November 08, 2005 @12:06 am
Shannon sank into the thick pink and green goose-feather pillows on her inviting chocolate brown couch. A cup of deliciously cold grapefruit juice on the table, ethereal music floating through the air, and a solid paperback completed the look. For the next hour or so, Shannon’s nose was buried in the paperback as she devoured the pages, stopping now and then to sip some juice. As the clock struck four, Glenn Miller’s ‘Little Brown Jug’ reverberated shrilly around the room.
With a quick swoop, Shannon snatched her mobile from the table and shut off the sound. A message had come in, and with just enough luck, her baby girl would have heard the tune and gotten up to clap to it. She loved that song, always clapping her hands and shaking her head to the rhythm.
Shan, still got that curious spark in you? Call me.
She had not seen Karina for a long time now, mostly due to her baby girl. Shannon missed the girl times they had over high tea or dinner-dessert, where they shared their lives and gave each other advice. Karina had always been enigmatic, but this was the most curious thing she had heard from her in ages.
Gurgling from the baby monitor – Tabitha was awake. Shannon pushed aside the message, and went to welcome her baby back from her sleep.
“Good afternoon Tabitha! Had a good nap? Come, let’s get you bathed and all dressed up so we can go to Big jie jie’s birthday party. You like that, don’t you?”
So Shannon bathed her daughter, dressed her up, then dressed herself up. They went downstairs, met Justin as he turned his car into the lobby, and went to the party. At the party, they played games, sang the birthday song, ate cake, jelly, and other finger food typical of a six-year-old’s party. When the clock struck nine, the party ended, and everyone made their way home. Shannon sang to Tabitha as she tucked her to bed, knowing full well that when Justin came in to tell Tabitha her bedtime story, so full of swash-buckling pirates, brave gurkas and quick-witted meepok men that Tabitha would be bouncing with energy instead of sleeping.
A quick hug and ear nibble from behind announced Justin’s presence. “You’ve been looking very preoccupied this whole evening. Everything all right?”
“You remember Karina, my netball kaki?”
“Hmmm… the one who has a musician boyfriend who plays a mean game of soccer?”
“No… that’s Colleen. You know… biscuit girl? Karina is the one who has a pixie hair-cut and who loves Kogepan. Does that ring a bell? Anyway, she sent me a message today and I’ve been wondering what it’s all about!”
“You definitely still have that curious streak about you, jumpity girl. Go give her a call, I’ll enthrall our little creation here with some bedtime stories.”
Shannon gave Justin a mock glare, her hands on her hips. “She needs to sleep, not be energized.”
“Oops, did I say enthrall? I meant I’ll tell her stories to give her sweet dreams. Now shoo, go and call Karina.”
Shannon laughed silently. In five minutes, Tabitha was going to be so full of energy the Energizer bunny would pale in comparison. Shannon stole out of the room and gave Karina a call. Pleasantries exchanged, Karina dropped the bombshell.
“You know how retailers prioritize making money that they do not check credit cards properly? I need you to help me check that they are not slack in their checks.”
“Why me? You have a whole horde of people under your charge!”
“True, but some of the more deviant and sneaky ones know all of my people. They comply when they check, but once they turn their backs… whoo hoo… all safety checks go out of the window. So what do you say you help your old friend out? You can write it up as a story and send it to your editor. You free-lancing now right?
“Yes, but…”
“I’ll throw in some durian puffs, chicken pie, and a whole tub of Ben’s and Jerry’s ice-cream. Surely you can’t say no to that?”
“Oooo you devious girl…”
“Well, you know me. So, when can I have the report?”
“Give me the list of retailers and two weeks.”
“Righty-o. So, girlfriend, I’m waiting to hear from you!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shannon glanced at her list. She had 50 stores to cover. Now that was not a majority, but that was already quite a large sample of shops. The words
Central Limit Theorem scrolled through her head, with the full definition, like those scroll-bys at the bottom of any respectable news channel.
That’s quite enough. I do not need academics messing about with my brain while I’m on this!
She stepped into the first store, BloomingSocks, one claiming to sell extremely comfortable and trendy footwear. As she looked at the shoes, she could see the shop assistants fawning over a middle-age lady who was dripping with gold and diamonds. As they praised her for her good taste in choosing certain designs and colours, Shannon’s stomach churned. Shannon finally settled on a few designs, and approached one of the shop assistants. He looked at the shoes, and told her he did not have her size.
“What about in other colours?”
“I’m quite sure we’re out of stock. This particular design would also not look good on your feet. How about this range? They would show off your legs better, and would go easier on your pocket.”
A mild wave of irritation washed over Shannon. So she was wearing a simple T-shirt and jeans ensemble with ballet pumps, but that did not warrant such a comment.
“Ok. Could you help me get this in white and that in blue please?”
Shannon tried on the shoes, and they were a perfect fit. Both designs showed off her feet, and she was sure there would be no problem if she wore those sandals with shorts. She decided on the pair with a backstrap in the end, as that could go with a sundress as well. While making payment, Shannon noticed that the gold and diamond lady paid by card and that the shop manager took nary a look at the signature. When it came to her turn, she signed
Paddington Bear. Now Paddington Bear looks very different from Shannon Tay.
“That signature is wrong. Are you sure you are the card holder?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I’ll need to see some ID.” He picked up the phone. “Security, I think we have a thief here. One of those students.”
“Excuse me?” Shannon explained that she was writing a story on credit card security, and that this was part of her mission. The manager looked at her in disbelief. Shannon could feel all eyes in the store boring down on her.
“I’ll be keeping that card. Get out of my store.”
“Return me my card.”
“It is not yours. It’s mine now, and security is going to get you to the police for this.”
Shannon’s head was now throbbing with anger. She whipped out her phone and dialed Karina. “Karina, cancel my credit card. Some self-righteous irrational store manager refuses to return it to me. He doesn’t even want to let me sign again.” Turning to the store manager, “You can keep the card and your shoes. I’ve just cancelled MY card, and don’t be surprised if you read about this in the papers.”
On to the second store. While browsing through the books, Shannon was musing about the good choice she made in using the credit card from Karina’s company, so she would not have to pay the fees for a lost card. In this shop, the sales assistant took a hard long look at the signature, which still said Paddington Bear, and returned the card to her.
“Thank you for trusting Manyana Publishing. Hope to see you again!”
Of the remaining forty-eight stores, only five picked out the wrong signature and asked her to sign again. They did not make her feel embarrassed, and handled it with finesse. The rest? They either had the same response as Manyana Publishing, or simply did not look at the receipt just as the store manager from BloomingSocks had done for the lady dripping with gold and diamonds.
Finally, Shannon sat down at her laptop to write her report and story. Karina had earlier given her the training materials, so she knew full well what retailers were supposed to do when the signature on the card and the signature on the receipt did not match. She detailed every single excursion from her mission, and did up an executive summary. Next, she wrote her stories. She had planned on writing one story, but with the experiences she had had, her editor told her to write a four page expose on credit card security.
Leaning back, Shannon sighed with satisfaction. She wondered how the self-righteous man would react to the story. Probably with indignation. Leaning forward, she navigated her way to BloomingSocks’ website and ordered that pair of sandals. It was cheaper anyway, with all her other friends’ purchases.
Gurgling came from the baby monitor – Tabitha was awake. Shannon clicked the “Purchase” button, sent the report and articles, then pushed aside the laptop and went to welcome her baby back from her sleep.