Chapter 21
MERRY
By noon, Merry was broken.
Her shoes felt like they had pins in them from all the running around she had done, and her throat was sore from having to speak to customers all day.
She’d said the same thing to almost everyone: “I’m so sorry, someone will be with you soon.
” Except the only “someone” on the floor was her, literally nobody else had shown up that morning and the entire jewellery department was in her hands.
After a couple of hours of being shouted at, Merry had slipped away and walked around in search of somebody to help her.
It wasn’t just her department that was understaffed, she saw, it was every department.
Next door to her, in Lighting, one poor young guy called Ben was practically being swarmed by angry customers.
It almost looked like something from a zombie movie, only with ‘I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus’ pouring from the sound system.
Five minutes later, Merry returned to her till with the awful knowledge that she and Ben were literally the only two people on the entire floor.
Customers milled around, growing increasingly frustrated, most of them leaving with tuts and moans.
She did her best, but it was like fighting a rising tide, and eventually she resigned herself to the fact that she was destined to fail.
By one thirty, she was so desperate for the toilet that she literally ran from a customer as they were speaking.
She flew through the staff door and into the nearest restroom, squeaking with relief as she sat down.
She didn’t hurry back, taking a moment to wash her hands and splash some water on her face.
She gulped down a few sips, wondering if she’d even get a chance to have lunch today.
Think of the money, Merry , she told herself as she walked out of the restroom.
She was halfway down the corridor when she spotted somebody up ahead, standing alone by the staff door. They were holding something close to their face and when Merry got closer she saw that it was an envelope stuffed with some kind of paper.
“Diane?” she said.
Diane jumped, snapping the envelope closed and turning to Merry with a huge grin on her face. “Merry! Are you okay? You look like death.”
“Yeah,” said Merry. “It’s been a tough shift. Speaking of which, any chance you can come help? The crowds out there are huge, and it’s just me.”
“No can do,” said Diane. “I’m out of here.”
“What do you mean?” Merry asked. “Are you working a half-day?”
Diane looked left and right down the corridor, then leaned in. “Have you not had an offer?” she whispered.
Merry shook her head. “No, what do you mean? What kind of offer?”
Diane held up the envelope. It was closed, but whatever was inside was making it bulge. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but somebody just gave me a huge pay check.”
“What? Why?”
“To walk out the door,” Diane said. “That’s it. To just go.”
“I don’t understand,” said Merry. “Who?”
Diane started to answer, but the staff door crunched open and Ben ran in.
“Can’t stop! Must pee!” he yelled, racing for the men’s restroom.
“You’ll find out.” Diane stuffed the envelope into her handbag. “But it’s someone high up, someone from head office. Look, I’ve got to go. Hang around and you’ll get yours too. Oh, and Merry?”
“Yeah?”
“I know I go on a lot about my rich boyfriend, and I’m not entirely sure I’d be with him if he was poor, but don’t ever listen to a fool like me. It doesn’t matter what somebody does for a living, not if you love them.”
“Oh,” Merry giggled. “I don’t love . . . I mean, it’s not like . . .”
“Whatever it is, you’re not like that,” said Diane. She winked at her, then walked through the door.
“It’s really not like that,” Merry said to herself as she walked back to her cash desk, but she wasn’t entirely convinced herself.
When was the last time a man had made her feel the way that Christian did?
Even though things hadn’t exactly been smooth between them, she still grinned every time he entered her head, like a kid waking up on Christmas Day.
And he was as special as Christmas, she knew.
You met somebody like that maybe once a lifetime , and when it happened you had to be ready to take a chance.
You had to unwrap that present there and then, or you might never do it.
It was all so confusing, and it wasn’t helped by the fact that as soon as she stepped out of the door she was attacked by a dozen people wanting her help.
She fought through the afternoon as best as she was able, and by the time six o’clock rolled around she was on the verge of passing out.
She tried to escape the next customer — a huge man in an expensive suit and bowler hat — but he actually grabbed hold of her arm to stop her from escaping.
“I demand service!” he roared. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting?”
“I’m really sorry, sir,” she said, trying to pull herself free. The man was so big that she was suddenly scared. “Please, I’m sure somebody else will—”
“No, not somebody else,” he said. “You!”
There was a chime from overhead to signal an announcement.
“Would Merry Sinclair please come to the front desk,” it said in a deep, melodious voice that sounded extremely familiar. “This is an emergency. Would Merry Sinclair please come to the front desk.”
“That’s me,” she said to the man, pointing to her name tag with her free hand. “It’s an emergency.”
The man looked at her badge then let her go, huffing and puffing dramatically.
Merry ran from him, rubbing her arm where he’d been holding her.
She rode the staff elevator down, wondering what on earth could be happening that merited an emergency.
Maybe they’d got a message from home, she thought as she ran across the atrium to the customer service desk.
Maybe something had happened to her sister or . . .
Christian stood behind the desk, beaming at her.
There was a queue of people in line waiting to be seen by one of the other members of staff there.
He was wearing jeans and a dark blue sweater, and even though he still looked tired, his smile made Merry feel like she was waking up after a nine-hour nap.
“What’s happened?” she said. “You called? There’s an emergency?”
“Yeah.” He walked out from the desk and, leaning in, kissed her on the cheek. “A very serious emergency.”
She caught a whiff of something citrusy and fresh. He must have showered upstairs, she realised, and her mind flicked briefly to him standing naked under a torrent of hot water. She looked away, heat creeping up her neck.
“Is it my sister?” she snapped back to focus on the matter at hand.
Christian winced. “Shit, sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to panic you. It’s nothing to do with anyone other than the two of us.”
“Oh.” Relief flooded though Merry’s veins as she took his hand and he led her across the atrium, still smiling. It was contagious, because she started smiling too.
“What are you doing?” she said.
“Well, you said you weren’t sure about coming to the ball with me tomorrow,” he said. “And that’s going to be a problem.”
“Christian, what’s going on?” she said. “What problem?”
“Well, I want to go to this famous ball seeing as I’ve heard so much about it. And I want to go with you.” He shrugged. “If I can’t go with you then I’m not going. And therein lies the problem.”
“Honestly?” Merry stopped, tugging Christian to a standstill in front of her. “I can’t afford to go because I have nothing to wear.”
“Which makes you having nothing to wear now my problem too.”
“I can’t believe you used the public address system for that.” Merry laughed. “You’ll get in so much trouble!”
“It will be fine,” he said. “They can’t fire me, I’m the only janitor left. Well, apart from Harvey, who’s about a hundred years old. To be honest, I walked past Jewellery on the way out and figured you needed some help escaping.”
“I did,” she said. “Thank you. I don’t know what’s going on right now, but it’s getting bad. Where is everyone?”
For a moment, Christian’s expression hardened. But then he smiled again. “Let’s not worry about it. I’ve finished my shift, you’ve finished yours. Go grab your coat, and let’s go fix this emergency.”