Chapter 18 Calliope
CALLIOPE
Valentine’s Day.
The thought makes my eyes roll so far back in my head.
The only decent thing to come out of February is Nick’s birthday, and that’s where all my focus will be when I’m not here up to my eyeballs in orders.
I’ve only just sat back down at my desk when my office door flies open and Jane, one of my temp staff, sticks her head around the door.
“Are you busy?”
My hands hover over the keyboard. “I’m about to be, what’s up?”
“Frankie had to go home. She was throwing up everywhere, and we just got a delivery of piercings and rings from Anderson’s. I have to check through them all, but I’m only on half a day today and I can’t stay late because I have to pick up Xavier from his soccer game.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s fine. I can help.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. My emails aren’t going anywhere.”
“Oh, thank God.” Jane puffs out her cheeks. “I was so worried, what with everything going on. If this isn’t perfect, then it really will be us, won’t it?”
“How do you mean?” Locking my computer, I grab my phone and head out into the hall with Jane. “What will be us?”
“You’ve heard, right?” Jane lowers her voice and glances around as we hurry to the elevator.
“Heard what?”
“Well…” She cranes around to ensure no one is listening, then shoves me into the elevator as soon as the doors slide open. “I heard that they’re going to be closing us down.”
“Us as in Angelic?”
“No, us as in the subscriptions.”
My eyes widen and I press the button for the delivery floor. “Where did you hear that?”
“Around.” Jane shrugs and crosses her arms over her chest. “I heard it from Taylor.”
“Shop Taylor?”
“Mmhmm. She said that they’re looking to cut back and that Elijah? The hot guy? He’s not here just to check up on stones. He’s checking on everything because he wants to invest or something.”
It takes no time at all to work out where Taylor might have heard something. Victoria apparently couldn’t keep my question to herself and sent the rumor mill into a frenzy leading to Jane now panicking beside me that she’s going to be out of a job.
“I haven’t heard anything like that,” I try to assure her, but she shakes her head.
“You’re management. Of course they wouldn’t tell you if you’re about to be out of a job. They don’t want you to jump ship.”
“Jane.”
“No, listen! He’s the CEO of Amber, right? And sure, they deal in stones and gems, but you know, they only deal in storefronts, right? They’ve always dealt with stores. They have never worked online. And what do we do?” She lightly prods my shoulder. “Online. If anyone’s getting the axe, it’s us.”
My reassurance dies on my tongue as the elevator doors slide open and we step out onto the floor.
She’s right. We would be the first to go and suddenly, it makes sense why Victoria was so sure that the stores wouldn’t close.
Amber Limited doesn’t care for websites and subscriptions.
They’re a classic old-school company. The storefront is where they thrive.
Shit.
While it’s a new worry to add to my overflowing cup, throwing myself into work is actually a decent distraction.
Several hundred boxes were delivered to us, all containing gemstone piercings for the eyebrow, belly, and tongue that will go on sale on the regular section of the website, and rings that were to be included in February’s subscription box.
The only problem is, after Jimmy forced me to include the Onyx bracelets in the January parcel, the regular January gems have moved to February.
The entire year is knocked off theme thanks to his bad decision.
I stare down at one ring set in a gorgeous pink cushion inside a sleek black box and admire how it twinkles in the light.
I’m so distracted that I don’t hear anyone approach me until a throat clears softly next to me.
“Oh!” I jump in fright and the ring box snaps closed. “Elijah! You scared me.”
“Sorry.” Elijah’s lips pull into a polite smile. “I did call your name.”
“You did?”
“He did,” Jane confirms from the other side of the shelves.
“I’m sorry, I was miles away.” Placing the ring box back down into the cardboard box, I smile. “What can I help you with?” Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Jane peering at us through a gap in the shelving. She looks anxious, like she expects Elijah to fire us on the spot.
“I was informed that you are one of the few people with access to stock here, in the stores, and at the warehouse?”
I glance briefly at the box in front of me.
“That’s correct. Often, there are mix-ups or last-minute changes, so stock here needs to be sent to the stores, and after more than one mishap, I worked myself into the warehouse circuit so that I have better ease in redirecting shipments.
Everything I order gets sent to the warehouse, and then after I pore through the invoice every Friday, the shipments are split and sent either here or to the stores. ”
“Can you detail me all of the steps?”
I stare up at him while a knot of confusion forms in my gut. “Sure. I guess.”
“Thanks.” Elijah’s smile is polite, but as Jane flashes me an I told you so smile, my heart starts to race.
Why does he want to know all of these things? I can’t see how it will benefit him in any way unless he’s compiling a detailed list of everything he will be losing once he axes this department. Or worse, he’s learning everything so he can fire my staff and me and then replace us.
It’s difficult to keep the smile on my face as I work while my mind is running in a panic, but I manage it and through slightly gritted teeth, I tell Elijah everything.
The Anderson delivery is the perfect example to use and over the course of the next few hours, I take Elija through every detail of how we track inventory, how I make orders, how to keep up with the stock in store and at the warehouse in order to make reorders on popular items, how to keep vendors happy so that we get first dibs on new stock.
Once he’s clear on all of that, I take him through how we deal with any jewelry containing gems from Amber Limited in the hopes that the extra care we take for the more expensive stones will persuade him how useful we are.
This department is my baby and I will fight for her as hard as I can.
By the time we’re finished, Jane has long clocked out of her shift and we’re alone with the last few boxes.
“Thank you, Calliope, for taking the time to explain all of this to me.”
“It’s no problem. Anything to help.”
“You seem like a real gear in how smoothly this entire company runs.”
I hesitate slightly while placing a box down on the shelf, then nod. “I am, actually.” If this is where I can sing my praises to save my job, I will sure as hell do it. “A lot wouldn’t happen around here without me.”
“I’m coming to learn that,” he agrees, and his smile is warm, but it fades quickly. “Actually, there’s something else I need to discuss with you.”
My heart sinks as I brush cardboard dust from my dry hands and wince. Keeping the smile on my face, I head to the wall and squirt some moisturizer onto my palms. “Sure.”
Here it comes. The moment he tells me he’s axing this department and everything with it. That we’re not as crucial as I hoped.
“Calliope… about that kiss.”
My heart stalls faintly in my chest like I’ve been struck and I stare at him in surprise, suddenly angered that he’s not talking about work. “The kiss?”
“I know I overstepped and I am sorry.”
“Don’t even worry about it,” I reply with a wave of my hand as I walk around him to the table containing the invoices from the delivery. “It’s in the past. Forgotten.”
“Not for me, it isn’t.” His soft voice deepens behind me, and a tingle shoots down my back.
“It’s not?”
“Back when we first met at that conference… I really liked you. I know that’s silly to say considering how little we knew each other and we only had one day and night together, but you’ve stuck with me all these years.
Everything about you back then drew me in like a moth to a flame, and I was willing to get burned up just for a chance. ”
I stare hard down at the invoice as the numbers blur and dance across the page.
Everything he’s saying sounds like a dream, but in truth, it’s a nightmare.
I don’t need to know this. I shouldn’t know how he feels because then I’ll start to feel it too and I’ll end up justifying the awful thing he did as I walk right into a situation where he’ll surely cheat on me the next time someone catches his eye.
“I’ve regretted never getting your number ever since,” he continues softly. “And then I came here and you were here, and it was like fate was finally guiding me where I was supposed to be.”
“You don’t even know me,” I murmur, clutching the invoice in my hands.
“I know you’re kind and considerate of those around you.
I know you're passionate about your work and your life, that you care deeply for your son and your family. I know you’re strong because in these few weeks I’ve seen what you deal with, and I admire how headstrong you are at facing things.
I even know how determined you are to protect yourself.
” He laughs slightly. “My forehead and cheek can attest to that.”
I spin around immediately. “I’m still really sorry about that,” I say as I glimpse his fresh scar peeking out from a faded bruise. “I never meant to hurt you.”
“I know.” Elijah smiles.
“But… me and you?” As much as my heart lifts at his words and my stomach flutters the second we make eye contact, I know the truth and his sweet words can’t change that. “We never would have worked out. You should stop this.”
His brows dip slightly. “You don’t know that.”
“I do. I got your number, remember?”
Elijah stares at me and his brows twitch for a moment, then something clicks behind his eyes and realization dawns across his face like a soft wave. “You did… and you didn’t call. You… didn’t feel anything between us?”
I suck in a deep breath and lower my shoulders. “I did. And I called you.”
“What?” Elijah’s eyes widened. “When?”
“I called you and a woman answered. Your wife, remember?”
Elijah gapes at me. “My wife?”
“It was bad enough that you forgot to mention her before we slept together, but to stand there and pretend you don’t know anything about her again, to my face, is pretty fucked up.” A lick of anger laces my words.
Rather than protest, Elijah’s frown deepens and his eyes dart back and forth. After a single shake of his head, he moves past me in a rush. “I have to go.”
“What? Just like that? You don’t even have anything to say in your defense?”
When Elijah turns back to me, rather than softness or even guilt on his face, all I see is a flicker of pain. “I have to go. But please, meet me later for coffee, will you? I’ll call you.”
And with that, he’s gone so quickly, it’s like he was never here at all.