Cheerfully helping ticked off people returning broken electronics was not my idea of fun right now. Five minutes before, my shift lead had ripped me a new one for not being polite enough to some crotchety old jerk that had tried to return a tablet he said "just stopped working" and called me a liar when I pointed out the still-sticky residue of soda all over the back of the unit. Screw this, it was time to get away.
As luck would have it, just as I reached for the 'lock' button on the register, this girl walked up to the counter and dropped a mangled camera on the counter. Flashing me the sweetest smile, she sighed and said "Can you be a dear and give me a refund on this? I just got this, and for some reason it's not working anymore."
Instantly in a better mood, I did my best to hide the smile attempting to cross my face. Gee, I wonder why it's not working? Before I could give her a smart-alek reply, she handed me a receipt showing she had in fact bought it here, and only two weeks before.
"Perfect" I thought, "this should make the boss happy, but I'm gonna run this refund and be polite to this poor girl."
"Well miss, I'm not really sure why it would stop working, these cameras are usually reliable. Can you tell me what's wrong?"
Her smile faded fast, just as fast as the rest of her face darkened. "It's kind of a long story. My boyfriend Mark had been using it a lot lately. So last night I went to surprise him at his friend's house where they were partying. I walked in and no one saw me since they were all focused around the computer, so I went to stand behind them."
"Right before I could see the screen, one guy said something about being glad Mark got some more pics for them to enjoy. Another guy asked if he could get copies again, and Mark said he could. Then I stopped short when I saw what they were looking at. It was me! Naked! I saw several I knew he took of me and a few I didn't know about. He was being sneaky and taking pics of me in the shower and changing."
"Even though I was silent, someone finally sensed me behind them and turned around. He yelled, and they all turned. Then it got loud for a while as we yelled some. I yanked the camera out and went to my car. He followed me and got in while we continued to yell. So then we argued the whole way back to my apartment. And in the apartment. We threw some things, and yelled a lot. So I kicked him out, and.... Well, I'm sorry, I'm sure you don't need all those silly details."
"Anyhow, long story short. I got up this morning and found the camera like this, and I tried to turn it on and it didn't work. So here I am. I don't need a new one, I just would like my money back to pay some clothes that were ruined by some red wine that spilled last night."
Laughing to myself, I knew 10 seconds into her story that I'd take the camera. It would make both of us feel much better.
"Ok, sounds reasonable enough to me, I guess it must be some internal error thingy. Just let me get a few things from you on this paperwork, and I will credit your card right away."
Her face lit up again as she smiled and took the pen from me. As she bent over to put in her info, I couldn't help staring down her shirt. Hey, I'm a normal guy, I won't refuse a nice boob view! But I stared too long. She looked up and caught me red-handed.
"Hope you enjoyed the view, you pervert."
Looking up, I saw her expression didn't match her tone.
"Uh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare, I just couldn't help enjoying the view. So, uhhh, let's see. Yup, that should do it for the paperwork. I'll get this sent in, and your credit card should be credited in 3 to 5 business days."
"Thanks so much for your help."
She spun on her heel and walked away. With a quick thought, I forced my eyes to unglue themselves from watching her ass swaying under the thin skirt as she walked away. Picking up the camera I opened the accessory cover and saw my hunch was right. The memory card was still there! A quick mental battle ensued, with the 'nice guy' winning. Tossing the camera on the shelf under the counter, I jogged down the aisle towards the door. Just before she left the store, I caught up to her.
"Excuse me miss!" I called.
She turned back with a confused look on her face.
"Yes? Did I fill out the papers wrong or something?"
Shaking my head 'no', I held out my hand. "That stuff is all good, but you may want to keep this from falling into anyone else's hands. You forgot it in the camera."
Hey eyes dropped to my hand and instantly her face turned bright red.
"Oh no! Thank you so much! I can't believe I left that!"
She took the small card from my hand and put it into the side pocket of her purse. She looked back at me, her cheeks still pink.
"But after I told you what pictures were on there, I can't believe you didn't keep it. Was that little peek you had earlier enough for you?"
Now it was my turn -- I felt my ears start to burn a little at her reminder.
"Honestly, I did think about keeping it, but I figured you didn't want any more eyes invading your privacy. Besides, you probably would have come back looking for it, and the last thing I need is to get in trouble. Again."
"Ah, you're so sweet. Please let me make it up to you. Can I take you to lunch or something? Coffee maybe?"
"You don't have to do that, but I was actually on my way out before you came to my counter. Do you want to meet up at the coffee shop across the parking lot?"
"Deal. When?"
"Can I meet you there in about 5 minutes? I need to go clock out real quick."
"Sure, see you in a bit."
She turned to leave but stopped halfway into her step. "By the way, my name is Karen, and it's been a pleasure meeting you. Truly."
With a smile I reached out to shake her hand. "My name is Shawn, and I agree, it is a pleasure to meet you too."
We both turned away with a smile, and my smile never faded as I walked back to the break area to pass the word I was going out for a bit.