What can I do, though? Can’t force people to come to town and buy overpriced gadgets that they don’t really need. Hell, even I can’t tell the difference between the new iPhone and the last one.
This is bad, though. We need to get one more sale at least.
Slow days weren’t uncommon in Nick’s line of business, especially with a recession in full swing, but this was one of the worst footfalls he could remember. There was barely any point to being open, in fact. With the cost of electricity and wages, the store would probably be losing money just by them being there.
The store’s head salesman, Paul, strolled over to the laptop area and started browsing the Internet. It was against company regulations to use the computers for personal use but Nick wasn’t about to be a jobsworth just for the sake of it. He was an easy-going manager at the best of times, and today there really was nothing else for his staff to do.
He let out a sigh and looked over at Paul. “Check and see if something’s going on today that we don’t know about. Find me an excuse to give the area manager. An outbreak of plague would be ideal.”
“No problem, governor.” Paul typed away with his gold-ringed fingers.
Just then, Chelsea re-joined them, having finished her lunch in the back. She looked at the empty shop floor and then over at Nick, before pulling a face.
“I know, I know” he said to her. “If it stays like this much longer, I’ll probably send you home. No point the three of us being here.”
No point even one of us being here at this rate.
If it was up to him they all would have left already; he would’ve closed up shop and called it a day. But Head Office didn’t allow him to make such judgement calls. They paid him to be there ten hours a day and that’s exactly how long they expected him to stay, whether there was any need for it or not. There was no requirement for Paul and Chelsea to suffer, though.
I think they might slip into a coma if things get any more boring.
Oh, to hell with it. I can manage things here on my own for a couple of hours.
Nick was just about to tell both Paul and Chelsea to go home when, finally, a customer entered the store.
“Hallelujah,” Nick said under his breath, before prodding a member of his staff gently on the arm. “Go get him, Chels. We need to get a contract out of this guy or I’m screwed on the conference call tonight.”
“No sweat,” said Chelsea, flicking her long blonde hair behind her back. “Watch a sales-ninja at work.”
She swaggered over to the customer, her trademark fake smile switched on full beam. The customer didn’t seem to notice her approach, though. He slumped up against the central display where the live demo-phones were lined up on painted-steel pedestals. The man hunched over a Nokia smartphone so closely that he was probably smelling the lithium in the battery.
Great, Nick thought to himself. Our first customer in hours is a pisshead.
Nick decided to shadow Chelsea, just in case she got into problems. The girl had a short fuse with difficult customers, and a drunk would certainly qualify as a potential trigger for her teenaged temper.
“Are you okay there, sir?” Chelsea asked the man.
He remained hunched over, almost like he didn’t even hear her.
“I said, are you okay there, mate?” Chelsea was already beginning to look irritable, and her tone had changed. She turned to Nick and shook her head.
Nick eased her aside with his hand and stepped up beside the customer. It was best for a manager to deal with anyone who was going to be a problem.
Sales people should be free to sell. Managers should be free to deal with all the headaches.
“Sir, are you okay?” he asked politely. “I’m afraid you can’t sleep it off here.”
Still no response from the hunched-over man.
Nick reached out a hand. He was quickly getting impatient. “Sir, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to go someplace else.”
The man shot upright like an uncoiling spring. He turned to Nick with swollen, bloodshot eyes. A thin strand of saliva hung pendulously from his lower lip, ready to make a break for the floor at any moment. The man’s entire expression was vacant and faraway.