The Goth, the Sex Shop, and the Surprise
Part 1 The store’s chime went off as the elderly Mr. Greenfield shuffled out. Athena watched the pensioner scurry away, likely her last paying customer of the evening. Mr. Greenfield was a regular, twice a month customer, and always late at night. He had to be pushing 80, but clearly his libido was still intact. Mrs. Greenfield was a lucky woman, mused the goth store clerk. She tapped at her phone, glancing at the time. Just over twenty minutes to close. With tired eyes, she looked up at the only remaining patrons, though she hardly wanted to use the term. It was a couple, barely out of their teens. They had spent the last forty minutes giggling, ogling, and laughing at everything in the sex shop. Athena let an exasperated sigh rattle from deep within her. She was too fucking tired for this. She’d stayed up all night finishing a freelance piece for some obscure blog. It was a bunch of drivel she had written, but it paid, and thus helped keep the lights on. Oh, the woes of a struggling writer. ...