Nala

Nala bopped and bounced lightly behind the liquor store's checkout counter, keeping time with the cheesy pop music playing over the radio as she looked absentmindedly over the inventory notes. She was just trying to pass the time between infrequent customers, and not really all that concerned with her stock at the moment, so her mind was starting to wander. Her eyes lit up at the sound of the door chime and she leaned to peer toward the front, to see who had arrived.

When she realized it was the landlord, Nala barely repressed a combination worried gasp and exasperated groan. She looked around frantically while silently mouthing 'oh shit, oh shit, oh shit' as though expecting to find some help among the shelves. She hadn't paid the lease for the month... or the previous month... She meant to do it, honest! Things just... didn't work out that way.

Not sure what else to do, Nala put side the notes and ducked down behind the counter, trying to keep out of sight in hopes the landlord might just go away. She covered her mouth with one hand, muffling the sound of her own breathing, and tried to catch sight of him in the reflections off nearby bottles. She had no idea what to say if he demanded payment right then... she thought maybe she had enough to cover one month, at least, but definitely no more than that.

Nala was keeping herself occupied behind the checkout counter — mostly by bouncing and swaying lightly in time with the cheesy pop music playing on the store radio. It was a devestatingly slow business day — actually, it'd been a dead week, but she didn't want to think about it — so she had little motivation to be professional or productive just then. When the door chime rang out, it took her a moment to notice. Then, ears twitching, she paused her dancing to peer toward the front of the store.

Recognizing the familiar face, Nala put on a wide grin and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the counter. "Hey there, handsome," she called out in greeting. "Let me know if you need help finding anything!" Finally getting a customer into the store was elevating her mood, and she watched him expectantly. Her backside swayed back and forth behind her, absently keeping time with the music again; while her tail stood high and twitched with the anticipation of a sale.

There was a certain desperation for that, since business had been poor for some time and Nala was in real danger of being too in debt to keep the place open. With that motivation, she started considering whether and how she might use the opportunity to amuse herself and sell a little more than alcohol to the day's first visitor.

The day felt far longer and more arduous than it really had been, just because Nala was incredibly bored. Absolutely no customers had come in, even as the sun set and the one pale streetlight came on above her lot. All motivation had drained from her, as she plopped herself down on one of the leather chairs and eyed the label on a bottle she'd randomly snatched from a shelf.

It turned out to be a bourbon, and a relatively cheap one. Nala shrugged and opened it with no real care, the cap falling to the floor and rolling away unnoticed. Even drinking alone, she preferred a glass, and luckily had one waiting right there on the low table. As she poured a generous portion for herself, she began humming along to the sappy song on the radio; she'd switched it from the usual pop over to a local country station, being more in the mood for something sad and crooning.

"Cheers to me and poverty, I guess." Nala held up the glass, peering through the amber liquid. For a moment she thought about getting back up, to lock the door and put up the 'Closed' sign, but shrugged away the concern. It just didn't seem necessary. "Well, bottoms up," she intoned, then took a heftier-than-recommended gulp of the bourbon. She sighed with satisfaction as it burned its way down her throat, and put the glass down with an authoritative thump, immediately reaching for the bottle to top it up again.

Nala checked the shop ladder one more time, giving it a hard nudge to see that it was stable. The last time she'd gotten it out, she could've sworn it had creaked and groaned in a subtle way that'd made her uneasy. Of course, it might just as easily been all in her imagination. Satisfied that it didn't seem likely to fall apart, she released the casters and pushed it toward the shelf she needed to climb.

Once she got it into the right spot, Nala used a foot to put the brakes down on the casters again. "Stay put," she muttered needlessly at it, then went back to the checkout counter to retrieve a small crate. She'd picked out a few things that just weren't selling, and intended to swap them out for some nicer product she hadn't had the space to put out before. The only issue was, she'd stashed those bottles up on top of the shelves, where she couldn't reach them without using that damned ladder.

Up she went, carefully ascending one step at a time since she was also carefully lifting the crate. When Nala got to the top, she frowned at the accumulation of dust up there, wondering if she should start cleaning the tops of the shelving units. Being focused on finding the bottles she wanted, and thinking about the dusty state of the space, she didn't even notice the door chime ringing out to announce a visitor.