Chapter 13 Jada
A bell attached to the door rang as I walked into Glamma’s favorite boutique, BennyBlue.
Lavender-vanilla room spray assailed my senses, and I wound around displays to the checkout counter toward the back of the store.
I had just enough time before my Saturday bartending shift to make these returns.
An older lady with blond hair teased to the sky looked up and saw me, a little frown on her lips. “Returns?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said, cringing internally. I felt bad coming here a couple times a month to return Glamma’s purchases, but I couldn’t take her card away from her any more than I could pay all the house bills on my own. Losing Grandpa’s pension had made life after his passing even harder.
I lifted the bag, placing a pile of clothing and jewelry with the tags still attached on the counter.
“Return to the card or store credit?” she asked.
“Card, please,” I said.
Wrinkles formed around her tightly pursed lips as she began scanning all the items at the register.
She didn’t say a word while I waited, or even as a long receipt spilled out of the printer.
When she handed it back to me, she read off the total.
It was the amount we’d need to pay this month’s electric bill.
“Thank you, really,” I said. Then I pulled my empty duffel off the counter and walked out the store, feeling her narrowed gaze on my back.
It was just a matter of time until they started refusing our returns or offering only in-store credit.
And then I would have to explain to Glamma why she couldn’t shop at her favorite store anymore.
I shuddered at the thought as I made my way to the bus stop and sat down to wait.
Luckily, the fun was more in the buying than the having for Glamma. Her closet was so stuffed that she didn’t miss the things I returned. Truthfully, she was growing more forgetful. Part of me wondered if she even remembered all the purchases she made.
But that was a dark thought path I didn’t want to travel, so instead, I thought about my date with Bryce the next day. To my surprise, I was actually looking forward to it.
I wanted to get to know him better, to learn more about the man who built such a revolutionary company.
One day, I hoped to use MyHome to find the perfect house for me.
The app was so sophisticated that you could tell it about yourself, what kind of lifestyle you wanted, and it would match you with homes that had the right layout and location to meet all your needs.
I used to play around on the app just for fun, but it made me too sad knowing I’d probably never be able to afford a house of my own, so I stopped.
The bus trundled up along the street, so I got in, heading to my shift and thinking about how different my life was than I used to imagine it would be.
The first part of my shift was so busy, I hardly had time to think—exactly how I liked it.
That is, until my manager came by while I was mixing up an old-fashioned and said, “Hey, I will need you to come in tomorrow morning after all.”
I looked over at Lucia, wondering if I’d heard her right. But she was counting the liquor bottles, marking notes into her pad. “What?” I asked.
“I need you in tomorrow morning for brunch. Caitlyn can’t make it.”
“Neither can I. I have a—thing,” I finished lamely.
Lucia looked up at me. “Reschedule. Brunch is our busiest day, and I hired you specifically for weekend help.”
My eyes started to sting with annoyance. I hated that I cried when I was mad, but I took a deep breath. “Fine.”
“Good.” She scratched another note in her pad, then walked over to the register, making more notes.
I finished mixing the drink and then passed it to a customer who didn’t make eye contact with me. He was looking up at the screen, absorbed in a sports game–football. It seemed to be the standard this time of year.
With a sigh, I said, “Lucia, can you cover for me? Bathroom break.”
She nodded, and I left the room, heading to the back side of the restaurant where everyone went for their smoke breaks. I didn’t smoke, so I just paced along the alley. Standing too close to the dumpster was making me feel nauseous.
Not wanting to, I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Bryce’s number. We’d never texted before, and this wasn’t exactly a good start.
Jada: Hey, I can’t make it tomorrow. Got put on an extra shift. Rain check?
I shoved the phone in my back pocket and paced a bit more. I shouldn’t be so upset about this—I got called into shifts all the time. And I liked it, because it gave me some cash to work with between paydays.
If Bryce wanted to date me, he could wait a little while. And that was a big if, because I didn’t feel I had a ton to offer someone like him. The more he got to know me and my situation, the less interested he would probably be.
So I went back inside and did my job. It wasn’t until we were doing our closing tasks that Lucia approached me again.
“I checked off my list,” I told her.
She nodded. “Looks like you don’t need to come in tomorrow after all.”
My eyebrows bunched together. “Because I did my tasks?”
“No.” She seemed confused too. “It was the strangest thing. This guy called in and offered us fifty grand to shut down for the day tomorrow, as long as we paid our employees their regular wages.” She shook her head, then shrugged. “So enjoy your thing and your pay.”
My stomach bottomed out, because I only knew one person with that much money.
I took my phone from my back pocket and saw a text from Bryce.
Bryce: I handled it. See you at ten. If you still want to come, that is. It’s up to you.
My lips parted as I read the words.
He hadn’t just bought me time... He’d given me a choice.
Now it was up to me to decide.