[Desrian]

The building was two stories, with a store front at the bottom. A sign stood outside, with old fashion lettering "Treasures on 42nd". It was obvious that this building was older than the surrounding infrastructure, but it was well taken care of.  Etched into the glass door, the store hours read out:

"Mon-Fri 7am - 7pm
Sat-Sun 6am - 9pm"

Inside the store stood a short, stout man. He wore an old cardigan sweater, plain pants and a long scarf wrapped around his neck despite it being room temperature inside the store. He stood behind his mahogany counters, counting keystones. After he counted one bag, he would count it again. "One... two... three..." he mumbled out loud, losing his count a few times and starting over from the beginning.



Everything in the store had a place, and was in its place. Nothing was amiss.

[Desrian]

[no pet form currently]

Abigail was such a plain girl. She was short, with mousy brown hair. Freckles lined her nose and cheeks, standing out against her pale skin. Everything she wore was muted colors, and her cloths appeared to be hand-me-downs or thrift shop buys. She clutched a pile of papers close to her and a manila colored envelope.

She pushed through the door and glanced around at the items on display, wandering around the store, seeming to try to gather the courage for something. She felt eyes on her from the store owner, and tried to ignore eye contact with him. There were some dolls along one of the walls that caught her attention, and she took one of them down to look at it.

[Desrian]

"Ah---er---uh" The old man stuttered, moving his hand from reaching out to her to stop her, to placing it over his mouth in a concerned fashion. "Those are very expensive, please be careful with them." He didn't want to prevent her from holding them, but he was scared she would drop the doll with how she was holding it. "Are you looking for a present for someone, maybe? Or just for yourself?" Alphy asked, straightening the position of some of the other dolls on the shelving unit. She seemed a little young to be by herself, he thought. But a lot of children were wandering off to buy presents for their families this time of year, so he didn't think much of it.

[Desrian]

"Ahh, well... no." Family? She had none. Well, one family member but....

Her mind trailed off in thought, and she got a bit emotional thinking about the whole situation. "I was just looking, sorry." Setting the doll back down in place, and moving it around a bit to look better on the shelf, she took a step back and looked at the shop owner. "I was.... ah..." She didn't know how to ask the question, so she just kept stuttering for a moment before just dropping silent. "Are you.... hiring?" She was so embarrassed to ask. He had no signs up anywhere suggesting that he needed, or wanted, any help. But she needed a job, and she needed to get to know him better.

[Desrian]

At first, he wanted to just say "no" because he was an introvert and didn't really want someone else to watch after besides himself. But, he thought, he could use the help. There was lots of cleaning and re-positioning to be done, and with the holiday season coming up, he couldn't do it and man the cash register. He looked the girl up and down, trying to determine if she would be more trouble than worth to him. But, he sighed, and shook his head yes "Well, I could use some help. But, I like things quiet around here. And calm. No running around or yelling and screaming." He was unsure of what kids did for fun, but he was sure it involved those things and he'd have none of it in his store (or anywhere he was present).

[Desrian]

"Oh, I'm perfectly quiet, I promise!" she was happy that he wasn't totally against her working here. "I promise, you won't even notice that I'm here!" She also didn't do much running, or any screaming, so that was no problem at all for her. "This is wonderful! I can't wait to start! When... when CAN I start?" she needed the money, and wanted to know more about Alphonse. Even though she already knew his name from other sources, she decided to introduce herself. "My name is Abigail, but you can call me Abby for short!" She reached out her hand to shake his.

[Desrian]

He gently took her hand to shake it "My name is Alphonse, but you can just call me Alphy for short." Her rise of energy when he told her that she could work there bothered him, but he could understand why she was that way. She didn't look like she came from a lot of money, and may even be homeless. Part of him wanted to ask her if she was, but he thought that was too much information to ask right now. "Well, you could get started today. Just dusting and sweeping. Nothing too hard. You know how to do both of those, right?" he wasn't sure if he'd need to show her how to do that or not, but he was willing to teach her if he had to.

[Desrian]

"Oh yes, I know how to do both of those!" She looked around frantically for the broom and dust pan, to prove her sweeping skills. But she couldn't see one close to her, and looked nervous "Uhhh... where's the broom and dust pan? I can start right now."

He led her over to the front counter, where she rested the papers she had in her hand face down. There was a closet behind the desk that led to stairs that went to the higher living level. He returned with the broom and dust pan, and handed them both to her. "Ah, here they are. I think there's a duster back there.... somewhere." he looked back into the room, but with a quick glance, didn't see it. "Its probably upstairs, just let me know when you want me to go get it."