The Fall

Chapter 1

One month earlier

"Ma'am, I'm sorry. That sale ended yesterday. Those hiking boots are no longer half off." Daniel tried to keep his face pleasantly neutral despite his growing frustration. This woman was the third customer who had gotten mad at him when they discovered the spring sale was over, as if it was his fault they hadn't read the date correctly.

In spite of his calm tone the woman only seemed to become angrier. "But I have the coupon! Look, it says half off hiking boots and rubber boots!" She thrust a slip of paper at him, jabbing her finger at the printed words on it. "I understand, ma'am, but that sale ended yesterday. See, it says right there on the coupon: Ends May 1st."

The lady bristled as though he had yelled at her. "Unbelievable!" She said, her face reddening as she continue to work herself up. "I have the coupon. You know what? I want to talk to your manager."

Daniel sighed, only too happy to oblige. He turned, catching the eye of his manager, Carrie, as she finished helping one of the new employees figure out a problem with a handheld scanner. She bustled over, a slightly harassed smile on her face as she took in the angry customer glowering at Daniel. "Can I help you, ma'am?"

Daniel took a small step backwards, allowing Carrie to step up to the register and face the woman. Carrie was Athabaskan, taller than most of the other employees, with dark eyes and darker hair that was tied in a knot at the back of her head today. She wore the sporting goods store uniform with a ferocity that made her seem as imposing as a drill sergeant on a parade ground.

"I certainly hope so," snapped the customer, as if she doubted Carrie could help. "This young man won't apply the discount to my purchase, even though I have a coupon! Look!" She held the coupon out to Carrie, who took it and studied it closely, pretending to read it.

"Ah, I see the problem," she said after a moment. "This coupon expired yesterday. The sale is over. I'm sorry, ma'am. Would you still like to purchase those boots or would you prefer to put them back?" The lady glared at Carrie for a second and then snapped "Of course I still want to buy them. I'm supposed to go hiking with my husband and his friends on Saturday!"

"Alright," said Carrie, handing the box to Daniel, who bagged it and set it into the woman's cart with her other items. "Your total is $112.98"

The woman swiped her credit card through the scanner, then scribbled her signature across the pad when it lit up. Carrie handed her the receipt. "Have a nice day." She said pleasantly as the lady took her receipt and shoved her cart towards the exit without another word.

Carrie's smile remained firmly in place until the woman was out of sight, then she sighed and turned to Daniel muttering, "How stupid can people get? What was she, your third one today?"

"Yeah," sighed Daniel. "There will probably be twice as many more by the time my shift is over."

Carrie snorted in bitter amusement. "I'll be sure to stay close by. The new kid, Ben, he's had it pretty rough so far." She nodded towards the kid she had been helping before she came to Daniel's aid. "He was helping this senile old hag and the scanner stopped working. Poor kid had no idea what to do. She seemed to think he was doing it on purpose."

Daniel watched Ben attempt to force a smile back onto his face as he moved to a new register and began helping a couple with their purchase. He looked close to tears as he started swiping items across the scanner.

"What I wouldn't give to speak my mind just once." Sighed Carrie. "Oh well, I'd better go figure out what made that scanner stop working. Try not to bite anyone's heads off." And with that she walked off. Daniel watched her to before turning and offering a smile to a middle aged man who had pushed his cart up to Daniel's register and was unloading items onto the belt. "Did you find everything okay, sir?"