Abigail awoke to a buzzing alarm in her ear. She painfully opened her eyes to unlock her phone so that she could shut it off. As she did so, she noticed it was 3:30am on Monday. For most people this wouldn't be anything special, but for Abigail, it was the first day of her new job. Abigail had part time jobs prior to this one, but given that she was now 20 years-old and out of college, it was time for her first real adult job. She had often thought of pursuing her bachelor's or master's degree, but after two years of studying she was mentally checked fatigued by the process. So two weeks prior to her final exams, she applied for a job at the local dry cleaning shop. It was a fairly small operation that employed a dozen or so people. The pay was nothing special ($18/hr), but for someone living on their own it was more than plenty. But anywho, she decided to stop procrastinating about her life and to get her butt out of bead to get dressed.
Abigail knew she wasn't a morning person, so she took a shower the night prior so that she could just grab her stuff and go to work. She did, however, brush her hair given that her brunette locks were experiencing a bad case of bed head. With a quick spray of detangle spray and a few brushes, her hair was back to looking magnificent again (well...at least she thought it was magnificent). In truth, Abigail was a very cute girl with an athletic build. She was most proud of her well sculpted "gyat" -- she was never one to keep up with modern day parlances, but she's heard enough passerby's say something about it that it just stuck. Her boobs were, in her opinion, nothing special. They were a respectable B-cup and quite perky to boot; however, she had always wished they were just a little more plump. But all of this besides the point, because after brushing her hair and getting dressed, she was running out the door to her car. As is often the case, Abigail started talking to herself while driving.
"Okay-okay. The owner's name is Evelyn. Evelyn, Evelyn, Evelyn."
She then held a mock conversation with Evelyn in the car.
"Hello, Evelyn. I'm Abigail. Pleased to meet you. Thank you so much for this opportunity."
"Nice to meet you, Abigail." Said Abigail with an altered voice. "We're really happy to have you on board. I trust you watched the instructional video ahead of time."
"I watched it twice, Ma'am. I feel very confident in how the process works here." Said Abigail.
"Impressive. I can see we made the right decision in hiring you to our small family here at Spotless Spin. Welcome aboard." Said Abigail in response.
A smirk came across Abigail's face, she had all her "t's" crossed and "i's" dotted, she knew this business like the back of her hand. Not to long afterwards, she had arrived at Spotless Spin, her new stable job for the foreseeable future. She parked on the side of the road in front of the shop and made her way in to greet Evelyn.
"Hello--" Said Abigail as she was abruptly caught off
"HEY! You can't park on the side of the road, you're going to get a ticket." Said Evelyn with some sass.
"Oh, umm--"
"Just park it in the back. Didn't you watch the instructional video?!" Said Evelyn curtly.
Abigail was one-hundred percent certain there was nothing regarding parking in the video. The only information provided was concerning the dry-cleaning process. That being said, she didn't want to argue with her new boss, so she meekly made her way out of the store and parked her vehicle in the back. Upon returning inside, Abigail was surprised to see that Evelyn was nowhere in sight. A couple minutes passed by, so Abigail decided to gingerly make her way to the door leading to the back room where all the cleaning is done. She gently placed her hand on the door, pushing it open ever so slightly. Evelyn then ripped it open from the other side in one swift motion, causing Abigail to slightly lose her balance.
"What the hell!" Snarled Evelyn.
"Oh, umm--" Replied Abigail
"Why were you walking into the back room without my permission?"
"I just thought you wanted me back there."
"We haven't even started the orientation yet. And here I thought I finally found a good employee who I could count on. Can I count on you? Or was your application too good to be true?"
"Uh, you can count on me, Evelyn."
Evelyn just sternly glared at the girl for a good moment before angrily clasping her heels to the front counter. Abigail shuffled her feet along as she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"By the way, you will formally address me as Ms. Taylor from now on. Understood?"
"Yes, Eve--I mean...Yes, Ms. Taylor."
While things definitely started off rocky, they eased up a bit when Evelyn started explain the various aspects of the business to Abigail. Every detail of the business was described from the cash register to the online orders through their website to customer care. Everything except for how the clothes get cleaned.
"Okay. Let's get down to the most important part, how the clothes get cleaned."
Evelyn led Abigail through the back door to the cleaning room. Now Spotless Spin was a relatively small operation. That being said, Evelyn took pride in giving the most superb service to every customer. She earned a reputation within the community of being the best dry cleaner in the entire State, and she wasn't going to let her standards slip in any regard. This was all readily apparent just by listening to her describe the cleaning process.
"So as you know from the instructional video, we're called a dry-cleaner, but there's nothing dry about it. The clothes are hit with a solvent and soap -- not water, never water."
Abigail noticed the alluring aroma around from the surrounding area, it was quite intoxicating.
"Afterwards, we perform a full inspection to make sure the lining is perfect and that no buttons are missing. The garment is then pressed with steam and goes through one final inspection."
The charm and energy in which Evelyn spoke really highlighted how passionate she still was about the business. She's now owned the business for 21 years, but given that she started it out of high school at 18, meant she was only 39 years-old. And as far as 39 year-old women go, she was still a stunner. Abigail was especially jealous that her bust was so ample and full, they were the kind of breasts that she wish she had. While getting lost in this train of thought, Evelyn began to speak once again.
"And that's our process. It's currently 5:12am and the shop opens up at 6:30am. Claire comes in then and will guide your through the process when some new garments come in."
Before Abigail had a chance to respond, Evelyn's phone began to ring and she answered.
"Hey, Claire. Calling to get my Starbucks order, I get you back next time girl."
Abigail noted how Evelyn was more cheerful and buoyant with Claire compared to her. Maybe it'll take some time to earn her trust. But then the tone began to change.
"Oh, no. No, no. I have no one else today except for the newbie."
Evelyn remained silent as she intently listened to what Claire was saying on the other end.
"Alright, we get better girl. I'll drop some tea and soup off at your place on my way home. Get better, girl."
Evelyn clicked end call as she tossed the phone on the counter and started to rub her forehead in frustration.
"I can't have you run front end on your first day. If you screw up the orders things will turn into chaos."
Realizing this was her chance to earn Evelyn's good graces she decided to show initiative by volunteering to clean the clothes all by herself.
"All by yourself?...On the first day. If you fall behind it'll set us back all week."
"I watched the video two times and paid close attention to your explanation, Ms. Taylor. I know I can do this."
"I know you think this looks easy, but you'll drowned without first-hand experience. I've seen it before, young lady."
"Please allow me to show you. I'll prove I have the stuff."
Evelyn crossed her arms as she looked down toward the ground. She tapped her foot persistently as if she was mulling something over in her head. She pursed her lips for a moment and let out a frustrated sigh. Abigail couldn't take it any longer, so she decided to interject.
"Ms. Taylor--"
"Abigail -- listen carefully, because I'm not going to repeat myself. I have a reputation to uphold in this town, and I will not allow anything to tarnish it. Before you start working alone, I need you to prove to me that you will not mess this up. Unfortunately, all the clothing in our inventory has been cleaned and pressed. So there's nothing for us to clean at the moment."
"Can we just reclean one of the finished garments."
"Absolutely not! My standard is that we clean each garment with care and detail, and we always get it done right the first time. Dry cleaning a cleaned garment goes against my philosophy for the business, and it will never be done."
"Do you want me to grab some of my dirty laundry from home to clean?"
"There's no time for that, Abigail. We need to use the clothing you're wearing right now."
Abigail felt her throat muscles tighten up as her breathing and heart rate accelerated quickly. Surely Evelyn couldn't be suggesting what she thought she was suggesting. This had to be a mistake. This had to be a sick joke that she and Claire were playing on her to just mess with her on her first day. Before she had a chance to say anything, Evelyn grab a paper garment bag and handed it over to her.
"Typically these are made of plastic, but there's local company that makes them out of sturdy paper for me. Just cover yourself with this while we wash your clothes. We'll be doing the delicates as well."
"You, mean...I--I'm going to be working naked with only a paper garment bag to cover me?"