“All partners must leave their phones in their lockers,” Basil said, letting the full force of his disapproval fall on Amy like a rock. “Where Amy should have left hers before she clocked in.”

That’s when Amy realized she hadn’t clocked in—she was essentially working for free until she could sneak back to the time clock and swipe her ID. She didn’t dare mention this now, not with Basil already riding her case. Amy would honor the first commandment of keeping her job: Do not look like an idiot in front of anyone who can fire you.

“All right, everybody,” she said, forcing a smile for Basil and controlling her panic. “My name is Amy and this is the Showroom floor. This is where every new customer begins their relationship with Orsk, so it’s where we’ll start, too. The store is 220,000 square feet, and our customers navigate the floor plan using the Bright and Shining Path.” She pointed to a series of big friendly white arrows on the floor. “It’s designed to take a customer from entrance to checkout in the optimal manner. There are shortcuts throughout the store, and I’ll show you those when we get to them.”

Amy had given this speech so many times, she was barely paying attention. Instead she was thinking about Basil and all the reasons she disliked him. It wasn’t because he was three years younger and five promotions ahead of her. And it wasn’t that he was skinny and geeky, all shoulder blades and elbows, a taller Urkel from Family Matters. And it wasn’t the endless stream of phony inspirational corporate-speak that flowed out of him all day long. No—Amy’s problem with Basil was that he acted like he felt sorry for her, like she was his charity case, like she required extra attention, and that made her want to punch him in the face.

“The typical customer spends three and a half hours on their first trip to Orsk, and most of that time is spent up here, in the Showroom. Our focus here is aspiration, not acquisition. We want to teach customers how elegant and efficient their lives can be if they’re fully furnished with Orsk. The Bright and Shining Path encourages them to take their time and exposes them to a range of furniture possibilities. This is where we show them that although they came here for a Genofakte nesting table, it would look so much better next to a Reniflur floor lamp.”

Basil had wandered off, apparently satisfied that she wouldn’t screw up the tour. Amy walked backward on the path, and the trainees followed like a string of red-shirted ducklings.