Chapter 5

“You do know I hate coming into work on my days off, right?”
Maddy chuckled. “Ah come on, it’ll be worth it when we’re back at your place watching a Professor X: Season Seventeen marathon with a big bowl of popcorn.”
“But why here?” said Ellie, sticking out her bottom lip and stomping her feet in mock tantrum. “I spend enough time here already. Why can’t we go to HMV to get it?”
Maddy slipped a wry smile. “You know all too well why. One, HMV is in town, and Freshfields is right around the corner. And two, you don’t get a colleague discount at HMV.” 
“Alright,” said Ellie, “you and your logic have won this time. Season Seventeen just better be worth it.”
They passed through the store entrance, and already Ellie spotted three people she worked with. Whilst she got along well with all of them, the last thing she wanted was to speak with them — if she did she’d be in here forever, and before she knew it her day off would be gone, and she’d be back here anyway. 
“Morning, Ellie,” said Steve from the security podium. 
Damn, barely one step through the door and they’ve already got me. Ellie turned to give a polite wave, and blushed as she caught eyes with Jae-Sun. Grabbing Maddy by the arm, Ellie dragged her onwards, her face growing redder by the moment. 
“So who’s he?” Maddy asked, craning her neck to look back at Jae-Sun. “I haven’t seen him here before.”
“No one,” Ellie replied, firmly closing the lid on any further questions. Though Ellie knew all too well that Maddy was an expert at removing tricky lids. 
“If I wasn’t mistaken,” she began, already making Ellie’s insides knot with cringe, “I’d say he’s someone you like.”
Ellie gritted her teeth and moaned; Maddy always knew just how to get under her skin. “Okay, okay. He’s a new guy, and yes, I like him. Satisfied?” She threw her best friend a look that said ‘let’s drop it, alright?’, but Maddy pretended not to notice. 
“So why haven’t you got his number?”
“Because,” she answered. “That’s why.” 
Maddy chuckled, satisfied her work was done. “Don’t worry,” she added. “I’ll make sure to ask him for you on the way out.”
Ellie shot her a look of daggers. “You know, sometimes I really wonder why we’re friends…”
Maddy beamed. “Because you love me, that’s why.”
Despite herself, a smile crept across Ellie’s face.
An escalator whisked them up to the mezzanine floor, where a display of several televisions awaited them, all playing the latest Bond movie. 
“I don’t know who thought Dwayne Johnson would be a good pick to play James Bond,” said Ellie. “My money was on Henry Cavill.”
“He might not be able to act,” said Maddy, “but my is he good looking!”
Ellie rolled her eyes and laughed. To her dismay, her mind instinctively harked back to Jae-Sun. She felt her cheeks reddening, and distracted herself by pulling Maddy onwards. 
They snaked through the various entertainment aisles, containing media players, televisions and games consoles, before arriving at the home media section. A plethora of the latest movies and TV shows were laid out in front of them. The two of them scanned the shelves with hawk-like precision, but were both left flummoxed.
“It’s not here,” said Ellie. “Are you sure it’s out today?”
“Yeah,” said Maddy. “The fourteenth.” She pulled out her phone. “Yep, it’s saying the same on the website, too.”
“But not on the shelf…” 
“Looks like we’ll have to go to HMV after all,” said Maddy, dejectedly. 
“And lose more of my day off…” said Ellie, sullenly.” She gazed to her left, to a pair of battered and scuffed doors. “I mean, I’m technically not supposed to when I’m not working, but I could check the warehouse?”
Maddy’s eyes lit up. “Yep, you should absolutely do that.”
Ellie frowned. Gary wouldn’t exactly mind, not if it led to another sale. But if Carol caught her in there, out of uniform to boot… she’d make a meal out of the disciplinary. Looking back to Maddy’s pouting, puppy-dog face, she sighed. 
“Oh, alright then.”
Looking over her shoulder to check for no Carol, Ellie approached the warehouse doors. She could see through the scratched plastic windows that there was no one inside. Checking once more that there was no one watching, Ellie entered the warehouse. 
The entertainment section of the warehouse was a fairly organised affair. Products were sorted into various categories that corresponded to their locations on the shop floor. 
New releases were kept inside a caged section in the corner, which was where Ellie headed. Ordinarily, a code was required to enter the area, but to Ellie’s surprise, a delivery box had been used to prop open the door. Even better, the box was marked with today’s date, meaning…
“Result!” Ellie exclaimed.
Sitting at the top of the open box was Professor X: Season Seventeen. A flashy image of Leslie Nielson as the Professor stood in front of the Tasid on the front cover. Ellie could scarcely believe her luck, and reached down for the box when a thought struck her: if she didn’t scan the box set out on SPIMS before buying it, whoever was working on Entertainment today — Gerry from memory — would be scored down for inaccuracies. She looked around for a scanner, and spotted one on the shelving further in the cage. She hopped inside and grabbed the scanner, seeing that it was already logged in on Gerry’s account. She scanned the box set out of the inventory, and was placing the scanner back where she found it, when a round of curses caught her attention. 
Through the back of the shelf she spied Aoife, the new Operations Manager, red-faced, swearing at a scanner in her hand. 
“Damn piece of junk,” she huffed — one of the more minor curses she had uttered so far — and cast the device aside. It clattered across the floor towards Ellie, and she noticed that its back panelling had been removed, exposing a mass of red and green wiring. 
“If it’s not in the devices themselves, then where can it be?” Aoife muttered.
“Fitzgerald?” 
The familiar voice sent a shiver through Ellie’s spine. Carol Baker. Ellie backed away from the shelving and began to skulk towards the exit. 
“What are you doing up here?” Carol demanded, rather than asked, Aoife.
“I’m covering Gerry,” Aoife explained. “He’s—”
“I don’t care where he is, he should be here,” snapped Carol, “doing his job.”
As much as Ellie wanted to hear the entirety of their conversation, self-preservation took precedence. Sticking to her tip-toes, Ellie made for the shop floor, as fast as her spritely legs would carry her. She made it to safety without a further hitch, where Maddy was waiting expectantly. 
“Well?” said Maddy. “Did you find it?”
“Got it,” Ellie announced, holding up the box set as proof. She subsequently began to pant heavily, having realised she had been holding her breath since seeing Carol in the warehouse.
“What were you doing, running a marathon in there?” Maddy joked. “Come on, let’s get paid up — we’ve got a marathon to start!”
With haste, they headed for the checkouts and, to Ellie’s relief, Jae-Sun was nowhere to be seen when they left.

Next Aisle: Chapter 6