Zak P.O.V.
“Well, that’s everything,” Angie concluded. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and gave a close-lipped smile.
Nick, who’d joined our little tour halfway through, shifted the laptop box he held under his arm. “You got a nice place,” he complimented.
Angie beamed graciously. “Thanks, we work hard to make sure we’re offering the best out there.”
I scoffed. “You have equipment high ranking film studios have trouble obtaining. You’re offering the best of the best.”
Angie opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by the sudden entrance of Angie's female employee and Aaron.
“You guys find what you needed?” Aaron asked.
Nick and I glanced at each other and nodded. “Yeah. Did you?”
He waved the tripods clutched in each of his hands. “With a little help from this young lady—” Aaron glanced at Angie’s employee…
What’s her name? Jackie? Julie? ......Jen? Yeah, Jen.
“We now have two brand new tripods to replace the ones Zak broke.”
My mouth dropped in protest. “Hey! That wasn’t my fault! If you hadn’t tripped on that rock and knocked into me, I wouldn’t have lost my balance.”
“No, no,” Aaron objected. “You can’t blame it on me the one time you have a clumsy moment and I don’t.”
“What?” A grin spreading across my cheeks, I dramatically drew a hand to my chest. “I didn’t trip on the rock!”
“So? I’ve never broken anything before—“
A chuckle of disbelief burst from my lips. “What?! Did you forget about the suitcase you dropped down a flight of stairs at Eastern Penitentiary, which broke five recorders?”
“Three,” Aaron reminded me, flipping up the corresponding amount of fingers. He glanced between Angie and Jen. “Only three.”
“Still cost us.”
Aaron smirked. “The tripods will too.”
Angie, who had been watching the whole exchange in silent amusement, made a noise in the back of the throat. Attention swarmed to her.
“Actually, they won’t cost a dime. Everything’s on the house.”
All thought of my conflict with Aaron dissipated. “Absolutely not,” I declared. “Aaron and I were just messing with each other back there,” I continued. “We have no problem paying for the equipment.”
Angie held my gaze with a cognizant, slightly mischievous pair of blue eyes. “Everything’s on the house,” she restated.
“We’re paying,” I retorted, crossing my arms indignantly.
Her eyes sparkled, challenging me. “Nope; let me just grab your batteries from the counter and you can all head on your way.”
She spun around slowly, making sure to give me an eyeful of the lopsided smirk etched across her lips, and then left the aisle in which we stood. I chased after her, still opposed to the idea of receiving everything for free.
“Angie, let me pay,” I insisted. “We can’t take all of this for nothing.”
Reaching the counter, Angie hefted the bin into her arms. “It’s not for nothing. Think of it as a rite of passage for the store. We get a…a sense of honor from temporarily,” her face scrunched as she looked for the right word, “harboring… well-known faces—like yourselves.”
