by Shade, S. M.
“This is what you’ll be selling. Sex toys for men and women, lingerie, party supplies, X-rated DVDs, and so on. It obviously isn’t a job for everyone so if you aren’t interested, please let me know now.”
It may be my imagination, but I sense a flicker of disappointment when I don’t answer him straight away. He returns the dildo to the box and eyes me.
“Do you have a moral compunction against these types of goods?”
My fingers creep up to tug on my earlobe, a nervous habit I’ve been trying and failing to break since childhood. If he saw the array of do-it-yourself devices in my nightstand drawer, he wouldn’t ask that question. Now I’m picturing him in my bedroom. Keep it together, Cass.
“No, it’s not that, it’s just…I’m not sure how long a business like this will survive in Morganville.”
A smile brightens his face, showing a mouth full of white teeth. He has one crooked tooth on the bottom which somehow makes him even more endearing. “You’ll be surprised.”
“The churches picketed our little theater when it showed Fifty Shades of Grey.”
“Did you go to see the movie?”
“Yes.”
“Were there many others there?”
“It sold out all three screens…at a midnight showing.”
He crosses his arms and smirks. “See? Sex sells. People may protest, but they’ll be some of the same ones who will sneak in the back door after the sun goes down. I warn you, I will require long days from you in the beginning. It takes a lot to set up a new business. I’d like to get the store organized and stocked so we can open in the next two weeks.”
I still don’t think it’ll last, but I need a job. Even if this place goes under in a few months, it’ll hold me over until I can find something else.
“Are you offering me the job, Mr. Lawson?”
His lips jump into a grin again. “Do you think you can learn to call me Wyatt?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Then yes, I’m offering you the job. Why don’t we return to the back and we’ll discuss salary and benefits.”
“Are you going to keep the front windows blacked out?” I ask, curious.
“Yes, but not with the paper. We’ll hang black and red curtains. In bigger cities, we’d have a display window set up, but in these smaller towns, more people will shop if they can’t be seen from the outside. After all, if they’re discovered by someone they know while shopping, that person must be here for the same reason and can’t judge.”
The rear door opens and an older gentleman walks in. I recognize him from the maintenance department of Crunchy Time. He’s going to flip his shit when he realizes what the job is. I feel bad, though. It reminds me I’m not the only one out of work and struggling.
“Good afternoon, Sir,” Wyatt calls to him. “If you’ll have a seat, I’ll speak to you when I’m finished with this young lady.”
Wyatt leads me to a tiny back office where he gives me the details of the position. He gestures to a chair and sits in the one next to it, so close his leg keeps brushing mine. My eyes widen and my heart rate increases when he tells me the salary, and not just because he’s sitting so close.
It’s not going to make me rich, but it’s considerably more than I made in the factory, more than any of the factories in town, as a matter of fact. If this lasts, I’ll be able to get a decent car, maybe even move to a better apartment eventually.
“Like I said, this is a salaried managerial position. It will require long hours until we’re up and operational, then you’ll work the typical forty hours per week. If you do well enough in training, you’ll be the general manager and be responsible for making the schedules for the hourly employees, so you’ll eventually be able to set your own hours.”
This job is just too good to be true. “Training?” I ask.
“I’ll be training you over the next few weeks. I know you said you’ve never held a managerial position before, but I’m sure you’ll do fine. Do you have any questions for me?”
Can we start my training today? Maybe by showing me the proper way to bend over a desk?
“When do I start?”
“Be here tomorrow at noon. We’ll start organizing the store. I’m looking for two more salespeople if you know someone trustworthy. They have to be able to pass a criminal background check.”
My thoughts go to Jani, one of my friends from Crunchy Time who also just moved into Orchid Apartments. She takes care of her mother and needs a job. I know she wouldn’t balk at selling sex toys.
“Actually, I do know someone. She worked at the factory with me. Her name is January. I could call her.”
Standing up, he says, “Great. Tell her to come in today if she can and I’ll interview her.”
His hand swallows mine in a handshake and a shiver races across my skin as his fingers slide across my palm when our hands part. “Welcome to the team, Ms. West. I’ll see you at noon tomorrow.”
“I’ll be here. And please, call me Cass.”
“Cass,” he agrees with a smile. Damn, what his voice does to my name. Not to mention my lady parts.
We walk back to the rear storeroom where the older man waits. Before I leave, I give him a smile. “Orchid Apartments is looking for another maintenance man. One of ours retired last week. In case this isn’t what you’re looking for.”
“Thank you,” he tells me, and I give him a nod before stepping out the door into the pouring rain.
Jani is going to be so excited when I tell her I’ve found her a job less than twenty-four hours after we were let go. Running to my car, I jump in and text her.
Me: Big news. May have found us both a job. Can you meet me at Carl’s?
My phone beeps almost instantly.
Jani: Now?
Me: Yep
Jani: On my way.
Carl’s Diner is nearly empty when I arrive since it’s between the breakfast and lunch rush. Jani waves at me from the back booth.
“Wow, you must’ve put that pedal down to beat me here,” I observe, sliding into the booth.
“My mother is driving me batshit. I can’t watch one more minute of reality TV. Now, what’s the job you were talking about?”
The waitress approaches and takes our order, so I wait until she walks away to ask, “So, how do you feel about vibrators?”
Jani nearly spits out her drink. “Well, I guess I’d have to say I’m pro vibe. Is this one of those deals where you throw sex toy parties at home? Because I’m not going to be able to spend money to get started.”
“No, but you would be selling sex toys. The old dollar store is going to re-open as an adult store.”
“Get the hell out of here!” She sits back in her seat. “It won’t last no time. These self-righteous bitches wouldn’t know a dildo if it slapped them in the face.”
I try to swallow a laugh when I see our waitress, a lady who looks at least sixty, standing behind Jani. “Honey, if you’re getting slapped in the face with it, you ain’t using it right,” she says, placing our food on the table.
“Sorry,” Jani mumbles, mortified.
“Don’t be. Just tell me about this store. Are you talking about the building across from the feed store?”
“That’s the one.”
“Well, don’t that beat all? Be nice not to have to mail order. Are they hiring?”
“They’re still looking for a couple of sales people, last I heard. He’s holding open interviews until four today.”
“Perfect. I get off at two.”
Jani and I burst into giggles when she walks away. “I put in a good word for you. Wyatt is expecting you today. Just know I call dibs on this one.”
“You’re calling him by his first name. Did you blow him to get the job?”
“No!” I throw my napkin at her.
“But you would have,” she teases.
“For free.”
“Seriously? That hot?”
“Just wait until you see him.”
; Jani and I finish lunch, and she promises to call me to let me know how the interview goes.
The rain has slowed to a drizzle when I park in front of my apartment. The clothes are gone from the front yard, at least. I’m unlocking my door when I’m struck on the head by an acorn.
“Keep it up, you fuzzy little bastard and I’ll turn you into a hat!” I yell up at the branches above my head. I’m actually shouting at the psycho squirrel hiding in the branches. I swear it’s a sadist. No matter where you stand under the tree, it throws nuts down at your head.
“Cass, you all right?” Jason asks, stepping around the corner. Jason is one of our three maintenance men. Well, two now that Bob retired. Both of them are about as sharp as a mashed potato. Of course, I’m cursing at a squirrel, so who am I to judge?
“Fine, Jason, thanks.”
“Yup.” He walks away, sloshing through the mud and water as if it isn’t there.
I’m so relieved to have found a job, even if it may not last long. I decide to spend the rest of the day catching up on my reading and television since the little neighborhood bonfire has been postponed because of the rain. After all, I have a long day of organizing butt plugs ahead of me tomorrow.
Chapter Two
The apartment is pitch dark and silent when something pulls me from sleep. Sitting up in bed, I glance at the clock. Four a.m. Hmm, maybe I was dreaming. A slight clicking noise sounds from the living room. I’ve always been a light sleeper so that must be what woke me, but I have no idea what it is. I’ve lived here long enough to know the normal nighttime sounds of the water heater banging, the furnace kicking on, the air in the pipes.
Without turning on a light, I creep into the living room. I’ve locked the front door, but as I’m staring at it, the handle begins to turn. It stops, then turns again, back and forth.
What the hell? Ice drips down my spine, and I feel like I’m in one of those cheesy horror movies where the girl always does something stupid like opening the door or calling out “Who’s there?”
As quietly as I can, I creep to the door and peer out the peephole. All I can see is a dark figure, definitely a man, standing on my step. There’s no way I’m turning on the porch light to get a better look. Instead, I run and grab my phone.
The nine-one-one operator answers quickly. “Please send the police to 207 Violet Circle. A man is trying to get in my apartment.”
“Are your doors and windows locked?”
Shit. Are my windows locked? Cold fear washes over me as I try to remember. “The doors are. I think the windows are.”
I’m standing in the hall when I see the back door handle turn. Same as the front. Back and forth a few times before it stops. “He’s at my back door now.”
“A car is less than a minute away. Stay on the phone with me.”
I can hear him walking around the outside of my apartment, back to the front. I feel safer when I know where he is, so I return to the living room after blindly grabbing for a knife I left on the counter.
I hear the pop of the seal on the living room window as he gets it open. “Get the fuck out of here or I’ll cut your balls off!” I scream.
Before he can react, a spotlight illuminates the room and relief floods through me at the sound of the officer’s voice.
“Freeze! Get down!”
I rush to the window and look out in time to see an officer tackle the guy as he tries to run.
“Ma’am, ma’am?”
I realize the dispatcher is still trying to talk to me. “Yes, I’m here. The officer tackled him. He’s sitting on the ground handcuffed.”
“I’m going to let you hang up now. Please stay inside until the officer asks you to come out.”
“I will. Thank you.”
My mind is at ease, but my body hasn’t quite caught up, judging by the way my heart is trying to leap from my chest. I jump when there’s a knock on the door, but it’s just the officer.
“Can you step outside, please?” he asks.
Wrapping my arms around my middle, I follow him out into the cool night air where a group of guys sit in a pickup truck. Apparently, they’re his friends. The guy who scared the shit out of me doesn’t appear to be a day over eighteen.
He stares up at me with wide terrified eyes. “She told me to come on in! So I wouldn’t wake her mother!”
The officer gives him a stern look and tells him to shut up before turning to me. “Do you know him?”
“No, I’ve never seen him before, and I sure as hell didn’t invite him over. He tried to get in my front and back door. He would’ve been through the window if you hadn’t showed up.”
“He claims he spoke with you on a dating app and you told him to come on in so as not to disturb your mother.”
“Disturbing my mother would be hard considering she’s buried out in Jother Cemetery.”
“So you didn’t speak to him.”
“No.”
At this point, the boy looks ready to break into tears. “You did! You gave me your address. 205 Violet Circle!”
“Yeah, well, I’m in 207.”
The realization of what he’s done crashes over him. “I-I got the wrong apartment. I’m sorry!”
The officer turns to him and starts chewing him out. “You’re damn lucky she didn’t have a gun or we could be scooping you off of her floor.”
After scolding him and his friends, he asks me if I want to press charges. The boy’s eyes are pleading with me to have mercy. He may have scared the shit out of me, but it was just a mistake. I don’t want to get him locked up for being stupid.
“No, it was a mistake, I guess.”
The officer nods and his lips tilt up in a grin. “What were you going to do with that? Butter him to death?”
The knife I grabbed from the counter is still clutched in my hand. A fucking butter knife. “I panicked and grabbed the closest thing,” I reply with a giggle.
The officer laughs. “I’m going to search them all before I release them, but you shouldn’t have any more problems tonight. Don’t hesitate to call if you do.”
“Thank you.”
I toss the butter knife inside on my coffee table, then turn my porch light on and sit outside to watch while the officer searches the young men. Neal, the single dad from across the street, walks over and joins me.
“Are you okay, Cass? Did something happen?”
“Everything is okay. Some stupid kids got the wrong apartment. He’s going to let them go.”
“Not all of them, I guess,” Neal points out as another officer arrives. The guy who tried to break in and one of his friends are handcuffed.
The officer hands the other a bag of weed and what looks like a pipe or some other paraphernalia to the arresting officer. “That’s on them. I didn’t press charges.”
Neal stays until they all leave and the sky is starting to lighten. “There are no young women living next door!” I blurt.
“What?”
“He told the cop that a woman told him to come on in so he wouldn’t wake her mom. The only woman living next door is Lola, and she’s sixty years old and disabled. Her son lives with her.”
“Yeah, that quiet kid, what’s his name?”
“Jasper.”
Yawning, I shake my head. “He said 205. I don’t know. I guess it doesn’t matter. I doubt they’ll be back.”
Neal gets to his feet. “Still, you need to lock your windows and doors at night. And if you ever have another problem, you call me, hear?”
“I will. Thanks. I’m going to go back to bed.”
“Me too. My daughter will be up early.”
“Thanks for checking on me.”
“Anytime,” he says and walks away.
* * *
Wyatt is waiting for me when I arrive at Scarlet Toys for my first shift. Instead of the suit he wore the day before, he’s dressed in a polo shirt and a pair of dark slacks. It doesn’t matter what he wears, he could be dressed in feety pajamas and a sombrero and any w
oman would be eager to strip him.
After we get all the tax paperwork out of the way, we head to the sales floor to start unpacking the boxes. Wyatt pulls a pink, slinky, baby doll nightie from a box and tosses it to me.
“Where should I put it?” I ask.
“It’s your uniform.”
Shocked, I’m not even sure what to say. There’s no fucking way I’m wearing this in public. After a few seconds, his deep laughter fills the room. “Relax, I’m kidding. You should see your face.”
Tossing the nightie aside, I mumble, “You are a sexual harassment suit waiting to happen.”
His gaze lands on me and one side of his mouth lifts in a sexy, crooked grin. “I’m a pretty good judge of who can take a joke.”
“Remember that when I get revenge.”
Laughing, he scoots a box over to me and hands me a printed layout of the store and where the items are to be displayed. I’m happy to know he isn’t one of the stuffy, asshole bosses I usually get stuck with. It’ll be nice to have a relaxed, fun work environment. And having his sexy ass to look at and drool over is a definite plus as well.
The back door opens and we’re joined by Jani and by the older lady who was working at the diner yesterday. He didn’t waste any time hiring help.
“Good, everyone’s here,” he says, getting to his feet and brushing the cardboard dust from his pants. “This is Cassidy West,” he says, gesturing to me. “She’s the general manager so you’ll be working under her once we open.”
“And who will she be…under?” Jani asks with a mischievous smile.
Ignoring her obvious innuendo, Wyatt smiles. “I’m the owner, so she’ll bring any problems or concerns to me. I understand you and Cassidy know each other, and this is Martha.”
Martha gives us a quick wave as he continues, “The last of our little team will be joining us soon, when his church lets out.”
I don’t know if it’s the mention that the last employee is male or that he’s coming from church to work at a sex toy store that makes me laugh, but it appears to be contagious as Jani and Martha follow suit.