Chapter 11
MERRY
For a day that had started off just about as badly as it could have, things had gone further downhill surprisingly quickly.
For a start, once Merry had escaped the bathroom and returned to Jewellery, the lines for the checkout were so long that people were actually yelling at one another — and at her.
Twice she had a complete stranger growl in her face that they were going to take their business elsewhere, and at least three people had put in complaints to the management about the slow service.
Merry only discovered this when Mrs Cradley arrived, two hours or so after the incident in the restroom, pulling her away from her station and into the service corridor.
“Look,” Merry said, trying to get in front of the old lady. “I’m sorry. I know what you’re going to say.”
“Hush yourself!” Mrs Cradley barked, flapping her clipboard in Merry’s face as if she meant to use it as a weapon.
“You seem to think that this job is your leisure time, that you are free to chat idly to friends and acquaintances instead of actually working. But let me tell you something, Miss Sinclair, you are on thin ice. Your job is to satisfy every demand the customer makes of you, and no more. When one task is finished, you move on to the next. And you do not, under any circumstances, physically threaten a visitor to this store.”
“I didn’t—” she said, but once again Mrs Cradley interrupted her.
“Luckily for you, Mr Carroll himself took care of the incident and found that nobody was at fault, but that was your last warning. Am I making myself clear?”
“As ice,” Merry said. “It won’t ever happen again.”
Mrs Cradley gave her a stern look, then marched away. She had only made it a few yards, however, when she turned back. “And do not use the facilities on this floor,” she said. “One of the toilets has exploded.”
Then she was gone. Merry took a deep, shuddering breath, then ran back to her position.
A telling-off from Mrs Cradley was nothing new, she thought as she packed up a pair of gold and ruby earrings for a woman in a fur coat.
But what was odd was Dragon Lady letting her off so easily after the incident with the horrible couple.
Sure, it hadn’t been Merry’s fault, but they would definitely have mentioned it had been her serving — they would have made her look bad.
And they definitely would have accused Christian of assaulting them with a mop.
So why had the case been dropped so quickly?
And why had the big boss himself, Lewis Carroll, got involved?
It didn’t matter. The important thing was that she was off the hook — for that at least. But what about Christian?
Mrs Cradley had said that nobody was at fault, but was she just talking about the shop floor staff?
Would he lose his job? She wished she could find him and ask him if he was okay, but things were too hectic.
And she didn’t just want to find him to check on him.
She wanted to find him to see if what had happened — what had almost happened — in the bathroom was just a fluke, or if there genuinely was something between them.
She still couldn’t quite believe it. She couldn’t remember a single time in her entire life where she had almost been touched by someone and felt her entire body electrified.
It had been like she was on wheels, racing downhill.
You sound like a crazy person, Merry! she silently yelled to herself as she smiled at the next customer. Enough with the fairy tales!
She tried to put him out of her mind, but it was a useless battle because every time she blinked she saw him smiling at her, and every time she breathed she thought she smelled his citrus scent.
She managed to keep her mind on the job for the rest of her shift, the department so busy that she didn’t even have time to take her break.
By the time seven o’clock rolled around she was exhausted, starving and her mouth felt like it was lined with sandpaper.
“I’m sorry,” she said hoarsely to the next customer. “Somebody will be with you very shortly.”
He started to argue, but she broke away and practically ran out of the department, escaping into the staff corridor.
Her head was pounding. She pulled off the Santa hat and massaged her temples.
As she was waiting for the elevator, she heard a rumble of wheels, and her heart leaped into her throat as she recognised the sound of a janitor’s trolley.
It was Christian. He’d been waiting for her.
She ran a hand through her chaotic hair, grinning her sweetest smile as a man in blue overalls emerged from the stock room door.
It wasn’t Christian. It was Harvey, an older, portly janitor who Merry always said hi to in passing. He caught sight of her beaming smile and one appeared on his own wrinkled face.
“Now if that ain’t the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said, limping towards her. “Honestly, if people greeted one another every day with a smile like that there wouldn’t be no trouble in the world.”
If anything, his words made Merry’s smile even wider. It hadn’t been meant for the old janitor, but no smile was ever a waste of time, and if it had brightened his day then it had brightened hers too.
The elevator doors opened, and she held them for him. “Going up?” she asked.
“Yes, miss,” he replied. “Thank you.”
She entered after him and the service elevator grumbled upwards.
“You done for the day?” Harvey asked.
“Yes, thankfully,” she said. “That was a tough shift.”
“Uh-huh, it always is this close to Christmas, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone working anymore.”
“Yeah, right?” Merry said. “I thought that too. Where is everyone?”
Harvey shrugged, wiping his red, tired eyes. “People come and people go. That’s the way life works.”
“Speaking of which,” she said as the elevator continued to rise, “do you know anything about the new guy? The one on your team?”
“Chris?” Harvey said, and she nodded. “Oh, sure, seems like a nice young man. Very polite, very thorough. Thought it was weird how he was taken on so soon after another three janitors were let go, but the management must have their reasons. He’s certainly a credit to the store, and a good man.”
His words reassured Merry. Christian was a good man, she was utterly convinced of it. Some people just revealed the quality of their nature in everything they did, in every word, in every smile, in every movement.
“It’s just a shame he ain’t hanging around,” said Harvey.
The elevator suddenly felt twenty degrees cooler.
“What?” Merry asked.
Harvey pulled out a cloth from his pocket and wiped his nose, sniffing. “Chris,” he said. “He ain’t staying. This is a temporary job, it always was. He came on board to cover the janitors who left, he says, but it’s only until Christmas. After that everything will quiet down.”
“How do you know that?” Christian hadn’t mentioned leaving at all, but then they hadn’t really talked about the future, and there was no reason he’d have wanted to discuss it.
“He told me.” Harvey glanced suspiciously at Merry, as if she was a police sergeant and he was a perp. “He told all of us he was only here till the end of the year. Why so curious?”
“Oh, no reason.”
The elevator slowed to a halt, the doors sliding open on the tenth floor. Harvey wheeled his trolley out, stopping when she called out to him.
“Where is he going after that?”
“Back home,” said the man. “Back to the Philippines.”
He trundled away, leaving Merry feeling as if she had plummeted back down through the cold, dark elevator shaft.
She wrapped her arms around herself protectively, feeling echoes of the same dreadful hurt she’d felt so many times in her short life.
But that was unfair to Christian — he didn’t owe her anything.
The elevator doors started to close, and she rushed through them.
The staff area was relatively busy as people finished their day shifts and the evening clerks came in, and Merry weaved her way down the corridor into the locker rooms. She was too tired to change, so she grabbed her clothes and her coat.
She was hoping that she’d bump into Christian on the way out.
Part of her wanted to ask him out for hot chocolate again — especially so she could find out whether Harvey was right about him leaving soon — but part of her knew it would be better for everyone if she stayed out of his way.
If she didn’t see him again, then it wouldn’t be so heartbreaking when he left the country.
Heartbreaking? Merry tutted at herself. How could she have her heart broken by a man she’d known for less than two days?
It was ridiculous. It had to be the fact that it was Christmas, she thought.
Even though Adrian had done his best to ruin it for her for ever, Merry still wanted to believe.
All those Christmas romcoms where the couples fall in love, all those Hallmark cards, all those commercials showing people snuggling up in front of log fires, eating sugar cookies and opening presents together.
But none of that was real. Christmas was a lie used to sell people stuff they didn’t want or need. She could see that every single day, working here. She could see what it really meant.
Merry pushed through the door on to the shop floor, angry at herself for her cynicism, and sad too that she had lost a part of herself.
Once upon a time she had loved Christmas so much, had revelled in the glorious sentimentality of it.
Once upon a time she had thought that anything was possible at Christmas, that it was a time for love and joy and happiness and hope. Now, though . . .
Now it was just a time for disappointment.
As if to prove her point, Santa’s grotto was closed, the lights dimmed and a chain drawn over the entrance. Harvey was busy mopping the floor and he nodded to her as she walked past. Merry did her best to smile back, but then a familiar, snappy voice plunged her even deeper into despair.