Chapter 157.

Chapter 157. An Assassin’s and Friend’s First Day of Work (3/9)

Fast forward one day and I was back at work.  It was now Tuesday and an eager-eyed Alicia filled with boundless confidence stood before me ready for her first day on the job.

“You seem pretty pumped up today like you’re ready to go to war.”

“I learned a lot from Rosa last night. She even showed me a video of the POS and also told me about everything that transpired on her first day of work.”

“You shouldn’t get too overconfident. We didn’t really get any difficult or belligerent customers yesterday. There are a lot of things that can pop up on the job. Certain skills that we hardly use but still need to have honed. You always need to be on the lookout for certain things.”

“Like what?”

“Well, for example, when handling customers paying by cash. You should be mindful of how much the customer is actually handing over vs how much they say or imply is actually there. Be sure to always count the bills or coins out in front of them so they can’t make any claims that they gave you more than they really did. Don’t let them deceive you either or grab their bags and run off before you finish counting the cash.”

“If they start making trouble or causing a scene, you need to stand your ground in these sorts of situations. These types of situations are like a battle between you and the difficult customer where you need to have a backbone. That bullshit about the customer always being right only applies to the customers who aren’t trying to pull a fast one on you or harassing other customers/employees in the store.”

“I see. Rosa didn’t mention anything about that.”

“I didn’t explain it to her because she was very attentive. Yesterday, she did it without me even telling her to. It was more common sense for her because of her personality which isn’t nearly as trusting as yours. She’s always doubtful of the intentions of those around her. She also lived alone so she was quite particular about the money she spent during that time. Though you have your own circumstances, your personality is too overly trusting of others. Hence why it’s better to point these sorts of little things out to you. Different people require different things.”

“I understand. I won’t let my guard down.”

“Well, you can let your guard down a bit when they’re paying by card. It’s not like they can short-change you there. The only thing you need to make sure of when they pay by card is that the transaction did in fact go through successfully before they try to grab their bags and run off.”

“Oh. I got it.”

“Anyway, even if Rosa showed you the POS, I’ll still go over it with you.”

“Okay.”

Alicia got really close and squeezed between me and the register. Her left shoulder down to her back was in direct contact with my chest.

“Are you going to show me now?”

“Huh? Uh… yeah.”

She wasn’t bothered in the slightest despite our closeness, as if being this close was her god-given right.

I used my left hand to navigate through the POS system and showed her how everything worked. She would occasionally give an enthusiastic nod in understanding. Whenever she did so, her long hair would brush up against me.

Innocent girls were troublesome because they weren’t aware of how their subtle little actions affected others. If I’d been another guy in this position they definitely would have gotten the wrong idea about the girl. Would she have acted the same way if it was another guy training her at work though? Or was it just because I was her boyfriend?

I was a bit curious so I wrapped my right arm around her waist from behind below the counter.

She didn’t even notice it because of how focused she was on learning the POS system. Her defenses were just far too low around me for even this action to trigger the alarm bells in her mind. Well, she did sell me her soul without even thinking about it. 

I removed my right arm from around her waist and let her go before she ever noticed a thing.

“Alicia, would you be in such close proximity if another guy was the one training you?” I finally asked her what was on my mind.

“No. Only because it’s you. I just feel calmer when I’m close to you.”

“I see.”

She was a dangerous element introduced to my life at work. Unconsciously, you’d want to hug her regardless of the time and place.

I’d been careless and forgotten about the camera behind me. Thankfully it would only look like I was reaching around her to press a button on the register.

“Is it okay if I try handling a customer?”

“Are you sure you want to do that right away without watching a little first?”

“I’m sure. I’ll probably mess up so I’ll be counting on you. But I don’t want to drag you down at work so I’ll do my best.”

“Okay. If you say so.”

After a few minutes, a customer approached the counter.

Alicia straightened her back, looked the customer directly in the eyes, and greeted them in a friendly fashion, “Hi there, did you find everything you were looking for today?”

“Y-Yes.”

The customer stuttered out a single-word response somewhat taken aback. He looked a bit nervous and quickly averted his eyes from Alicia. He placed his goods on the counter and Alicia started to scan them.

While concentrating on scanning his items, I caught him sneaking a peek at her face before his eyes wandered lower.

He didn’t loon for long, but it was obvious he found Alicia attractive.

“Uh… are you new here?”

“Yes, I just started today actually. It’s my first day of work. Sorry, did I do something strange?”

“N-Not at all. You’re doing really well.” The customer raised his hands up and shook them frantically.

“Really! Thank you! I’m a bit nervous. You’re actually my first customer.”

“First customer? I’m the first?”

“Yeah.” Alicia nodded and said that with a beaming smile.

Her smile was too radiant and the customer averted his eyes, blinded by how pure she was.

“Your total comes up to $65.35. How would you like to pay today?”

“Cash.”

He handed over some bills.

“Twenty, forty, sixty, seventy.” Alicia carefully counted the bills out in front of the customer. 

“Would you like your receipt?” She opened up the register while storing the money away and retrieving the customer’s change.

“Uh… y-yes please.”

She printed off the receipt for the customer and placed the change over the receipt when she placed it on top of his hand.

“Thank you very much for shopping with us today, please have a wonderful day.” Alicia’s innocent smile was on full blast. Her power levels were no doubt over nine thousand in the customer’s eyes.

Their hands touched slightly when she handed over the receipt and change. He blinked a few times in a slight daze before he said, “You too.”

Alicia was too distracted after her first successful interaction with a customer so she didn’t hear him muttering to himself quietly on his way out, “Was that an angel? No, a goddess? Am I dead? Did I die and go to heaven without realizing it?”

It seemed he’d definitely become a loyal and devoted return customer in the future after his little exchange with her. Haaaaah. You’ve been ensured in the Owner’s nefarious trap, you fool.

“How did I do!” After the customer exited the store, Alicia spun around and grabbed my hand with a worried expression.

“You did really well, good job.” She squeezed my hand as her eyes lit up.

“Really? It was fine? I didn’t mess up anything?”

“Yes. Yes. You don’t need to be so antsy. You did great. He even looks like he plans to come back more often because of you.”

“Phew. Thank goodness. It went well, that’s a relief.”

Was she that nervous?

“Alicia, another customer.”

“Ah. Already?”

She hurriedly turned around and greeted them. Another similar exchange happened again. This time it was a high school girl. Strangely enough, she was also left in a daze after interacting with Alicia.

It wasn’t just her. One customer after another was converted into believers of the angel known as Alicia.

Before I knew it, the store had suddenly gotten quite packed. It was as if word of the holy angel had spread near and far through word of mouth and all these people had specifically dropped by just to meet the sacred goddess who’d graced the store with her presence.

I noticed there’d been many people who’d entered and picked up only a single item just so they could interact with her. A lot of lonely-looking guys who I often saw coming to shop just for Yuna had switched camps to camp Alicia. Damn, Alicia was a natural-born customer magnet.