Shoe Charming – by Tracy Reed #3
“Thank you.” I turned around and looked over my shoulder. “Oh, man…we could be so happy together.” Then reality slapped me and I walked back to the sofa and he helped me sit down. “They’re gorgeous, but I can’t.”
He sat down in front of me. “Don’t say can’t. Say, not today.” He lifted my foot and removed the shoes one at a time.
Then my phone buzzed. I reached inside my bag and looked at the screen. Perfect timing, it was the email I had been waiting on. “Excuse me.” I was so engrossed in the email, I hadn’t noticed that he had put my shoes back on to my feet. “I’m sorry about that. Thank you.”
“I take it from the many times I struck out with selections for you, you have a regular salesperson.”
I slumped my shoulders and smiled. “Yes. Ron has been taking care of me for a few years. I’m sorry.”
“Not a problem. I’ll tell him you came in and that you want the suede booties.”
“That’s kind of you. Thank you.”
He looked around and leaned in close. “I’ll see if I can hide these for you as well.” He patted the red box.
“I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“I won’t. I’ll let Ron know you’re considering these as well.” He stood up and helped me to my feet. He reached into his jacket, pulled out a card and handed it to me. “If you need something and Ron isn’t here, call me and I’ll do my best to help you.”
“Thank you,” I looked at the card. “Winston.”
He extended his hand to me. “And you are?”
I shook his hand. “Sophie.”
“Nice to meet you, Sophie.”
“Same here.”
I walked into my office and sitting on the desk was a large black bag with a wide fuchsia satin ribbon. I was a little hesitant to get close to the package, let alone open it. I went back out to the hall searching for my assistant. Clearly, she was aware of the package.
I went down the hall to the break room. “Hey, Carmen.”
She turned around. “Hey, Sophie. Want some coffee?”
“I can get it.” I filled a cup and sipped. “That’s good. Uhm, would you explain that bag on my desk?”
“It was delivered this morning.”
“From who?”
“Is that a trick question?”
“I don’t understand.”
“The delivery person said you would know who sent the package once you opened it. Did you open it?” she asked.
“No.”
“Why not?” She sipped some coffee.
“It could be a bomb or something disgusting.”
“A bomb…really.”
“Yes.”
She grabbed me by the arm and escorted me out of the break room. “What are you doing?”
“We’re going to your office and open that bag. It could be a bag of money…or gold bars…or maybe something a little more exciting.”
“You’re really hoping for a lot aren’t you?”
“Of course.” She smiled
We continued down the hall to my office. We stepped inside and closed the door. She walked over to the desk, put her cup down and looked inside the bag. “Oh.”
“Oh…what’s with oh?” I asked. I stepped to the bag as if I were approaching a bomb.
“What is wrong with you?” Carmen laughed.
In addition to being my assistant, Carmen is also my best friend. She’s the smart, fun one in our friendship. I’m the sensible, overly cautious one.
She reached inside the bag, pulled out a large black wrapped square box with a wide fuchsia satin ribbon, and placed it on the desk.
“What’s that?”
“I know you think I can do a lot of things, but reading through wrapped packages isn’t one of my super gifts.” She sat down and sipped some coffee. “Girlfriend, to get the answer you seek, you’re going to have to open the box.”
“Who are you? Yoda?”
“I’m wiser.” She smirked.
“Wiser?”
“Yes. Open the package.”
I snuck up on the box like an ugly man sneaking up on a beautiful woman. I looked at the package from all sides, pulled the ribbon tails, and the bow fell apart. I slipped it off and ripped off the wrapping paper.
I opened the box and pulled the tissue paper back. I thought my eyes were going to pop out of their sockets. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. I closed my eyes and shook my head. My brain needed a hard reset.
I was staring at two shoe boxes. One, Manolo Blahnik and the other, Rene Caovilla. I lifted the lids and there they were, the beautiful shoes I had tried on a few days ago. I searched the box and bag for a card. It wasn’t until I reached inside one of the booties that I found one.
“Beautiful shoes for a beautiful lady.”
I turned the card over looking for a signature, but there wasn’t one.
“Sounds like you have a secret admirer.” Carmen smiled.
“What…girl…please. Clearly this is…uhm…this must be from Gavin.”
“You and I both know your trifling ex did not send you these shoes.”
“That’s not fair.”
She held her hand up. “I’m sorry. I forgot you’re still keeping hope alive.”
“No I’m not.”
“Girl, please. If that leach…”
“Leach?”
“I could have called him something else.” She sat back in the chair and sipped more coffee.
I closed up the box, put it back into the bag, and placed the bag on the floor behind my desk. I sat down and sipped more coffee.
“Gavin wasn’t that bad. He just…”
“Let me stop you. Gavin strung you along for five years and then dumped you.”
“He didn’t dump me. He moved to Montana.”
“I’m sorry. He relocated and didn’t bother to tell you. To all us normal people, that’s called being dumped.”
“I don’t think you’re being fair.”
“I know you try to see the best in everyone and that’s good…sometimes. Trust me, that spineless weasel did you a favor. I’m not a fan of the way he did it, but it was for the best.”
“That’s not how it happened.”
She placed her cup on the desk and folded her arms across her chest. “Then how did it happen? Because as I remember, he snuck out of town like a Black Ops agent, without so much as a coded note or a text message.”
I dropped my head and then looked up at her. “You’re right.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere.” She moved to the edge of her seat. “So what are we going to do about these beautiful shoes?”
“Return them.”
“I agree.”
My eyes got wide. “You agree?”
“Yes. How else are we going to find out who sent the shoes?” She smiled.
“I’m pretty sure I know who sent them.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
She stood up, picked up her cup and walked toward the door. “I’ll be ready in an hour.”
“Excuse me?”
“We need to do this before the lunch crowd hits the store.”
“I could have sworn I was the boss.”
“You are, but I’m in control of your love life.”
We walked into the store and went straight to the shoe department. I had a good idea who had sent the shoes. What I didn’t know was why.
I walked around shoe heaven looking for the sexy shoe salesman who helped me the other day. I lost Carmen briefly to the makeup department. I was hoping to resolve this before she found me.
I looked across the department and spotted the suspected shoe gifter. I walked over to him, tapped him on the shoulder, and stepped back. When he turned around, it felt like I had lost all ability to speak.
“How may I…Sophie.”
“Hi….uhm…uhm…hi.”
“What can I do for you?” Winston asked.
I handed him the bag. “Thank you, but I can’t accept these.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Winston, please don’t insult me. I know you sent these.”
“And if I did?”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why would you send me such an expensive gift?”
“Because you said you liked them.”
“That’s true, but…the gesture was nice, but I can’t accept them.”
“Why not?”
“This isn’t the kind of gift…this isn’t appropriate…we barely know each other.”
“Is that your reason?”
“Yes.”
“That’s easy to resolve,” he replied.
“Excuse me?”
“If your reason for not accepting the gift is we don’t know each other, then that can easily be resolved.”
I smiled. “What is your proposed resolution?”
“Lunch.” He smiled.
“Or I could pay you for the shoes.”
“You could, but I wouldn’t accept it.”
“Why not? I don’t want you to get in trouble”
“I…okay fine…you can pay me back.”
“Write down how much I owe you and I’ll be sure to get it to you by the end of the week.”
He reached inside his jacket, pulled out a business card, wrote on the back and handed it to me.
“There you are.”
I jumped and turned around. I was trying to tie this up, before Carmen found me. “Okay, thanks. Come on Carmen, let’s go.” I tried to push Carmen away, but she wouldn’t move.
“Hello.” She said with a wide smile as she looked at Winston.
“Hello,” he replied with a matching smile.
“Where’s the older guy who usually helps you?” she asked.
“He’s not here today. Come on, let’s go.” I tried again to push her out of the department, but she turned back around.
“Hold on, what’s the rush?”
“We need to get back to the office.”
“Did you forget you’re the boss?” She looked at Winston. “Are you Sophie’s substitute shoe guy?” she teased.
“Shoe guy…I like that. However, I think she’s in a committed sales relationship with Ron,” he joked.
“I like him.” She extended her hand to him. “I’m Carmen, the best friend and you are?”
“Winston, substitute shoe guy.” He shook her hand.
Carmen looked at the bag. “What’s the deal with the shoes?”
“What?” I asked.
“The shoes… remember that’s the reason we came?” She looked Winston up and down. “I mean I can see why you forgot, but…”
He smiled. “I gave Sophie the information she requested.”
“He’s so debonair.” Carmen snatched the card out of my hand.
“Give me that.” Now on top of being frustrated, I was on the verge of embarrassment. She read the card. “Three lunches and one dinner, or all day. What is this?”
I rubbed my forehead.
“That’s the answer to Sophie’s question,” he said.
“And what was her question?” Carmen asked.
“She wanted to reimburse me for the shoes,” Winston said.
“And why would she need to reimburse you?”
He looked at me and then back at Carmen. “Because I sent them.”
Carmen looked at me and then back at him. “You sent the shoes.”
“Yes,” he replied.
Carmen looked at me and I felt a rush of embarrassment come over me.
“Uh huh.” I recognized the look on Carmen’s face. She was processing. She looked at the card and then at Winston. “She’ll take the all day option.”
“What are you doing?” I asked.