Short Story - Supermarket Satisfaction

I was fresh out of high school, and fresh out of choices. I decided against college, to my parents protest, and so I was on the hunt for a job. After turning eighteen I thought life would be a blast but quickly learned that Mom and Dad wouldn’t pay for everything. I was surprised to get a call back from the local grocery store manager the day after I applied. I was told to come in for an interview and I was very excited.
After showering I did my makeup and dressed in the most formal outfit I owned; a button down white blouse and blue jeans. My mother smiled at me on my way to the front door, and shouted out, “Knock’em dead Jess!” I smiled to myself as I rushed out the door.
I got behind the wheel of my car and immediately checked my reflection in the rear view mirror. My long blond hair, which I normally kept up in a pony tail, was flowing down over my shoulders. I realized I had applied my eyeliner just a little too thick, but enjoyed the way it made my crystal blue eyes stand out. Once I was satisfied with my reflection I buckled up and head to my interview.
His name was Jack Donaldson, he informed me as he shook my hand. He led me back to his office and closed the door behind us. “Have a seat, Jessica” he said as he gestured to a chair positioned in front of his desk. He walked around and took his seat as I took mine and we sat there in silence for a few minutes while he looked over my application.
This is a good point to explain my little tick. I enjoy watching people; their small details, their habits, and any other small details I can find in the time available. So while I sat there waiting for the interview to begin I studied him. He had wavy brown hair, and it was obvious he took very good care it. I wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but I could smell a hint of product and could assume he probably used hair spray. He wasn’t very old either, at the time I had estimated him around thirty.
He looked up from my application and smiled at me, “You haven’t had much work experience.”
I shook my head, “No Sir, I just graduated from High School. This would be my first job.”
“Well then, got to start somewhere right? I’d be honored to be your first boss” he said with a grin.
I’ll admit I’ve never been very good at controlling my excitement, and this was no different. I have a hard time admitting it now, but I actually jumped up and squealed with excitement. Naturally, Mr. Donaldson was taken aback by my sudden outburst but he recovered quickly and smiled. “Glad to see the enthusiasm, let’s just hope you keep it up on your shift.”
I nodded quickly, “Yes Sir, I won’t let you down.”
“Oh don’t worry, I’m sure you won’t. Let’s see you here tomorrow afternoon at 3pm. We’ll get you trained on the register.”
I shook his hand before leaving and practically skipped my way back to my car. It’s embarrassing remembering all this but what do you expect from an eighteen year old girl?
Now, I might not have given my boss a second look if it hadn’t been for my best friend Amy. We had known each other since childhood and I couldn’t bear to think about her leaving for college in the fall. Amy had begged me to go with her, tried to talk up college like it was this great big adventure. In truth, I just never felt like college was right for me.
Amy looked up from her magazine and smiled at me, the wicked little grin she only showed when she was thinking something scandalous.
“He’s hot isn’t he?”
I raised an eyebrow, “Who are you talking about?”
“Your new boss, Mr. Donaldson, he’s a hottie” she said with a giggle.
“Just how would you know?”
Amy rolled her eyes, “My sister worked there two summers ago, remember? Mom didn’t want the car sitting in the parking lot all day so she made me tag along, drive the car home, then go pick her up; drove me crazy.”
“Oh yeah, I remember, your sis got tons of crap at school for being chauffeured by her little sister.”
We both laughed loudly causing one of my parents to bang on the wall, the unwritten signal that meant Shut Up. Amy rolled her eyes, but we both knew her parents did the same thing. I think the fact that she would soon be living in a dorm, miles from her parents, was slowly getting to her head. I had almost forgotten what we had been talking about before Amy brought it back up.
“Anyway, your boss is hot. He’s really built, must work out, and he’s not that old.” She said matter-of-factly.
‘Yeah, I guess.” I said with a shrug.
“You should bone him.”
My eyes went wide with horror; I couldn’t believe Amy had said that. The only reaction my terror received was a loud cackle from Amy and another pound on the wall.
“I’m not a whore Amy.”
Again, Amy rolled her eyes, and I was getting annoyed. “I know you’re not a whore, but you’re an adult now, and the way I hear it you should get the whole virginity thing out of the way as soon as possible anyway.”
I swallowed hard and averted my eyes, instantly causing suspicion. It was now Amy’s turn to go wide eyed.
“Oh my God Jessie! You’re not a virgin?”
I put my finger up to my lips, urging her to lower her voice. The pounding on the wall started again, but I felt lucky. If all they did was pound on the wall, and had not come storming into the room, then I knew they hadn’t heard Amy’s outburst.
I watched as she stood up and started shaking her hands as if she had grabbed something hot, and in truth she had; a huge news flash from her best friend. Amy started pacing back and forth, unable to fully accept my nonverbal confession.
“Seriously Jessie! How could you not tell me about this? I’m your best friend.”
I thought about her question for a minute, and to be honest the reason I never told her was simple; Amy is a big mouth. I knew if I told her the story in confidence it wouldn’t take a week before her ‘sewn lips’ would start to break at the seam. I knew there was no way to get out of this and with the realization that I didn’t have to worry about meeting a mob of laughing classmates come Monday morning I became more comfortable.
I ushered Amy over to the middle of the room and we huddled together on the floor. I could see the look of expectation building on her face. I crossed my legs and rubbed my sweaty palms on my jeans. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. I could see Amy was becoming impatient so I didn’t waste any more time delaying.
“It happened a few months ago, at David Robertson’s eighteenth birthday party.”
Amy’s jaw dropped and she just sat there staring at me. I knew why, Amy had been at that party with me and I had complained for two weeks about how lame it had been. It really had been a lame party, and although what happened there is a big part of my life I still feel a small twinge of guilt.
“It wasn’t that great Amy, it was uncomfortable, awkward, and painful.”
Amy shook her head, “No, wait, who was it? Was it David?”
“No!” I answered quickly, knowing how she felt about it. “It was Jonathan.”
Amy busted out in laughter, “No way! Jon?”
I was about to tell Amy the details she so desperately wanted to know when my dad opened my bedroom door and walked in.
“Seriously girls, you have to go to bed now. I’ve got work in the morning, and really, your adults now; start acting like it.”
When I think about it, my dad’s words that night must have seriously settled deep in my mind because not only did I listen and went to bed despite Amy’s consistent whining, but the next morning I also started to look at things differently. Little things started to matter more and I began to critique my own choices.
I spent the majority of the day going through my room and tossing things I felt too old to own. I trashed teddy bears, old dolls, and even my hot lips telephone. “What on earth are you doing Jess?”
I turned and looked at my mother who was standing in the door way, “Just some cleaning, no big deal.” I said with a shrug.
“Alright,” She replied, but with suspicion. She turned a left, even though I knew she had questions.
I piddled around my room for the next few hours, and then took all the stuff I was ready to get to give up out the trash bins. It was nearly time for work so I hopped into the shower. I had one of those little shower radios attached to the wall so I turned it on. A Britney Spears song was playing and while I wasn’t much of a fan I left it on the station and started rinsing my hair.
The song’s tempo picked up and I was feeling good. I ran my hands through my hair and began moving my hips to the beat. I’ve never been one to sing in the shower, just wasn’t normally my thing so I at least refrained from that.
While I let the conditioner set in my hair I turned the water off and sat on the edge of the tub to shave my legs. I applied the shaving cream; lathering and spreading it all over my legs. After the Britney Spears song ended a string of commercials began to play. I only half listened as I started to pull my razor up my soap covered calf. It wasn’t until I voice I recognized came over the air.
“Your friendly neighborhood Super Foods is having a sale this week; we have a big 10 for $10 sale on many items, and don’t forget to check out the meat department for big savings on dinner tonight.”

It was Jack Donaldson, the store manager and my new boss. I hadn’t thought about his voice at the interview the day before but now it was sticking in my head. I started thinking about what Amy had said. She was right, he was an attractive man. I shook my head and smiled. There were so many things wrong with that thought. For starters he was way too old for me, and secondly he was my boss. I couldn’t help it though; I felt this amazingly warm sensation run through me at the thought of him. I took a deep breath and got back to the task at hand. I would probably hate the man in week’s time if everything I had heard about bosses was true.
After I had finished shaving, and was done with my shower, I stepped out and dried off with a towel. My clothes were hanging from a hook on the back of the bathroom door so after blow drying and brushing my hair I got dressed. I had chosen a blue polo shirt and black slacks, both work requirements I’d found out when reading the dress code in the employee handbook. While staring at my reflection I realized I looked pretty damn good. I hadn’t realized how attractive a polo shirt could look on me. Looking back I suppose it was more excitement to be working, and the idea of professionalism that I seen in the mirror than anything else.
I decided to do my makeup a little more conservatively today. I chose a light powder pink eye shadow and lightly applied my eye liner. I decided against lipstick and just went with clear lip balm instead. After I was satisfied with my makeup I continued on to my hair. This part was very difficult for me. I knew I didn’t want to leave my hair down because it would start to annoy me if it got in my face. I tried a simple pony tail but it didn’t look right. To be honest I think it probably made me look to plain and even with the changes I had been making that just wasn’t me. I ended up deciding on pig tails. Yes, a little childish but I loved the cute way it made me look.
I checked my watch and to my horror I was running late. I ran back to my room to grab my purse and was out the front door before my mom could wish me a good first day. Admittedly I might have broke a few driving laws on my way to the grocery store. I was terrified that I was going to be late for my first day. The funny part of all this was the fact that I ended up arriving fifteen minutes early!
When I walked through the door the air conditioning hit me with a blast of cool air. It felt so good coming in from the humid summer heat that I momentarily forgot what I was doing there. I stood there looking around the store when Mr. Donaldson walked up to greet me. “Good afternoon Jessica.” He said with a bright smile. I returned the smile and shook his hand. I watched as his smile, and eyes, slipped a little bit. I didn’t understand it but something had changed for just a split second. He put his fist up to his mouth, coughed, and then clapped his hands together awkwardly. “Ok, so ready to start your first day?”
I nodded earnestly, “Yes Sir.”
Mr. Donaldson seemed to have recuperated from whatever had upset him. To be honest I stood there wondering if maybe I had forgotten to put on deodorant. I briefly went through the mental processes and knew I had indeed put some on.
I followed him over to the cash registers where two older women stood behind two registers ringing up the customers purchases. He led me to the older of the two women. She was a fairly tall woman with long gray hair. I wasn’t a very good judge of age when it came to the elderly, but at the time I guessed her at being around sixty. Mr. Donaldson patted her on the back.
“Jessica, meet Violet. She’s been here over ten years, she’ll be training you.”
Violet stopped scanning the items and turned toward me. I could tell she was sizing me up. Later when I had spent more time in work force I realized she was determining how long she felt I’d last. I still wonder what her estimate had been.
Violet nodded at me and gave me a weak smile. “Good to meet you.” She said and returned to her work. Mr. Donaldson turned to me, “So, just watch her for awhile, get the feel for what you’ll be doing and then we’ll throw you on your own register before the night rush starts.”
I didn’t see much of Mr. Donaldson for the next few hours; I think he had either been in the back or in his office. I kept my attention on what Violet was doing, taking mental notes of the procedures. From what I seen it didn’t seem to be that big of a deal. It pretty much came down to scanning the items, telling the customer the total, taking their money, and finally handing them back their change. Of course I learned how to do credit card transactions and other things but I felt confident that I could handle my own register.
At five Mr. Donaldson returned and took me over to an empty checkout lane. “This is your register; I’m assuming you paid attention to Violet for the past few hours so you should know the functions.”
“Yeah, no problem,” I said confidently.
He grinned at Violet who returned the expression causing me to wonder if I was somehow the butt of some joke.
“All right then, I’ll be in my office if you need me. Things will start picking up in about fifteen minutes. Most people get off work at five, so they stop in to get stuff for dinner before heading home.”
I flipped the switch that caused my check out number to light up, trying to show my confidence.
“Alright then,” he said simply and headed off to his office.
I learned quickly just what that joke was about. By six the store was packed and I was having a hard time keeping up. Both Violet and the other woman, who I learned was Donna, had to repeatedly come to my rescue. I remember thinking that I would go mad hearing those annoying beeps of failure my register would shriek at me.
By seven I felt I would scream. Violet told me to go to the office and talk to Mr. Donaldson, her faith in me completely dispelled. As I took the walk of shame to the office I was terrified I would be fired.
I knocked on the door and took a deep breath. I heard a cough and mistook it for an agreement of entrance. I turned the door knob, opened the door and walked in. My eyes instantly opened wide and my jaw dropped. Mr. Donaldson was sitting on a small futon on the far side of his office, and his pants and underwear where at his ankles. “Please shut the door!” He yelped and without thinking about it I did as he requested. He hurried to pull his pants up and I averted my eyes. That’s when I noticed he had his computer monitor turned to face the futon. A pornographic movie was playing with volume muted. I quickly rushed over and turned the monitor off.
“Oh my god,” he said and put his face in his hands. “What am I going to do?”
I wasn’t sure what he should do but I remembered a similar situation happening at my high school. A boy had been caught masturbating in the bathroom by a teacher, which was serious trouble. It didn’t take a genius to know that the trouble would be much worse for Mr. Donaldson.
I took a road even I wouldn’t have expected to take. I sat down beside him and patted him on the back. “Calm down, it’s alright.” He looked up at me confused, “I’m going to be fired,” he said sternly. I ignored his tone, and shrugged. “Not if I don’t tell anyone.”
“You seriously won’t tell anyone?” He asked skeptically.
I sat there for a minute or two and thought about it. I thought about a few things actually.
“I’ll make you a deal; I won’t tell anyone what you were doing if you do something for me.”
He sat up strait in his seat.
“Your seriously going to blackmail me?” he said, anger flashing in his eyes.
I shook my head, “No, I want you to teach me things.”
“Teach you things?” He said, obviously confused. “Like what?”
I bit my lip, wondering if I should actually go through with this. “Teach me about sex.”
I saw something in his eyes for a brief second, I knew I had him.
He sat quietly for awhile, obviously thinking about it. “What do you want to know?”
Now, I wasn’t a virgin and my first time wasn’t very pleasant, but I also knew that it was suppose to feel good after you got past that horrific first time. I decided Mr. Donaldson would be the perfect person to test that out on. After all he was attractive, experienced, and the only person I knew with both those traits in this situation. I had to take advantage of it.
I climbed on top of him, straddling him. “I want to learn how to orgasm.”
By the bulge pressing into my inner thigh I got the feeling he was alright with this. “You’ve never had an orgasm before?” He asked, surprised.
“Yeah, I have, but only by myself. I want to orgasm during sex.”
He leaned forward and buried his face in my neck. I could hear him inhaling my scent. I had learned a few things from magazines and movies so I wiggled on top of him, making sure he could feel me where it counted. I was rewarded with a light moan in my ear. “Lock the door,” he whispered to me. As I pulled away I seen his eyes were closed. I rushed over, locked the door, and returned quickly.
I stood there in front of him and stripped down. I removed all my clothes and left them on the floor in a pile. I stepped closer, taking my time to let him enjoy his view. I mimicked the moves I’d seen in movies, running my hands up and down my torso. I gently caressed my breasts, lightly pinching my nipples.
He pulled his pants back down to his ankles, “Climb back on,” he said with a grin, this one much less PG than the one he showed out on the floor. I did as I was told and let him guide his manhood into me. It still hurt, but not as much as it had the first time.
“Now start bouncing on my dick.”
I was so startled by what he sad that I just stared at him. I think he understood because he gently placed his hands on my hips and started moving me in rhythm. After a few minutes it actually started to feel really good. I started moving on my own so he moved his hands to my breasts and start kneading them. He was a little rough with them at times but it both painful and pleasurable at the same time.
I moaned a little loudly and he put one of his hands over my mouth for a second, letting me know I needed to quiet down. I started grinding harder and faster. He winced and bit his lip; I realized I had been digging my nails into his shoulders. I moved my hands up the back of his head and ran my fingers through his hair as I bobbed up and down.
I felt it building up inside me and I had to try hard not to scream. I must have slowed down because his hands were back on my hips moving me up and down fast and hard. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, letting the rush take me over. Little by little then faster and faster I peaked. The only way I can describe it now is to say it was like rushes of colored smoke zooming by through my mind.
I heard him coming; the light moans and short gasps. I put my hands on the sides of his face and massaged. “Oh god…” is all he could say as he came back down from his sexual high. Once I was sure he was done I stood up and started getting dressed, and he quickly did the same.
We sat there together on the futon in silence. I suppose we both needed to catch our breath. I was the first one to speak, “I don’t think I can do this job.”
Mr. Donaldson nodded, “I think you should go to college.”
I thought about it for a minute, and in truth he was right. College opened the door to unlimited experiences and to let that go would probably be something I’d regret. I nodded and stood up, turning to him. “Thanks for work experience,” I said with a grin.
He smiled and nodded, “Any time.”
After making sure I was presentable I left his office and started walking toward the front door. Violet turned my way, realizing I was leaving, with a smug look on her face, “Where you going?”
I smiled, “I was fired.”
Violet looked utterly shocked, “For what?”
“I think I’m too qualified for the job.”
In retrospect that was a silly thing to say to her, but at the time it felt good and I’ve learned if it feels good go with it. I saw Mr. Donaldson a few times after that, when visiting my parents from college. We never spoke to each other again, just a nod and a smile. We had an unspoken bond.