They opened the shop the next day. Being a Monday, the inflow was obviously small so Swarna went on to outline his daily tasks--arranging shelves with precision, assisting customers with their choices, ensuring the store maintained a pristine appearance, and occasionally managing inventory. Each word dripped with an unspoken implication of his incompetence, her disdain obvious. His routine, he could see, were mundane--arranging shelves, assisting customers, and ensuring the store was impeccably clean. However, what was not mundane, was his attire. Or, to be more accurate, the lack of it.
Because he wore almost nothing. The key word was not almost. It was nothing. In fact, anyone who saw him from behind would be pardoned if they felt he was completely naked. Since, from behind there was nothing except for the back of the small string that held his pouch in place. That meant, his buttocks, his derriere, was completely exposed to anyone. He was horrified to think of the shop filled with customers. While he would helping one woman, there would be some others behind him, ogling away at his naked bottoms. However, he had no choice. He was trapped with this woman. Sarala and Swarna held his life in his hands. He had to obey them completely and this was the uniform they decided for him. Why, why on Earth did he try to steal funds from his company?
He followed her as she explained each of his duties. One of the first duties itself was like a drill to his Heart. He had to ensure that each of the footwear was sparkling clean. It was a way to ensure maximum physical appeal and even a small speck of dust ruined it. Never, in his 24 years, had he dreamed he would be cleaning shoes as a job. And, now, this was his job. And the cherry on top? He was doing it nearly naked. He had to beg them and keep begging them. Maybe, at some point, they would show some mercy? To that effect, he carefully listened to everything she had to say. If he expected them to show mercy on him, his work had to be on point until that time.
She also showed the system. Every shoe placed on the shelf would have a bar code. The bar code contained information on the series of those shoes. When he entered them into an app, he would be able to find where they were stored in the warehouse. This would come in handy on the very common occurrence where someone would like the shoes but would want them in a different size or colour. Finally, at 10 AM, Swarna unlocked the door. She indicated him to stand right by the first shoe rack so that he would be able to help any customer who would walk in. Jayanth sweated and sweated. After around 5 minutes, Swarna went inside to check on somethings. As Jayanth waited with bated breath, the first customer came in after 10 minutes.
Jayanth guessed that she would be around his age. She was smoking, smoking hot. The kind of woman every man wanted. And she was seeing him. Seeing him completely. She did a double-take as soon as she saw him but composed herself. Jayanth did not know if this was because she saw such nearly nude men frequently or if she was aware of his predicament but he did not care. As long as she was not commenting on his exposed body, he was fine.
"Good morning, ma'am. How can I help you?"
"Yeah, I am looking for some pumps."
"Please sit here, ma'am. I will get my selection."
He saw the annoyance on her face. The same annoyance he had when he himself had gone shoe-shopping just three weeks ago. He always hated the way the assistants made a fuss over him. Three weeks? Now, it felt eons away. And, of course, that salesman had been properly dressed unlike him. As he turned around, he became fully aware. Aware that this woman, whom he would not even dare to ask out was now watching his buttocks openly. His naked buttocks. He returned with a selection to see her with a Cigarette and about to light it up.
"Madam, you cannot do that." Jayanth announced, pointing to the no-smoking sign.
"You are right, I cannot do that." Jayanth did not understand the emphasis she laid on 'I' until she raised her lighter and intentionally dropped it on the floor. She sat back and looked sternly at him.
A battle of wills started. He was scared of her. He was now scared of every woman he saw. He was scared even more of Swarna, obviously, and yet, he felt, for some strange reason that he could not refuse this woman. And so, he knelt in front of her and picked up the lighter. He lit her cigarette and she blew her first smoke right into his face.
"Well, get on with your work. My shoes aren't going to remove themselves."
And so, Jayanth went down on all fours. At this position, he did not know if she could properly see his buttocks. However, he realised with sadness that it did not matter. She had already seen all there was to see. And he did not know what was her reaction. And so, he lifted her feet and removed her shoes. He had no idea when this became the sales assistant's job. Even in his previous life, he put on all the shoes himself and told them which one he liked. Now, he was putting shoes one by one as she slowly analysed each one. While he was putting the fifth pair of shoes, Swarna walked in.
"I am sorry, ma'am. This is a no-smoking zone. Surely, he told you?"
The woman's demeanour completely changed. While she was stern with him, she became completely deferential with Swarna. "Oh, I am so sorry madam. He obviously did not tell me. If he did, why would I smoke?"
"You idiot." She screamed at him. "Can't you do even such a basic thing properly."
Jayanth knew that denying the woman's accusation, even though it was the truth would only make things worse for him. And so, he mumbled apologies to both women who generously chose to forgive him. Swarna opened the app and he heard the sound of the downvote button. He was finally done with putting six different types of shoes and the woman chose one. She told him to get all the colours for that. He stood up and turned around, once again fully displaying his completely naked butt to the two superior women. Just then, the door opened and there was a squeal.
