Joanne: a 24 year-old retail employee.

Joanne sighed and set her empty soda cup on the tray. There was still twenty minutes left in her break and she had already finished her lunch. Everyday was the same routine, the same boring rigamarole.

She looked around the mall's food court looking for something to do, or somebody to watch, anything to keep her entertained for the twenty free minutes she had before going back to the drudgery of her work. Retail had never been her dream job, much less being a cashier in a big box store, but it paid the bills. Barely. What started as an easy and flexible job that accommodated her life as a student, became a crutch, and then her sole means of income when she left her studies behind. It was far from Joanne's dream job, but it was all she really knew.

Thats not to say she had any real idea what her dream job was. When Joanne left high school, she thought she had it all figured out, but three years of post-secondary wore that passion down to a bloody pulp and she never finished. For the time being her hopes and dreams were on hold, just waiting for something to spark enough of a passion for her to pursue.

Joanne sighed and looked around the food court again. It had been a particularly uneventful day, as most days were, especially in the middle of the week. The food court was littered with the usual suspects: stay-at-home mom's with their kids, old retirees looking for ways to get out of the house, and of course more mall staff just like Joanne.

She picked up her tray and walked over to the garbage. As she emptied the waste off her tray, something caught her eye. Something bright. Something pink. Very pink. Joanne looked up and noticed a store she'd never seen before.

"Bimbo City?" she said aloud in disbelief. Was it a joke? She noticed a grand opening banner hanging across the entrance. The girl furrowed her brow. She hadn't even noticed it going under construction, but sure enough, there was a brand new store just across from the food court. The name seemed particularly tone deaf, but the novelty certainly piqued her interest, and she still had twenty minutes to spare.

After setting her empty tray down atop the tray return, Joanne headed for the garish pink store. Like a moth to a flame, she couldn't tear her eyes away from it. She was mildly excited to see what the store had to offer.