This short started with a writing prompt from Janet Burroway's Writing Fiction, Chapter 10.
Write a scene placing two characters in this fundamental conflict: one wants something that the other does not want to give. Let the conflict escalate. Who uses what tactics to get their way? Who wins?
―
It had been a long day. After an hour-long phone call with a client that hadn’t resulted in any meaningful progress, and a meeting that ran over time, Erin had already had enough. But then Karen, her cubemate, had decided that today would be a great day to start her quarterly review. It had been due a week ago, but it didn’t seem like anyone cared about deadlines in this office. Karen had needed Erin’s input on every single response. She needed references, she needed information from Erin’s meticulously maintained calendar, she needed help finding documentation that she should have been using regularly and what does this mean for the monthly reports if she’s not using the documentation?
When Erin’s
watch gave a meager beep as it struck four p.m., she swept all of her things
off her desk and into her tote bag. She gave a quick goodbye, said something
about an appointment, and was out the door before Karen could ask another
question.
She
just needed to grab some quick dinner, go home, and stare at a TV screen for a
bit. She needed to not talk to anyone for the rest of the day.
She
decided to swing by the gas station that was on her way home. They had a
limited selection of hot food for those nights when ease trumped quality. This
was solidly one of those nights.
The gas
station parking lot was crowded. Erin had to park along the side of the
building. It was probably employee parking, but she wasn’t about to circle
around for a fourth time to try to luck into a spot. This was good enough.
Inside
was worse. The place was already pretty cramped from all of the product
displays that took up most of the floor space, but it was nearly shoulder-to-shoulder
with all the people trying to do exactly the same that Erin was doing.
The
warming lamps shone down on plastic cartons of fried chicken pieces like they
were artifacts in an Indiana Jones movie. It was like being at a concert,
squeezing past so many people to make her way through the shop. But eventually,
she had her dinner and a soda in hand and made her way to the long line for the
registers.
It was
fine. As long as no one talked to her, she’d be ok. She put on her best Resting
Bitch Face and stared resolutely at the brown tiled floor.
So
close. She was next now. Almost done with humanity for the evening.
Finally,
up at the register, she placed her meal on the counter.
“Hi,
are you a rewards member?” the cashier asked, scanning the items.
“No.”
“Aw
come on, I see you in here all the time! Don’t you have a rewards card?”
“No, I
don’t.” It was causing Erin physical pain to stay polite.
“I’m
pretty sure I’ve seen you use it before.”
The
nosy cashier was right, truthfully. Erin did have a card. But it just didn’t
matter at this point. She’d already said no. She’d just wanted to make it
through this one interaction without the extra card swipe. Was that so much to
ask?
“I
don’t have it with me today,” Erin said. That was a lie.
“Oh, I
can look you up by your email address!”
“That’s
ok.”
They
were just doing their job. They were being friendly. Their boss had probably
told them to push the membership stuff for a promotion they were doing.
“Are
you sure? It won’t take any time at all, and then you can use your points for a
free coffee tomorrow!”
Erin
gritted her teeth. “Just give me my chicken. Please.”
The
cashier gave a nervous laugh and glanced over at someone wearing a polo and a
name tag, presumably their manager.
“If you
just give me your email address, I can enter in the number though.”
It
would take precious seconds to spell out her whole email address. But she
couldn’t admit to having the card with her after all this.
“Just
give me my chicken,” Erin repeated.
Another
sideways glance at the manager, then the cashier leaned forward. “Look, I’m
really sorry, but we’re doing a competition thing and whoever has the most
rewards transactions can get a prize.”
Erin
stared at the young face but couldn’t drum up any sympathy. The stupid
promotion wasn’t her problem. Why couldn’t you just go into a store and
exchange goods for currency anymore? Why did it have to be this big production
every time?
“I just
want my chicken.”
“Please,
let me look up your card. I’m so close to winning.”
Erin
was going to scream. She was going to cause a scene. She was going to rage out
and knock down all the candy bar displays on her way out the door. She was
going to tip over the slushie machine and key the manager’s car. She was going
to call the radio station during their call-in hour and take up the whole time
bitching about being disrespected at the gas station. She was going to throw a
drink in someone’s face. It wouldn’t even matter who.
Erin
took a deep breath.
Then
opened her wallet. The stupid membership card was right there, at the very top.
But instead of handing it over, she threw a five-dollar bill onto the counter,
took her dinner, and left without waiting for change.
―
Copyright KR Holton, 2024
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