- Thank you very much, but I have no partner, I replied sadly.
- I would be happy to be your partner, the man told me, winking at me. Al-though, to tell the truth, I am already interested in another person.
- So are you going to tell her? I asked quietly.
-I don’t know, I never have the courage - he said with shame.
-Try with some flowers, that always helps and if she does not accept you, you will only have lost a bit of your ego.
- I no longer have pride miss, time took it away, it’s something else - he said in a mysterious tone.
- Listen to me, some flowers, even just one, but not a red rose, I said, winking at him.
-Oh, why not? He asked surprised.
-Don’t be mischievous, you already know what it means.
And we both got that nervous laugh of complicity that two friends have when they touch personal issues and the man left happily towards the direction of the florist as he told me, to prepare for his attack next Friday.
I stayed alone for a while as no client came, surprised at what had happened.
Normally, I had the habit of not talking to customers, since it was very stress-ful to have to be marking and thinking about the answer I had to give.
The only reason I would talk to a customer was to give the total cost of the purchase, and I would do this with haste, since usually there were one or two more customers waiting on the queue
But at this moment, it seemed time was not important, as if what was really important was to dedicate a little time to this man who was always looking down, instead, he was encouraged and had a big smile.
“Let’s see if it’s true what my boss told me of him having a good day,” I thought within myself.
The next customer arrived, she was like those women difficult to deal with, because they complained about everything. I still remember yesterday’s argu-ment, because some yogurts had today’s expiration date. She complained and argued that with so little time she was not going to have the time to eat them all and that she would have to throw more than half, so she asked me for a dis-count of at least half the price.
The day before, it was because I mistakenly gave her a penny less of her chan-ge. She was very angry saying that, if the products were already expensive, she could not afford not having her change back correctly.
But strangely I did not feel afraid or intimidated by her presence as in other occasions. She was one of those people who were hard to forget and it wasn’t nice meeting them, those type of people if you saw them on the street you would prefer changing sidewalk before facing them. I had barely begun to dial when she asked me,
-Hey, which perfume is it today?
Feeling surprised I told her and she spoke to me again saying,
-I might buy a bottle of that, you know I like to wear perfume, but in very little quantity, I prefer my own smell to mix with the perfume.
- That way people will know you by you smell, I said with a forced smile.
-Indeed, I do not like those people who because of lack of hygiene they hide their own smell behind a litre of cologne.
-Besides, they say it’s an aphrodisiac, I mean personal smell, I pointed out.
-Yes, I have also heard about that, but they say that men are rather visual, that’s why I always wear clothes of one size less than mine.
We both laughed a lot with that statement, the truth is that I didn’t know the woman, perhaps I had judged her wrongly or maybe too easily.
Now that I knew her a little better, she seemed to be a beautiful person, and of course anybody could have a bad day even her, that would explain the clashes we have had in the past, nothing to remember anymore.
I said farewell with a smile and after a moment of being alone I heard on the public address system that I was needed in customer service. That shocked me, because when a cashier was needed they usually send a girl to give the errand to avoid causing the scandal of using the speakers.
When I arrived, the manager with a big smile told me,
-See, some of us have been talking and we believe that you will be the emplo-yee of the week.
- In all my years here I have never been employee of the week - I said surpri-sed.
-Well, you are today, he replied winking at me.
-But that means …
-Yes, indeed, collect your things, because you free for the rest of the day.
It seemed like a dream come true, I had always envied the luck of some people getting off thanks to being the employee of the week, but it had never really touched me until this moment.
I felt lucky, as if I had been touched by providence, capable of doing anything, of making my dreams and desires come true.
I left after hugging my colleagues and even a customer who crossed my path and gave everyone a nice smile. I went to a children’s goods store, because I wanted my happiness to be shared with those that are mine, and although I didn’t have much money I wanted to surprise my son so I went to buy him a toy.
Before entering the store, I saw a person selling lottery coupons. I had always been suspicious of those games that take away you salary and also your illu-sions with them, because years and years pass by without winning, neither you nor any family member, despite the gossip that says that they have heard of one person or the other who won but nobody ever knows the person directly.
I bought a number and I left the change to the seller, who delighted me with a poem as a thank you, the poem despite being short was beautiful and so I let him know.
After I went into the store and looking around a lot I decided on a ruben cube, although I knew that my son was more of wrestling toys, it seemed a good en-tertainment that would help you focus on difficult tasks.
Well, to tell the truth, I did not expect him to ever solve it, because when I was younger I tried several times and never succeeded.
I asked the clerk to wrap it for me as a gift and once I paid I went home exci-ted. There was my mother sitting on a chair watching TV and knitting a scarf, even though we did not need it, because we already had a collection, but she liked to weave it and it kept her busy.
After greeting her, I went to my son’s room, where he spent the afternoons. Al-though there was no one to watch him, he knew that I would ask him about his homework in the evening before dinner and I would check if he had done them well. For that reason he divided his time as he wanted into studying and rest time, if he liked he could do his homework first and then spend the rest of the afternoon playing.
When I arrived he was colouring a notebook, seeing me enter he was surprised and looked at a clock in case time had gone without realising and he said,
-Mom, what are you doing here at this time? Are you okay?
-I’m doing great, I’ve only come to see you earlier, to know how you were- I replied with a smile.
- I’m fine, thanks, but you have to go unless they might complain at work, he said hurriedly.
That filled me with pride, knowing that I had such a responsible son.
-Look today I have no more work to do, I have been granted the afternoon off, so if you want we can go to the park for some time.
-I still have homework, he said with a sad face.
