InstructionbySeduction by Jessica Shin

early, a chip on her
shoulder and an attitude to boot.
    “Okay, everybody.” She addressed the group for the shift
meeting. “Let’s get through this and get going.”
    Leah ran through the usual info. She reminded everyone to
smile and deliver exceptional service. Her smile seemed forced, even to her. As
the crowd dispersed Kelly walked over to Leah and said, “Hey, what’s wrong?”
    “It was a rough day yesterday.” Leah shrugged.
    “I heard.”
    “Oh great. Word got out, huh?”
    “Well, Rusty was saying…”
    “I don’t give a shit what Rusty says. If I had any authority
I would fire his ass in a second.”
    “Whoa, what happened?” Kelly crossed her arms in front of
her.
    Leah hesitated. She shouldn’t be talking about it. Not to
Kelly, not to anyone. She shouldn’t be thinking of it at all.
    “I overheard Rusty and someone else talking last night.
About me. It wasn’t nice.”
    “Oh, Leah,” Kelly said sadly. “They were just talking out of
their asses. Don’t pay any attention to what they think or say. Their opinion
doesn’t matter.”
    “I know. Didn’t make it any easier to hear.”
    Kelly nodded.
    “I just feel…” Leah sighed. “I don’t know. Inadequate.
Unprepared.”
    “Welcome to management.” Kelly smiled. “Managers are just
like the rest of us—they just have more responsibility bestowed upon them.
You’ll get used to it, girl.”
    Leah tried to smile back.
    “Come on now,” Kelly continued. “Let’s get out there and
deliver exceptional service. I know you want to help some customers, don’t
you?”
    The smile came out of Leah naturally this time.
    “You know what turns me on, don’t you?” Leah laughed.
    From the moment Leah set foot on the floor she was running.
Bob wasn’t there to offer any support that night so she was being called over
to override registers and deal with customer problems and take phone calls.
They were still a little shorthanded, even more so after Bob fired the
high-schooler who hadn’t shown up for his shift the day before, so she was also
running around helping to bag groceries.
    “Hey, Leah,” a voice called. She ran from one of the
registers over to a newer employee, Nick, who was standing by a stack of boxes
full of merchandise for shelving.
    “What’s going on, Nick?” she asked.
    “Rusty’s been gone for like half an hour. I need him to help
me with this shit.”
    “Nick, please do not use profanity out here. A customer
could hear you.”
    “Sorry. But I can’t do this all by myself.”
    “Do you know where Rusty went?”
    “He went for a break and didn’t come back.”
    “Okay. Please get done what you can and I’ll go look for
Rusty. If I can’t find him I’ll come back and help you.”
    “Thanks, ‘cause there’s more boxes where these came from.”
    Leah walked back into the storeroom and glanced around. No
Rusty. He’s probably out back smoking , Leah thought. She headed to the
door through which she’d overheard Rusty’s rude comments the night before. She
pulled it open and sure enough, there he was, leaning against the building and having
a smoke.
    “Rusty, what are you doing?” She lifted her hands in
exasperation.
    “Um, smoking,” Rusty said with a snarky laugh.
    “You’re supposed to be working. You left Nick all alone with
all that work. Your break is fifteen minutes, not thirty.”
    Rusty shrugged. “I’ll get back in there in a minute.”
    “You’ll get back in there now,” Leah said, her heart beating
in her ears. She hoped she wasn’t shaking on the outside like she was on the
inside.
    “No.”
    Leah nearly gagged.
    “What do you mean no?”
    “I mean no. I’m not doing it now.”
    Leah didn’t know how to respond. She wanted to tell him to
clock out and never come back. But she couldn’t. She didn’t have the authority
to fire him. As she thought about it, she didn’t know exactly what she did have
the authority to do. She just expected that everyone would do what she