My name’s Sara.
I’m a sweet lolita and I work part time at the Ang☆lic Pr☆tty store in ☆☆☆☆ City.
I’ve been a member of the ☆☆☆☆ branch staff for about two years and usually work four days a week, but recently I’ve been thinking about quitting. For the past two months or so, I’ve been feeling the sparkle of the fashion being worn away from my soul, like someone rubbing the glitter off of M☆lky Pl☆net with a scouring pad. The colours of our releases seem duller each week, and the giggle of joy I used to feel at trying on a new dress has turned into a sigh of obligation.
It’s hard to put into words why I’ve been feeling this way these last few months. Most people would think I’m the luckiest lolita in the world, getting to work at my favourite brand. Plus, our customers are really nice, and even the tourists we sometimes see are polite. The problem is deeper than that. There’s a lot of pressure recently from above to push sales numbers higher and higher. No matter how busy we are, we never seem to meet the ever-increasing sales goals.
We’re doing our best, though. Our customer service is on point. Polite. Professional. Perfect, even. When I see our latest customers to the door and thank them for their visit, they always wave. My co-worker and I bow. They depart. It’s an interaction that happens dozens of times a day, and one I can perform blindfolded. But one day, as I hung the dresses our customers decided not to buy back on the rack, I found myself thinking about that morning’s staff meeting: We can’t let B☆by win.
Our shop manager thinks that the nearby B☆by, the St☆rs Sh☆ne Br☆ght is stealing our fans away.
Is that where the sparkle I used to feel for lolita has gone, too? Is B☆by stealing my shine?
