice, "You pissed off all those people cause you couldn't count the money!"

"I'd like to see you try Bucky!" said Marie, "You can't even count the fingers on your hand!"

"I can so!" yelled the ditzy May, who decided to reply by actually counting her fingers, "One, Two, Three, FOUR!"

"Good job Einstein," said Marie, "People have five fingers!"

"Not the way Antonucci drew us and Kilted imagines us!" said May with a sly grin.

Marie stared at May with an empty, confused expression for a few seconds, after which she replied.

"Touché," said Marie.

Marie placed her hand in the air in front of her, demonstrating the standard hand signal for "stop" as she briefly closed her eyes.

"Fair enough," said Marie, "Yelling at each other isn't going to solve this problem. Look, the way we performed tonight, we could have lost our jobs on the first day. We really need to tighten up."

"I know," said May, "If I loose my job, I'll never be able to get Big Ed his present! I gotta get better."

"Yeah," said Marie, "Let's keep at it, we can't give up. It's for our boys."

Marie held her fist out towards May to deliver a "pound", which May promptly returned with a smile.

The girls continued cleaning up in silence for a few seconds, after which May interjected.

"I wonder how Lee is doing?" asked May, "Hopefully she's having a better night than us."

"I wouldn't worry," said Marie, "I swear that girl can do anything. She's got looks, book smarts, street smarts, dancing skills, you name it! I don't think dress making will be too much of a challenge for her to learn. Plus she used to sew curtains for Ms. McKinstry, remember? She taught herself!"

"Yeah," said May with a smile, "I guess you're right!"

There was another slight pause, after which Marie decided to continue the conversation.

"I'm worried about Lee," said Marie as she glanced towards May with a concerned expression.

"I know," said May, "Me too."

"You saw it huh?" asked Marie, "How she reacted to the 'situations'?"

May shook her head up and down as she placed some more scraps in the trash bag.

"At least now we know that she never told Eddy about it" said Marie, "In a perfect world, I would say that this thing with Lindsay would all blow over with time. As much as I hate to admit it, I know this ain't going anywhere unless...

Marie glanced over Mays shoulder, at which point her face turned to anger as her eyes focused on an individual standing at the counter. She completed the sentence she had started.

"SHE goes away."

May slowly turned around, at which point she met eyes with none other than their nemesis, Lindsay Statorowski. Lindsay had placed a long rectangular box on top of the counter, and her face was adorned with a cocky smile as she leaned her hand on the surface.

"Hey losers," said Lindsay in a long drawn out manner.

"Oh hey Lindsay," said Marie sarcastically, "Glad to see you too, what do we owe this pleasure?"

"I was just out looking for a new pair of jeans," said Lindsay, "But then I couldn't help but overhear you two mention my name in conversation. I'll admit, I was mad at first, but then I figured I'd cut you two a break. It's not uncommon for people to talk about me, mostly because they're envious of what they don't have."

At that point, Lindsay took notice of the Green Clover aprons the girls were wearing, and began laughing heavily.

"Are you serious?" asked Lindsay, "You're actually working here? How pathetic!"

Lindsay giggled, at which point Marie ground her teeth in anger and decided to retort.

"It's called earning your money!" said Marie, "I figured someone who is so used to being handed everything in life wouldn't understand."

"Hun, believe me, I understand" said Lindsay, "I'm smart enough to realize that all I need in life is this hair, this face, and this body, and I'll have everything I could ever want."

"Oh wow," said Marie sarcastically, "So you're actually willing to keep laying down and being the puppet that you are all of your life. If earning a living is pathetic, that's downright pitiful."

Lindsay slammed her hand in the counter, and stared into Marie's eyes with an angry glare.

"You know nothing," said Lindsay, "You just focus on helping Geek Girl attempt to beat me out for winter ball queen. Trust me, all your hard work will be for nothing, cause I'm going to win."

Lindsay leaned closer into Marie's face.

"Just remember this fact," said Lindsay, "I'll always be number one. As for you and your sisters, you're just destined to finish last."

"I'll take last place over being a fake person any day." said Marie.

At that point, Lindsay suddenly reached her hand out and grabbed Marie's collar, as an expression of extreme concern filled May's face. Just as Marie was about to grab Lindsay's hand, and employ the martial arts training Rod had taught her to defend herself, one of the stores security guards took notice of the events unfolding. He approached the two girls, asking Marie if there was a problem. Lindsay let go of Marie, a scowl still displayed on her face, after which Marie decided to respond.

"No sir," said Marie, at which point she picked up the hand-held price scanner, and scanned Lindsay's item, "This young lady was just about ready to pay for her merchandise and leave the store."

The security guard nodded, after which he turned around and began walking back to his post. Lindsay reached into her pocket book, removed a bundle of cash, and gently tossed it in the air in front of Marie.

"Keep the change losers," said Lindsay as she began walking away, her brown heels clicking on the marble floor, "After all, I do take pity on those 'less fortunate' than me."

Lindsay made her way towards the stores exit, cachinnating as if she was the Wicked Witch of the West, leaving Marie and May to continue their job of sprucing up the sales counter.