The bell above the door chimed as it opened, letting in a scorch of heat. It hung open for several long minutes and Phoebe considered yelling \u201cin or out\u201d before a robed figure entered. He made a beeline to the clearance rack where last season\u2019s robes hung in a tidy row.<\/p>\n
He held up one robe against his frame, shook his head and shoved it haphazardly back onto the rack. Phoebe slumped against the wall behind the register counter. He was going to be one of those<\/em> customers. She watched with increasing despair as he pulled robe after robe off the rack until finally he held three options bunched in a sweaty palm and approached her.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fitting room?\u201d<\/p>\n She gestured to a neon green sign that pulsated over a curtained off room to her right that clearly announced the presence of the fitting room. \u201cNo more than four garments at a time,\u201d the words came out long and sullen. \u201cIt\u2019s the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI only have three.\u201d He thrust them across the counter for her to count. With a beleaguered sigh, she pushed away from the wall and counted them out slowly before handing him a hot pink placard with a white 3 emblazoned in the middle.<\/p>\n \u201cBring them back to the counter when you\u2019re done. I\u2019ll have to count them again.\u201d She didn\u2019t. Just like she was willing to let people take more than four garments into the fitting room when it was this slow. But not when they messed up the neat racks she had spent hours organizing that morning.<\/p>\n Her fingers beat out a dull, unrythmic thud on the counter as she waited an eternity\u2014or two, it was sometimes hard to tell here\u2014for him to emerge from the changing room. Eventually he came out, dressed in the same black robe he wore earlier.<\/p>\n \u201cAny of them work out for you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo. Any sales going on?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot today.\u201d<\/p>\n He grunted and left the robes in a messy pile on her counter before returning to the clearance rack. He started over at the beginning.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you looking for? Maybe I can help?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA new robe.\u201d<\/p>\n Obviously. Phoebe\u00a0bit back a harsh retort. \u201cAnything specific? What didn\u2019t you like about these ones?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey don\u2019t fit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cToo large? Too small?\u201d He grunted and kept up his perusal. She drew in a long breath, counted to ten, then to ten again for good measure, and let it out in an uncontrolled whoosh. \u201cWe just received some newer styles in, if those might interest you. They have a very slimming cut. Quite popular with the younger reapers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow did you know I\u2019m a reaper?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy else would you be shopping here?\u201d She sighed. \u201cLook. You\u2019re messing up my racks and while my personal hell is to clean up after assholes like you, you could at least make an effort to be fastidious.\u201d<\/p>\n The man stopped. \u201cDo you want my business or not?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStop being such a cheapskate and maybe I will.\u201d She swept a hand across the room. \u201cWe have hundreds of robes. There\u2019s a reason these ones never sold. If you don\u2019t like them, then try paying full price for something. Besides, don\u2019t you just get to charge it to your ReaperCard like everyone else?\u201d<\/p>\n He pushed back his hood, revealing stringy hair and smudged circles under his eyes. Somebody had to teach him how to apply eyeliner. \u201cYou don\u2019t get ReaperCards if you can\u2019t deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWait here.\u201d She pushed through the employee\u2019s only door into the back and returned a few minutes later with a Styrofoam cup and a foil packet of nuts. \u201cHere. When was the last time you ate?\u201d<\/p>\n He took a swig of the coffee and spat it back into the cup. \u201cWhat is this crap?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFree. Don\u2019t complain. It was fresh at some point.\u201d Dutifully he choked down a gulp of coffee. \u201cSo why do you need a new robe? Looks like you have a perfectly serviceable one on right now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis one is cursed.\u201d<\/p>\n She rolled her eyes and opened the packet of peanuts, pouring some into his outstretched palm. \u201cUh huh. Sure.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was my brother\u2019s robe. When he failed to deliver his quota, the responsibility passed to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo if you get a new robe, you think you\u2019ll be able to suddenly be able to reap souls?\u201d<\/p>\n He pinched the bridge of his nose. \u201cBut I can\u2019t find one that feels right.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy is it so important that you deliver? Can\u2019t you just\u2026 find another job?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause if I don\u2019t succeed\u2026 it will be my sister\u2019s turn next.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFinish your coffee. We\u2019re going to find you the perfect robe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The bell above the door chimed as it opened, letting in a scorch of heat. It hung open for several long minutes and Phoebe considered yelling \u201cin or out\u201d before a robed figure entered. He made a beeline to the clearance rack where last season\u2019s robes hung in a tidy row. He held up one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[133],"class_list":["post-9976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","tag-business-of-the-afterlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9976\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}