“Little boy, what are you doing here?” Danny looked up from the shelf he was stocking. A middle-aged woman stood next to him.
“Working.”
“Working?” The woman looked around. “Where are your parents?”
“At home.”
“At home?! They left their toddler son at the store!”
“I’m an employee,” Danny said firmly. He looked down to point out his badge. His heart sunk. At some point, his badge had fallen off. Now, there was no proof that he was an employee.
“That’s very cute, but I think I need to bring you to someone who can get in contact with your parents,” the woman said. She picked Danny up. Noticing the crinkle from his diaper, she stuck a finger down the back of his pants. “You’re clean. Good boy!”
Resigned to his fate, Danny allowed the woman to carry him to customer service. Surely the employee there would recognize him. His bad luck continued, however. The employee at customer service was new and hadn’t met Danny yet.
“I found this little boy in the toddler section,” the woman said. She set Danny on the customer service desk. “He said his parents left him at the store.” The employee, a chipper young woman named Heather, beamed.
“Thank you. I’ll make sure he gets home safe and sound.”
“Oh, and he’s got a diaper on, so he’s definitely not potty trained. He might need a change if he waits too long.”
“The employee break room has a changing table and plenty of supplies. That won’t be a problem.”
“Great! Thanks!” The woman walked away. Heather smiled at Danny.
“Let’s see if your mommy or daddy put their phone number anywhere,” she chirped. Danny opened his mouth to try to tell her what had happened. After all, she wouldn’t find any phone numbers on him. Before he could say anything, however, Heather pulled back the collar of his shirt. “Yep! Here’s a number!”
Danny could only blink in shock that there was in fact a phone number on his clothes for Heather to call. Heather dialed the number.
“This is Greg,” the voice on the other end of the line said. Danny sighed in relief. He listened as Heather “explained” the situation. “I’ll be there in eight minutes.”
“Great, thanks!” Heather hung up the phone. She smiled at Danny. “It sounded like someone went pee-pee in his diapy, so I better change you before your daddy shows up!” Danny frowned at her in confusion. Then he remembered sighing in relief. That must be what Heather was talking about. Well, he did need to pee. Danny emptied his bladder, warmth spreading through his diaper.
When Heather and Danny got back to the customer service desk from changing his diaper, Greg was waiting there, as was Kristof. Kristof smiled at Heather.
“Heather, could I see you in my office?” he asked.
“Am I in trouble?” Heather asked. “Was I not supposed to change him?”
“No, you’re fine. I just need to tell you something.”
“Oh, okay!” Heather handed Danny over to Greg, then followed Kristof away.
“That was humiliating,” Danny whispered to Greg. Greg chuckled.
“I bet. Kristof said you could come home early, actually.”
“Really? Great.”
“He also told me one other thing.”
“What?” Danny asked.