The retail of affairs

And so it starts. I finally got a job to replace the one I was fired from two months ago. It ended well enough, at least, since I got a good bang from it. However, six weeks of great s*x doesn't make it hurt less. I went from a shift manager to a pre-closer, scrubbing toilets for minimum wage. But at least I have a job again and can contribute to my living expenses. I am 22 years old, living at home with my divorcee dad in a decent size 5 bedroom house. How did I get here? I would love to share. I graduated high school just before the economic collapse of 2008. Jobs were scarce, apartments were insanely unaffordable, and depressions were high. My first job was the famous Blockbuster. It was the best job an 18 year old could have. Flexible hours, movie perks, and loads of boys my age to flirt with. Of course, that would be easier to do if I weren't in Khakis. I compensated for that with loud eye makeup and well styled hair. I spent most of my time slacking off for the better part of the shift, only jumping into gear when a customer would walk in. As a shift lead, you are responsible for opening, locking up at night, and keeping the other employees in line. Towards the end, my awesome general manager, Cate, became sick and went on leave. We knew the company was going belly up due to poor decision-making by the successor CEO, so we weren't surprised she didn't get a more permanent replacement. Another manager from another store about 2 hours away took over our location. Splitting the week with his store and ours. then there was myself, Leticia and Kavika. Leticia was an ex druggie mom of 2, and Kavika was a Hawaiian boxer who only worked here part-time. They were f*****g. Kavika was stealing Xbox's out of their box and selling them outside of the store, keeping the profit for himself. Our new coverage manager, James, was a 37 year old attractive man. He had a no-nonsense attitude at work and rarely sat down. So, of course, I worked much harder when he was on shift. He must have also known the store was closing. he quickly cleaned house of Leticia and Kavika for the stolen goods and promoted another employee to help cover the manager shifts. In turn that meant he was also there multiple days a week. Some weeks he wouldn't miss a day at our branch. I of course tried to flirt with him, but he kept to his business only mentality. On the fateful firing day, about 4 to 5 months after Leticia and Kavika were fired, I was called in. James took me into a private room and sat me down in front of a 2 page piece of paper. On the first page was a printout of movies checked in FOS (found on shelf) the second was blank. "I need you to tell me what happened here." he said. Pointing to a highlighted line, and write the explanation on the blank page behind it. I looked it over quickly, knowing exactly what it was from. As employees we can rent movies before street date. They have to be returned before the release date or we get written up. "I checked it in FOS for Deanna. She forgot her pre-street and i called her. She returned it before we opened. I didn't want to write her up since it was no harm to the customers." I said a bit sheepishly. He then pinched his eyebrows together with his finger and thumb and sighed. "I was really hoping your explanation wouldn't involve a policy violation." he said then he dismissed me and I went home. This was my first job and I knew something bad was coming but I had worked there for 4 years. I had been promoted 3 times. No way would they fire me. I've never even had a write up. But they did. I must have felt it more than my conscious mind would allow. I cried it out and told my dad i was terrified to go in to work cause it felt like something bad would happen. He assured me we would figure it out. The day I was officially fired was 4 days before christmas. I was on the schedule but so was an extra employee. Not a new one but more than labor called for. I was also supposed to be in only for a meeting that day. I didn't bother with my khakis and blues. Instead I wore tight jeans under knee high boots and a gorgeous black and purple top. James took me aside to the same private room and asked if I knew why I was in there. "Pretty sure I'm fired." I shrugged. James sighed. "Why did you have to do something so stupid. I don't want to fire you, but my hands are tied. You know the company is struggling." I shrugged again. "So what now?" He took a long look at me, sighed again, and handed me an envelope. "This is your final pay. Next time, just write the girl up. If you had just followed the rules, you both would still be employees, not just her." I left. Cashed my check and thanked God it was super close to tax return time. For that night I wanted to blow off steam. I called a couple buddies of mine and told them we would all go to the bar. My treat. We lived in a small town and drinks were cheap. We first tried a club/bar hybrid just out of town but they wanted a cover charge and the two guys that came out with me were broke. So we skipped paying 30 bucks just to get in and went to a local bar near my home instead. When we walked in I immediately froze. Sitting in front of me was the man who just fired me 8 hours earlier.