Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or Dollarama, but I do own Sora and Eccah. They's mine bitches :D Oh, and I don't own Exact-O.
Ch II
"Do You Work Here?"
"Um, Kratos?" Colette asked timidly before he could walk away. "Do we have to greet the customers like Lord Yggrasill told us to? Because.... I don't remember how it went..." Kratos sighed.
"No Colette," he said. "You don't have to greet them like that. Just say hello and be polite." He though for a moment. "Although, it may be a wise decision to learn it for when Mithos leaves the office." When Kratos had left to go to the back room, a customers sidled up to Colette's register with several items in her arms.
"Hello ma'am!" Colette said cheerfully, smiling. The woman smiled back as she placed her items on the table counter.
"Why hello there," she said. The two exchanged bits and pieces of pleasant chatter until everything had been rung through and the woman was on her way.
This isn't so hard... Colette thought to herself. I think I'm going to like my job. The next few customers were just as pleasant, and the first hour or so of her first shift was going well. Colette felt rather proud of herself.
Meanwhile, with Sheena
As she pushed a shopping cart around the store looking for items out of place, Sheena sighed.
How can there be any items out of place? The store just opened twenty minutes ago! I'm wasting my time over here...maybe I should just go and stock the gum and batteries.. not that they'll need it... she thought. Just as she was about to turn her cart around and head back to the front of the store, she heard the sound of giggling and a loud, tinkling crash, followed by hurrying footsteps. Her heart sinking, Sheena turned and went into the next aisle, the craft and candle aisle. Genis was standing there looking dumbfounded, staring at a pile of broken glass on the floor.
"What the hell!" he exclaimed. "I was watching them because I knew they'd break something. I turn my back for one second, and they smash four lanterns! Dammit! I should give 'em a taste of my fire ball!"
"And get yourself fired, good plan." Sheena replied sarcastically.
"What do I do?" he asked forlornly. Sheena sighed.
"I don't know," she said. "Call that black haired girl, whatever-her-name-is. Isn't it her job to keep the store clean?"
Meanwhile, with Eccah
"Eccah to cash please." Colette's voice rang over the P.A. Eccah was confused, but proceeded to the front of the store anyway. When she reached the registers, there were only tree customers in line, hardly enough to call for a second cashier. Besides, wasn't Sheena Colette's first call?
"You needed me?" she asked quietly as she entered the 'cash box'. Colette turned to her.
"Oh, no, sorry, I'm just up here, so I'm the one who has to call people when they're needed." Colette replied. "Genis needs you in...ohh, what aisle was it? The one with all the pretty yarn and stuff!"
"...You mean...the craft aisle..?"
"Yeah! That's the one! Um... aisle four!" Eccah sighed.
"Okay," she said. "I'm on my way."
Meanwhile, back with Sheena
Her returns cart back at the front, Sheena reached into her green Dollarama apron and pulled out an Exact-O knife. Just as she was about to grab a box of gum from the "Employees Only" cupboard in the 'cash box', there was a tap on her shoulder, and a voice said,
"Excuse me, do you work here?" Turning, she saw a woman who looked to be in her thirties.
"Um..." she replied, feeling a bit confused. Wasn't the fact that she was wearing a store apron, reaching into an "Employees Only" cupboard and in the employees only 'cash box' enough of an answer to that question?
"Do you work here?" the woman repeated. Still a bit confused, Sheena nodded.
"Oh..." she said. "Yeah, I do."
"Oh good!" the woman exclaimed. "Now, I have a question."
"And it is..?" Sheena asked. The woman held up two packages of feminine hygiene products, one package bigger than the other.
"Which of these is cheaper?" she asked. After a moment, still very taken aback, Sheena replied,
"Um...they're both a dollar."
"And how much is this?" the woman held up a pack of batteries.
"A dollar."
"And this?" A box of staples.
"One dollar."
"And how about this?" A birthday bag. Sheena sighed.
"Ma'am," she said. "It's Dollarama. Everything in the store is a dollar."
"Oh, but what about--"
"It's a dollar."
Meanwhile, with Eccah
No matter where she looked in the back room, Eccah could not find a dustpan. There were several brooms, six in fact, and a mop, but not a single dustpan. With a sigh, she headed up to the front of the store, where she had seen another broom. Perhaps there would be a dust pan there. However, there was not.
Maybe I can just use one from the sales floor and return it later... she thought. Heading over to aisle ten, she began to search the aisle, but before she got very far, an arm wrapped around her waist, startling her.
"Why hello there, little cutie," a voice said in her ear. "I don't believe we've met." Still startled, Eccah's reflexes kicked in and she elbowed the man behind her, wrenching herself free. The man gasped as the wind was knocked out of him, and as she turned, she saw that it was the man that the others had called Zelos. Winded, he said,
"You've got quite the arm there, my cute little fighter." Eccah scowled.
"Don't call me that." she said. "I have a name, and I'm not your anything. I don't even know you!" Zelos straightened and smiled at her.
"Oh that's right," he said. "I'm sorry, my little fighter. I am the great and most sexy Zelos. It's my pleasure, cutie." Eccah raised one eyebrow.
"Riiiiggghhhttt..." she said. "Good for you." As she walked away, she heard him mutter,
"Ouch, so cold..." Ignoring him, she continued to look for a dustpan. Soon enough, however, he was behind her again.
"So what exactly are you looking for, miss..."
"Eccah." she said. "And I'm looking for a dustpan. We have a million brooms, but no dustpans." Zelos hmmed.
"Well," he said. "Those would be right over here, but...you can't just use one and put it back..."
"What do I do then?" Eccah replied. "I've got a pile of broken glass in aisle four, and nothing to clean it up with."
"See, that's where my little trick comes in handy." Zelos replied. Raising one eyebrow, Eccah turned to look at him.
"Trick..?"
"Sure!" Zelos said with a sly smile. "You won't have to pay for it, and the store can continue to use it in the future!" He grabbed the nearest dustpand, and right before Eccah's eyes, snapped off the handle. Eccah gasped.
"Zelos!" she hissed. "What the hell are you doing?!" Zelos chuckled.
"Relax," he said, smirking. "Just go write it off as damaged merch. It's fine!" Eccah sighed again.
I'm gonna have to keep my eye on this guy... she though as she carried the pan to the front.
Meanwhile, with Presea
The seasonal boxes were very heavy, but Presea had little trouble lifting them. However, her green Dollarama apron was a little too big for her and it kept falling down around her legs, making it difficult to move. Finally, after becoming irked, she took a length of string from the back and tied it around the apron to hold it up around her waist. Climbing up on the "Employees Only" ladder with a box of sand toys that needed to be put out, she jumped as she heard a sudden voice from below her.
"Excuse me, do you work here?" Slowly and calmly, Presea placed the box she'd been carrying on top of her ladder, climbed down, and looked the man in the eye.
"One would think that it would be rather obvious that yes, I am an employee of the store in question." she replied calmly.
"Excuse me?" the man exclaimed, looking a bit offended.
"The evidence suggests that while you were probably trying to be polite, you failed horribly and only succeeded in making yourself look like a rather unintelligent individual. The fact that I am up on an 'employees only' ladder, wearing a Dollarama apron, and carrying a box of Dollarama merchandise should be enough of an answer to your question thta you should not even bother asking in the first place. You could have just started with the question that you had planned to ask me once we had established the fact that I work here. " she said. The man blinked at her for a moment, then walked away, saying he'd find someone else.
"Have a good day, sir." Presea called after him.
Meanwhile, with Lloyd
There were several teens in the toy aisle that looked a bit suspicious to him, but he hadn't actually seen them stealing, so he didn't know what to do. He watched them out of the corner of his eye, while pretending to choose what colour of Play-Doh he was going to buy. They were talking quietly amongst themselves, passing several packs of cards to each other and one boy kept putting his hands in his pockets. Finally, after about ten minutes, he saw one of them stash three packs of cards in his pockets. His heart began to beat quickly. How was he supposed to do this? Walking over to the group, he tapped the thief on the shoulder.
"Come with me, please." he said as calmly as he could. The boy's eyes grew wide, and Lloyd felt empowered. This boy didn't even know he was in trouble and he was afraid. The group followed Lloyd into the back room wordlessly, and stood very close together as Lloyd yelled to Kratos.
As his father emerged from the office with an irritated expression, Lloyd had to admit that the Dollarama apron did make Kratos look a little less dangerousd, but he was as intimidating as he needed to be to terrify the shoplifters.
"Do we have a problem?" he asked quietly as he approached them.
"Shoplifters," Lloyd said in his most impressive tough guy voice. Kratos fixed the teens with a piercing stare.
"Oh really?" he said in a terrifyingly soft voice. The leader (or so he appeared to be) trembled. Kratos glared at him and just as quietly said,
"Empty your pockets." The teens stared at him for a moment. "Must I repeat myself?" Kratos said in the same dangerously quiet voice. The shoplifters hurriedly began to empty their pockets. When they were done, four packs of cards, a container of Play-Doh, three chocolate bars and a pregnancy test lay on the floor before them. Kratos chuckled as he picked up the pregnancy test and held it at eye level.
"Too embarrassed to buy it, were you?" he said with a smirk to the only girl in the group. She hung her head, her face burning. Kratos sighed. "Not as embarrassed as you're going to be when the police and your parents are called and told what you stole." Turning to Lloyd, Kratos said,
"Since you caught them, you'll have to stay here with us until the police get here." Lloyd sighed, and settled in for a long wait.