CHAPTER ELEVEN – AN QUICK HOOKUP

As the lunch rush began, Joan tried to focus on her work, pushing thoughts of the disastrous presentation out of her mind. But her day was about to get worse. Halfway through her shift, the cash register started acting up. Joan frowned as she tried to input an order, but the screen remained frozen. "Come on," she muttered, tapping the keys more forcefully. A line of impatient customers began to form. Joan felt sweat beading on her forehead as she struggled with the malfunctioning machine. "What's the holdup?" a man at the front of the line called out. "I'm sorry, sir," Joan said. "We're having some technical difficulties. I'm trying to fix it." Just then, Mike emerged from the back. "What's going on out here?" "The register's not working," Joan explained. Mike pushed her aside, jabbing at the keys himself. When nothing happened, he turned to Joan with a scowl. "What did you do to it?" Joan's jaw dropped. "Me? Nothing! It just stopped working." "Right," Mike said skeptically.