Don't Wait For Me by Dan Kolbet

Author:Dan Kolbet [Kolbet, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Fiction & Literature
Publisher: Alfeka Publishing
Published: 2013-11-10T05:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Five

The line at the front counter of Mr. Z’s was six-people deep and it was just 10:20 a.m. As soon as Edwin had opened the store, customers poured in. Some people had even been waiting outside. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen. It was as if a time machine had transported the store and all its customers back to Mr. Z’s heyday of popularity before the big box stores stole all the customers. The Christmas music was playing and the joyous laughter of customers filled the store. Edwin couldn’t wipe the grin off his face. It was amazing. He’d saved the store. It was that easy.

“I’m glad to see you guys up and running again,” a man said as Edwin rang him up at the register. “I nearly forgot about this place until I saw that flyer this morning in the lobby of my office. My wife usually does all the shopping, but I figured it was for a good cause. You know, for the kids and all, so I’d come in.”

“I very much appreciate it, sir,” Edwin said. “And I hope to see you again.”

The line of customers kept getting longer and longer, which worried Edwin because Amelia hadn’t shown up that morning at 9:30 like she was supposed to. Now he was the only one manning the store. And since he had to work the register that meant no one was helping customers up and down the aisles. He tried to focus on the register, but he wanted to be in the aisles.

“Hey, bub, what are you playing at?” the man said to Edwin, as he held out his receipt.

“I’m sorry?” Edwin wasn’t sure what the man said.

“You didn’t give me my discount. What is this, some kind of scam? Man, and to think I was glad I came in here.”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Edwin said.

“The flyer said I’d get a 40 percent discount if I spent 25 bucks,” he said. “I’m looking at this receipt and I don’t see no discount here.”

Edwin was caught off guard.

“I’m sorry, you’re mistaken,” Edwin said. “We’re not offering a discount on sales, just a donation to the St. Mark’s charity drive for purchases over $25.”

“Then it’s a scam,” the man said. “What a joke, and at Christmastime too.”

He turned and stormed out of the store as the line of customers bunched closer together, partly to watch Edwin and the man, but also because the aisles were becoming crowded and they were running out of room.

“He’s right about the discount,” said the next customer in line, a woman holding a baby. “I saw it in the paper too. But don’t worry about it for me. I’ll still make my purchase.”

“Thank you, but we never offered a discount,” Edwin said, wondering what the heck had happened.

Someone down the line passed up a newspaper open to the advertisement for the Mr. Z’s Last Minute Holiday Sale. Edwin braced himself on the counter. Stated as clear as day at the bottom of the ad read: “All sales will be discounted 40%.

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