World of Endless Days

Charley made sure she arrived at work earlier than expected the next morning. She'd much rather prove Chuck wrong than give him the satisfaction, and a reason to be a complete bitch to her for the second day in a row. The shopping centre was quiet as she walked through, taking the time to look around at every shop window she passed. After four months of window dressing, she'd gotten an eye for it, she noticed tiny things, like the positions the mannequins were in, and the material of the backdrop, or the way a scarf was casually slung around a mannequin's neck. Minor details made up for everything. It was just a shame Charley felt like the only person in the world who could see that.

She rounded the corner and came to a halt. She stared in horror at the window she had taken the time to dress only the day before. Her eyes widened as she stared at the ripped backdrop and the naked mannequins, all lifeless on the floor. Her cheeks flushed red as she spotted none other than Chuck Reynolds inspecting the window display. She marched across to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Chuck, what the hell?" She asked, trying to keep her voice low, as not to attract any unnecessary attention to herself.

He tapped his chin, as if deep in thought. "I don't know what happened. Maybe management did it. You have to admit, Charley, it looked tacky as hell. I don't think you'll keep your job much longer if this carries on, I mean, the window advertises the shop, it gives a sneak preview as what to expect inside, and you're ruining our reputation by creating a complete mess. The mannequins look like tramps from the eighties and the backdrop looks like a five year old threw paint on a beach towel. Ugh," he shuddered at the end of his harsh, critical speech.

Charley narrowed her eyes. "I dress the mannequins in the clothes given to me. The backdrops are meant to go with the overall scene. Isn't the eighties coming back anyway?"

Chuck raised an eyebrow, her sneered unattractively. "Just start over, try and make something original, unique. Something less," he looked her up and down, "tacky." With those final orders, he stalked off into the shop, leaving Charley standing there, her mouth opening and closing like some kind of fish.

***

"Argh! I only have enough money on me for one!" Eric cried in desperation. Standing in HMV, he had the DVD of Twilight in one hand, in the other was The Maine's album.

Nick rolled his eyes. Eric had been agonising over this trivial decision for the past twenty minutes. Of course, he'd gone through the pros and cons of purchasing Twilight, apparently that Robert Pattinson is just a dreamboat, and Eric was eager to see what all the fuss was about, but then he wanted to get The Maine's album in support of John, and as not to upset one of his best friends by buying Twilight instead.

Tired beyond belief of the current situation, Nick pulled the DVD out of Eric's hand. "You're buying this, go put the CD back, John will never know. I swear."

Eric's eyes widened. "But I'll know! Nick, how could you?"

Cue another eye roll. Nick sighed heavily. "Fine," he pushed the DVD back into Eric's hand. "Decide by yourself, I'm going for a walk."

Eric dithered for a moment and looked between the CD and the DVD. Nick left him to be indecisive on his own, he left HMV and drifted along past various clothes shops. You could tell the more expensive ones from the cheaper ones. It was a well known fact that the more expensive used minimal designs in the window, often with bright lights and low music leaking from the open doorway, the cheaper ones were louder, and busier.

One shop in particular caught his eye. He sighed heavily as he spotted the girl from yesterday. She was standing in the window again, zipping a jacket up on one of the few mannequins she was currently dressing. He strode over to the window and knocked on the glass.

She looked up at him, pushing her long, thick fringe out of her eyes as she did so. She rolled her eyes at the mere sight of him. "What?" Her voice was muffled behind the double glazed glass.

"Can I talk to you?" He asked, loudly.

She straightened up and glanced at the watch wrapped loosely around her wrist. She held up her hand, signaling for five minutes. Nick watched her disappear and then reappear at the shops entrance. She walked towards him and looked up at him. "How can I help you?" She asked in a smooth British accent.

"I just wanted to apologise for yesterday. I'm sorry if I upset you, it was just a stupid dare and - " he began, before she cut him off by motioning to one of the benches outside the shop. He followed her over and the pair sat down, an obvious unknown space between them.

"A dare?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

He nodded. "My friend Eric dared me to, and I figured it'd be something to do. That, and I'll do anything to get him to shut up at times."

"So say Eric dared you to jump off a cliff, would you?"

He sighed heavily and shook his head. "No."

"Thought not. Well apology accepted, now if you'll excuse me I have more work to do." She jumped to her feet.

"Wait," he grabbed her arm gently and pulled her back slightly. "I really am sorry if I did upset you or something, you just seemed really annoyed yesterday."

She nodded. "It wasn't you that upset me," she fell into her seat beside him. "It was everything else."

He frowned. "How do you mean?"

She chewed her lip slightly and shook her head. "I need to get back to work before I'm hung, drawn and quartered for making a tacky window display." She stood up again and walked away, before Nick could muster the words to protest.

He watched her step back into the window. She shot him a small smile before going back to making sure the mannequins wouldn't be done for indecent exposure. He smiled to himself, standing up and heading back to HMV, hoping to god that Eric had made a decision and paid already.