Tuesday afternoons are always the slowest in the mall. Few customers, even fewer purchases and, in my store, very little task work. Alan and I were bored out of our minds by 2:00 when he asked if he could take the trash out.
"Actually," I said, "I was thinking about doing it, myself." Alan expressed surprise as I usually delegated trash duty to the part-timers, a perk of management, I suppose. But I was really in the mood for a change of scenery and it was a beautiful, warm day out, which I'd had little time to enjoy that morning. We decided to flip for it and I won. Boy, did I win...
No one had taken the trash out for a few days and several boxes and waste bags had piled up. I knew it would take some time and I planned to drag it out as long as possible. Loading up one of the wire frame carts with some broken down cardboard and a couple bags, I set off through the back corridors of the mall. As I rounded a corner to the freight elevator, I almost bumped into another cart waiting near the doors.
"Oh, sorry," I muttered as I pulled to a stop. I looked up to see two of the young women who work at one of the many fashionable clothing stores. Hell if I could remember which one, as I rarely frequented them, but their store always drew a glance from me on passing, though, because of the caliber of employees they hired—all female, all in their early twenties, most impossibly gorgeous. The two I had almost run into were prime examples.
"That's okay," said the taller of the two, a stunning, longhaired brunette with a porn-star body. She wore a short, tight red leather skirt beneath a white blouse that did nothing to hide the black lace bra beneath and the ample cleavage it accentuated. She was well tanned with bare legs that stretched forever until they reached her shiny black clogs. I was almost positive all of these clothes were available in her store.
"We're taking up the whole hallway here." She flashed an apologetic, yet flirty smile at me. I wondered how many guys she suckered into buying similar wardrobes to hers for their girlfriends. "Looks like you've got a lot of trash, too."
I smiled and laughed slightly. "You could say that." As the elevator arrived at our floor, I finally noticed the second girl as she moved to open the doors. I found myself even more intrigued by her. The first was the kind of woman you expected to see in a men's magazine or a good skin flick, but this one was the kind of gal I liked to think I could fall in love with.
She was about half a foot shorter than I, with a small, but very fit, build. Her body seemed so perfectly proportioned and natural under the flowery summer dress she wore. She had slightly pale skin, short, blonde hair and a round face fitted with beautiful green eyes when she glanced in my direction.
The three of us managed to load ourselves and our carts into the elevator, squeezing up against the wall, the brunette to my immediate side and the blonde beside her. After closing the doors I moved to press the lower floor button, but the brunette leaned in to do it first, her body pressing into mine, ample bosom cushioning into my chest. She smiled again and held for a moment too long (not that I was upset) before standing back again.
"You work at the bookstore, Jason?" she asked, staring at my chest. I glanced down at the name badge that hung there. It was an obvious question. I responded in the affirmative.
"I'm Lily," she said, extending her hand. She nodded to the blonde. "And this is Janice." I shook both their hands, lingering with the latter. "You probably know Janice. She comes to your store a lot." I realized I had seen her before, but only a couple of times. I remembered being intrigued by her but never having the chance (or the nerve) to talk. She seemed shy, but had a slight glimmer in her eyes that betrayed an intelligence and sense of adventure I wanted to know more of. Why hadn't I talked to her before?
At the compactor, I helped them unload their trash first, figuring a) this gave me more time away from my store and b) more time with the two lovely ladies. I made small talk and sly jokes, suddenly finding myself being much more charming than I would ever usually take credit for. I tried to make regular eye contact with Janice, but found Lily always there to distract me with smiles, laughter and progressively unsubtle touches. Janice seemed to take it in stride. She must have been familiar with her coworker's charms.
