The doorbell chimed as the entrance was swung open by the first customer of the day. Allison didn't have the strength to raise her head back up, so she just peeked her eyes to see who had come in.
That was the last time she was staying up all night looking for cat toys. She doesn't even have a cat.
The customer held a small bonsai tree under his arm. He was the peculiar gentleman who came into the store often. Once every week or so, to be exact. He always carried something new to trade into the store. Michelle's was no pawnshop, but he brings in most of its stock, so no one complains.
He was a shorter guy with blonde hair. He wore sunglasses, even indoors, and two earrings on his left ear. He was smug, confident, and a ladies man in these parts, notorious for his weird house full of all kinds of trinkets and secret doors. Though Allison only heard these rumors from the various women who have actually been in his house.
While he was quite confident, he was far too short for her liking. She preferred taller guys, or you know, normal guys.
"My, my, well isn't it my favorite cashierette." his thick Norwegian accent sounded before the heavy door could interrupt him as it slammed shut.
"Hey Peter. Are you here to sell the tree?" Allison's head was still on the table, making her forehead hurt from the pressure.
"As sharp as ever!" as he strolled to her desk, his curious eyes made him stop by every other antique they saw. Every time he saw one, he would get an excited look in his eye, put the bonsai down, and pick up the random object, feeling and looking at it all around. Making sure he got a good look, he would put it down, and move onto the next.
By this time, Allison had straightened herself up and found a seat. She'd been through this process many times before. At least it gave her some time to make some coffee or check her on phone. As she checked her phone, she saw her ragged reflection. She didn't have enough time to fix her hair or put any concealer on her eyes this morning. Her eyes were dark, her hair was just a mess. Everything was a mess.
Good thing she didn't care.
A hand was waving in front of her vision, most likely Peter being brave enough to do something so annoying just to get her attention. "Bubble" she murmured irritably, still looking at her phone, waving her free hand around to symbolize her personal space.
"Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine today."
"Mhmm. The tree will be like... a hundred krones."
He looked taken aback. She didn't understand why. She usually was the one to guesstimate the prices anyway, nothing new, and the shop hasn't gone out of business yet so she must be doing something right. She looked up at him from her phone, "what?"
"Do you not know how valuable this is? It shouldn't be so little!"
She searched around in her head what she did that was so wrong. 100 krones was a lot, right? Wait, no. $100 is a lot. "Oh..." she looked away, embarrassed. After the fight with her parents, she moved to Norway, hoping to find happiness there. She didn't know that it would be so difficult to emigrate, though. She knew the language by now, but other things still confused her. Like their currency system. Who new that a hundred USD was like 900 Norwegian krones. She didn't.
"Sorry," she exhaled quietly. "Umm... what about... I don't know... What do you think?" She looked back at him. Much to her displeasure he was far too excited right now. "You know you're just adorable when you're all embarrassed and flustered. You'd make a great tsundere" he squealed. Before she could mutter weeb under her breath, he interrupted, "I think it should be about 10,000."
She almost choked on her coffee, getting a faint giggle from the eccentric Peter. When she got herself under control, he gave her his credit card and the transaction was complete. He headed out the door, blowing kisses and waving.
The tree was oddly heavy, which she was forced to learn when she had to carry it to a display case. Then she realized the whole pot was made of gold. She growled and set it back on her desk. She'll move it later.