Authors: Paulette Miller
Penny pulled into the parking lot at work and, after entering the store she decided on her target fir today. She grabbed her sketchbook and headed to the hiking and hunting section.
Penny was the most recent addition to the ‘Gone Wild’ outdoor adventure store’s management staff. The store was located in downtown Mt. Hood Village, a town outside of Portland, Oregon. She had moved across country from Charlottesville, Virginia at request of the store chain’s corporate headquarters. One of the store executives had met Penny during a store inspection and, when he learned of her direct involvement in making the store one of their most lucrative, he offered her an Assistant Manager’s position on the west coast. He hoped that her skills could help turn around one of their stores that was about to go under. Since the move would tuck her within the foothills of the Cascade mountain range, she accepted the offer. Although she hated to leave her family, she saw it as an adventure and couldn’t wait to spend every available moment hiking through the mountainside.
Penny had been working at the store for just over a month at the side of the current manager, John Thompson. Headquarters had instructed him to follow Penny’s instincts, but he was initially very skeptical when Penny suggested that they make drastic changes to the store. One of those changes he was now wearing. He looked down at his chest and found a new uniform. Instead of the old polo shirts that made them blend into the crowd, he was wearing khaki shorts and a brightly colored t-shirt with a “Gone Wild” theme artistically designed by Penny herself.
As Mr. Thompson looked across the store, he saw several employees also proudly wearing “Ask me about…” patches. Similar to a Boy Scout, each patch was given to an employee if they could prove to Penny their expertise in some aspect of outdoor life. The topics ranged from correctly identifying each gun sold in the store to how fast they could pitch a tent. Penny administered each test surrounded by the shouts of encouragement from both fellow employees and customers alike. With each new badge, the employee gained a wide variety of special privileges, including the rights to help manage their area of expertise within the store. Mr. Thompson feared that the competition might cause friction. Instead it caused an almost electric atmosphere to spread throughout the store.
The workers’ positive attitudes were contagious and Mr. Thompson now looked out at a younger, more energetic customer base walking through their doors. A month ago he was preparing his employees for the doors to close permanently, but now he saw a glimmer of hope for the future. As their sales steadily increased, he could no longer deny that the adjustments Penny had made were giving the failing store a new lease on life.
With the employee morale in better shape, Penny switched her attention to the store’s drab, uninspired layout. Today she had worked long and hard on redesigning the climbing and hiking section. When the project was finally completed, Penny stepped back to look at the final product.
She asked several climbing badge winners that had assisted her, “Well, what do you think?”
Quinn, the first person that Penny had hired after she joined the Gone Wild management team, stared at the display and said with admiration, “I think you outdid yourself on this one, Boss. It’s a work of art.”
Penny replied to her eager helpers, “Thanks for all of your help and your suggestions. They really made a difference.” She waved them back to the floor and said, “Go on. I’ll put all the tools away.”
As everyone disbanded and chatted excitedly about the store’s new direction, two identical, deep red motorcycles pulled into the parking lot. The sight made those standing outside do a double-take when the men took off their helmets and they saw riders as identical as their motorcycles. Not only did they share the same flaming red hair, they wore the exact same outfit from the leather jackets down to their shoes.
The twins, Taylor and Tadd, looked to be in their early twenties and were regulars at the store. Although they only shopped about once a month, each of their visits became the talk at the water cooler for weeks after. They were shopping for some new outdoor toys and to indulge in their favorite pastime—harassing local Humans.
As they approached the entrance, Taylor held the door open and said, “After you, twin.”
Tadd shook his head. “No, age before beauty.” He raked his fingers through his loose red curls and puffed out his chest.
Taylor laughed and punched his brother, making him gasp for air. He countered, “I’m so much better looking than you.”
After knocking each other around for a while, they finally entered the store. The news of their arrival had spread quickly and the workers scattered like bugs when a light is turned on.
A worker close to Penny groaned and said, “Them again? Couldn’t they have waited for one more hour? My shift would have been over.”
Penny looked at the arrivals and asked, “What’s wrong with them?”
“Those are the Hamilton twins and they like to go by Smoke and Fire. They wreak havoc whenever they come in.”
“Why doesn’t Mr. Thompson forbid them to shop here?”
A voice from behind Penny said, “Because they spend more money in one of their shopping sprees than we typically make in several weeks.” Penny turned to see Mr. Thompson standing next to her with an expression that made her chuckle.
As they watched their unwelcomed guests walk down the main aisle, Penny asked, “Are they really that bad?”
When Taylor made a couple of shoppers shriek and head for the door, Mr. Thompson said, “Yes.”
The other worker added, “They scare the shit out of me.”
Penny asked, “What do they typically buy?”
Mr. Thompson replied, “A little of everything, but they’re partial to extreme sports. They like to race motorcycles and I know they’ve purchased just about every piece of hiking equipment we offer.”
Penny nodded, grateful that she had knowledge in these areas.
Seeing another store employee run for cover, Mr. Thompson suggested, “Penny, why don’t you go save our store? Consider this a test of your manager abilities.”
Penny squared her shoulders and said, “I think I will.”
An employee leaned over to Mr. Thompson and asked, “Do you think it’s wise to send her in alone?” Although he spoke teasingly, his expression was serious.
Penny had grown up around a rough male crowd so she wasn’t easily intimidated. She stretched out her muscles and said, “They don’t scare me.” When she saw one of them pinch a customer’s backside, she scowled and said, “Someone needs to teach them some manners.”
Just before she was about to head toward her targets, Quinn whispered, “You might want to bring this with you?” He handed Penny a packing knife.
She rolled her eyes and pushed it away, saying with confidence “I can handle these two unarmed.” As soon as she walked away, her confidence began to waver. By the time she approached the twins, they had a female customer pinned against a rack of shirts. The woman’s scared expression gave Penny the confidence she needed and she cleared her throat loudly and asked, “May I help you, gentlemen?” Once she had their attention, she waved off the trapped girl, who didn’t hesitate in scurrying away.
Penny was 5 foot 6 so the twins towered over her petite frame. They both smiled down at the woman with the long, strawberry blonde hair and bright green eyes.
One twin looked down at her and, after he glanced at her name tag, he said, “Hi Penny. I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”
“I started just over a month ago.” Wanting to keep her persona of being in charge, she said, “I’m the Assistant Manager.”
Admiring how the new uniform looked on her, he asked, “Are you responsible for the much improved new look around here?”
“We’ve made many changes around the store that I hope you’ll like. May I show you around and help you find something in particular?”
The other twin was standing on her other side, glancing behind to check out her backside. He admired, “I think I’ve found something quite nice right here.”
Ignoring his rude behavior, she turned to the one that was still in front of her and said, “I hear you ride. What kind of bikes do you have?”
He replied, “We own twin MV Agusta F4 CC.”
The other brother quickly added, “They’re liquid cooled inline four cylinder, 4 stroke, 16 radial valves, with an amazing 998 cc.”
Seeing him holding a smartphone, she asked, “Can I borrow your phone for a second? I need to look that one up.”
Although surprised by her request, he handed her his phone. After she found the motorcycle in question, she said, “Italian lovers, I see. There’s a lot of power in those motorcycles.” After continuing to read the specs, she shrieked. “One of those costs more than I’ll make in five years!”
While tucking his phone back in his pocket, he asked, “Do you ride?”
She nodded. “Yes, but my budget is a little more limited. I have a used 125 CC no name dirt bike. I love to drive up into the mountains to find good hiking trails.”
The other twin asked with his eyebrows raised, “You hike as well?”
“As often as physically possible. I hope to start leading group trips within the next month.” Now that she had them talking like adults, she said. “I just redesigned the outdoor equipment section of the store and we have some new climbing items you might find interesting.”
They liked how Penny talked to them calmly, not showing any fear like the other Humans did. One of the twins stretched out his arm and said, “Lead the way. I go by Smoke, by the way.”
Penny took a brief moment to memorize his features, identifying ways to differentiate between the two. Then when she moved in front of Smoke, his twin stood his ground, forcing her to brush up against him as she passed.
He said in a sultry voice, “And I’m Fire.” When she felt his hand brush along her backside and make a sizzling sound, she turned and glared at him. Without saying a word, she made sure he understood that his behavior wasn’t appropriate or going to be tolerated.
Seeing her expression, Fire pulled his hand back and, without apologizing, he said, “After you.”
By the time they arrived at their target destination, only Smoke was beside her. She asked while looking around, “Where did Fire go?”
Smoke said while pointing at his own chest, “I’m right here.”
Penny shook her head and said with confidence, “You’re Smoke.”
A voice from behind her said, “And where there’s Smoke there’s Fire.” Penny turned, surprised to find the other twin behind him since she hadn’t heard him approach. He gave her a crooked smile and said, “Sorry Snickerdoodle, but you’re wrong. I’m Smoke.”
“Whatever you say, Fire.” She knew she was right and loved that her ability to tell them apart was driving them crazy.
As she showed them all of the new climbing merchandise, they repeatedly managed to find ways to accidently touch her backside and they also tried many times to trick her as to which twin they were.
In frustration, Smoke finally asked, “How the hell are you doing that? Even our family can’t tell us apart. You’ve known us for all of five minutes and are already an expert.”
Penny giggled and said, “I have identical twin brothers a little older than you. To this day, they still try to trick me, but I always know which is which. To me they look completely different.” Scanning the two in front of her, she said, “I will admit you do look a lot alike, but there are subtle differences.” She gave them a genuine smile and added, “You two remind me a lot of them.”
Smoke nodded in approval and said, “Hot and talented.”
Fire leaned in behind her and whispered, “Do you want to go into a dressing room and do a more thorough comparison of other more interesting body parts?”
When his hand cupped her backside, she decided she had been patient long enough. Throwing her Assistant Manager’s manual off a cliff, she spun on her heels and grabbed Fire’s arm. In a move no one saw coming, she flipped him over her shoulder. He landed on the floor with an echoing bang and the impact forced out a loud grunt. Before he could register what she had done, she had his arm pinned behind him and her knee digging into his back. She leaned over and said sweetly, “My brother’s not only taught me how to ride and hike, they made sure I could protect myself. Although we appreciate your business, if you want to continue to shop here, I must ask that you behave like gentleman and leave my ass, as well as everyone else’s, alone.”
Fire was in complete shock that he had been taken by surprise and looked up at his brother who was laughing so hard he was having a hard time standing.
Although Mr. Thompson was secretly pleased, he quickly put his Manager hat back on and prepared for the lawsuit. The rest of the workers gawked at the scene, not sure how to react.
Ignoring everyone’s stares, Penny increased the pressure and said, “I’ll let you up if you promise to behave.”
Fire cringed, but then smiled and said, “Okay, Love Chunks. Let me up.”
Once Fire was standing again, he brushed off his clothes and looked down at Penny, giving her a deep bow. “I apologize, my dearest Penny Blossom for my inability to stop my hand from touching that beautiful ass of yours. But it’s a lethal weapon.” He moaned followed by a shiver.
“And…” Penny said encouraging him to state the rest of his promise.