Page 69 of The Thief

Hope

My gosh, it’s beautiful. Joy looks cozy

Mercy

I’ll keep sending pictures and let you know if we switch stores

“Excuse me, ma’am.” Josh the furniture guru hovered over Joy. “You can’t bring food in here.”

Joy licked her fingers. “But why not?”

“You’ll damage the merchandise. I’m also going to have to ask you to take your feet off the couch.”

Joy held his gaze. “If I’m not mistaken, display furniture is for testing out. It’s sold at a discount because of the wear and tear from customers trying it out. So what exactly are you preserving? Customers should be allowed to make themselves comfortable on the displays just as we would at home. How else can we make a sound decision?”

“Ma’am, I need you to get off the furniture,” he repeated and then snatched her bag of chips. When he did that, Joy bounced to her feet and grabbed them from his hand.

“Josh, don’t you dare be crass with me. I’m sure you’d rather have a commission on a sale than a bag of chips.”

I’d never heard Joy speak up like that. She didn’t shout, but her commanding voice was that of a woman who knew how to get what she wanted.

He scoffed. “This piece is ten thousand dollars. It’s quality craftsmanship. So as part of store policy, we don’t allow anyone to eat on the furniture.”

I lifted my phone and sent a message.

Mercy

Forget the couch. It’s 10K

Hope

Hold on…

Joy waved the man off. “Goodbye, Josh. Bring your boss over here if you have a problem. I would love to speak to them.”

The worker stalked off with a look of irritation. Joy resumed crunching on her chips. “Humans are so ridiculous. It’s not as if this is an antique with actual value.”

“It’s ten thousand dollars,” I pointed out.

She moseyed over and put her arm around me. “All prices can be negotiated. Besides, it’s only money, not the end of the world. There are worse things in life than crumbs on a couch.”

I glanced down at my phone when it chimed.

Hope

Tak loves it

Mercy

10K means ten thousand. We’ll find something cheaper

Hope

Don’t be silly. We’ll take two. Use Tak’s card. It’s set up like a business account so we can use it at human stores. They’ll probably call him to approve, but let us know if you have issues

Mercy

Are you sure???

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