Chapter 3

3

She threw herself into my arms, crying her heart out. I felt it in my chest, a hollow ache. Maya always worked hard. She always came in early and left late. She knew about my stomach issues and would bring me food sometimes. She'd say with a smile, "Claire, people need to eat! That’s what my mom always says!"

She was three years younger than me. I thought of her like a little sister. I’d even given her a few sales leads so she could get her bonus up. I had no idea Mr. Henderson would be such a jerk.

After finally calming her down, my agent Leo called again.

"Ms. Chen, are you still thinking about that apartment?"

I hesitated, "I can’t afford it right now."

He went on, listing off its benefits. The great location, how good the price was.

I rubbed my temples, "I don't have the money, dude."

Leo finally went quiet and muttered, "Are you sure? That deposit, it's non-refundable."

I’d been looking for the right place for months now, and I loved that apartment: the location, the price, and it was on my favorite floor! Leo had said I could pay a small deposit to hold it. I did, I figured my bonus would pay the down payment easy. I gave him a two-thousand-dollar deposit. Now that the bonus was up in smoke, so was my money.

It was my fault. It's not like I could blame the guy for keeping my deposit.

"Okay, Ms. Chen, I’ll give you another week. See if you can get your money together.”

After hanging up, I was stewing. I couldn't let twenty grand just vanish. I grabbed my bag and jumped back on my scooter, ready to make another visit to the Henderson's.

This time, Mr. Henderson's wife, Brenda, opened the door.

With a forced smile, I got straight to the point, "Brenda, I'm here about the end-of-year bonuses."

She gave me a hard glare. "What bonuses? We already gave you yours! You got two hundred, the others got one hundred. It's done!"

"No, Mr. Henderson promised us 5% of sales, as our bonus. That should be twenty grand for me, and five and a half for Maya."

Brenda's face grew sour. "Who promised you that? Do you have proof? Be grateful you got two hundred. You know what the job market is like? You are lucky to even have this job."

She scanned me from head to toe, rolling her eyes. I was done playing nice. "What's that supposed to mean? Mr. Henderson made a promise, and you're backing out now? How can you be so shameless? If it wasn't for all the effort we put into our jobs, you wouldn’t be making these sales!"

Brenda called our work easy? There were a handful of high-end clothing stores around us. Because of market conditions, two had already closed. Our store had the highest sales of the bunch. What she didn’t know is that our sales were built from repeat customers like Mrs. Johnson. It took a lot of time and energy to keep them happy. Last month, I spent a week helping Mrs. Johnson plan her birthday. A few weeks back, Mrs. Smith went after her husband’s mistress, and I was the one who got there first to do damage! And I always keep a close eye on who is playing Mahjong and which tiles they want, so they like me. Sure, they repay my gambling losses, but it's still stressful! I remembered their birthdays and anniversaries. I’d always find something special for them. I knew everyone's tastes and made outfits that they liked.

Mrs. Johnson had told me once, “Claire, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't know how to dress!"

Brenda only saw me selling clothes on the floor. She didn't realize all the "work" I put in on my downtime!

Brenda’s eyes widened. "Promising a bonus was just a carrot to get you to work harder. If we didn't tell you that, you'd slack off! We said you'd get a bonus to keep you from being lazy!"