Katie hugged him lightly. "Oh come on", she said. "Let's not ruin our fun. Where do you want to start?"
John kept walking a few paces and then stopped.
"No. I am getting fed up with nosey salespeople who push thier way into your lives, uninvited, trying to get a comission," he said. "I am going to find her manager and let him know about this.
"Oh John. Com'on.." she pleaded. "We are having a great day and you always let little things get in the way. Just let this one go."
It was too late as John was already half way down an isle that led to the customer service counter. Katie followed reluctantly. Sometimes he could be so stubborn, she thought.
The large store had a rather odd, smallish help desk. There was an old man sitting behind it working with some sort of wooden stick. He was gazing at it intensely, and hadn't noticed the two walk up to the desk.
"Hello sir? I have a complaint to lodge about the service that we have received," John began.
The old man jumped in his seat. "What the.. can't you see that I am in the middle of a very important repair here? One mistake and the flow of energy will be completely offset," the old man said as he went back to staring at the short wooden rod. "Come back in five minutes and I will be able to assist you in any way that you need."
That was the final straw for John, who had already been upset about his experience so far. He drew in a deep breath and said aloud, "I have had it up to here with the service at this place. When we don't need help, you people shove it in our face, and when we do need help, you ask us to wait on you playing with a stick of wood?!"
The outburst startled the old man again and made him drop what he was working on. He turned toward John and stood. "You, my boy, have some nerve to speak about our service when you obviously have manner problems of your own. I almost had that piece fixed. Now I am not sure if the repair worked, or not." He then made an odd facial expression that had Katie worrying about what he would do next.
"Perhaps, my young hot-headed lad, you can be of assistance to me. You see, this wand has been causing its owner all sorts of problems. It turns out that the energy flow was being misdirected by faulty.. oh you don't need to know the specifics, but the short of the story is that no high ranking wizard would dare be seen with a malfunctioning wand. I am somewhat of an expert at repairs of this sort, but your loud barking has thrown me off. Perhaps a test is needed to see if I have been successful."
He then raised the wand and pointed it at John. Katie shouted, "No! please... it was a mistake...really. He didn't mean to upset you."
John laughed out loud.
"You have go to be kidding me. You are one crazy bastard, old man. You even have my girlfriend freaked out by your act."
A brief flash of light errupted from the wand and John began to shimmer.
Apparently unaware of the aura of light around him, John continued, "I am going to report this to the Better Business..B.. B.." he stuttered. It was as if his voice was stuck. He tried again to speak but was shocked to hear himself..."