The Boss' Pet

Lizzie took in a sharp breath before she headed into the doorway of her work. The store was decorated with flags and colors of red, white, and blue. It was only June.

They asked her to be the new manager since the previous one will be stepping down. She didn't feel comfortable, but everyone took to her being in charge. She did have a type of leadership that was comfortable, but she never liked being a leader.

Today Tabetha was going to train her in learning some of the more managerial skills that she needed for work. It was a daring task to work on, but she needed to learn how to count down a drawer and keep an accurate record of the money in both the store's safe and what they made during that night. She was a little terrified and her nerves always got the best of her.

"Glad to see you start the new position," said one of the store managers. She always wore the same updo and had a nice smile on her face.

"Thanks, Andrea," Lizzy replied.

"How do you feel about it? I always knew you would be capable of doing something like this."

"I'm a little nervous because I've never done anything with a leadership type position before. So I'm slightly uncomfortable about it." 

"Don't sweat about that. You will go just fine. You're smarter than some of the people in here." She headed towards the register after the assistant general manager yelled her name to clock out. Lizzy headed back to the office and saw Tabetha and gave a small wave.

"Go ahead and clock in, I will show you what to do for the drawer okay?" Tabetha instructed.

"Alright, thank you," Lizzy said. She headed up to the front, put in her numbers and headed back towards the office. Tabetha got up from the chair and put away the schedule she was working on for the next week. Lizzy sat down and Tabetha stood in front of the doorway, blocking any further distractions or the assistant general manager from coming back to the office and showing her a different step to count down her drawer. There have been recent money problems before they moved her onto the management position.

"Now I need you to input these numbers into the safe," Tabetha said and pointed to the numbers in the safe keypad. Lizzy did as instructed and the safe opened with no problems at all.

"It is difficult to memorize," Tabetha commented, "Ashleigh often had a hard time in the first few days."

"I won't have that problem. It is just shy of when my mother was born," Lizzy commented. She took out the drawer that Tabetha pointed to and took off the rainbow bag and looked down at the coins in the tray.

"So with this, you need at least eighteen in rolled joins and sixty in paper-clipped singles," Tabetha instructed. So Lizzy took the calculator that was next to the coin tray and began to count the amount of unrolled coins once she calculated the rolled coins. The total rang up to thirty in the tray.

"Now move onto the bills," Tabetha ordered. Lizzy opened up the pouch and looked at two paperclips holding some single dollar bills together.

"I see only two twenties in singles here," Lizzy said.

"So then you have seventy, which means that you have at least a few singles that can put you closer to eighty or ninety dollars at the moment," Tabetha said, "So go ahead and count how many singles you have that are not clipped together."

Lizzy counted out the amount and put the total into the calculator. She was eighty dollars out of two hundred in the drawer.

"So if we have eighty dollars now, that means we need one hundred and twenty in the fives right?" she asked Tabetha. But Tabetha pointed to the bills in her hand and continued to count them. She was doing well. The drawer finally rested at two hundred.

"So now we take this drawer up here and put everything in it. Then we go up front and take out the other one and print out the totals from the morning shift. Got it so far?" Tabetha asked.

"Yeah. But I still think this is going to be hard," Lizzy commented.

"We wouldn't make you a manager if you didn't know how to count. You did fine with the money part. But Ashleigh told me the timing and sales parts you are concerned about. So I'll help you with those next."

They took out the other drawer and the paper for the morning report and replaced the drawer with the other one Lizzy counted and took the morning one back to the office where the assistant general manager was sitting. He began to count the money and they headed up to the front of the store and began to work on some more training techniques. As the morning shift began to clock out and leave, it was Tabetha and Lizzy left on the machine and the store itself.

"Did you want me to take out a sample tray?" Lizzy asked. But Tabetha shook her head.

"You need to learn this stuff or else you won't do well as a manager," she commented.

As the night went on they continued to work on the training and perform some closing activities. By the end of the night, Lizzy was calling out the number of sales and Tabetha was instructing her what to do next. They closed the door an hour early than normal closing time because of the lack of sales.

"How did you think I did so far with the people and sales?" Lizzy asked.

"You'll get better with time," Tabetha commented. Lizzy let out a sigh and did the rest of the instructions without any problem. She printed three different reports that were needed for the deposit and records and they all huddled in the back of the store and proceeded to count down the drawer again.

Once she got to two hundred, Lizzy removed the rest of the money and put it in a bank slip before moving onto the safe. She counted the supplies and change to the number Tabetha said it should be. It came out correct and they moved onto the deposit for the night. They ended up being only a few cents short of the goal.

Tabetha then showed her how to fill out the paperwork. So while Lizzy did the paperwork, Tabetha went and worked on the store to leave some stuff open or unfinished for her to fix and look over.

"Did you complete the rest of the paperwork?" Tabetha came back and asked. Lizzy nodded and went to check on the things Tabetha messed with to ensure that she doesn't leave them running all night.

"Everything seems correct. Did you find the things I messed with? you must look over anyone's closing work because Gordon doesn't like it when the store is left open, shut off improperly, or just half-done," Tabetha inquired. Lizzy nodded and they went to shut off the lights in the front of the store, checked the kitchen and turned everything off there, then headed towards the back of the store near the exit.

"Now, this is important to know. When you leave, turn on the alarm and make sure this door is shut properly at all times. We don't want anyone walking into the store and taking anything, got it?" Lizzy nodded and they went through the procedure and headed out the back door. Lizzy walked off, but Tabetha called for her to stay. The lock stopped blinking and she jiggled the door to ensure that it was closed shut.

"You need to make sure that this light goes off. If it doesn't it means you didn't close the door right," Tabetha ordered, "Otherwise, you will have this door open and people can get into the store." Lizzy nodded and agreed. Then they went their separate ways. Lizzy reached for her keys in her purse and headed towards her car on the other side of the street. She sighed and called up her boyfriend to let him know she was heading home now after training.

"How did you think you did?" her boyfriend asked on the phone.

"Not too good. I have so much to learn and I need to have it all written down. They say I overthink it too much and I just need to slow down and take my time," Lizzy said.

"Well, that is why they are training you for a week. So don't sweat it. Just make sure you do it well the first time." They hung up and Lizzy headed home after she started her car. It took her a few months after training, but she excelled in this position and it was important for her to learn because the next busy season was going to be the test of her abilities.