𝙎𝙄𝙏𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙊𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙁 | Marcus White

Secret Shopper

"What you watching? Stuff?" Glenn asked as he entered the break room, looking towards the scene on the TV in front of you.

"Corporate sent a secret shopper to the Richmond Heights store. It did not go well." Garret emphasised, looking intently at the screen before him.

"I think the screen froze." Jonah said, filing his arms across his chest as he sank down into his chair.

"Nah, he just stays like that for another 20 minutes." Garret said, skipping through the video to find a part where things were happening again.

"I heard the Maplewood Commons got a secret shopper too." Amy added, lifting her cup up to her lips and taking a long sip of the warm liquid.

"Yeah, they cleaned house after." Dina said, looking directly at Glenn as she spoke, hoping to get a response or a rise out of him.

"Fired everyone." You emphasised, bringing your own mug of hot coffee up to your lips and taking a sip of the steaming liquid, allowing the warmth to travel all through your body.

"Even the manager?" Glenn asked, visibly gulping as he started to shift about anxiously.

"Especially the manager." Dina words made Glenn's face pale, the worry of him being fired because of the state of the store settling deep in his stomach.

"How do you get especially fired?" Glenn asked under his breath, the worry taking over as he began to pace the length of the break room.

"Kirkwood got a secret shopper, but they did well." Garret said to reassure Glenn; there was hope for the Ozark Highlands store after all.

"Yeah. All the associates got raises." You added, nodding to Glenn over the rim of your mug.

"Like money?" Mateo rushed out from behind you, suddenly interested now the prospect of a raise had been brought up.

"No. Like they were lifted up into the air and waved around yeah, money." Garret rolled his eyes at Mateo's question, Turing back to watch the video intently.

"I wonder if they'll send one here." Jonah asked, fiddling with his half-empty bottle of smoothie. Gently, you pulled the bottle out of his hands, placing the bottle down flat on the table before picking up your mug.

"A secret shopper? I'd know. I can always sniff out a fake. The only way a secret shopper's getting past me is if he doesn't even know he's a secret shopper. Like Harrison Ford in "Blade Runner."" Dina affirmed, flexing how she'd excel in yet another aspect of her job.

As Dina and Garret restarted their long-running Blade Runner debate, you turned to Jonah, placing your hand gently on his wrist. "You okay Jonah? You seem a bit lost in thought."

"Yeah I'm alright, just thinking." Frowning at his words, you rubbed his wrist soothingly, him sending you a small smile in return. Whatever was bothering Jonah, you would get to the bottom of.

"I would love for them to send a secret shopper. But then again, I got a 93 on my last corporate policy test, so nothing but net." Mateo bragged, clearly impressed by his score. The last time you'd taken a corporate policy test you'd gotten a 95, and though you hadn't practiced those rules since, it still felt good to know you were one of the higher achieving employees.

"Mateo, those scores don't mean anything." Amy scoffed, taking another sip of her drink.

"I don't know. 93 is pretty impressive. I got 100." Jonah hid his smug smile as he ducked his head, avoiding eye contact and hiding the blush that was starting to fill his cheeks. Wow. While Amy was right, it was still kind of impressive that Jonah had got 100.