She decides to leave (Slow burn timeline)

Kate seemed a little taken aback that Joanne wouldn't let her play with her hair.

"I should probably get going," said Joanne curtly. She turned to leave. "Good luck with your grand opening," she said without looking back.

"Oh, umm, kay. Bye! Come back sometime, I'll show you around."

"Like that will ever happen," thought Joanne. She stifled a yawn as she walked out. The thought of going back to work was miserable, but staying in that store any longer than she had to sounded insufferable. She'd probably grab an energy drink from the convenience store before...

Joanne stopped dead in her tracks before fully exiting the pink purgatory. "Fuck." she thought, or maybe she said it aloud. It didn't matter. She had just remembered that the mall's convenience store was closed for renovations. As if aware of her inability to buy an energy drink, her body triggered a yawn which Joanne dutifully stifled. She wasn't going to make it through the rest of the work day without some caffeine.

"Did you need something?" Joanne heard Kate say in her chipper voice. The store had a fridge by the register. It was perhaps the one thing Joanne remembered from behind her.

She took a gamble and turned around. "Yea. Do you sell energy drinks?"

Kate squealed again. Joanne still had no idea how a grown woman squealed. "We do!" she exclaimed and she tottered over to the fridge. Joanne hadn't noticed before that Kate's heels were astronomically tall. How could she even walk in them? Kate opened the fridge door and pulled out a pink can that seemed to match all the decor. "This one is my favourite."

Joanne walked over and inspected the can. "Bimbolicious?" she asked in disbelief, "Do you have any normal brands?"

Kate shook her head causing her blonde hair to bounce all over. "Nope! Everything we sell is, like, super proprietary or whatever."

Joanne sighed and grabbed the can. Looking it over, she found the flavour which made her cringe even harder. "'Afternoon Delight?'" She wondered if the blonde bimbo even knew it shared a name with a father sexually forward song. "This isn't going to make me want to jump my managers bones, is it?" she asked half joking.

Kate's painted lips curled slightly. "I dunno," she said, "Is he cute?"

Joanne rolled her eyes. She obviously didn't get it. And no, her manager, Devon, wasn't cute. Or well, maybe he could be, but he was so heavily invested in her company's corporate culture that Joanne couldn't stand him. "No," she said curtly, "Whatever, just ring this up."

Kate clapped excitedly and processed Joanne's transaction. She gave Joanne her drink, a receipt and even a coupon for ten percent off her next purchase. She even kissed the coupon for good measure, leaving a pink smear on the front.

Joanne thanked her and left the store as quickly as possible, crumpling the receipt and coupon in her hand. She tossed the bundle at a nearby garbage bin, but missed. The girl didn't have enough time to go and pick it up, so she left it and hurried to work.