Chapter 1 #2
“Sorry, I’m on the train. How are you?” We’re still in the polite stage of conversation, seeing as we’ve never met yet.
We’ve been chatting for about two months now.
We spent two weeks messaging on the dating app, then we switched to emails and texts.
And now, we’ve been having conversations on the phone for two weeks.
Our first date is coming up in a few days, and I am excited to meet him.
Clark Kent is the name he goes by, but I’m almost positive that when we meet in person, he’ll give me his real name.
I am really hoping he is as attractive in person as he is in his photos, though I feel like his photos are heavily filtered.
“I’m good. I’m really looking forward to our date.” He lowers his voice. “How do you feel about first-date hookups?”
“I don’t really know...” My voice trails off. I don’t want to be rude to him, especially since I’m sure my nosy neighbor is listening to every second of the conversation.
“I mean, we’ve technically been dating two months now, which is plenty of time—”
“We haven’t even met yet, Clark,” I say softly.
“I don’t consider us to be in a relationship at this point,” I say honestly.
“I mean, it’s likely that we will connect, but let’s not rush anything.
..” I am careful with my words. The truth of the matter is that I’m a huge romantic.
I believe in love. I believe in soulmates.
I’m not a prude in any way. But it has to feel right in the moment.
And I haven’t really had any moments with Clark, though I am excited to meet him.
“In person,” he says huskily. “Our hearts have met many times.”
I want to groan. I normally love sweet, poetic phrases, but from Clark, it almost seems disingenuous or like he’s trying too hard.
Sometimes I feel like he’s reading off a previously written list of comments to make when we talk.
The comments always seem slightly off and never really fit the moment, but I would never say that to him.
“Well, I am looking forward to finally going out in person. I’m grateful you were able to find a date that works.”
“Well, you know. I’ve been busy, but I have some free time now. I wanted to ensure that our souls could be one under the sun. For this is the season of love.”
“Umm, yes, I am excited to hear about your travels,” I say honestly. Clark has mentioned several times about traveling around the world, and I am looking forward to hearing about his adventures.
“Oh, you know, I came up with a list of questions to ask you to see if we’re the perfect match.”
“Oh, yes?”
“Do you like ironing?”
“Ironing?”
“Yes, it’s—”
“Oh, Clark, I’m so sorry, the train is arriving at Grand Central. I have to go. I will call you later, okay?”
“Oh, fine... I see.” He pauses, and I hear some papers wrinkling. “Parting is sweet sorrow, but I will see you in the morrow.”
“Have a good evening, Clark,” I say and hang up. I close my eyes and rub my forehead. I can already tell it’s going to be a long night. A very long night.
“So, all you do is take the coats, hang the coats so that they don’t crease, give the members a number, and step back,” Norman, the head coat collector, informs me in a monotone voice. He’s dressed in a suit and tie, and he hasn’t smiled at me once. “Can you handle that, Ms. Montgomery?”
“Doesn’t seem like brain surgery, so I think I’ll be okay.” I offer him a wide smile, but he just stares back at me, his dark eyes boring into mine like he thinks I’m crazy. “I was just joking. I....”
“I don’t care who hired you, but if you mess up the coats, you’re fired. I’ve been here for forty years and—”
“What, you started working here before you were born?” I’m desperate to get a smile out of the man.
“Huh?” He blinks at me, and now I can tell he thinks I’m slow. Doesn’t he understand that I am just trying to butter him up?
“You look too young to have...” My voice trails off, as he’s not really taking my lie as a compliment. “So, umm, about the tips... how do they work exactly?”
“Tips?” He raises a stern eyebrow at me, his dark eyes seeming to judge me even more than they had before.
“I heard the tips were good.” I square my shoulders.
I am here to make money. I want to be a business owner.
I cannot back down from speaking what is on my mind.
“I know the base pay is $17 an hour, but I heard the additional tips make up for that.... I mean, this is the Magnolia Club, the most exclusive club in Manhattan.”
“And we’d like it to stay that way.” He looks me up and down. “Where are you from? Staten Island?”
“Actually, I live in Whispering Haven.”
“Huh? Is that what they’re calling the projects these days?”
“It’s in Upstate New York. It took me an hour and a half to get here. My train ticket each way is $15. I was told this job would be worth the extra costs.”
“Tips are not generally shared until—”
“Oh?” I cut him off and give him a pleasant smile. “HR told me that—”
“HR?” He frowns. “That’s not how we do it here, Ms. Monty.”
“Montgomery.”
“There are some members waiting,” he snaps. “Go and help them.”
“But you haven’t shown me what—”
“You want the tips, you do the work.” And with that, he’s gone, and my heart races like crazy. This is not the ideal start to my first day at the job. Not at all.
I look to the front of the stand and see six men standing there, each one more handsome than the next.
They all look rich and powerful, and suddenly, I feel out of my element.
I rub my palms on my slacks and take a deep breath as I make my way to greet the men.
I’m a coat hanger, not a supervisor at the IRS. I should be able to do this job easily.
“Welcome to the Magnolia Club. I’m Willow. May I take your coats?” I stop and smile at the men, but none of them make eye contact with me as they slide their coats off. I frown and clear my throat.
“Sebastian, I’m telling you, Nividia is going to slide soon. It can’t keep—”
“Keep dreaming, Jack.” The most handsome of the men laughs, and I watch as he runs his fingers through his tousled, silky black hair.
His eyes are a dark brown, and his skin is a glowing olive tan.
He is absolutely gorgeous, and I can tell by the way his well-tailored navy suit fits his body that he is all muscle.
Absolutely delicious, but I am not here to ogle hot men.
Especially not hot men who are ignoring me.
“Hi, can I take your coat?” I say, once again being ignored.
I’m starting to feel annoyed now. It’s not like I expected all of them to stop what they were doing and gaze at me as if I were the most beautiful woman in the world, but I hate feeling invisible.
“I’m about to take my bra off,” I say to see if any of these men are listening.
“And my panties,” I add for effect, but they are still discussing stocks and some type of liquor I’ve never heard of.
This is one of the reasons why I dislike big cities: the people are rude.
In Whispering Haven, the locals are always nice and friendly.
Many will gossip about you after you leave a room, but at least they acknowledge your presence.
“I heard that Johnson called for MHT’s stock to be split next week.” A blond man with a crisp white shirt and sparkling blue eyes pulls off his coat, and I watch as he pulls out a thick wallet and slides it into his pocket.
“I’m going to split if no one hands me a coat in the next ten seconds,” I mumble. “Especially if grumpy Norman comes back and sees me just standing here.”
“Grumpy who?” The tall man with dark hair finally gazes my way, his lips thin as he blinks at me.
His brown eyes gaze at me for a moment, and I look down quickly so he doesn’t notice my blush.
That’s the problem with being fair-skinned.
My every flush is apparent right away. Thankfully, he doesn’t press it and instead looks at his very expensive-looking watch and frowns.
“We should get to the table. Pierre has the cigars I ordered, and I wanted to see if Magnus has the—”
“We’re in company.” The blond man nods toward me, and I now finally have the attention of all the men in this group.
I’m curious as to what Magnus was supposed to say or do.
Obviously something big, if they don’t want me to hear about it.
“Hello.” The blond steps forward and hands me his jacket. “You’re new here?”
“Yes.” I smile. “I, umm, I’m Willow. It’s my first day.”
“Nice to meet you, Willow. I’m Levi.” He hands me his long, dark gray peacock coat. I take it from him and grab a hanger, then go to one of the rails behind me and look for some numbers, but I don’t see any. I decide to take all the coats first and then worry about the numbers.
The next man steps up and hands me a luxurious black leather jacket. He has dark hair and the most vivid green eyes I’ve ever seen in my life. For a few moments, my heart races as he smirks at me.
“I’m Flynn.” He grins. “If you’re wondering.”
“Willow.” I smile and watch as he steps back. If Katherine and Brielle were here, they would be getting their flirt on. I can’t wait to tell them about this group of men. We don’t come across hotties like this at our day job, at Whispering Haven Bed and Breakfast.
“This is Santiago, and that’s Nate.” He points at the next two men, who look richer than Hades. They both nod at me and hand me their coats. Then steps up the hunk that was talking about Nividia. His turquoise eyes blow me away, and as I stare at him, I realize that he looks familiar.