𝐁𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐄𝐑 | 𝐀𝐌𝐘 𝐒𝐎𝐒𝐀

one.

"i didn't know your incompetence stretched to not being able to pack shelves properly." kristen resisted the urge to roll her eyes, gathering up the toy dolls that had fallen from the shelf barely five seconds earlier. leave it to amy sosa to make her way over from whatever aisle she was in to make sarcastic comments on yet another one of kristen's mini screw ups. "my general incompetence is actually none of your business." she placed the dolls back into their places before sliding the box she had originally been trying to cram onto the shelf in the nearest gap she could find.

"so you admit you're incompetent?" the brunette was wearing a small smile, one that kristen had become used to over the years. "is there something you want?" kristen crossed her arms, she really wasn't in the mood for amy or her sarcasm. "yes actually, you're needed on register four." kristen had started at cloud nine almost six years previous and the words you're needed on registers still sent shivers down her spine. there was nothing she hated more than being on registers, unpacking boxes with barely any customer interaction was where she shone. and she was way more prone to mistakes on the registers. she wasn't the best at her job but she tried her best mostly and glenn liked her so that usually worked out in her favour.

"no one else can cover the register?" kristen asked hopefully, falling into step beside amy who had already started walking away from her. "no," the brunette sighed. "we're short-staffed, you'll just have to suck it up." she smiled almost sympathetically at the girl, kristen decided not to mention it because she knew the response would be laced with sarcasm. "glenn still hasn't hired anyone?" she frowned. "that's like a record for him, he usually hires the first person to walk through the door." amy nodded. "yeah that's how you got here!" she gestured towards the registers. "it's not glenn who's checking the new hires, it's dina."

"that explains it," kristen nodded. "we're never getting new staff if it's up to her." amy groaned slightly. "do not say that," she said. "registers, go." she turned and walked away, leaving kristen to attend to the register. she slid in behind the counter and tapped her employee number in before switching on the light beside her. they had been short staffed for a while now and while it was easier to get extra hours, it also meant that not a lot got done when the floor staff was continuously being picked off for the registers.

kristen scanned through her first customers groceries, trying to avoid looking over at the customer help desk where amy was lingering with garrett. it was not a big secret that kristen was a screw up on registers. when she had first been hired, the initial plan was to mainly keep her on the registers but after one singular week everyone had figured out that maybe the girl would be better off elsewhere. she was slow and often couldn't locate the barcodes and a lot of the time, the universe was not on her side and she'd get stuck with the register that was faulty. however, when glenn first placed her on the floor they quickly figured out that she was far better at that.

kristen was clumsy by nature but there was far less mistakes made on the floor and no one really cared when she knocked things off shelves because she could always pick them back up. and they kept her away from glassware which was always helpful. amy on the other hand had always found her to be more of a hindrance than anyone else did. her comments were always more pointed towards kristen than others, she seemed to get along with everyone except for amy and it had bugged her for the longest time. while they could talk casually on the floor, kristen always felt like amy would rather be anywhere else. she had let it stop bothering her long before, she wasn't going to get along with everyone and amy just seemed to be one of those people.

kristen continued scanning until her register started beeping uncontrollably barely thirty minutes later. she turned the can of tomatoes over and cursed under her breath. "take your time," the woman standing at the end of the counter smiled reassuringly at her which was a major surprise because most customers kristen had encountered when the register acted up usually ended up yelling at her. "first days are always hard." kristen just smiled in response, trying to ignore the way her face flushed red in slight embarrassment. six years reduced down to people thinking she was new because she couldn't ever manage to get a register working.