"I know. May I see it?"
Jennifer laid the watch in her palm. It had a reassuring weight, and the color of the dial changed slightly when Vanessa turned it toward the light. She imagined Sarah looking at it, making a disapproving remark about the expense, and wearing it the next morning anyway. That settled the matter.
"I'll take it. Could you make sure it's in a gift box?"
"Absolutely. I'll just need your card and photo identification."
Vanessa supplied both. Her credit card was in the same name as the driver's license, and Jennifer compared them before inserting the card into the payment terminal. An authorization prompt appeared. Jennifer followed the store's usual verification steps, entered the required information, and waited while the machine contacted the issuer.
For several seconds, Vanessa watched the little processing wheel turn. Jennifer grew more formal and called the store manager over to confirm the transaction limit. The manager, Arthur Bell, inspected the display and asked Vanessa to confirm the billing address. She did. He nodded, returned the card, and left Jennifer to finish.
At 2:36, the terminal displayed APPROVED. An authorization code appeared beneath the total. Jennifer printed two receipts, placed one in the store's envelope, and handed the other to Vanessa. She even offered to arrange an engraving, but Vanessa declined because she wanted Sarah to be able to choose it herself.
"Everything's perfect," Jennifer said as she placed the box into a cream-colored bag with navy ribbon handles.
"Thank you," Vanessa replied. "She's going to love it."
She was nearly out the door when Jennifer glanced toward the security phone beneath the counter. Jennifer had been taught that unexpectedly expensive purchases by unfamiliar customers sometimes warranted an extra look, even when payment systems approved them. It was the kind of training that sounded sensible in a conference room and could become unfair in the hands of someone who let clothing substitute for evidence. Jennifer knew the payment had cleared. She knew the identification matched. She also remembered an assistant manager complaining the previous week that the store had not been sufficiently vigilant about suspicious customers.
She picked up the phone. Rather than report a failed payment or a stolen card, she said that a customer had just made an expensive purchase and that the circumstances made her uncomfortable. She described Vanessa's clothing and the watch.
The mall operator asked whether the card had been declined. Jennifer said no. The operator asked whether there was a fraud alert. Again Jennifer said no, but the call was still routed to mall security.
At 2:40, Arthur returned to the counter and heard the end of Jennifer's conversation. He looked at the completed receipt and the authorization code, then asked why security had been called. Jennifer said she had wanted to be cautious. Arthur frowned and dialed the security desk himself. He told the operator the transaction was valid, that the customer had satisfied the store's checks, and that there was no accusation of theft or credit card fraud.
The operator logged the correction. It should have ended there.