FFXIV Writes (Unofficial) Day 19: Pitch
to attempt to persuade, especially with a sales
“How about this? If you purchase the last dozen of these lovely croissants, I will throw in a half a dozen of these rolanberry-filled pastries for free!” It was far too late in the day for a sales pitch, and inside all Xixa could do was groan. It was still at least a half a bell's walk home, and then she had to start dinner for the girls before doing her night rounds.
“Oh, I don’t know.” The older woman across the counter nibbled on her bottom lip, her eyes were wide at the sweet treats but at the same time she seemed hesitant to take them home with her, and Xixa couldn’t seem to fathom why, of course she had two hungry teenagers at home, a twenty something daughter that stopped by all the time and a two turn grandbaby who ate anything you put in front of them happily, free food was a blessing any time that it was offered.
“My husband is very particular about where we buy pastries from; he has quite the sweet tooth. Croissants matter little to him; those are for my daughter, and I put a little egg on them, some slices of bacon with a bit of cheese, oh, they are scrumptious! I am not much of a sweet eater, nor is she, but the boys are.” This, in Xixa’s mind, calculated out to mean the woman’s husband plus at least one son.
“Husbands are always particular.” Xixa waved her hand about, a soft snort coming mostly from her flared nostrils. “Mine had a thing for fresh Vylbrand Oranges. Xixa, he would say, I need you to go all the way to Hawkers Alley in Limsa and get me oranges. He was born there, and when I was a young lass, you bet I was willing to do that, just to make him happy, but once I had the girls.” Her hands moved around to her lower back, and she pressed lightly against the small of it, even giving a little groan. “It was too much to carry them about to get him Oranges when I could get them right here in Gridania, the same damned oranges, even! I just let him think I brought them with me from Limsa.”
For a moment, the customer’s lips pressed together, and there was a gleam in her eyes. Xixa began to wonder if she had taken a wrong step by mentioning her little white lie when the woman placed both hands on the counter and started to speak. “He wants me to go all the way to Ishgard for sweets. It is a rather long trip, but there is a small bakery he found there when he was younger that is no longer run by the original owners, his son and daughter-in-law. They have lovely things, but I am not as young as I used to be, and Foundation is so cold. I can’t help it, though; it always makes him happy when I bring him home a treat. We have been married for nearly forty turns now, a long time with the way the Star turns. Oh, am I terrible for spoiling him? Do you think he really wouldn’t notice the difference?” There was a hopeful look in the woman's tired eyes.
“Well..” Xixa placed her own hands on the counters and she learned forward, an impish smile appearing on her face. “The pastries won’t cost you anything, free of charge, if the boys don’t like them, just give them to the neighbor!” She gave a playful wink. "The Only way to find out if he is really that particular is to put a plate in front of him, but I betcha, he’s not, he just likes to know you care.”
The other woman’s eyes went wide as if she had never thought of her husband doing something like that, and she stood up straight, her hands coming to a rest on her hips now. “Oh, he'd better be that particular or I’m going to box his ears!” It took all Xixa had in her not to fall into a fit of laughter; it seemed her sales pitch worked better than it normally would.
“Yes, let’s do that. I will take a mixed box of the Croissants, and then half a dozen of the pastries that you offered. I will come back around and let you know how it goes! Of course, you might see his name in The Raven if you are right, the first man treated for boxed ears for making his wife work too hard.”
“Well, you know, I am also a Doctor.” Xixa commented as she turned around to pick up box which she then folded the parts of and slipped the tabs into place until they locked “If you need a hand unboxing them, just come on by and I’ll see to them for you.” she was joking of course but, when she looked over her shoulder there the woman stood with a bright smile on her face.