In the opposite end of the store the couch used to try shoes on was occupied by three young men. All looked college-aged to her; all were dressed casually. She could see their faces. One more man had his back turned to her, because he was standing in front of a display, looking at expensive sneakers much like the massive ones he was already wearing. He was lanky and tall, with long black hair falling past his neck. Oversized sweatshirt and skinny jeans made him look ever so slightly feminine. His friends, however, were different.

The one sitting on the right had curly blonde hair and bronze skin; he had a polo shirt, a pair of shorts and loafers on him. A boyish grin adorned his open, friendly face. The other two were both brown-haired, and the similarities would not end there; in fact, everything about them was very similar, suggesting they were twins. One had a thick blue hoodie with Greek letters on it, shorts and flip-flops; the other - a flannel shirt, jeans and tennis shoes. And even while sitting, all three of these guys looked really tall to her. At her 5 ft height, Dani was easily impressed by people over 6', and these men hit that mark and went past it. For the lack of known names, she mentally dubbed them as "Polo", "Hoodie" and "Flannel"; the lanky man in the background became a "Skinny".

She frowned at them, figuring out that one of them had to be the person who just called someone a bitch. She noticed Felicia standing slightly to the side with the same pleasing, calm, collected look on her face.

Hoodie broke the brief silence.

"Manager, are your girls always this fucking slow?"

Dani's jaw dropped. This was the same voice as earlier. She shot Felicia a shocked look. Felicia, however, didn't miss a beat.

"Apologies for the wait", she noted. "I understand your frustration. I assure you she'll be back in a second".

"She'd better be", Hoodie said.

"Maybe you should help her out", Flannel added, looking at Felicia. Both Hoodie and Polo giggled. The manager replied with a radiant smile.

"What? You think you're too pretty for that?"

Dani could swear she noticed Felicia's brow twitch. No other reaction followed. "I thank you for you patience", the manager said. "Would you like some water while you wait?"

"Sure would", the guy replied. Almost immediately Polo entered the conversation:

"What are you looking at, lady?"

It didn't immediately register with Dani that she was the one addressed. But now all three men were looking at her. Felicia turned around, flashing Dani a pleading look as she walked away to get the water.

"You got a problem with something?"

They must have been younger than her by almost a decade, yet she felt like she was spoken down to. She'd run into a similar feeling before, in graduate schol, when she had to take on teaching responsibilities for the department. Arrogant young men showing no respect towards her have always grinded her gears. Back then Dani only had the ability to give them grades as a sort of meager power over them. Now she was older, but somehow felt even worse. She bit her lip, deciding she'd better not get involved; after all, Felicia still seemed in control of the situation.

"Nothing", she spoke softly, turned around and went back to sit back down in front of a mirror. From her position she couldn't see the men anymore, but could see Felicia, who was standing with a small tray next to a drinking water fountain. She was filling up a series of Dixie cups. Dani could only see one side of the woman's face, but she could see that Felicia's expression was still the same corporate-neutral-happy. Dani resigned to waiting for Faith to come back.

Felicia just filled the last cup with water when Hoodie's voice thundered once again through the store:
"Finally!"

Along with that, Dani could hear someone panting. She couldn't resist and peeked around the corner of the aisle again. Out from the back of the store, a short woman in an assistant's uniform was walking; her torso and face were obscured by a stack of fancy shoeboxes, and her arms were trembling trying to keep this mountain balanced. Dani vaguely remembered that when she'd just entered the store there were two assistants: Faith and another one, a petite Asian girl her own height. This must have been her.
Felicia also was approaching the arrogant youths with her tray. She handed each one their water cup; Skinny was the only one to refuse it, which he did with a dismissive flick of his wrist. She was about to go back, when Polo said:
"Wait."

The woman stopped in her tracks, flashing him a smile. Polo, however, wasn't looking at her. He was looking at Dani again. Dani felt uneasy, almost expecting to go back to her seat again, but Polo didn't say anything, he simply gave her a funny look before emptying his water cup in one large swig and handing it back to Felicia. The manager, slightly taken aback, accepted it with a bit of a delay.

"Another one."

From her position Dani could see a thin vein pulsing on the side of Felicia's head. "Of course," the manager said as she walked off back towards the water fountain. Dani wondered how long will she be taking their shit like that. Felicia must have seen customers like this before; perhaps she knew that ultimately sales trumped everything. Even the dignity of her employees. This thought made Dani angry.

The short assistant carefully lowered her stack of boxes next to the couch. Now that Dani could see her face she could also see how obviously embarrassed the girl was. She must have been younger than anyone else here; perhaps a senior highschooler trying to make the ends meet. She must have been about Dani's height. Her nametag read "Chloe".

"Here," she said, panting. "I think these are for you..." - she took off a box from the top of the stack and set it down in front of Flannel. The next one followed; the next was for Hoodie; then Polo; then the last two for Hoodie, too. On top of his boxes she put a pair of disposable socks.

"Is there anything else..."

"Quiet," Hoodie cut her off.

Chloe looked at Felicia. The manager was just returning with the second cup of water. She ignored Chloe's pleading look. As she approached the men on the couch, they kicked their shoes off. Flannel was the only one wearing socks; they were white, low-cut and dirty on the underside. They started opening the boxes Chloe brought them and Felicia had to wait for Polo to open the first box and take out the shoes inside - a pair of leather loafers similar to the ones he had on - before he accepted the drink and gulped it down.

Dani didn't know why she was watching this unfold; some part of her being advised to hide from these guys until Faith returned, then pay for her own shoes and leave. This was both awkward and uncomfortable to witness. She'd always known in the back of her mind that working retail can really suck sometimes, but she'd never even imagines someone being as audacious and disrespectful as these arrogant youths. "Probably a group of rich fratboys," she thought to herself. "Used to treating people in the service industry badly. They probably haze the crap out of their pledges, too."

The scene in the meantime continued to unfold. Both Polo and Hoodie ignored the disposables that Chloe brought, simply trying the shoes on barefoot. Polo stood up in his new loafers and walked over to the mirror nearby, taking a careful look. The twins both had sneakers. Flannel quickly put his on and followed after Polo. Hoodie, with a thoughtful look to his handsome face, took one of the shoes up in the air and flexed it around in his hands before taking out the paper ball insert, which he promptly threw away; it almost hit Felicia. With a grunt, Hoodie set the shoe back down on the floor and looked at Chloe.
“Come here and help me out,” he said.
“What.”
“I said, bitch, come here and help me out,” his tone got lower. “Put these on me.”
“We... we don’t normally...” Chloe started and looked at Felicia again. Her supervisor gave a small nod. Dani gasped. The petite assistant with a helpless look on her face crouched down in front of the couch, relieved the laces and positioned the sneakers in front of Hoodie’s large feet.
“Hey, you there,” Polo’s voice attracted her attention. He was looking at her. Flannel was, too. “What’s your name?”
“Danielle,” she replied automatically. “Listen, I don’t know who...”
“Danielle,” he interrupted her. “You mind if I call you Dani?”
Even from the distance that separated them she could clearly see the glint in his blue eyes. She didn’t reply.
“Dani, then,” he continued. “Come over here, would you? I want your opinion on something.”
She could see smiles on their faces as she...