81 White knight in plot armor (2/2)

'It's hard to believe that was only a few weeks ago…' Ben sat on an ocean blue mall bench. He was taking a break, tapping the cold steel handrest while reminiscing over recent events.

That's when a familiar voice stood out from the passing crowd. Antonio greeted him. ”Yo cuz, I got 4 numbers, how'd you do?”

Before Ben could respond, Antonio swiveled his head away. He spotted something more interesting nearby: an attractive brunette working inside a shop. He turned back to Ben. ”Please tell me you haven't gotten her number yet? ”

Ben shook his head.

Antonio smiled. ”This is great. I have a stock opener for retail clerks I haven't use a while. They always call me sweetheart whenever I hit 'em with this. I'll lead the charge then…” He sauntered over to her.

When Antonio reached the clerk, he put on a solemn, bitter expression. ”Hello, I'm here for my mother. She's very old now…”

The clerk replied with a pleasant smile, ”Okay…”

Antonio continued. ”I want to get somethin' nice for her. Something so she knows I love her, and help me remember her when she's gone…” He waited for the clerk's response. 'Here's the part where she says ”Aw, you're so sweet…”'

”*** ****** ** *****...” the clerk replied.

'Does she have an accent? That sounded a bit off.' Antonio spread a polite smile. ”Could you repeat that?”

”Leave, or I'm calling police...”

”It's nothin' much...any good son should--” His face froze in a smile, mid-humble-brag...

He realized her response was...a little unenthusiastic... 'She must've heard me wrong.' He repeated himself, ”I said I'm here to get somethin' for my mother.”

”We don't do that here!”

Antonio squinted. ”What do you mean? Ain't this a shop?”

”Yes! It's a taxidermist!”

***

A few minutes later, back on the bench, Ben was staring at Antonio, having heard what happened. ”So in essence, you asked her to stuff your dead mother and mount her on a wall?

...

Antonio was frowning. ”I just wanted a scarf or something...who knew she had such strange hobbies?”

'...The issue isn't her hobbies but your lack of awareness.' Ben shook his head. ”The line…maybe you should've customized it more… I mean, didn't you notice all the animal heads on the walls?”

Antonio snorted. ”Point of a stock opener is it's supposed to do its job everywhere. How can you expect me to pay attention to those details? My mind was occupied; Didn't you see those jugs?”

…

Antonio glanced at the sexy store clerk's body from a distance and swallowed. ”I need to find a stock opener for taxidermists…”