The Other Side of Perfect

ONE

Jennifer Edwards placed the carton of eggs into the paper sack as the voice over loud speaker announced “Clean up in aisle three! Jennifer, bring the mop...”

Jennifer sighed as she concluded the sale on her register. 

             
“Rough day?” the customer asked.

             
“It’s fine, just part of the norm around this place” she said.

The customer picked up the sack and walked out the door. Jennifer went to the cleaning closet and grabbed the mop and bucket.

             
“Jennifer, the floors are waiting!” the voice uttered sarcastically.

             
“What am I, super woman?” she huffed under her breath.

As she turned the corner to aisle three, the manager, Rick Richmond, stood ‘cockily’ over three broken bottles of pickled herring.

             
‘
Yuck
!’ she groaned as her stomach churned.  The odor and site of the tiny fish
             
was overwhelming. ‘
Shit! My life sucks
!’ she thought to herself. 

             
“Took you long enough!” Rick scolded.

             
“I was finishing with your customer, Rick!” she snapped.

             
“Watch your tone, young lady, and just do your job!” he demanded.

             
“I always do” she replied. ‘
And yours, and Martha’s and pretty much the whole
             
store’s’
she mumbled under her breath. 

Jennifer had not had the best start in life by most standards; she was a single mother of one, deserted by an invisible dad, and little to no financial stability to speak of.  Despite her lack of education, she was a bright girl with a beautiful aura about her.  Visually, she was stunning.  Even when she was up to her elbows in spilled herring, her beauty was evident to those around her. 

The long dark hair and super, bright brown eyes were elegantly framed upon her sweet Latin-American face. The face of an angel, a model, and... hell, she looked like a movie star, but she was as far from the glamorous life as anybody could possibly be.

With her asymmetrically shaped face, including high cheek bones, dainty chin, the tiny dimple on her right cheek, fashionably perfect lips and the perfectly framed brow line, it was rare when she wasn’t noticed by the male customers or staff members. Despite her appeal, Rick never found it hard to insult her. 

She’d have quit eons ago, but she needed the money for her and her daughter. It wasn’t just her anymore, and she'd be damned if she would do anything to make her daughter's life anything less than perfect. 

Jennifer began to clean up the mess.  But as she bent down, her delicate bottom caught the attention of a couple of guys nearby.  They paused and gawked like ravenous wolves, desperate for a ‘meeting’ with the she-wolf. 

             
“Would you look at that ‘
bootilicious’
babe!” one of the guys said.

             
“Ooh, Damn Hot! I could definitely go for a piece of that! Mmm!” his friend
             
replied.

She heard them initially, but tried to ignore their calls.  But, their persistent howls and comments irked her on this particular day.  She stood firmly and turned to face the drooling dogs. Without a word, she flashed them a look of utter disgust. 

             
“Wow, sugar! Don’t be glaring like that baby, you’re stunning. We Homo Sapiens
             
can’t help ourselves. You’re simply fine and mmm, mmm good, girl!” said one of
             
the guys.

             
“Even with the tiny fish stinking up the joint.” said the other.

             
“Look guys” she said.  “I’m busy here.”

             
“Oh sugar, we don’t mean no harm.”

             
“Please, let me finish my job in peace.”

Distracted by the advances of the two men, she barely noticed her manager  wandering down the aisle toward her.  Without paying attention to the dangers around him, his face nose-deep into his clipboard, Rick failed to see the
WET FLOOR
sign and immediately fumbled over it. 

Before Jennifer could offer a warning, Rick flew into the air and his feet hit the bucket, knocking it over.  The water splashed everywhere, covering everything within a four foot radius, including the male harassers. Rick landed firmly upon his plump ass with a thud and a drenched splat.  Jennifer stood frozen in shock, and the surrounding store came to an immediate stand-still. With Rick resting on his pride, nobody uttered a word.

His pride was wounded and his face was turning a beet red.  It always did when he was pissed about something.  He wasn’t about to let
this
one go, either... 

Paul, the store kiss-ass, hurried to Rick’s side and aided him to his feet. The staff giggled, once they realized Rick wasn’t seriously injured in the clumsy fall. The sight was incredible.  Rick easily weighed 350 lbs and poor, kiss-ass Paul weighed less than 150.  Still, he worked eagerly to aid Rick in his time of woe and humiliation.

“
You okay, boss?” asked Paul.

“
Oh Paul, thank you, thank you.” Rick fumbled and staggered to his feet, then
             
proudly attempted to straighten up. Jennifer stood in horror. 

             
“Oh, Rick!  Are you okay?” She asked with as much concern as she could muster.

             
“You stupid girl!” he shouted.

             
“I…” she began to sputter.

             
“You’re fi...!”

Rick was about to shout ‘You’re fired’, but Kyra, one of the store’s clerks, immediately interjected and interrupted the process.

             
“Fire Jennifer?” Kyra asked.  “Why, she’s the glue that holds this dump together,  
             
and you know it!”

             
“Look what she...” he growled.

             
“You sent her to clean up this aisle.  You knew it was being cleaned.  You knew it
             
would be wet. You weren’t even watching where you were going...” Kyra argued.

             
“Fine. Fine, whatever!” Rick scowled. “Just finish cleaning this mess and stop
             
messing with the male customers or your job will be history. Got it, sugar?”

             
“Got it.” Jennifer’s big eyes were misty with tears she fought to hold back.  It had
             
been a bad, bad day.

             
“Oh, Kyra...” she sighed, her hands trembling.

             
“Girl, you need some fun. Let me take you out after our shift” Kyra said.  “You
             
deserve it!”

             
Jennifer, mortified and tired, nodded.  “I don’t know. I’m tired.”

“
Come on, you know you need it.”

“
Yeah, I do. Thanks Kyra, I think I'll take you up on that!”

TWO

With the 'shift of disaster' finally over, Jennifer gathered her things and looked at Kyra with weary eyes.  “I don’t know how I even made it through this shift! What the fuck? I think every dumb-ass and moronic idiot in the state of Alabama came through here tonight.”

             
“I hear that!” Kyra said.  “Oh girl, we deserve a good night out. Besides, we’re off tomorrow.  Best time to get totally smashed.” Kyra said excitedly. 

             
“Let me drive you home, so you can get dolled up and I will pick you up at 7, okay?  We’re gonna have a sensational time and if we’re lucky, maybe we’ll find someone to take home, huh? Get laid…”  Kyra winked, but Kyra was anything but subtle most of the time.

             
“Kyra!”

             
“You know you’re a hot sista, don’t ya?”

             
“Look at me! I’m a mess!”

             
“You’ll shine like a new penny when you’re all cleaned up. I know we’ll have a
             
blast!” Trust me…”

             
“Alright Kyra, let’s do this thing.” Jennifer wearily pushed herself into the
             
passenger side of Kyra’s bug and bumbled through her memories of the disastrous
             
day. 

             
“Whoa, what a day! This night had better be an improvement, or I may just lose it
             
all together…”

             
“Well, we can’t have that now, can we?”

             
“Hell no, we cannot!”

             
“Then, fun it is!”

Jennifer was grateful for Kyra’s eager optimism. She needed it.  Kyra was the only friend she had these days, it seemed.  The only friend who still gave her the time of day, anyway. The girls in her neighborhood, back home in Greensboro, ridiculed her when she got pregnant at seventeen. 

The whole community turned their back on her.  ‘Slut. Whore. Tramp!’ these were all terms she heard repeatedly, until she finally got up the nerve to leave the town altogether.  Her baby’s daddy accused her of being with many other men and assumed no responsibility for the child’s existence. Why, as the minister’s son he was an absolute ‘angel’ in everyone’s eyes. He’d been crushed to learn what a 'tramp' he’d been dating, even if it was just a convenient thing to concoct so he didn't have to live up to any of his obligations.