Reality-check bounces at McKenzie's

McKenzie's . . .
-----Snip-----
"Excellent! I'm feeling fine myself, now let me introduce your
fellow employees, then we shall go upstairs to Floor 2 to the
Employees lounge and I will show you your cubicle. Then I shall show
you around all the departments on the two floors of the store. By
this time it will be lunchtime &; you will be able to aquaint
yourself better with the employees."
Zack stared at him, "Ohhkay ...."
"Good, now I shall take you to my office and we'll meet
everyone,".
-----Snip-Within-A-Snip-----
As Stewie and Zack (hey, cool name!) (Mk. 2) cut through the
shop floor to get to Stewie's office, a deshevelled figure suddenly
leapt out from behind a rack ofcrushed velvet suits, and grabbed
Stewie by the lapels, lifting him off his feet. For a horrible moment
Stewie thought it was his evil doppelganger, but then noticed the
distinct lack of H on the forehead.
"Where... is.... the.... exit...?" croaked the apparition.
In shock, Stewie pointed to the exit, ironically, barely 5
minutes walk away.
As the figure staggered off to the exit, throwing a water flask
made from a water bed behind him, Stewie brushed his suit down.
"I wonder what that was all about" he remarked as he carried on
with his tour.
"And on our left, you'll see our range of water bed... hey!"
I was very concerned about this. Not about who did it - he knew
it was Mad McKenzie as it smelled like toilet and it said "Mad Stuart
McKenzie slashed this water bed."
I was concerned about replacing it. It was rare that Ruta III
was at war with Sontar so their lovely waterbed exports were horribly
expensive and only came once every 28 months.
At last Harris arrived. I saw something egg shaped in his left
hand making his knuckles white. I'm not surprised - it probably was
an egg. But then I looked closer and saw a glimpse of a light bee
before I was hit by his fist. Not hard thank gaw.
"McKenzie. Richards. Before you come telling me all about your
oh so precious waterbeds I have in my palm the light bee of your
doppelganger."
I couldn't believe it.
"I don't believe it!" I said, "If you don't mind please place
the light bee under your right boot and crush it senseless."
"Are you tellin' me my job?" asked Harris. There was a pause,
followed by "Does it have to be my right boot?"
-----End Snip-Within-A-Snip------
My Office
I stood at my desk, "Whoops! I almost knocked over my "Simmer of
the Month" trophey ... a ha ha .."
No one was amused.
"Anyhoo, Zack I'd like to introduce my unofficial deputy - Mr.
Harold James Smith-Weston."
Zack met the man - he heard about him before. He had imagined
him as an old fogey, but Harold was a young thin man and looked about
25ish.
"Hi," Harold said, "You can call me Harry though,"
"Okay Harry," Zack said and shook his hand.
"Now over here," I said, "is Ms. Carol Jago. She was originally
my secretary but I hadn't enough staff in the store so she is just a
store officer."
"Hello," said Carol.
"Er .. hello .." said Zack. He felt a tad uncomfortable for some
reason.
"And last but not least, Michelle Dubois. She is or should I say
was the newbie."
Zack and Carol greeted each other.
"Now that I have made you welcome we shall go upstairs to show
you your cubicle ...
-----End Snip-----
Zack followed Stewie up the stairs, thinking as he went.
~Interesting staff. Hope I can fit in. Wonder if they'd hire
Cubie . . . if they can get her fixed.~
Zack had reluctantly left Cubie's control panel with the
hologram repair department along with repeated slowly-spoken single-
syllable warnings not to activate anything other than her hologram
routine. He hoped she wouldn't give them too much trouble, but he
assumed that if she didn't actually see him, she might stay calm long
enough for the techs to diagnose her.
Stewie showed him to what looked like a broom closet. A yellow
post-it note with M. Dubois scrawled across is was slapped on the
door at a slight angle. Stewie snatched it away, then smiled. "Here
you go. Your own office."
Zack peered inside. "Is there a light?"
Stewie smiled. "Of course. Right there on the floor."
Zack reached down and picked up the disposable flashlight. It
lit dimly. "Where would I get a replacement?"
Stewie's smile widened. "Hardware. Let them know you're on the
staff - you'll get ten percent off."
Zack started to complain, then remembered the dollar-to-pound
ratio and shrugged. "All right." Tossing the flashlight into the
closet, he closed the door. Then he noticed the coin lock
installed. "Do I get ten percent off of that?"
Stewie's smiled twitched. "It's standard policy for newbies."
~Ah, well. Don't think I'll be needing to get into my office
all that often anyway.~
Stewie excused himself, and Zack headed back down to the first
floor.
McKenzie and Harris were arguing about the waterbed vandal.
Zack decided that it had nothing to do with him, so he slid off to
hardware to replace the flashlight.
It was there that he was educated on the true rate of exchange
between the dollar and the pound. Instinctively, he tightened his
belt as he returned to the main floor.
Deciding to make the best of it, he walked up to a customer with
his best smile. "Can I help you?"
(I shall await the influx of infected customers . . .)
Zack Richards