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Chapter 17
SETH
“Yougraduatethisyear?” I hear Kevin say while I take out some black walking shoes made by Brooks.
I glance at the counter, finding Kevin, Sally, and Morgan standing around, not bothering to restock the shelves or steam the new running tank tops that came in this morning. For fuck’s sake, do I have to do everything?
Sally, the senior, beams back at Kevin, her hands on her hips as if graduating has made her into some sort of Supergirl character from a comic book. “Yeah. I start my grade program this summer at East Lansing.”
“Why are you moving to Michigan?” Kevin asks while sticking out his tongue in disgust. “Colorado is way better.”
“Because East Lansing has a great medical school.”
Morgan shakes her head. “I can’t believe you plan on going into even more debt.”
“It’s my dream,” Sally says with a shrug. “I’ve always wanted to be a surgeon.”
Kevin gags and I swallow the bile in my throat. Cutting people open is your dream? How…creepy.
“How do these feel, Maggie?” I ask my customer while giving her my best charming smile.
I’m kneeling in front of this little old lady with curly white hair. She’s so small, even shorter than Rachel, and somehow she has the ability to come off as thin and pudgy. Her wrists are so tiny, I worry I may crack them if I touch her, yet her stomach is as round as a beachball.
Maggie smiles as she shakily stands, using my shoulder to help her up. Normally, I would hate customers touching me, but I worry Maggie might fall over if I don’t give her a little assistance.
“Oh,” she says while staring down at the shoes. “These feel nice.”
"You should walk around in them. Make sure they fit nicely.”
I watch Maggie take ten steps forward before turning around and walking back to me. “Do they come in a different color? Like pink? Or purple?” Maggie claps her hands together excitedly, or about as excited as one can be when they’re in their eighties. “I just love purple.”
“Afraid not,” I say with a shake of my head. “Unfortunately these walking shoes only come in black or white.”
Maggie frowns. “Oh, white won’t do. Those will get dirty within the day.” She sighs dejectedly and sits back down. “I guess I will go with these. They’re the only ones I feel comfortable in. Why is it when you get old everything gets so boring? It’s like they expect you to wear black everyday while waiting to die.”
I grimace at that while packing her shoes back into their box. “Yeah, that is too bad.”
“I want to wear those glittery things I see in the children’s department. Oh, how wonderful it would be to be young again. My doctor always said to walk every day if I want to have an active lifestyle. Now that I’m in my nineties, I feel like I should have done more."
“Nineties?” I ask, completely shocked. “You’re in your nineties and you walk every day?”
“Thirty minutes every day,” Maggie corrects while following me to the counter. “It does wonders for the soul.”
Thankfully, Kevin, Sally, and Morgan have ceased their discussion. However, they still don’t disperse to do work-related things while I ring Maggie up. I have to exit out of some website Morgan has open while Maggie pulls out her wallet. She smiles at Sally and Kevin, who are lurking behind me, probably twiddling their thumbs. They really do suck at their job. I miss working with Rachel. She at least restocked and helped customers from time to time.
“I overheard that you’re graduating this year,” Maggie says with a nod toward Sally. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Sally says awkwardly.
“And you?” Maggie asks, this question directed to Kevin.
“Oh,” Kevin says while rubbing the back of his head, looking like an idiot. “I still have another year here, but I plan on becoming a physical therapist. Someone has to help all those athletes,” he adds with an annoying chuckle.
“What about you?” Maggie asks me.
I flinch as she hands me her card, nearly dropping it. “Oh. This is pretty much it.” I gesture to the shop around me.
Her eyes widen. “You own this establishment.”
