Commander's Rounds

Gaiden entry 42.5: Outside Looking In

Melissa Cartwright's parents moved out to this island because of work about a year ago, and that meant she had to come too. All she knew about the move is that mom and dad had to go through a phone book's work of papers before they were allowed to go, and had to interview a dozen times with those men in the black suits. It hadn't been particularly long since she had gotten out of high school, too, and though mom and dad assured her she'd still be able to do college while she was out there. It still meant that the only contact she'd have with her high school friends was through her phone.

The island was beautiful with great beaches and all, and there were other families in town, but there just weren't that many people her age there- they were either few years older or a whole lot older.

However, there were businesses there, so after about a year of living on the island, she decided to fill her time by getting a job.

A bunch of the smaller clothing store operators decided to pool their efforts and piece together the closest thing the island had to a department store- they had a startlingly good selection for being out in the ocean near some kind of military base, and getting some money on the side was a better option than being bored out of her skull between bouts of distance learning. She was practically an instant hire- she was young enough to spare the time, she was cute enough to work the front and could at least fake being considerate even if her heart wasn't always in it.

She even looked kinda nice in the uniform they got her- the blue vest and skirt with the white shirt and tie- it all went well with her long, brown hair and blue eyes. She was told that the customers from the base responded well to uniforms.

Oh, yes, the customers from the base. When she started the job a few months ago, however, the manager had some special advice outside of her general training for the position. He told her that there would be times when she'd encounter some unusual customers. They might look odd, dress strangely, or have unusual names, as far as people went. Those girls and women were from the base, and it was her job to treat them like any other customer no matter what, period.

It was needed advice.

They came around fairly often, as they weren't shy about picking up new outfits whenever they had a whim or something, and may have been some of the most common customers. The only way she could describe it was that some of them bought clothes as though wearing clothes was something new to them and they wanted to try as many as possible. But... It wasn't like their behavior was odd, it was like... Human+1. Or plus something. Whatever.

Human... Plus.

Like, if one was worried, she would be like the Hercules of worrying, more worried than ten ordinary girls.

And speaking of that, the first customers from the base arrived that day.

Hermione walked on in. "Honestly, I don't think he will stop noticing you. You've only ever needed to walk up to him before."

Dido followed in. "But now he has more and more things on his mind... And also... Well... I just want to be sure master doesn't forget about me."

The other maid smiled. "All right. If getting you a new swimsuit will give you peace of mind, we'll do that." She turned to Melissa. "Pardon me, but my older sister would like a swimsuit- something attention-getting, if it would be no trouble."

Melissa looked at Dido, up and down. That girl was already attention-getting to begin with, and that fact that she was worrying about that, with those curves? ...She had to be from the base. "I mean, think that any would work, but I'll have to see what's in her size. She can go to the swimsuit section and I'll be right there."