“You’re late.”

Oh great here comes the lecture. “Only six minutes late Safia, I got caught in traffic,” I said while hurrying to clock in for the afternoon shift.  I could already sense her peering under her thin framed glasses just thinking of what to say next.

“Again, so it seems.  You know, some day you’ll need to understand how important punctuality is,” she said with her condescending tone while holding that annoying clipboard that houses her agenda and notes for the day.  She likes carrying that everywhere she goes in the store.

“Looks like it’s just you and me tonight huh?  I said sighing making sure she heard me.

“Yup, and we just got a new shipment in today; I’ll be working on the inventory in the back if you need me.”

“Great, so I won’t see you for the rest of the shift.”

“If you’re good, maybe.  Either way you have plenty to do in the mean time.”

In other words she’d be hanging out back while I worked tonight.  Inventory was always her way of escaping the front of the store and dealing with guests.  She usually did that when she was not in the best of moods.  I could tell by how she was dressed that even more was on her mind. She dressed skimpier when she wanted attention or when she wanted to be a distraction. 

It’s been two months since she came to work here at the music store and she was immediately hired as a supervisor.  I’ve been here for over a year along with others who have been here even longer.  When the general manager decided to overlook anyone who had worked here for the position you can imagine the uproar it started.  Instead, he decided to hire the girlfriend of a fellow supervisor.  Aren’t there any legal complications with that?  Anyway, as much as I hated the decision I had to deal with her.

“Your register is set and the store is organized… keep it that way.  We shouldn’t be too busy tonight but that doesn’t mean you can be lazy.  Here’s your list of things to do in the mean time.”  She handed me her list of chores, as I like to call them.

“Isn’t it against company policy to wear open-toe shoes and short skirts?”  I said, eyeing my list as she turned and headed towards the back.

“Only for you, smart ass.  Now get busy, you’ve got quite a bit to do.”

Our store isn’t a large store by any means, but it’s the only place this side of town that has a variety of music tastes.  So, on that note, it can get a bit overwhelming at times, which is why we normally carry two closers.  Lucky I got stuck with her even though it’s no secret we don’t get along.

“You got to be kidding.  There’s like fifty things to do here.  What the hell… scrub the restroom?”