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05 Eylül 2023, 19:08
I looked up from my laptop as pressure on the plate beneath the ?Welcome? mat set the doorbell off. ?FemBots vs. Charlie?s Angels? would have to wait, the owner was cool about my writing but not when there were customers. The after-work rush wouldn?t start until around six, the clock on the wall showed 3:30, but this time I didn?t mind being interrupted.
The suburban community I worked and lived in was active, I had seen this girl before, in the store, or browsing the rest of the strip mall with her friends, though I might?ve been wrong.
It?s getting harder and harder to tell them apart. I thought as I watched her dump a movie into the return slide and begin browsing through the drama racks. She was the model of the new, all-purpose American girl; a homogenous blend of Brittany Spears, Christina Agulera, Jennifer Lopez, Lil Kim, Wonder-Woman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sabrina, Teenage Witch. All saw themselves as girls who had paid their dues and could wear burlap sacks to the big dance if they wanted to, but still be queens of all they surveyed.
Parent supplied credit cards kept them in the newest fashions and the latest gizmos. This girl came equipped with pager and cell-phone, and chewed on her lip while she read the back of the box for a Meg Ryan movie.
Meg Ryan, what is it that they love so much about Meg Ryan? I thought and added the question to my mental list of life?s mysteries. She started humming something that sounded like Pop, which was amplified by the empty store. She looked up to see if I was watching, then smiled when she saw that I was.
?Sorry. Just got a little song in my head, you know?? She shrugged, as if I would understand. She closed her eyes and started wiggling to the beat she heard. ?You drive me crazy??
I smirked.
?Don?t let it stop you,? I said and turned back to my script. ?Everybody?s got to have theme music for their life, right??
?Right, exactly,? She said a nodded her head. She had large eyes and a baby-doll?s face that had been dusted with glitter. ?That?s so cool you would know that.?
?If you like Meg Ryan, try something by Katherine Hepburn. I think my favorite was Roman Holiday.? I said. She looked at the box in her hand and giggled. Youth had been kind to her; she knew how to play ?look at me? very well. She seemed friendly, forward, and certainly not shy.
?Good eyes.? She said and placed the box back on the rack.
?The better to see you with,? I said and concentrated on my laptop screen. ?But just in case I miss something, we still got an eye on you.?
I pointed out the black CCTV camera domes hanging from the ceiling, only two of the seven had cameras in them, but she didn?t need to know that.
?I love Katherine Hepburn,? She said and put a hand over her heart. ?What did you like most about it??
This one I was ready for. ?I think I liked the moral of it, that working-class girls with big hearts can and will meet the affluent man of their dreams. Consider when it was made, there weren?t many opportunities for women then.?
?Yeah, I like that about Roman Holiday, too.? She said as she walked up to the counter. I could detect of CK when she was close enough for me to smell it; she put her hand out. ?I?m Autumn, pleased to meet you.?
?I?m Clark,? I said. From the floor up, she was; pink toenails, silver toe ring and ankle-bracelet, three-inch open-toed platforms. ?I?ve seen you around, I guess I never got your name until now.?
?So what makes you want to work in a video store?? She said as if saying the man she would sleep with does something else.
?You know what?s really great about working in a video store??
?What?? She said.
?You can tell a lot by what people watch,? I said and Autumn?s face twisted with predictable confusion. ?It?s a window into their souls through their emotions. What they pick out gives you some idea what they?re thinking.?
?I don?t understand.? She said. I got a shot of young cleavage as she bent over to slide a package of red licorice off of the pegboard display beneath the register.
?The person that comes in and buys an armful of comedies probably seem themselves as very energetic people, it takes a lot of energy to laugh.?
?You?re so weird.? She said and suddenly seemed to lose interest. Without another word she went back to her browsing.
I shook my head and checked her out from behind. Gone were the school-girl uniforms her youth, instead she wore a tight pair of neon green Bubblegum-label pants, a belly-button ring, and a midriff shirt to make sure everyone could see it. Her bust size was maybe a 34C. There was a tanning salon four doors down toward the Kwik
The suburban community I worked and lived in was active, I had seen this girl before, in the store, or browsing the rest of the strip mall with her friends, though I might?ve been wrong.
It?s getting harder and harder to tell them apart. I thought as I watched her dump a movie into the return slide and begin browsing through the drama racks. She was the model of the new, all-purpose American girl; a homogenous blend of Brittany Spears, Christina Agulera, Jennifer Lopez, Lil Kim, Wonder-Woman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sabrina, Teenage Witch. All saw themselves as girls who had paid their dues and could wear burlap sacks to the big dance if they wanted to, but still be queens of all they surveyed.
Parent supplied credit cards kept them in the newest fashions and the latest gizmos. This girl came equipped with pager and cell-phone, and chewed on her lip while she read the back of the box for a Meg Ryan movie.
Meg Ryan, what is it that they love so much about Meg Ryan? I thought and added the question to my mental list of life?s mysteries. She started humming something that sounded like Pop, which was amplified by the empty store. She looked up to see if I was watching, then smiled when she saw that I was.
?Sorry. Just got a little song in my head, you know?? She shrugged, as if I would understand. She closed her eyes and started wiggling to the beat she heard. ?You drive me crazy??
I smirked.
?Don?t let it stop you,? I said and turned back to my script. ?Everybody?s got to have theme music for their life, right??
?Right, exactly,? She said a nodded her head. She had large eyes and a baby-doll?s face that had been dusted with glitter. ?That?s so cool you would know that.?
?If you like Meg Ryan, try something by Katherine Hepburn. I think my favorite was Roman Holiday.? I said. She looked at the box in her hand and giggled. Youth had been kind to her; she knew how to play ?look at me? very well. She seemed friendly, forward, and certainly not shy.
?Good eyes.? She said and placed the box back on the rack.
?The better to see you with,? I said and concentrated on my laptop screen. ?But just in case I miss something, we still got an eye on you.?
I pointed out the black CCTV camera domes hanging from the ceiling, only two of the seven had cameras in them, but she didn?t need to know that.
?I love Katherine Hepburn,? She said and put a hand over her heart. ?What did you like most about it??
This one I was ready for. ?I think I liked the moral of it, that working-class girls with big hearts can and will meet the affluent man of their dreams. Consider when it was made, there weren?t many opportunities for women then.?
?Yeah, I like that about Roman Holiday, too.? She said as she walked up to the counter. I could detect of CK when she was close enough for me to smell it; she put her hand out. ?I?m Autumn, pleased to meet you.?
?I?m Clark,? I said. From the floor up, she was; pink toenails, silver toe ring and ankle-bracelet, three-inch open-toed platforms. ?I?ve seen you around, I guess I never got your name until now.?
?So what makes you want to work in a video store?? She said as if saying the man she would sleep with does something else.
?You know what?s really great about working in a video store??
?What?? She said.
?You can tell a lot by what people watch,? I said and Autumn?s face twisted with predictable confusion. ?It?s a window into their souls through their emotions. What they pick out gives you some idea what they?re thinking.?
?I don?t understand.? She said. I got a shot of young cleavage as she bent over to slide a package of red licorice off of the pegboard display beneath the register.
?The person that comes in and buys an armful of comedies probably seem themselves as very energetic people, it takes a lot of energy to laugh.?
?You?re so weird.? She said and suddenly seemed to lose interest. Without another word she went back to her browsing.
I shook my head and checked her out from behind. Gone were the school-girl uniforms her youth, instead she wore a tight pair of neon green Bubblegum-label pants, a belly-button ring, and a midriff shirt to make sure everyone could see it. Her bust size was maybe a 34C. There was a tanning salon four doors down toward the Kwik