I decide to use Inspect to get their names in case they cause some trouble in the store. Oddly, the skill doesn’t give me as much detail on them as it did for the other customer.
Auden Arschloch III
Level 8
Jeremy Dolton
Level 6
Amanda Binesmith
Level 4
Cortney Wakesfield
Level 5
While I’m puzzled by the addition of information about levels, at least I know what their names are. The blonde douche at the counter is Auden. His muscular, brown-haired friend is Jeremy. Amanda is the blonde bombshell, and Courtney is the lady with the long dark hair. I’m going to guess that Courtney is Jeremy’s date since he has his arm around her and is trying to grab her boob.
I turn around and bag bottles of Bacardi, Crown Royal, Jose Cuervo, and Smirnoff Vodka. When I turn back, I see the blonde guy caressing Samantha’s hand and waggling his eyebrows at her. She’s trying to gently take her hand back and giving him a disgusted look. I put the bag of liquor on the counter, and I’m about to tell the blonde idiot and his group to get the hell out of the store when I hear a retching sound. I look past the guy in front of me and see one of the ladies in the fancy dresses bent over hurling.
Samantha pulls her hand away from Mr. Blonde, Tall, and Rich, then points at the girl, “Isn’t that your date?”
Auden turns around and sees his beautiful date wipe the last bit of bile from her mouth. “Goddamnit, Amanda. You got some on my shoes. What the hell?!?”
I hear Samantha stifle a laugh and I can’t help but smirk at the sight of this rich asshole yelling at his date about his fancy schmancy shoes getting dirty. I hope he slips in the vomit and messes up his whole outfit.
Auden turns back to me, his face no longer carrying a boyish smile. Instead, there is clear anger. He reaches into his pocket, grabs something, throws it at me and yells, “Pick up this mess!”
The object hits my chest and lands on the counter. I look down to see three, hundred-dollar bills. Auden grabs the bag of liquor and takes Amanda, his date by the arm and drags her from the store. His buddy and the other girl following behind.
I’m ready to grab the mop and pick up the mess when I hear the roar of an engine. I look out the store window facing the street just in time to see a yellow sports car speed past, the four people who just left in the car's seats. That’s where I saw that guy! That’s the jerk that threw coffee at me and broke my phone. My blood begins to boil at the thought of that ass hat coming into my work and screwing around with me here too. What, is the guy stalking me now?
Visions of violent retribution float through my mind when I remember that he just bought four bottles of liquor and is driving around town, undoubtedly drinking them as he goes. I can’t help but smile at the delightful vengeance that is coming his way.
I turn to Samantha, who’s just staring at the pool of vomit on the floor in front of the counter. “Hey, Sam. You have your cell phone on you?”
She turns to me a puzzled look on her face. “Yeah. It’s in my purse, why?”
“I was wondering if I could borrow it for a few minutes. Mine is broken. I need to report some drunk asshole driving through town in a yellow sports car.”
Reputation increase with Samantha.
Samantha smiles evilly at me. “Sure. You can borrow it. But you also have to clean up the puke.”
I agree to her terms. Vengeance is worth the price of mopping.
Chapter 10
After basking in my revenge, I have to pay the cost. I grab the mop and bucket and clean up the pile of vomit that was generously donated to the store. The rest of the night goes like it normally does. Customers come in and out, we ring up their purchases, and they leave. I chit chat a little with Samantha, but she spends most of her time looking through some of the store's magazines or on her phone.
I, on the other hand, spend most of my time trying to raise my Inspect skill. After using it on just about everything I could think of in the store and the dozen or so customers that have come through tonight, I finally raise Inspect to level 2.
It turns out that all that changed is that it reveals a bit more information about something. For food, it now shows how many calories it has and what it’s made out of. For people, it reveals some details I’m not sure I wanted to know. I test the level 2 Inspect out on Samantha.
Samantha Stapleton
Sam to her friends, she’s been an employee of Quickie Stop Mart for three years. She has a two-year-old daughter that she raises by herself. She is also secretly taking online classes to get an associate’s degree in accounting.
Likes: Alternative baby heavy metal punk rock, hair dye, Kevin Smith Podcasts, my little ponies, and having her hair pulled.
Dislikes: Uptight people, men who neither grow nor show, taxes and the color puke green.
Yeah. I didn’t know all that about Samantha, and now I can’t unknow it. It feels like an invasion of privacy to suddenly know all that about Samantha when she wasn’t the one that told me about it. Still, it makes sense now why she’s late all the time and has to leave suddenly so much.
Samantha’s voice breaks me out of my thoughts. When I look up, I see her holding her cell phone. “Hey, man, I have to take off.”
I look out the store window and see that the sun is just coming up, which tells me that it’s near the end of the shift. I turn back to her and nod. “Sure, Sam. The store is pretty slow this time of the morning.”
Samantha doesn’t seem to expect this answer from me and is frozen open-mouthed as if she was planning on justifying her early departure. “Wait. No lecture about being responsible or staying till you agreed to?”
I wince at the accurate description of my usual response. However, that was before I knew about Samantha’s kid. Now I can’t help but think that either her babysitter canceled or something happened. I know it was difficult taking care of my sister when she was two years old. She was walking and talking and making messes everywhere. They don’t call them the terrible twos for no reason. “Yeah, Sam. We all have things to take care of sometimes. I get it. I’ll let Mr. Smith know you had to take off. Just leave him a message on the office phone to tell him why.”
Samantha squints at me, still not quite believing that I’m not lecturing her. Still, she’s not one to turn away from a good situation, and she grabs her bag and waves goodbye as she leaves.
It really isn’t a big deal that she leaves early. We’d be lucky to get one or two customers this early in the morning, and Mr. Smith should be here soon. I’m getting ready to count out the cash in the register when the door chimes and in walks in one of the hottest women I’ve ever seen. She’s about five foot nine inches tall and has long gorgeous red hair. She is wearing a dark green sleeveless top with a plunging neckline and a black skirt that almost reveals too much as she walks. My eyes are glued to her as she walks through the store grabbing a few items. The mysterious beauty comes to the counter, and I have to consciously remind myself not to stare at her. I ring up her water, salad, and aspirin without saying a word. As I hand her the items in a bag, she graces me with a stunning smile and says, “Thank you.”