Freeway
"Sam?" Carly called, coming into the living room of the girls' shared apartment. "Did you know the sink is clogged?"
"Oh yeah, I already called the maintenance guy about that," Sam replied, looking up from her phone. "He's gonna be by soon to fix it."
"Alright," Carly nodded. "But do you know what happened to it?"
"Yeah…I was doing a little experiment," Sam said.
"Ugh, Sam!" Carly moaned. "You promised no more 'experiments' after that incident with the microwave!"
"Well the cable went out!" Sam defended. "I was bored."
"Well there are other ways for you to entertain yourself than by destroying our apartment!" Carly said.
Before Sam could respond, though, there was a quick knock at the front door and a second later Freddie let himself in.
"Hey," he said.
"Freddie!" Carly exclaimed, rushing over to her friend and throwing her arms around him. "You're back? I thought your plane didn't come in until tomorrow!"
"Nah, I wound up getting bumped up," Freddie chuckled. "Good thing, too, because after a three-week business trip, all I wanted to do was just come home."
"You were in Florida!" Sam scoffed. "I'm sure it was so exhausting being around all the theme parks and the beaches and-"
"I had meetings the entire time!" Freddie said. "There was no time for anything else!"
"Well that's your fault for picking a sucky job," Sam shrugged.
"We're glad you're back," Freddie," Carly said before he could retort. "Right Sam?"
"Eh, I guess it was kind of weird not having you dorking up the place," Sam shrugged.
"Did you just get back now?" Carly asked.
"A few hours ago," Freddie replied. "I dropped my bags off at home and then went into the office for a little bit."
"Hold on," Sam frowned. "You came back from an insanely long business trip and then went back to work right when you landed?"
"Well things are pretty busy there," Freddie shrugged. "Besides, all my hard work is really paying off, I think. Word around the office is I'm in line for that big promotion I was telling you guys about."
"Whoa, that's awesome!" Carly grinned. "Congratulations, Freddie!"
"Will you get paid a lot more?" Sam asked bluntly.
"Sam!" Carly hissed.
"It's fine," Freddie said, rolling his eyes. "Yes, if I get this promotion I'll also get a pay raise."
"Good," Sam said. "You can start buying me the large smoothies instead of those dinky mediums."
"Yeah, sure," Freddie said, shaking his head. "Anyway, the thing is, if I want to seal the deal with this promotion, I really need to keep on my boss's good side. He's having this little dinner party at his house this Friday and I'm going to have to go to that."
"Well that's not a big deal, is it?" Carly said.
"No, not really," Freddie shrugged. "Except, well, it's sort of customary to bring a date to these things. My boss is a big stickler for traditions like that, so I'm just sort of worried that if I show up there by myself, it will look kind of bad."
"Well doesn't he know that you repel women?" Sam asked.
"He hasn't even been back ten minutes and already you're starting the verbal abuse?" Carly asked.
"Well I have three weeks to make up for!"
"Can't you just find someone real quick to go with you to this dinner?" Carly asked. "Maybe go out tonight and see if you can meet someone."
"Yeah…I don't know if you've met me, but when have I ever been the type of guy who can just pick up girls?" Freddie said.
"Dude!" Sam snapped. "You can't just steal my insults for you! I was gonna say that!"
"You snooze you lose, Puckett," Freddie smirked. "Anyway, I was kind of thinking since I do need to find someone to bring to this dinner that-that maybe one of you wouldn't mind coming with me. Please?"
"Oh, I-I would," Carly sighed. "But I already have plans for Friday. I'm going out for drinks with a few of my coworkers. I canceled on them last week and they'd kill me if I did it to them again. I'm sorry."
"That's fine," Freddie said. He turned to Sam.
"Ha!" Sam laughed. "As if!"
"Come on!" Freddie begged. "Please? You're not busy, are you?"
"I happen to have a very important meeting with this couch, the remote, and an extra-large deep dish," Sam said. "And I really can't reschedule. See, I think I'll finally have this couch cushion broken in and-"
"Sam!" Freddie moaned. "This is important!"
"And my plans aren't?"
"They're just you sitting around watching T.V!"
"Hey! You don't know how much goes into planning the perfect lazy evening!" Sam snapped.
"Sam…this is my job, we're talking about here," Freddie said desperately. "I need to have somebody to bring to this dinner if I want to have any chance at this promotion. Isn't there anyway I could bribe you or something?"
"Dude, you don't offer to bribe someone," Carly chuckled. "It just sort of happens naturally."
"Well my options are kind of limited here, Carly!"
"Hmmm," Sam said thoughtfully. "Okay, if I go to this dinner and you get this promotion…I want fifty percent of you new paychecks for the next year."
"What?" Freddie exclaimed. "I'd be getting less money than I am now after that! What kind of a bribe is that?"
"A good one!"
"I-Okay, um, how-how about this?" Freddie said. "You know those super fancy Numchucks you showed me at the mall a couple months ago that you really wanted? The ones with the black and gold zebra stripes and the red chain link?"
"You mean the Numchucks I said could slice down that giant oak tree out in front of the building?" Sam asked slowly.
"Those are the ones," Freddie nodded. "And if you come with me to this dinner on Friday and you don't do anything destructive that could ruin my chances at this promotion, I'll buy you those Numchucks."
"That seems like a fair, reasonable deal," Carly said. "Doesn't it, Sam?"
Sam pondered this for a moment. "Okay," she finally. "Deal."
"Awesome!" Freddie exclaimed, throwing his arms around Sam.
"Get off!" Sam snapped, shoving him away.
"Well now that's all settled, do you guys want to get lunch or something?" Carly asked. "We haven't gotten to hang out together since before you left for that business trip, Freddie."
"I wish I could, but I really have to get back to the office," Freddie said. "I have a ton of work to catch up on."
"Jeez, do you ever stop doing work stuff?" Sam frowned.
"Look, once I get that promotion, I-I'll take us all out for a huge dinner," Freddie promised. "Somewhere nice. Or we can even make a weekend out of it. I just really need to focus right now and-"
"It's fine," Carly smiled. "We understand. We're just proud that you're doing so well at this job. I mean for someone just out of college, you're really moving up that corporate ladder."
"Thanks," Freddie said. "Hopefully this all pays off. Anyway, I'll see you on Friday Sam. I'll be here to pick you up at six."
"What? You're not gonna come by before then?" Sam asked.
"Probably not, like I said, I-"
"Yeah, I know, you're super busy," Sam mumbled. "Whatever."
…..
When Friday finally arrived, Freddie, true to his word, arrived back at the girls' apartment at a quarter to six.
"Hey," Carly smiled when she let him in.
"Hi," Freddie said. "How have you been?"
"Pretty good," Carly replied. "My office finally got the vanilla coffee creamer I like….that's pretty much been the highlight of my week."
"Oh," Freddie nodded. "Well…coffee creamer is important. Anyway, is Sam ready?"
"I think she almost is," Carly said, grabbing her purse from the kitchen counter. "Hold on…Sam! Sam, Freddie's here! You ready?"
"In a second!" Sam yelled back from her room.
"Alright, well, you heard her," Carly chuckled. "Now, I have to get going, but have a good time tonight! I hope it all goes well."
"Me too," Freddie yawned.
"You tired or something?" Carly frowned.
"Little bit," Freddie nodded. "I was in the office until midnight, and then when I finally got home, I still had another three hours of work to do before I could get to sleep. And then I had to be back at work by seven this morning."
"Whoa…that's-that's kind of much, isn't it?" Carly said.
"I guess, but it's just temporary," Freddie said. "I figure it I keep on doing all this extra work, I'll secure this promotion even more."
"Well…alright," Carly said reluctantly. "Just don't burn yourself out. Try and have some fun tonight at this dinner."
"This dinner's not really about fun," Freddie chuckled. "But I'll try."
"Good," Carly said. "Anyway, I'll see you later!"
"Bye, Carls," Freddie said.
Once Carly left the apartment, Freddie looked down at his watch. "Sam?" he called out, starting towards her door and knocking. "You almost done? We have to leave in like, three minutes."
"Chill, will you, Benson?" Sam yelled back. "How many times did I use to tell you not to do this back when we were dating?"
"And how many times did we miss our reservations because you were never ready on time?" Freddie smirked, rolling his eyes.
"Well you know what?" Sam snapped. "If I hadn't made us miss our reservations for that lame French place, we wouldn't never found that amazing burger joint, would we?"
Freddie chuckled. "No, we wouldn't have. Alright, point taken. But can you please just, you know, speed things along? I can't be late for-"
Sam's door suddenly opened and she stepped out wearing an elegant blue dress that matched her sparkling, sapphire eyes perfectly.
"W-Wow," Freddie said, his sentence falling flat. "Wow, um, you-you-"
"Wanna not drool all over the floor?" Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"Sorry," Freddie said quickly. "But, um, you look great, Sam."
"I know," Sam said simply. "So are we going or not? I'm starving; I wanna get there and get some food."
"Well, um, the dinner doesn't technically start until eight," Freddie admitted.
"What?" Sam exclaimed. "Then why the heck did you tell me to be ready by six? I could've still been napping!"
"Well I wanted to swing by the Pottery Barrel first," Freddie said. "I have to pick up some special laundry detergent they sell there for my mom and I was thinking I'd pick up a nice vase or something to bring as a thank you gift for my boss for having us for dinner."
"Well why couldn't you do that without me?" Sam demanded.
"Because it's on the way and I didn't want to backtrack here afterwards to pick you up," Freddie replied. "It's easier if we both go and then just head to the dinner from there."
"But I-"
"Come on, just-just think of the Numchucks!" Freddie begged.
Sam let out a long sigh. "Fine. But at the rate you're going, Benson, the first thing I'll be testing them out on is your face."
…..
"Alright," Freddie said later on as the two entered the Pottery Barrel. "My mom's laundry detergent is in aisle three. We can grab that and then go look at the vases."
"Why's it so dead in here?" Sam asked, looking around at the empty store.
"They close super early on Fridays," Freddie said. "So we have until seven before they kick us out. That gives us…twenty-six minutes."
"Well then stop blabbing and let's move," Sam said. "These shoes are killing me…Why are you picking up your mom's laundry detergent anyway? You don't live with her. How's this your job?"
"Eh, she's mad at me because I missed our last few Puzzle Nights, so I thought I'd be nice to try and get back on her good side," Freddie shrugged. "I told her I was busy with work stuff, but she just didn't seem to get it. She keeps saying that I'm spending too much time there…crazy, right?"
"Well…" Sam said. "I mean…I guess it has that automatic craziness associated with it because your mom said it. But…come on, it's not totally inaccurate."
"What?" Freddie frowned.
"Dude, you can't honestly tell me that ever since you got this job at the beginning of the year, you haven't practically dedicated every second of your time to it," Sam said.
"It's called being a good employee," Freddie defended.
"You can be a good employee without sleeping in your office every night," Sam shrugged.
"I told you, I'm just putting in some extra effort right now because I want this promotion," Freddie said. "Once that happens I-I'll have more time to things outside of work."
"Yeah, until the next promotion comes along," Sam mumbled.
"What's that mean?" Freddie asked.
"Nothing," Sam said. "Forget it."
"No, what did you-"
Suddenly, though, all the lights in the store turned off, leaving the two in total darkness.
"What just happened?" Sam frowned. "Why'd the lights go out?"
"I don't know," Freddie said, looking at his watch. "They can't be closing up already. We still have twenty-six minutes until seven."
"Didn't you say that five minutes ago?" Sam pointed out.
"Well that's what my watch says," Freddie said. "Wait…hang on, I don't think my watch has changed since we got in here. What-What time do you have?"
"Dude!" Sam exclaimed, pulling out her phone. "It's seven-ten! They're closed!"
"Aw man!" Freddie moaned. "My watch must've stopped working sometime after I picked you up!"
"Well what are we supposed to do?" Sam snapped. "We're locked in the Pottery Barrel!"
"Calm down, I'm sure there's still people here doing inventory or something," Freddie told her. "We'll just find someone and explain to them what happened and we'll get out. Here, let's go to the front."
Sam and Freddie headed towards the front of the store, but found that it was just as dark and empty as the rest of the place.
"Um…hello?" Freddie called out, looking around. "Anyone? Hi, um, there's been some sort of mistake! My friend and I are still in here…we-we lost track of time. We just wanted to buy some laundry detergent and a vase!"
There was no response.
"Hey!" Sam yelled. "Hey, Pottery Barrel people! Get your butts out here!"
Again, there was just dark silence.
"Okay…this is great," Freddie sighed. "Looks like I'm not gonna be able to buy anything tonight. Come on, let's just leave. I can get the laundry detergent tomorrow, and I think there's a Bed Bath and Bewilderment not too far from here we can stop at to get that vase."
"What are you talking about?" Sam frowned. "Are you stupid? How are we supposed to get out of here, Fredbutt? We're locked in!"
"So? You can pick the locks on the front door to get us out, can't you?" Freddie shrugged.
"Yeah, I can," Sam said. "But I don't know if you know how an alarm system works, genius, but if I pick those locks, about a million sirens are gonna go off and the police will come in about ten seconds. My Uncle Carmine got busted that way when he tried to break into a Pottery Barrel to try and exchange the sheets he got at his parole party."
"Why'd he break in to try and exchange the sheets?" Freddie frowned. "That's actually a legal thing to do. Why wouldn't he just come in when they're open?"
"Have you seen Pottery Barrel's exchange policy?" Sam scoffed.
"So…wait a minute," Freddie frowned, looking around the desolate store. "Are you telling me we're locked in?"
"Are you deaf? That's exactly what I've been saying!"
"Oh my God!" Freddie exclaimed.
"Finally," Sam said, shaking her head.
"Sam, how-how are we going to get out of here?" Freddie asked, panicked. "We can't just stay in here! We have to get to that dinner!"
"Well how are we gonna get out?" Sam snapped. "We can't pick the locks or break any of the windows to escape. I don't think you getting arrested will help you get that promotion. Plus I'm not going to risk losing my job at that restaurant. I actually like being a chef!"
"Well then we'll call the police and have them come here and let us out themselves," Freddie said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "That way they'll know not to arrest us and-aw man! There's no signal!"
"Yeah, I'm not getting any either," Sam said, looking down at her phone.
"Oh man, oh man, oh man!" Freddie moaned, running his fingers through his hair anxiously. "This can't be happening! How can I just not show up at that dinner? My boss is going to hate me!"
"He can't hate you for missing dinner at his house," Sam said. "That's not even related to work!"
"It's called networking!" Freddie snapped. "Come on, we've got to find some way out of here…"
"Dude, look around!" Sam said. "We're locked inside a giant store with alarm systems everywhere and no phone service! How are we supposed to get out?"
"You're the one with the criminal record!" Freddie said. "You tell me!"
"Come on, let's just go chill out somewhere," Sam said.
"Chill?" Freddie repeated. "Chill? Sam, I cannot chill!"
"Well what else do you suggest we do?" Sam asked. "Look, maybe a night janitor or someone will come in soon and we can get out then, but until then, freaking out isn't going to do anything."
"But-But…my promotion," Freddie said weakly, letting out a long sigh as he realized Sam was right.
"Come on, this is a once in a lifetime chance," Sam said, trying to cheer him up. "We're alone in one of the biggest furniture chains in the country! The possibilities are endless! We could build the world's largest pillow fort or unscrew all the light bulbs in the lamp display or change all the clocks so they're ten minutes slow or-"
"Doesn't that all see a bit, I dunno, childish?" Freddie frowned.
"What? Now that you've got a big shot job you can't have a little fun anymore?" Sam scoffed.
"I-No," Freddie said lamely. "It's just…I-I can still have fun. But-But-"
"Alright, well, you do what you want," Sam said. "I am going to have a good time tonight, even if we're locked in this place. So I'll be building me a pillow fort, and you can just stay here by yourself. In the dark. Alone."
And with that she turned and disappeared down one of the aisles.
"Wait…Sam!" Freddie called after her. "Sam, don't just leave me here! It's-It's creepy in here by myself! Come back!"
But of course Sam made no motion to return.
"I-Fine!" Freddie conceded, hurrying after her. "We'll build a pillow fort! But-But at least start with the fluffiest pillows on the bottom so the weight will be distributed evenly and it won't topple over on me like last time!"
…..
"Who would've thought Pottery Barrel could be such an entertaining store," Freddie chuckled a few hours later as the two lay, exhausted, on one of the bedding displays. The two had passed the time constructing not just a fort, but an entire pillow village, they played a very thrilling game of Don't Step in the Lava using fancy placemats as stepping stones back in the table department, and had just finished setting up garden gnomes from the outdoors section all over the store to scare the next day's customers.
"Told you being stuck in here would be fun," Sam grinned. "Once you stopped obsessing over your dumb work party."
"Hey, speaking of which, what time is it?" Freddie asked.
"Um…almost one in the morning," Sam answered, looking at her phone.
"One in the-Aw! I missed it! My boss was probably wondering where I was this whole time…man, am I gonna get it at work," Freddie sighed.
"Dude, you just missed one little thing," Sam said.
"But this one little thing could be the difference between me getting or losing that promotion!" Freddie moaned.
"Look, you've been at that office nonstop for these past few months," Sam said. "You bring your work with you everywhere you go, you drop everything you're doing if something ever comes up there…if they don't give you this promotion because you missed one stupid dinner because you were locked inside a Pottery Barrel then-then they're insane and didn't deserve you in the first place!"
Freddie looked down at his lap. "I guess I have kind of been doing a lot for work lately…maybe-maybe even too much. That's what you meant earlier, wasn't it? When you told me my mom was right about me kind of letting work take over my life."
"I will never say your mom is right about anything," Sam said firmly. "But well…this is the closest she's ever come. I mean…Carly and me hardly ever see you anymore! You're always at the office or at home doing work or jetting off to business meeting. Believe it or not, we kind of, you know, miss you."
Freddie sighed. "Yeah…I-I miss you guys too. I guess I haven't really gotten the hang of balancing work and everything else yet."
Sam didn't reply.
"Anyway," Freddie said, clearing his throat. "I-I'm sorry if I've kind of been all wrapped up in work lately. Really. It's just…well, at work, it's like I-I'm this super important guy who everybody runs to for all the answers and actually wants to have sit at their lunch table and who tells the most hilarious software jokes that get all these laughs."
"Wait," Sam said slowly. "Are you telling me you're actually popular at work? You-You're one of the cool guys."
"Sort of," Freddie chuckled. "And I guess that kind of played a part in me getting all caught up this job."
"Well I can see how that could be kind of exciting for you," Sam said, giving him a small smile. "I mean you're not considered 'cool' anywhere else."
"Hey, you once told me I was half cool," Freddie pointed out.
"Yes, we were dating then," Sam said. "I also told you that you looked hot in those dorky polos and that your mom's eggplant loaf was 'tolerable'."
"That's true," Freddie nodded. He sat up on the bed. "Well, I think it's safe to say that there's no night janitor or security guy coming to save us tonight. Looks like we're going to have to stay locked up here until the open up tomorrow."
"At least this bed is comfy," Sam reasoned. "Have fun sleeping on the floor, Benson."
"Why do I get the floor?" Freddie frowned. "This is a king size bed! You don't need all this space for yourself!"
"Dude…" Sam said, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, right," Freddie nodded, realizing it would be slightly awkward to share a bed with your ex. Even if was out of desperation. "Guess I can always sleep in that pillow village we made. Speaking of which, I hope they're not too mad tomorrow when they come in here and see the mess we've made. Do you think we should clean up or something?"
"They can't get mad at us," Sam said. "They're the ones who just locked up without even checking for customers! They should be lucky we're not suing their butts."
"I guess," Freddie agreed. "So…since it has been awhile since I've talked to you about anything non-work related…how have you been?"
"What?" Sam frowned.
"Look, you were totally right about how I've been too wrapped up in my work lately, so for the rest of the time we're stuck in here, I'm not going to say one word about it," Freddie told her. "And it's been a long time since we've jus talked so…how have you been?"
"Oh, um, pretty good, I guess," Sam shrugged.
"How are things going at the restaurant?" Freddie asked.
"Alright," Sam said. "It's kind of weird, though. This is the first boss I've ever had who doesn't seem to hate me. He actually likes my ideas. He let's me make little changes to the menus sometimes and he says my Fettuccini Alfredo is to die for. Which it is. I'll have to make you some one time."
"Yeah, I'm always up for some quality Italian food," Freddie grinned. "I'm glad you like it there."
"Yeah, it's a great gig," Sam smiled. "Carls and I never go hungry because I get free leftovers every night. Between the free clothes she brings home from the magazine and that, we're saving a ton. Which is good because I just had to blow five thousand bucks bailing my mom out jail in North Carolina last weekend."
"What'd she do?" Freddie frowned.
"Well her and a friend were driving down the freeway, and my mom thought it would be fun to roll the windows down and start flinging her toenail clippings out at the other cars," Sam sighed. "And she wound up nailing a cop car with the nail from her infected toe and, well, he wasn't too happy about that."
"I think that's officially the grossest thing your mom has ever got arrested for," Freddie cringed.
"Nah," Sam laughed. "That honor still goes to that time she got mad at the cashier at Hey Foods and-"
"Oh right, right," Freddie agreed. "Yup…that was definitely more disgusting."
"I swear, she just gets crazier with age," Sam said, shaking her head.
"I know what you mean," Freddie said. "Same thing is happening with my mom. You know she refuses to eat pineapples now because she thinks their skins are too sharp and she doesn't want to 'promote violent fruits'."
"I blame hormones," Sam said simply. "It makes old chicks all weird and gives them hot flashes."
"Lovely," Freddie said, rolling his eyes. "Oh…I almost forgot, how are things going between you and that waiter guy you liked back at the restaurant? What was his name…Chase?"
"Yeah," Sam mumbled, looking away. "Um, that-that's kind of done."
"You don't like him anymore?" Freddie asked.
"Well, we finally made plans to go out on a date a few weeks ago, and-and things were going pretty well," Sam sighed. "We went to go see a movie and then we went to this little seafood place that has this deal where you get unlimited fish sticks for ten bucks, so obviously I had to do that."
"Of course," Freddie said. "You can't turn away from a challenge like that."
"Right?" Sam said. "Anyway, I wound up breaking the record for most baskets of fish sticks eaten there…twenty-three."
"Impressive," Freddie grinned. "That's three more than your personal best."
"Yeah, well…Chase didn't find it so impressive," Sam said. "He-He kind of got freaked out. He said it was too weird for him to be seeing a girl with 'such un-ladylike eating habits'. So…yeah, that's that."
"Wait, he said that to you?" Freddie frowned. "What a jerk! Tell me you taught him a lesson with your butter sock!"
"I should've," Sam chuckled. "But I didn't…I dunno, I guess in the moment I was just kind of caught off guard."
"Well then I'll come by your restaurant sometime and I'll teach him a lesson," Freddie said.
"Oh what are you gonna do?" Sam smirked. "Do some Galaxy Wars voodoo on him?"
"Okay, first of all, never have I said anything about voodoo being a part of Galaxy Wars," Freddie said. "That is the most inaccurate thing I have ever heard. Besides, there's no such thing as voodoo."
"Oh, but Proton Cruisers and Sky Nauts are totally real?"
"More real than voodoo," Freddie said simply. "But the point is, I'm not gonna let that guy get away with treating you like that. I-I know! Does he have a Pearphone?"
"Yeah," Sam nodded. "Why?"
"Well give me his number," Freddie said. "When we get out of here, I know a hack that will cause random numbers to call him every ten minutes trying to sell him all sorts of junk he doesn't need. It'll be the most annoying thing he ever experienced."
"Alright!" Sam said excitedly. "Thanks, Frednub. Your dorky tech skills are finally coming in handy. Oh, but speaking of phones, I have this hilarious story to tell you! See, me and Carly were at this sandwich shop one day, and all of this sudden, this dude dressed in hippo costume comes in..."
…..
"Ow!" Freddie cried later on, feeling a foot kick him hard in the ribs, startling him out of his slumber. "What's going on? What's-"
"Shhhh!" Sam hissed. "It's morning; we fell asleep! I think I hear somebody opening up the store!"
Freddie slowly sat up and strained his ears, hearing the sounds of doors opening and distant voices.
"It's six-thirty," Sam whispered. "They're probably getting ready to open soon."
"So what do we do?" Freddie asked. "Do we find someone and explain to them what happened?"
"That will take forever," Sam said. "And I am more than ready to leave this place. Let's just hurry up and sneak out now that the alarm's off!"
"Okay," Freddie agreed.
So very quietly, the two started for the front of the store, ducking behind aisles as they spotted a few workers beginning to set up the registers for the day.
"Is it just me, or does this place seem kind of messy to you?" one of the workers asked another as Sam and Freddie crouched down behind a large potted plant right by the door.
"You know what, it does," the other worker answered. "I was just back by the shower curtains and it looks like someone tried to make a parachute or something."
Freddie looked down at Sam, rolling his eyes.
"And I've already been freaked out twice by these stupid garden gnomes all over the place," the first worker continued. "Is that some kind of sale tactic we're trying out? Because I am not a fan."
"Who knows? But you know the rules," the second worked said. "Don't ask questions or you'll get reported to the corporate office. Remember what happened to Sally when she asked why all our prices ended in seven? Nobody has heard from her in eight months. Now come on, help me unload this new shipment of doormats we just got in."
Sam and Freddie waited until the two workers were gone before darting out from behind the plant and racing towards the glass doors and out of the store.
"Finally!" Sam exclaimed, breathing in the fresh air. "Freedom!"
"I'm never setting foot in another Pottery Barrel again!" Freddie said. "From now on my mom gets her own laundry detergent."
Just then, his phone began to buzz excessively, having finally regained a signal.
"Someone's popular," Sam commented.
"It's all the missed calls from my boss last night," Freddie explained. "And some new emails with assignments I have to get to."
"Oh," Sam nodded. "Well, um, guess you should probably get to those then."
Freddie shook his head, stuffing his phone into his pocket. "Later," he said. "Not now. It's Saturday, for crying out loud, and I, for one, am starved."
"Me too," Sam nodded. "Figures we'd get locked in a store that doesn't even sell breath mints."
"How about we go out for breakfast?" Freddie suggested. "My treat. I do kind of owe you…it was kind of my fault we got locked in there in the first place."
"I'm down for that," Sam grinned. "Oh, there's this great new place I've been wanting to go to! They make stuffed pancakes! How cool does that sound?"
"Uh, very!" Freddie laughed. "Come on, Puckett, let's go stuff our faces. We deserve it."
