Ariel has spent the better part of an hour trying out different types of shoes to see how well Brian holds up under the resolve of not being able to walk on him with what she had on the other day. It's a front to cover up how much she has enjoyed him worshiping her feet today; something she had to preemptively cut short to spare her composure.
As he had predicted, the rest of the night doesn't have a single customer aside from her and due to how well they are getting along, time gets away from them and he doesn't realize that he now has five minutes until he needs to lower the security gate and close the till.
He is mid-sentence with her and suddenly turns pale at the sound of the door chime, returning his awareness to the store.
He scrambles to his feet at the thought of another customer seeing his shirt slightly messed up, stumbling over the stool that Ariel brought over originally and getting a laugh from her as he catches his balance and tries to stay out of sight from the next customer until his shirt is tucked away neatly.
Who he sees as he walks out into the open area brings him a sigh of relief as much as it does complete shock.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't our handsome trample mat," beams Christie with Kacie following close behind.
"No freakin' way," Brian says to himself, half convinced he's dreaming this.
Seeing her in all white, with a silk top and similar style form-fitting bottoms, as well as see through nylons and heels to match, is enough to render him nearly speechless.
Christie smiles, "It's good to see you again too."
Brian blushes and can feel his heart flutter like it did over the weekend, nearly losing his focus as the store keeper. "I um... Wow!" he says while taking in the amazing sight. He clears his throat, "I mean, of course, it's good to see you too."
His heart nearly stops when he acknowledges Kacie, not so much because her outfit, which consists of a black and translucent gold leopard print top, black skin tight jeans and thin, nearly see though flats, but because the headband she's wearing has cat ears on it, and one of them is slightly bent forward, and it's simply the cutest thing he's ever seen.
He's temporarily at a loss for words and merely greets her with a wave of his hand before looking over at the clock on the wall behind the register. It's time to close up, and it saddens him to think about having to kick the ladies out already, but then he recalls his boss saying that the doors can stay open a little longer if the customer is browsing.
"Is there anything I can help you find?" he asks looking back at Christie
"Ariel wanted me to see her new heels in person," she says walking towards him, "and I wanted to see the marks she left behind," walking her fingers lightly up his left arm, and then clawing him down the middle of his torso as she continues past him, "eventually."
Brian curls over from the stinging sensation her fingers trigger.
Fighting back tears as he turns in her direction, "How did you know she was here?" he asks.
Christie laughs, "Why do you think she took so long to walk around your store?" smiling back at him before disappearing down the aisle he came out from.
Brian looks back halfway, thinks for a second, and mumbles to himself "Huh, that's a good point." His attention returns to Kacie with a smile. "Soo...what's up pussy cat?"
"Mew," she squeaks back with smirk.
Her adorability is too much for him to process effectively, and all he can do is sigh happily at the ceiling as he makes his way towards the register.
She follows him with a playful spring in her step, "Don't you speak 'cat'?" she asks as she effortlessly hops into a sitting position on the counter.
"What?"
"I said I'm fine, and you?"
Brian chuckles softly, "I'm fine too. Off the counter," as if he's speaking to an actual cat.
Like any cat would, she looks away and ignores him.
"Please?" he asks patiently as he rings in his purchase for Ariel's heels.
"Why don't you come over here and make me?" She looks back to him, "Perhaps give me something to jump off onto?"
The register drawer hits him in the waist with a ding.
"I would, but I need to start closing up," he replies trying to keep a straight face.
"Then close up. I'll wait."
"Oh really," he says leaning on the counter behind her. "Have you ever been locked up in a shoe store before?"
"Can't be any different than hanging out in my closet."
"Only once that gate comes down, the alarm gets set."
"I'd find a way out if I really wanted to leave."
"The door in back is on a delayed timer after the code is entered; otherwise it's locked in and out after closing time. You can only be escorted out."
Kacie smirks again, "Then what are you bothering me for? Go close up." She playfully ignores him again and maintains her spot.
Brian hangs his head in defeat and shuts the register drawer a moment later. He spots his palm-sized stainless steel shoehorn and enacts a ploy of revenge towards her stubbornness by nonchalantly dropping it down the back of her jeans, wedging itself into a slightly loose gap, and causing Kacie to shriek due its coldness and hop off the counter.
She pulls it out and chucks it back at him, only to be blocked by a clipboard he pulled up in anticipation of her reaction.
"You will pay for that, Mister," she playfully taunts him.
He smiles at her as he steps out from behind the counter and walks to the end of the aisle Christie walked down.
"Are you two savvy back there?" he calls out to the ladies at the other end.
"Just admiring your professional opinion," Christie replies. "Why?"
"Well, unless you plan to buy something, I need to lock up and close out the register. Figured I'd warn you now, otherwise I'm locking us in with the cat," Brian says with his thumb pointing back towards Kacie.
Christie barely gets a moment to consider her options before she sees a shoe hit Brian in the head from behind, and somehow land in his hand in front from the ricochet. The randomness cracks her up as much as Brian's expression does when he turns to see the shoe's origin.
He is slightly annoyed by the sight of seeing Kacie sitting back on the counter, flipping him the bird. Once he processes her pose; one leg crossed over the other, elbow rested on the knee, jaw rested in the palm of the hand she's flipping him off with, and topped with a mischievous grin, he lets her have the win. How could he not with the way her bent-eared headband compliments her expression.
"If it won't be a problem, we can hang around while you do what you need to do," Christie says as she comes back up the aisle with Ariel behind her.
"I don't see why it would be," Brian replies as they walk past him and take a seat in the main area.
"I wouldn't want to get you in trouble with your Supervisor for having non-employees in the store after hours," she remarks while pointing to one of the security cameras.
"She only looks at the feed if there's been a theft, otherwise she trusts me with guests. She's pretty cool like that."
"Well if you say so. Off you go then."
