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Luck. I’m sure you’ll pass with flying colors.” Merrily, she
shooed me away.
    “Wonderful,” I
muttered in an undertone.
    Almost all the
test items were easily identifiable until I reached the last one. Strangest
looking thing I’d ever seen with spoon-sized indentations… Shaking my head, I
looked towards Jessica and held it in the air. As soon as she saw me, she
tilted her head back and laughed uproariously. What a riot.
    The next couple
hours passed quickly. At one point a man with a screaming toddler hurried into
Jessica’s lane. Pointing to a goose egg on the girl’s head, the man explained
how she’d tripped and banged herself on a display rack. He wasn’t sure if he
should take her to the doctor or not, because she wouldn’t stop wailing.
    Explaining she
had first aid training, Jessica took the little girl’s hand and spoke in a
soft, soothing voice. Gently, she rubbed her other hand over the girl’s
forehead. Almost instantly, the little girl stopped crying and started smiling.
Totally impressed, the father and I exchanged amazed looks.
    Jessica peered
into the girl’s eyes and said warmly, “She looks like she’s going to be just
fine. Her eyes aren’t dilated, and that’s a good sign. I don’t think you have
anything to worry about. However, you should watch for drowsiness or abnormal
behavior over the next few hours.” Jessica offered him a reassuring glance then
pulled a sticker out of her check stand drawer and gave it to the little girl.
    After expressing
his gratitude, the man and his blissful toddler went on their way. I was
commending Jessica on her uncanny ability to calm the little girl when our
third checker, Tori, arrived. Her eyelids were heavily coated with sparkly
shades of gold, and her fruity perfume blasted through the front end like a bad
air freshener. Jessica immediately sent Tori down to take the produce test.
    “She’ll drive
you nuts,” Jessica warned under her breath. “She’ll talk continuously about
make-up, fashion, and her secret admirers.”
    “Secret
admirers?” I gave her a funny look.
    She nodded
vigorously. “Female checkers receive flowers all the time. In fact, a couple
weeks after a new checker starts, male shoppers go into a buying frenzy. It’s a
bizarre grocery store phenomenon. Just you wait and see. Your time is coming.”
With a sparkle in her eye she added, “You might want to consider wearing a ring
on your left hand; that helps a little.”
    “That’s crazy,”
I said dubiously.
    “You’re telling
me, but back to Tori.” She turned her head slightly, as if trying to avoid a
rotten smell. “She doesn’t let anyone forget that she’s received the most flowers of all the girls in the front end.”
    I laughed. “I
can’t imagine she’s really that bad—”
    “Oh, she is.
She’ll make you feel like you never left high school.”
    “Okay, well thanks
for the heads up then,” I said and diverted my attention to a lady whose cart
was chalked full of groceries. After she left, I noticed Jessica drumming her
fingers on the credit card machine. She was staring at me with a mischievous
grin.
    “Jessica, I don’t
like that look…”
    She rubbed her
hands together and said in a hushed voice, “I’ve just devised the perfect
plan.” She smacked her lips together. “I’ll send you flowers once a week and
sign the cards from, Your Secret Admirer .” She winked and giggled. “Of
course, I’ll plan it for the days you and Tori are both working. Ohhh, this
could be hilariously fun. Maybe that would shut her up for awhile…”
    “You wouldn’t
dare,” I scolded and threw my pen at her.
    She caught it
and laughed, “Sorry Lexi, but I’m onto something here.” Regaining some
composure, she stood tall and said dismissively, “We’ll talk more later.”
    “Jessica…” I
threatened, but a throng of customers bombarded the front end and we went to
work. I listened in as an older couple discussed the headlines of the Herald,
but