Sushi the Shop Assistant Part II...

Carrying the burgundy dress carefully packed in a plastic wrap, Sushi went home with a heavy heart. While coming back she came across a lovely pair of shoes which were made just for this dress in that newly opened fancy shoe shop. The shoes cost a little less than two hundred quids. Sushi's feet were aching to get inside the shop and try the shoes. They looked so lovely and enticing, almost inviting her to try them on. But Sushi resisted and went to her car. All the way she kept thinking about those shoes and how lovely they would look with this dress. But then she remembered her dire economic situation and sighing heavily came way from the shop window. She was feeling to be the most deprived and unfortunate being on earth that evening.

Home was empty, Snow must be out somewhere listening to some boring lecture or studying in the library. Sushi went to her bedroom, flung herself on her bed and bawled her heart out. 

Oh the shoes....oh this dress....oh why did God not give her more money? Why why why....there were so many rich people all around her...why could not God make her one of them? Life is so unfair...why could she not be born with loads of money...why could her husband not be a millionaire....she did not have a lot of expectations in life...all she wanted was to live happily and shop now and then....life was so bloody unfair... Oh how would she spend this month without any money? And it was a 31 days month...its March....she found February with its 28 days long enough, March would be hell.She hated her life, she hated March, who asked March to have 31 long days. Oh God no money, which meant no shopping. How would she live like that for a whole month?  Snow would not give her any money as well. No one, just about no one loved her.

She just about finished bawling when Snow came home. He found her with face streaked with tears and make-up smeared all over the face, hair super messed and her dress utterly crumpled. She looked like she has been in an accident. Seeing her like this he got frightened and asked with concern "Sushi hon what is wrong?"

Seeing the concern and love on Snow's face, all of Sushi's problems cam crashing back and she started crying again. Snow kept asking her what was wrong, getting no answer, he started asking so did she meet with an accident, but her car seemed alright, no; was she fired? no; did she have a fight with anyone? no; did someone say something bad to her? no; was she sick? no....out of desperation Snow asked was she crying because he was  home late? Sushi remembered feeling unloved and said "Yes. You do not love me anyone."

Knowing from experience that trying to talk to her logically will not get him anywhere, so he tried to calm her down. After much weeping, Sushi did calm down. In order to cheer her up Snow suggested dinner outside. Throughout dinner Sushi kept thinking whether she should tell Snow about the financial mess she was in. She was just about to attack the big ice cream sundae when Snow said "Sushi  I am mostly preoccupied, lost in my work. I know that I mostly leave you to your own devices. But I am so happy the way you are doing this job and managing your life. Always remember that I love you very very much and am very proud of you."

Looking at Snow's eager face, Sushi knew that for once she could not dump her problems on him. She sat up a little straighter, Snow proud of her. Wow that made her feel good.

Coming back home, Sushi sat down to plan how to get out of the mess.

• Ask parents for help, she had asked them for help numerous times and never bothered to return any money ever, she felt a little guilty, swallowed hard several times and kept parents on the back burner for the time being;
• Ask her friends, but they were just like her, always in debt, credit card bills pending...they would be of no help;
• Ask Snow-- no longer possible, ever since he had said she was managing so well that she made him proud, she cannot, just cannot make him less proud of her;
• Take another job-- but where would she get the time to do another job? As it is she is tired enough doing this one!
• Play Lotto-- but that means spending more money and she may not win, not a good idea in present circumstances;
• Sell the new dress-- aw but she had not even worn it, no bad idea!
• Sell some of the inappropriate clothes from her closet. A little lump came to her throat at the thought of selling off her precious clothes but that seemed like the perfect solution.

So next day during her lunch hours Sushi went to the thrift shop next door to inquire about selling her clothes. The man there was very helpful, he handed her their rate card and asked her to get the clothes, they would finalize once they saw the condition of the clothes. So Sushi spent the whole evening sorting her clothes and deciding which ones to sell off. To her surprise there were quiet a few stuff that she had hardly ever worn. Sushi even contemplated selling her new burgundy dress. But it looked so lovely, she sat with it for a long time, stroking the fine silk and then tried it on. Oh she was stunned at her own reflection, she looked totally different in that dress. Sushi decided to keep the dress. Next morning Snow was surprised to see Sushi dragging two huge laundry bags, she explained that some of her clothes needed alteration.

The man at the thrift shop was very happy to see Sushi's clothes. There were in good condition and would not need any major darning, just a little ironing and they would be as good as new. He was touching them with his big fat hand in a funny way. To hurry things up, Sushi decided to be brisk and businesslike. After going through all her clothes, the man quoted a figure which was so low that Sushi automatically started repacking her clothes. Seeing her pack her clothes, the man doubled his price, Sushi realized that a bargain was needed. Now what this man did not know was that Sushi was a bargain queen and she expertly got down to the business. She has been buying clothes forever and it was not possible to short charge her over clothes. Finally the man parted with much more money than he intended and Sushi emerged triumphant from the shop. Sushi calculated that with this money, if she spent it cleverly, she could stretch a month.

Immediately after coming out, she saw some lovely ear rings in the opposite shop. Sushi went near them, they were lovely chandelier ear rings, glittering in the light and beckoning her in. She looked at the price tag, they were not that expensive. It was true that she did not wear ear rings, but once in a while it would look great. Before she could think of anything else, Sushi was in the shop, checking out the ear rings and loving them. Seeing her hesitate the girl at the counter even offered a discount. That settled it, Sushi marched out with the new ear rings in her hand.

That evening, Snow reminded her that it was her turn to do the grocery, also she needed to pay some of her credit card bills to keep the card. So next day almost all of Sushi's money went doing the chores.

Dear God it was the fourth day of the month and she was completely broke twice over!