Total pages in book: 15
Estimated words: 13640 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 68(@200wpm)___ 55(@250wpm)___ 45(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 13640 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 68(@200wpm)___ 55(@250wpm)___ 45(@300wpm)
There's a perpetual scent of pine wafting through the vast department store. There's normally a guard on duty at the front door, one making rounds through various sections of the store, and another in the back, watching the security monitors. When I walk into the store, passing through home decor, I can't stop scanning every aisle.
The store is fairly empty, but that's simply the season we're in. The lull that comes after Christmas and before tax refund season makes the store a ghost town on weekdays. It's routine, expected, and with that expectation, Wesley isn't shy about cutting back hours.
Wesley Flannigan considers himself old money, but it's the worst kept secret in Tamworth that he married into the Flannigan family, taking his wife's last name too. He's strategic and exacting. However, I notice there isn't a security guard making rounds through the departments, forcing me to hurry into the back office. Wesley has worry written all over his face, and the pudgy guy looks like he's going to be sick.
"Everything alright?" I ask, clocking in and dropping my duffle bag in front of employee lockers.
"No," Wesley replies, shaking his head before burying his face in his hands. "I don't think we're going to recover, Dean. No one's spending money in department stores anymore. Flannigan's only has two locations, but the competition is wiping us out. Online and in the brick-and-mortar. I'm sorry, but you're going to be our only guard on duty for a while."
"What? That's impossible. There's five thousand square feet of merchandise out there." My eyes glance over to the security monitors where I see a familiar face.
Fuck.
There's no way Cody can get a job if Wesley's firing people. She's walking slowly around different aisles, but there isn't an employee on the floor to help her find anything. Hell, I'm sure she's not shopping, but this doesn't bode well for her job options.
"I know," Wesley growls. "You think I don't know that? I'm trying to convince my father-in-law to condense the square footage. Get rid of the sections that don't sell, like toys, books, and exercise equipment."
"Slow down, Wesley."
He grunts and talks over me. "We can get rid of purses and a lot of the accessories that don't move. I've already cut employee hours, fired two managers, and I'm hoping we can shrink the square footage by half. Maybe we can rent out the other half to a pharmacy or something."
"So the likelihood of you hiring someone right now is pretty—"
Wesley snaps his head up, glaring at me with a slight twitch that honestly makes me want to laugh. I choke it back as he frantically says, "Not gonna happen. Unless they can turn this place around in the next six months, I'm only interested in consultants. The last thing I need is another minimum wage employee costing me more money than the winter coats we still have in stock from last season."
"I should probably get out on the floor. Are you going to be back here to watch the monitors?"
"No," Wesley grunts and pushes himself away from the desk. "You stay back here, and if anyone steals, get a screen grab because we delete the videos off the server every night at midnight. Call the cops and let them handle it. Shit, I'd probably make more money off the insurance claim. We can't even afford our digital security cloud service anymore. Oh and since Amber has to leave early, we're closing an hour early. Are you okay closing up?"
"Yeah, what about the bank drop?"
Wesley scoffs. "Ha! What bank drop? I'm not coming back here to take 150 bucks to the bank. Leave it in the safe."
"So it's just going to be me and one cashier here?"
"It's just for today until I get a concrete plan to move forward. Please just work with me, Dean."
I shrug. "Alright."
Wesley bolts out of the back office, and I return my gaze to the monitors. Cody's meandering around the store, and Amber looks anxious, standing behind the register. The nagging sensation in my gut tells me to talk to Amber and then let Cody know what's going on.
By the time I reach the register, Amber looks around with pain in her eyes. I walk over to her and relief washes over her face.
"Perfect, someone else is here. I need to go, Dean."
"Wait, Wesley just said you had to leave early, not right now."
"Look. I don't know what his problem is, but I've been on since six this morning. I worked the floor, stocking shelves, opened, and I still haven't had a break. There's only been two customers, three if you count that girl wandering around the office supply section right now. I'm exhausted and my head is throbbing. I'll get a nosebleed and pass out if you don't let me leave right now."