Fic: Make Someone Smile (SPN)
Title: Make Someone Smile
Genre: Gen
Rating: G
Summary: Sometimes a good mattress can make all the difference in someone's life. Sometimes just seeing someone smile can make everything worthwhile. Outsider POV.
“So the other day, this guy comes in, right?” Ellie was giggling.
Martha turned away, fighting the urge to roll her eyes at the teenager. She tugged at the bedspread on the display bed, straightening it. “I’m sure there is something you could be doing, Ellie. Have you dusted all the bedsteads?”
Ellie halfheartedly fluffed a pillow. “Yes. I did that twice already. And I vacuumed all the mattresses, and washed the windows, and re-did display bedroom number two. I’m all done, only Steve said I couldn’t go home because there’s still four hours left of my shift.”
There was four hours left of Martha’s shift, too. She was counting the seconds.
“So anyway,” Ellie continued, “This guy comes in the other day, and he’s like, really hot, and he’s not even that old. Well, okay, he’s kind of old, but not as old as most of the customers, and anyway, there’s like a level of hot where age doesn’t even matter, you know?”
“Where is this story going, Ellie?” Martha asked grimly. Ellie might be annoying as all heck, but that didn’t mean Martha wanted some older guy taking advantage of her for her good looks and tiny, tiny brain.
“He was real tall, and had these cheekbones, and, like, eyes, you know, and eyelashes, and he was wearing this old plaid shirt, and these jeans and boots, only he didn’t look like a farmer, he looked like a model. Like those guys in the catalogs my Dad buys his farm clothes from.” Ellie had given up all pretense of working and was actually lying on the display bed, a Pro-Gel Perpetual memory foam mattress on a K45R bedframe.
Martha looked around for Steve and caught a glimpse of him in the back office, playing his internet game and eating the cookies his wife had packed him. She sighed. Well, they had done all the work they could. All they could do now was wait for a customer. She lay on the bed next to Ellie. “Does this story have a point?”
“Anyway, he was super-duper hot, but he looked real tired, like he hadn’t been sleeping well, and I thought, wow, I bet his mattress sucks, and that’s why he can’t sleep and he’s so tired. Maybe if I sell him a real good mattress, he’ll, like, appreciate it and want to thank me, so I went over to him, and he was like, ‘sorry, sweetheart, just looking’, and he smiled at me, like he kind of wasn’t used to people being nice to him, and he thought I just wanted him to buy a mattress to get all his money.”
Martha didn’t blame him. Most people thought that, because it was true. Nobody worked in a mattress store in small-town Kansas because the seriously wanted to dedicate their life to helping people choose exactly the right mattress for their back. People worked in mattress shops because they couldn’t afford to go to college, or they weren’t smart enough, or they didn’t want to leave their family.
“But that’s not true, you know,” chirped Ellie, “The right mattress can really help someone. It can ease back pain and muscle aches and tension. Sleeping on a bad mattress can totally ruin your circulation, you know, and it can make allergies flare up, but the worst thing is when it stops you sleeping. Sleep is way more important than people think. It can actually make you really sick if you don’t get enough sleep. So picking a mattress is pretty much the most important decision of your life.”
Wow, no wonder Ellie had higher sales figures than her. And she had just thought it was because the girl was pretty
.
“So I told him that, right,” Ellie said, “And he looked real sad and was like ‘thanks, honey, but I don’t think it will help.’ He called me honey, like I was a little girl. But I really wanted him to not be so sad, because like I said, he was super duper hot, and he had this gorgeous smile even if it wasn’t real, kind of like yours when you’re trying to make a sale. So I kind of begged him just to try out a few because my manager was watching, even though Steve was actually in his office playing his game. And he totally loved them. He didn’t even know what memory foam was, because he’s never had his own house or the money for a new bed before, and he was super excited about it remembering him. He laughed when he got up, and his eyes crinkled up and he had a dimple in his cheek, and it was like so cute, even though he was kind of old. And he totally nearly fell asleep on the T-720, and then when I woke him up, he just bought it on the spot. I didn’t get to go see where he lives though, coz he was out of range for deliveries.” Ellie paused, pouting for a second, but then her irritatingly constant smile was back. “I saw him in the drugstore the other day, and he looked way less tired, and I was like, I have a great job. Every time I sell a bed, I make heaps of money on commission, and I make someone happy, and that’s really all you need in life, right?”
Martha wasn’t sure she agreed with the making heaps of money statement, but she guessed it was admirable that Ellie was so happy with her simple job. Oh, to be sixteen again. Or maybe just to be a slightly better person.
“Anyway, he said he was going to bring his brother in to buy a mattress today, at like, 2 O’Clock.”
As if on cue, the bell over the door ding-donged. Martha rolled off the bed, trying to smooth out her blouse and fix her hair at the same time so the customer wouldn’t think the store had so few customers that the staff took naps on the job.
Ellie, of course, had already bounded over to the customers, both of whom, Martha had to admit, had definitely been at the front of the line when the looks, or as Ellie would put it ‘super duper hotness’ had been handed out. One of them was smiling a perfect, crinkly-eyed smile at Ellie, to Martha’s relief, in the way someone smiles at a puppy or a young niece. The other was standing close beside him, with a look of amused resignation on his face.
“Yes! Customers!” Steve exclaimed suddenly from immediately behind her. She jumped, cursing herself. She had thought she was past the stage in life where she could be snuck up on while distracted by handsome men.
The crinkly eyed man dragged the other guy across to the Pro-Gel Perpetual and lay down on it, patting the other side of the King. “Just lie down, Sammy, you’ll love it. I mean, it’s not as awesome as mine, but it’s still pretty great. Come on, just try it. It’ll do wonders for your back.”
Sammy was shaggy haired and looked like he would need a King bed to himself. His face took on an expression Martha recognized from all the way across the room as ‘fine, I’ll humour you’, and lay in the middle of the bed, spreading himself out like a starfish so his friend was pushed off.
Ellie stood by the bed, giggling.
“Bless her heart,” Martha said to Steve, “She thinks they’re brothers.”
But they bought the bed, and smiled at her on the way out, and for a second, Martha could pretend she liked her job.
Genre: Gen
Rating: G
Summary: Sometimes a good mattress can make all the difference in someone's life. Sometimes just seeing someone smile can make everything worthwhile. Outsider POV.
“So the other day, this guy comes in, right?” Ellie was giggling.
Martha turned away, fighting the urge to roll her eyes at the teenager. She tugged at the bedspread on the display bed, straightening it. “I’m sure there is something you could be doing, Ellie. Have you dusted all the bedsteads?”
Ellie halfheartedly fluffed a pillow. “Yes. I did that twice already. And I vacuumed all the mattresses, and washed the windows, and re-did display bedroom number two. I’m all done, only Steve said I couldn’t go home because there’s still four hours left of my shift.”
There was four hours left of Martha’s shift, too. She was counting the seconds.
“So anyway,” Ellie continued, “This guy comes in the other day, and he’s like, really hot, and he’s not even that old. Well, okay, he’s kind of old, but not as old as most of the customers, and anyway, there’s like a level of hot where age doesn’t even matter, you know?”
“Where is this story going, Ellie?” Martha asked grimly. Ellie might be annoying as all heck, but that didn’t mean Martha wanted some older guy taking advantage of her for her good looks and tiny, tiny brain.
“He was real tall, and had these cheekbones, and, like, eyes, you know, and eyelashes, and he was wearing this old plaid shirt, and these jeans and boots, only he didn’t look like a farmer, he looked like a model. Like those guys in the catalogs my Dad buys his farm clothes from.” Ellie had given up all pretense of working and was actually lying on the display bed, a Pro-Gel Perpetual memory foam mattress on a K45R bedframe.
Martha looked around for Steve and caught a glimpse of him in the back office, playing his internet game and eating the cookies his wife had packed him. She sighed. Well, they had done all the work they could. All they could do now was wait for a customer. She lay on the bed next to Ellie. “Does this story have a point?”
“Anyway, he was super-duper hot, but he looked real tired, like he hadn’t been sleeping well, and I thought, wow, I bet his mattress sucks, and that’s why he can’t sleep and he’s so tired. Maybe if I sell him a real good mattress, he’ll, like, appreciate it and want to thank me, so I went over to him, and he was like, ‘sorry, sweetheart, just looking’, and he smiled at me, like he kind of wasn’t used to people being nice to him, and he thought I just wanted him to buy a mattress to get all his money.”
Martha didn’t blame him. Most people thought that, because it was true. Nobody worked in a mattress store in small-town Kansas because the seriously wanted to dedicate their life to helping people choose exactly the right mattress for their back. People worked in mattress shops because they couldn’t afford to go to college, or they weren’t smart enough, or they didn’t want to leave their family.
“But that’s not true, you know,” chirped Ellie, “The right mattress can really help someone. It can ease back pain and muscle aches and tension. Sleeping on a bad mattress can totally ruin your circulation, you know, and it can make allergies flare up, but the worst thing is when it stops you sleeping. Sleep is way more important than people think. It can actually make you really sick if you don’t get enough sleep. So picking a mattress is pretty much the most important decision of your life.”
Wow, no wonder Ellie had higher sales figures than her. And she had just thought it was because the girl was pretty
.
“So I told him that, right,” Ellie said, “And he looked real sad and was like ‘thanks, honey, but I don’t think it will help.’ He called me honey, like I was a little girl. But I really wanted him to not be so sad, because like I said, he was super duper hot, and he had this gorgeous smile even if it wasn’t real, kind of like yours when you’re trying to make a sale. So I kind of begged him just to try out a few because my manager was watching, even though Steve was actually in his office playing his game. And he totally loved them. He didn’t even know what memory foam was, because he’s never had his own house or the money for a new bed before, and he was super excited about it remembering him. He laughed when he got up, and his eyes crinkled up and he had a dimple in his cheek, and it was like so cute, even though he was kind of old. And he totally nearly fell asleep on the T-720, and then when I woke him up, he just bought it on the spot. I didn’t get to go see where he lives though, coz he was out of range for deliveries.” Ellie paused, pouting for a second, but then her irritatingly constant smile was back. “I saw him in the drugstore the other day, and he looked way less tired, and I was like, I have a great job. Every time I sell a bed, I make heaps of money on commission, and I make someone happy, and that’s really all you need in life, right?”
Martha wasn’t sure she agreed with the making heaps of money statement, but she guessed it was admirable that Ellie was so happy with her simple job. Oh, to be sixteen again. Or maybe just to be a slightly better person.
“Anyway, he said he was going to bring his brother in to buy a mattress today, at like, 2 O’Clock.”
As if on cue, the bell over the door ding-donged. Martha rolled off the bed, trying to smooth out her blouse and fix her hair at the same time so the customer wouldn’t think the store had so few customers that the staff took naps on the job.
Ellie, of course, had already bounded over to the customers, both of whom, Martha had to admit, had definitely been at the front of the line when the looks, or as Ellie would put it ‘super duper hotness’ had been handed out. One of them was smiling a perfect, crinkly-eyed smile at Ellie, to Martha’s relief, in the way someone smiles at a puppy or a young niece. The other was standing close beside him, with a look of amused resignation on his face.
“Yes! Customers!” Steve exclaimed suddenly from immediately behind her. She jumped, cursing herself. She had thought she was past the stage in life where she could be snuck up on while distracted by handsome men.
The crinkly eyed man dragged the other guy across to the Pro-Gel Perpetual and lay down on it, patting the other side of the King. “Just lie down, Sammy, you’ll love it. I mean, it’s not as awesome as mine, but it’s still pretty great. Come on, just try it. It’ll do wonders for your back.”
Sammy was shaggy haired and looked like he would need a King bed to himself. His face took on an expression Martha recognized from all the way across the room as ‘fine, I’ll humour you’, and lay in the middle of the bed, spreading himself out like a starfish so his friend was pushed off.
Ellie stood by the bed, giggling.
“Bless her heart,” Martha said to Steve, “She thinks they’re brothers.”
But they bought the bed, and smiled at her on the way out, and for a second, Martha could pretend she liked her job.