>”So remember everyone, happy employees mean happy customers. When you greet one of our valued customers do it with a smile and a friendly offer of assistance!” Your manager exclaims with a clearly forced grin

>God you hate these pre-shift meetings, nothing but wasted time and useless corporate propaganda

>”On three everyone! One, two, three!”

>”Wallyworld! Do it on the cheap!” Your fellow coworkers exclaim halfheartedly

>Your manager drops the fake smile, now replaced with her usual case of resting bitch face

>”I want to see more engagement with customers out there people. Stop being such antisocial rejects.” She mutters

>As usual you turn away and roll your eyes safely hidden from her gaze

>Another Monday, another workweek, another hellish 8 hours spent in this giant concrete prison masquerading as a superstore

>Hey, at least you get a two percent employee discount

>You walk with the rest of your coworkers out of the break room and onto the main floor

>Where to?

>Maybe you’ll go to the pet section and help some old lady put a bag of dog food into her cart

>Or maybe a trip to the electronics section to help some out of touch parent decide if their kid wants the Xstation or Playbox

>Or maybe…you’ll go to the usually deserted automotive section of the store and pretend to stock items until your shift is over

>Heh, ya, that sounds like a plan

>You casually saunter over to the oft forgotten section of the store and get to ‘work’ straightening items on shelves and doing your best to look busy, thankfully you’ve had plenty of practice

>While carefully rearranging a few cans of windshield cleaner there’s the clop of hooves and someone passes by you

>Whatever, they’re probably lost or something

>After very carefully straightening the last bottle so it’s label faced the aisle you stand up, look over and-

>Ah shit, your manager is at the opposite end of the aisle, arms crossed, staring right at you

>Your head turns in the opposite direction and there’s a cervine anthro a dozen feet down the aisle from you

>Looks to be a buck with a mighty set of antlers wearing a thick leather jacket, their back is facing you

>You look back to your manager and with the look on her face the message is clear, help the valued customer

>After a long sigh you walk up to the buck, put on your best customer pleasing smile, and say the corporate line

>”Welcome to Wallyworld, can I help you find something today sir?”

>The customer’s head shoots up from what they were looking at then he slowly turns to face you

>That’s…not a buck

>That’s a female reindeer based on the sizable breasts and thick eyeliner

>And that damn jacket hiding all of her curves from the back

>She looks at you with concentrated hatred

>”What…did you just call me, punk?” She spits with a husky feminine tone

>”Uhh-I-I didn’t-can I help you find something ma’am?” You awkwardly stutter in a futile attempt to save yourself

>Her eyes burn holes into you for a few seconds before she responds

>”No, I don’t think you can asshole.” She sneers

>With a swift movement she takes a bottle of oil off of the shelf and opens it, spilling its entire contents onto the floor

>”Oops, so sorry. Guess you’ll have to clean it up.” She says with a faux apologetic tone and malicious smile

>The reindeer tosses the empty bottle onto the floor and stomps away, the clops of her hooves almost deafening

>You look back to your manager, she’s shaking her head in disappointment

>Time to spend some time with your two dearest friends, the mop and bucket

>After slaving away to clean the oil spill you wipe the sweat off your brow and stow away the mop and bucket

>What a bitch

>Asshole

>Total cunt

>You can’t believe she did that just because of a simple misunderstanding

>God! How were you supposed to know she was female with those antlers of hers?!

>Whatever, she’s probably already left the store at this point

>Time to go chill out by the food section, restock some cereal, throw away some moldy bread or something

>After a few minutes of milling around you wander into the canned soup aisle

>You straighten a few cans and-

>”Excuse me sir? Do you think I should get the chicken noodle or the vegetable beef?”

>You turn around and yep, that’s the reindeer from before, her head shifts between the two cans of soup held in her hands

>What is this? Some kind of trick? She’s got to remember you from before

>”Well, uhh, I’ve always liked the chicken noodle.”

>She shakes her head in an affirmative

>”Ya, you know what I agree, the chicken noodle sounds way better than vegetable beef.”

>To your dismay she then tosses the can of vegetable beef behind her shoulder, it lands with a wet metallic thud, the contents spilled onto the floor

>”Thanks for the help bud.” She says, walking past you with a sly grin

>Un-fucking-believable

>What an asshole!

>With a defeated sigh your anger fades and once again you have a meeting with the mop and bucket

>After cleaning up the spill you decide on a new strategy
>You‘ll just roam from section to section trying to avoid running into that damned reindeer girl again, she’s clearly got it out for you

>First a few minutes folding clothes, then you restock some office supplies, and now a stroll through the cosmetic section

>Heh, there’s no way she’d expect you to be here-

>There’s a tap on your shoulder

>After stopping in your tracks you turn around and ya, there she is again

>How did she sneak up on you with a pair of hooves?!

>”Excuse me sir, could you point me to the antler polish?”

>”It’s right over there.” You flatly state, pointing to the row of products a few feet away

>”Thanks sir.” She says, strolling over to the row of glass bottles with a wiggle of the hips

>She makes eye contact with you, places a hand on one of the bottles, then begins slowly sliding it to the edge

>”Please…don’t.” You plead

>Her smile just grows wider

>The bottle is all the way to the edge, it begins to tip, it’s about to fall…

>Just as gravity begins to pull it downward you jump forward and fall to the floor! Barely managing to catch it before the bottle contacts the ground!

>You look up to the towering reindeer, a look of bewilderment on her face

>”Ha ha ha! You’re faster than I thought ya twirp.” She says with a cackle

>With your heart still racing she turns around and saunters off still chuckling

>After getting back on your feet you put the bottle of antler polish back on the shelf and gather your senses

>Okay, milling around the store clearly isn’t going to work

>That leaves the break room and bathroom as your only safe places

>You spend the rest of your shift switching between the two, thankfully no one seems the wiser

>Eventually the hours tick down and it’s time to clock out, thank god

>After putting on your jacket you step outside, the chilly winter air assaults your sense and inky darkness puts you on edge

>Left, right, no sign of the reindeer from before, good

>You parked around the side of the building, if you hug the wall on the walk over it’s doubtful many people would see you

 >Slowly, quietly, you begin slinking over to your car

>Almost there, just have to-

>*CLOP-CLOP-CLOP*

>You look at the source of the sound just in time to see a tangle of pointy antlers rapidly rushing your position

>With a girlish scream you turn away and hug the wall

>Several points impact the wall on either side of your head but thankfully none go into your skull

>Slowly you open your eyes to see the reindeer from before staring at you, her wet black nose mere inches away

>Her breath comes out in wispy clouds that tickle your face

>”You punk! Thinking you could get away from me so easily! Cowering in the break room like a sniveling child.”

>”I’m sorry-I’m sorry-I’m sorry-I didn’t mean to call you sir please don’t kill me” You desperately repeat

>Her head moves away from yours and she crosses her arms

>”Happy employees, happy customers, right?”

>”H-how do you know that phrase?”

>”Used to work here. Hated it.” She says with a huff. “So tell you what, you’re an unhappy employee and I’m an unhappy customer. Why don’t we fix that?”

>You straighten your hunched posture and feel your heart slow

>”What do you mean?”

>”Well, I, umm, do have a problem you could help me with.”

>Sex, she wants you to fug her, gotta be

>”Uhh sure, just let me get my pants off here and-“

>”Ew! No!” She shouts, cutting you off. “I’m talking about…this.”

>She flashes a bottle of antler polish at you before quickly putting it back into her pocket

>”I need some help polishing my antlers.” She whispers. “It’s real hard to get the whole set by myself and none of my friends want to help. They think it’s weird helping a girl out with her antlers considering, well, you know, it’s mostly dudes that have them.”

>Still somewhat in shock you slowly shake your head up and down

>”Ya, sure, I’ll help you out…but what do I get out of it?”

>She cocks her head, an annoyed look on her face

>”You get to go home with only the holes you were born with. And I won’t tell your manager you’ve been slacking off all day.”

>”Okay, deal.”

>”Good, now follow me wageslave, you’ve got a long night head of you.”