Josh was behind the counter of a local sex shop, fulfilling the glorious job of redressing one of the mannequins into the lingerie that just came on sale yesterday. With a neutral expression, he started to put on the bra, making sure the straps were adjusted correctly. Who knew that he would end up as a cashier at an adult shop.
In any case, he heard the ding of the shop door, the man abandoning the half-naked mannequin to return to the counter. He offered the middle-aged woman a smile and welcomed her, "hello there! Thank you for visiting Ribbons and Romance, was there anything in particular you were looking for today?"
The curvaceous customer gave him a sour look and waived her perfectly manicured hand, "no, just let me browse."
"Alright, maam. Let me know if you need anything."
This was met with a bit of a haughty eye-roll, the woman sauntering off to look around at different things in the store. Her sleeveless black and white polka-dotted dress swayed as she walked, those two-inch black heels clicking rhythmically on the floor. Though her blonde hair was short, it certainly didn't look low-maintenance, though her entire personage was devoid of any hint that she accepted anything less than what she thought she deserved. As to how highly she regarded herself, it was obvious in the straightness of her back and the arrogant air she put on.
Well, if she didn't want any help, then that was a-okay with Josh. After all, dear old Abigail wouldn't dress herself. Returning to a workbench still in view of the store, he lifted the silky pink panties up the doll's curves, settling it where it needed to be before grabbing the matching stockings. With great care, he slid them up the smooth plastic and tightened the ribbons slightly to make sure they wouldn't fall down while on display. He would be lying if the mannequin hadn't made an appearance in his dreams more than once, but it was one of those things you just didn't talk about.
At first he had found it awkward to be doing all manner of sex shop tasks in front of people, but now he felt... well, he still felt awkward, but he now didn't let it affect him. You could get used to a lot while working in a place like this.
"Ahem."
"AHEM."
The man looked up, having been lost in thought. "Ah yes, sorry about that. How can I help?" He moved to the counter and put on his customer service smile.
"I want to return this." She set a silk baggie down on the counter before placing a vibrator on top of it. It looked clean, but there was a pubic hair hanging out near the base of it.
Josh groaned internally- it was never a fun job to tell a customer "no," especially ones who didn't seem very friendly to begin with. Still, there wasn't much he could do about the situation.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but we don't accept returns here, especially with already used items."
She scoffed. "What? That's ridiculous- it's never been used! I just took it out of the case to check the batteries!"
"Why didn't you bring it in with the box then?"
"I lost it, obviously."
They stared at each other for a moment, the woman with a look of indignation, the man with an almost bewildered look. There was no way she could seriously expect them to take it back, right? Based on her expression though, it seemed like she thought she was completely in the right. He was going to have to be firm with her in that case.
"I'm sorry, but you can't return it. That's our policy. Please remove your toy from the counter."
"This is awful customer service! I am a paying customer and this is how you handle this simple request?!" She seethed for a moment before getting a bit of a smirk on her face. "Well... if you can't do returns, then what about an exchange?"
Reaching into her little shopping basket, she took out a vibrator and a bottle of lube and cleaner and set them down next to her own toy. "The vibrators are about the same price, and you can throw in the other two things for the emotional distress you've caused me."
Aghast, the cashier simply couldn't find words for a moment before reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm really sorry that you can't return that item, but we don't accept returns or trade-ins. We just can't. It's company policy and I can tell you've already used that. I can see one of your... hairs on it." It was uncomfortable to say, but it needed to be said. Hopefully the woman would see reason once he put his foot down.
Karen looked like she might blow a gasket, her face getting red as she realized that she wasn't going to be getting what she wanted. Her mouth had opened before her eyes had flicked to his nametag, noticing the title of Manager already there, thus eliminating that option from her arsenal of tactics.
"I'll show you what a used toy looks like, because obviously you don't even know, idiot!" Those red lips of hers spat.