Nick held his gaze and repeated, "I need to see your ID. I can't sell these to you if you're not at least 19 years old."
"Dude." The young brat's frown deepened, and he said arrogantly, "Just pack them up and stop wasting my time."
He turned to his companions and added, "Can you believe this guy?"
Nick just sighed. 'Just great. A spoiled brat to ruin my day even further.'
Maintaining his composure, he forced a smile. However, his gaze remained deadpan as he swept his eyes across the entire group, even acknowledging the couple standing at the back.
He calmly replied, "The legal drinking age here in Neapolis is 19, so I need to see your ID and confirm. This is non-negotiable. It's essential to follow protocol and avoid selling alcohol to underage individuals. Otherwise, I risk losing my job."
"Dude, who cares? You're making all this too complex. Just pack these up, accept my cash, and me and my friends will be on our way. It's not like we're robbing you," the brat said, totally disregarding Nick's explanation.
The light brown-skinned girl he had in tow looked at Nick with a puzzled expression on her face. She probably couldn't understand why he was being difficult for such a small thing.
She said, "If we don't tell, and you also don't tell, no one will know, and you won't lose your job."
Nick stared at her for a second. "They'll know."
He pointed at the top right corner of the ceiling and added, "There are cameras."
"Ugh, I'm sure no one checks them," the girl said.
Nick shook his head, adamant. "My boss does, so I can't."
"Dude!"
"No. You're just being an asshole."
Nick tilted his head a bit. "Miss, I might have to ask you to leave if you keep up with that language."
"Then we'll just take it if you don't want to sell it to us." The edgy brat grabbed the pack of canned beer off the counter.
Nick shrugged. "I'll call the police. So unless you want to have a criminal record before getting into college, be my guest."
The other male in the group witnessed the brewing altercation and came forward. He wore a black leather jacket too, similar to the edgy brat, but his outfit differed with a black vest, knee-torn crazy jeans, and suede boots.
His long jet-black hair was the typical pretty boy 'wolf cut' with choppy layers, shorter on top and longer on the sides and back. He had bright white skin, long eyebrows, a streamlined face, and pronounced jaws and was over six feet too, however, he was taller than the edgy brat.
'Damn. What do they even feed kids these days?' Nick jokingly thought.
The brat tried to appeal to Nick's sympathy by sliding a $50 bill across the counter, and then saying with a charming smile, "Look, man, we just forgot our IDs. No one carries those things around. So why don't you just help us this once?"
Nick suppressed a rising irritation and politely responded as he slid back the $50 bill, "You mean no one underage and still in high school carries IDs around. I'm sorry, but I can't take the risk. I could get fired."
He could've easily waved his hand and sold the beer for them but he was having a bad day, and he just wasn't in the mood to perform such backhanded "good" deeds. No one was going to give him a medal or applaud him for selling alcohol to underage kids.
Nick could see the handsome young man's smile crack, but he didn't care.
His gaze casually hovered over the group, and he observed the girl who stood farthest behind.
Nick's mind briefly wandered. 'Hmm, I remember that face. But I can't… quite recall where from.'
The fair white girl with long black hair noticed his gaze, and he asked with furrowed eyebrows, ignoring the handsome brat, "Uh, sorry, have we met before?"
"What? No," the young lady said, glancing at her friends.
She wore a slight touch of makeup that accentuated her heart-shaped face with unique high cheekbones, a delicate nose, thin eyebrows, striking slim brown eyes, and lips with a subtle pink hue. Sporting a casual, flowery top with blue jeans and low-heeled sandals, she had that typical prom queen look.
Nick observed her for a few more seconds and pulled his gaze away.
For some reason, the handsome brat's smile reduced after Nick talked with the young lady.
He read Nick's nametag. "Nicholas, right? I'm Johan," he said and put a hand out for a shake.
Nick looked at the hand before him and then at the handsome brat. Slightly annoyed, he returned the gesture, but that didn't alleviate the awkwardness of the situation.
Johan smiled, again. "Now we know each other's names, we're no more strangers now, are we?"
'That's not how it works. But, whatever.'
"I guess not," Nick said indifferently.
"My friend didn't mean what he said about stealing the beer. My dad is the Deputy Commissioner of Police so we would even be in a lot more trouble if we did." Johan bragged.
'Kid, I couldn't care less.'
"Good to know," Nick said plainly.
"Since you're our friend now, and you're older, why don't you just buy the things for yourself and then give them to us?" Johan slyly asked, and added, "As friends."
Nick was baffled. Just how insufferable could these brats be?
He scrunched his eyebrows. "Kid, no means no. I'm not selling any alcohol or cigarettes until you show me a valid ID with your face, name, and age on it."
Johan remained silent, the light smile on his face now seeming forced.
The edgy brat tapped his shoulder and whispered, "Bro, let's just find another store. This dude is an asshole."
Nick heard the kid but ignored it.
The group turned away, whilst the edgy brat and the brown-skinned girl grumbled curses at Nick.
Nick didn't mind them and just remained looking at the other girl who was with Johan as they turned to leave. And she was looking at him too.
He could swear he knew her from somewhere.
Johan noticed Nick's lingering gaze and said to his friends, "Guys, wait. Since we can't have drinks, we have to entertain ourselves through other means. Wouldn't you agree, Nicholas?
Nick raised an eyebrow. "What's my business?"
Johan's smile returned and he took out a thick wallet from his pocket, then some cash, and then slammed the dollar bills on the counter.
Amidst his friends' confusion, he voiced, "Why don't we play a game, Nicholas?"
Nick's eyes darted between Johan and $200, his brow knitted with suspicion and perplexion.
"...What?"
Johan smugged.
"You heard me."
He glanced at the others before locking eyes with Nick once more. "The game is simple, actually. I will add $200 for every piece of clothing you take off."
There was a brief moment of silence. It took Nick a while to process what this idiot just said.
He was appalled by the audacity of the proposition. He had finally had it up to here.
Nick stood up and spoke firmly, "I have to ask you to leave."
Johan let out a long sigh.
"I can't imagine someone that's financially stable working as a cashier for a dead convenience store. I'm giving you a chance to make quick bucks here. I'm sure you could use the money."
Nick's face froze and his forehead wrinkled with vexation. The audacity of this brat baffled him.
After what he suffered a few hours ago and the looming dread hanging over his head, this spoiled brat now wanted to humiliate him for his and his friends' amusement. What nonsense was all this?!
Nick gritted his teeth.
"I don't need your—"
He was about to come out from behind the counter to force the group out of the store when a female voice spoke in his mind, with the contents of her words remaining at the forefront of his memory!
[Task: Participate in Johan's game.]
[Difficulty: Easy.]
[Reward: 2 v-points.]
[Ending In: 9 minutes, 59 seconds.]
[Optional: Win the game (+8 v-points).]