32. Chapter 32
32
“ N o, she didn’t,” I whisper in disbelief.
The flowers that had been looking like their time was coming to an end, with dry petals and stems too short after a few attempts to prolong their life, are gone.
In their place is an even more elaborate, gorgeous, still yellow bouquet. They have a new vase, tall and pink with textured bubbles in the glass. It’s so cute.
I turn it, admiring every angle of my flowers as they spin..
I know my flowers decently enough, but there are a couple I’m unsure of. I make my way through, pulling individual stems towards my face to smell them all. I’m going to have a headache by the end, I’m sure.
When I get to the larger blooms in the center I step back with a smile on my face. I’m sure Kara didn’t know. She probably couldn’t tell the difference between a peony and a rose, let alone anything else. But the dahlia’s are obviously my favorite.
I pluck two of them from the bunch to stick them in a smaller vase for Dahlia’s room. It’s so perfectly fitting.
Note to self to get the name of this florist so I can do it some other time.
Speaking of notes, I completely overlooked the fact that there’s one sticking out from underneath the vase. My chest tightens at the memory of all of the aggressive little notes we used to write each other.
Spending the day with my dad, so hopefully I’ll see you later tonight. Have a good day at work, gorgeous.
I fly through my store, wheeling a rack that resides in our dressing room. One that I think is a little pointless, considering most of what we carry are t-shirts and jewelry. No one is allowed to try on the jewelry, and t-shirts are a pretty simple thing to know your size in.
It might just be me, and the fact that I’ve always just grabbed whatever size is the biggest. There is no such thing as a shirt that’s too big for me, especially because honestly—I have pretty big boobs. Who knows what size I’d be without them, but they limit a lot of what I can wear.
The t-shirt I’m currently wearing is three sizes too big, and almost reaches my knees. That fact comes in handy when I don’t want to wear pants, because we’re technically not supposed to wear leggings. No one can say a word as long as my butt is covered, so covered it is.
I pass by Macy, who’s wearing an outfit similar to my own. It’s not surprising, considering how encouraged we are to wear things we sell in store.
I know those are leggings under her big shirt, but I’m the cool manager. I’m the one that shrugs these things off, because as long as you’re comfortable enough to efficiently do your job? It doesn’t matter in the slightest to me.
“I can take care of those if you want,” Paige tells me.
She’s one of my favorites for obvious reasons.
“Really? That would be awesome. Thanks.”
I leave the cart there, and give her a big smile as I walk away. I have reports to pull, and an afternoon meeting to prepare for. The less time I have to spend on the sales floor, the better.
Luckily, we’re in the slower season for retail shopping. The crowds we do get are usually holding gift cards they got for Christmas, or unfortunately, trying to return something they got for Christmas. We’re heavily pressured to turn those into exchanges, but teenagers are stubborn.
All the years I worked here have terrified me for what my future holds. Dahlia has a big personality now, it’s going to be brutal when she’s older.
I think I do a good job of showing her how customer service workers should be treated. Even when she’s not around, I treat every associate, waitress, delivery driver, teacher, you name it, with the utmost respect. But it’s especially amplified when I’m with her, like most things. Everything I say and do as a parent can absorbed by my kid for life, so I’m constantly thinking about what she’s absorbing from me.
I sit down at my back desk, and pull up the store email.
Meeting moved forward - See you all at 1:30!
I freeze, rereading the subject line over and over. Then I check my watch.
1:07
Shit.
I have an hour less than I thought to prepare. I scan through the reasoning, something about IT working on one of our higher revenue locations. I don’t see why we all have to suffer instead of letting Paula miss one single meeting.
Paige needs a thirty minute break, and now I have to tell her she can’t go until whenever this meeting is through.
I tell her so with a pout over the radio we keep clipped on us at all times.
“Not a problem!” her cheery voice comes through.
She needs a raise.
I need a raise.
I finish ringing up a customer, and placing their things in a bag. They thank me with a smile, and I tell them to have a good day. It’s a typical customer service interaction.
But as soon as they step away, I get the weirdest feeling. Like I’m being watched. I look around the small store, not spotting any other customers. I usually have a sixth sense that tells me when someone walks in without having to see or hear them, but nothing activated it while I was helping the previous person.
Weird.
I grab the shirts I’d pulled from the fitting room off the back counter, and find a couple of hangers to put them on. Paige should be back from her lunch in a few minutes, and then I finally get to leave for the day. I am exhausted. Over it. Sick of putting on my best smile, and ready to be a grump at home on my couch.
Or I could be a grump in someone else’s home, on someone else’s couch.
My sixth sense perks up, and I know someone’s walked in without any indicators.
“Hello, welcome in!” I call the words over my shoulder without looking, as I put a shirt back in its normal spot.
If I’m lucky, this is the last customer I’ll have today. Things have really slowed down, so I can probably get the store all tidied up before I head out.
“Can I speak to the manager?” a voice whispers in my ear, and I scream. I jump so hard that my shoulder slams into the chin of the voice’s owner.
I turn, ready to be blabbering apologies, offering a discount, sacrificing my second born, until I lock eyes with the culprit.
Kara’s hand is covering her mouth, and I’m not sure if it’s to hide a smile, or as a reaction to a bitten tongue that I just caused. She did cause me to cause it though, so with that thought, the guilt eases slightly.
“Are you okay?”
She nods, and then I notice how alight her eyes are with amusement.
“I got you so good,” she says.
Oh my God, she’s so pleased with herself.
I push her shoulder in playful punishment.
“That was so bad! I could’ve hurt you!” Placing a hand over my racing heart, I close my eyes and hang my head dramatically. “I thought you were a customer that was seconds away from suing me.”
“I really hope you don’t have customers whispering in your ear.”
“Not until today,” I say on an exhale. “You will be a customer by the way. Seeing your face is nice and all, but I can’t let you mess with my conversion.”
“Conversion? What are you converting me to? This sounds like a cult.” She emphasizes looking in a circle around the store, taking it all in. “Actually, that checks out. This place seems kind of culty.”
I can’t argue there.
Kara pushes through hangers on the rack closest to her, feigning interest in the t-shirts with band logos from the eighties.
She’s a modern rock girl anyway.
“I know what you need,” I say as I get an idea. I walk over to the display window in the front of the store, where a mannequin is wearing the very last of a very specific shirt.
An oversized version of the one with the yellow flowers. She shakes her head instantly.
“Absolutely not.”
My mouth opens in surprise.
“But… you love this shirt.”
A smile appears on her face, one of the sweetest she’s ever given me, before she looks behind us. She must have been checking if the coast was clear, because the next thing I know she’s grabbing my hand and lacing our fingers together.
“I love that shirt because it’s yours. I wouldn’t like it nearly as much if you didn’t sleep in it a few nights a week.”
“I sleep in lots of shirts. You always mention this one.”
“Well… that one’s the most like you. It’s sunshiney.”
I shake my head in disbelief.
“You’re being way too cute right now. Can I get used to this?”
Her response to that is a wink, and I practically melt into the floor.
“Probably not,” she says.
I smile anyway, because I don’t think that’s true. I can and I will.
I lean in to kiss her cheek, hoping it’s not too much PDA, coupled with our still clasped hands. She doesn’t pull away, so I take it as permission.
But I’m interrupted.
“I’m back!” Paige yells from across the store, heading out of the break room. We have radios for a reason, I don’t know why she didn’t make use of it.
Kara pulls away from me, but she does it gently. It’s hard to be upset with that at all, considering how much progress we’ve made lately. Another important thing to note is that Paige knows Autumn pretty well. They went to school together. I don’t expect her to know who Kara is or to put any pieces together, but better safe than sorry.
I use my radio to reply, hoping it’s a subtle enough way of telling her to utilize it.
“Thanks for letting me know. Do you need anything before I head out?”
“ I need the new code for the safe. ”
Shit, that’s right. I turn to Kara.
“Find something to buy. I’ll be right back.”
I hear her voice behind me as I quickly walk away.
“Do I have to?”