by Shade, S. M.
I have to grab a few things I keep stashed in my cubby in the meat department on my way out. I’m about to push open the employee only doors when a voice calls from behind me.
I know that voice.
I don’t know her name, but this woman is the most annoying customer ever. At least once a week she appears like the wicked witch of the west. I swear, I look around for a puff of red smoke whenever I see her. Generally, she comes to argue with me over prices—something I have no control over—or to return some rotten meat she bought weeks ago and swears went bad instantly. She’s a pain in the ass.
“Excuse me!” She gestures to the bunker full of frozen turkeys. “Do these turkeys get any bigger?”
“No, ma’am. They’re dead,” I reply cheerfully.
Some people can’t take a joke.
A scowl breaks across her face. “I know that! Do you have any over twenty pounds?”
If we do, I’m sure they’re still buried on the pallet and this isn’t my responsibility anymore. If she wasn’t a bitch, I would’ve called another employee to help her, but I’m done catering to people like this. “No, sorry. That’s all we have.”
Her hands clamp onto her hips and she bends over slightly. Between her stance and the way her skinny face seems to come to a point, she looks like a chicken. “You just don’t want to bother looking! I insist you go in the back and bring me a twenty pound turkey! Or I’ll speak to your manager about your rudeness!”
Forcing a smile onto my face, I nod. “Sure thing, ma’am. Just wait right here. It may take a few minutes.”
Satisfied she has gotten her way, she nods smugly, and I head through the doors. This is a common thing with customers that drives all retail employees nuts. They seem to think the storeroom is piled high with products that we just don’t want to put on the shelves. Most of the time, if you can’t see it, we don’t have it. When we know we’re out of something, but they insist I check, I generally just go back and play on my phone for a few minutes then come out and tell them again, that we’re out.
The sound of gagging draws my attention and I can’t help but laugh at the sight of Ricky, one of the other meat department employees, running over to the trash can. He stands over it for a minute until the urge to puke passes, not even noticing I’m there.
I’m not laughing because he’s sick, it’s the reason why. Packages of expired chicken, pork, beef, and—horror of horrors—fish are stacked on the counter, awaiting disposal. It occurs to me I’ll never get stuck with that job again, and nothing could tear the smile from my face.
“Ricky, you okay?”
“Yeah, that shrimp one got me, plus Fester is almost full.”
Fester is what we named the large barrel that we dump all the spoiled meat into. It isn’t too bad when the meat stays refrigerated until it’s tossed, but Kori gets a sick pleasure from setting all the meat out for hours, sometimes overnight, before ordering someone to slice open the packages and deposit it in the bucket. Fester only gets picked up every seven to ten days, so just opening it is enough to make anyone puke.
Ricky composes himself and grins at me. “I heard you on the radio. Did they fire her?”
“Of course not. She’s suspended though.” I gesture to the rotting meat pile. “It’d be a good time to talk to Ty about shit like this.”
“Maybe I will.” He shakes his head. “Do you want to help?”
“Sorry, I’m off the clock. For good, actually.”
Ricky blinks, taking a step back. “Shit, man, they fired you? Was it the dick remark?”
“I had just put in my notice, and they told me there’s no need to finish the two weeks. I’ve got another job.”
“Lucky son of a bitch.”
Yeah, I really am. “Yep. It was good working with you, Ricky. I’ll see you around.”
“See you.” With a grim expression, he turns and picks up a rotted beef roast, and I get the hell out before the smell can reach me.
I grab my stuff, and cut through the dairy department’s storeroom. I come out near the front doors and smile to myself as I make my way through them for the first time as a former employee. I wonder how long that obnoxious customer will stand back there before she realizes I’m not coming back? Poor Ricky is probably going to get stuck with her.
I’m going to see my girl, take her some flowers, and tell her about the internship.
After I buy the flowers, and stop at the diner to pick up our lunch, I get to Scarlet Toys just as Clarence, another of the employees is walking in.
“Are those for me?” he teases, nodding to the flowers.
“And risk having your boyfriend beat the crap out of me? Not likely.”
Laughing, he accompanies me inside. Jani sits on the floor surrounded by a bunch of black straps and a sheet of printed instructions.
“Are you busy?” I ask, and I’m thrilled to see the smile that jumps onto her face.
“I’m trying to put together this sex swing contraption, but I’m afraid I might hang myself. What are you doing here?”
“I brought you lunch.”
“And lilies?” she says, grinning and getting to her feet.
“No, these are for me. They really bring out my eyes, don’t you think?” I bat my eyelashes at her as she slings her arms around my neck.
“They’re white. Your eyes are blue.”
“It makes perfect sense if you don’t think about it.”
“Oh, like our relationship.” She drops a kiss on my lips.
Little smart ass.
I squeeze her ass with one hand and murmur in her ear. “Do I need to take you home and remind you why we make sense?”
Her eyes betray just how much she’d love for me to do that. “Later,” she whispers. A smile stretches across her face as she takes the flowers and sniffs them. “Thank you. I love lilies.”
“Can you take a break?”
“Sure.” She leads me to their breakroom and peeks into the bag of food I’ve brought. “Mmm, curly fries always smell so good.”
Laughing, I unpack the food and we sit down to eat. “You mean fries smell good,” I tease her. “It doesn’t matter if they’re curly.”
Her mouth drops open. “You have to be kidding! Curly fries smell way better!” She grabs a curly fry from the carton and pops it into her mouth.
“You’re delusional. They’re just cut different.”
“Fine. We’ll prove it.” She gets to her feet and grabs a blindfold. We might be in one of the few places in the world where you can just reach out and find a blindfold.
She slips it over her eyes. “Hold a curly fry or a regular one under my nose and I’ll tell you which it is.”
She giggles when I hold a regular French fry under her nose. “Regular fry, easy.”
I switch to another fry from the same bag, and she shakes her head. “Nice try, it’s still a regular fry.”
Damn, she really can tell. As soon as I try the curly fry, she knows. “That’s a curly one. See, they smell better!” Her giggles fill the room, and I can’t wipe the smile from my face. Damn, I’m crazy about this girl.
“Fine, I was wrong.” I pull the blindfold off of her. “You can tell the difference.”
Beaming, she says, “Oh, I’m going to need to hear that again.”
“You can tell the difference,” I chuckle, taking a bite of my burger.
“No, the first part.” I want to kiss the impish grin off of her face as she sips her soda.
“You were right.”
Her eyes close and she hums. “Mmm, one more time.”
“Not the most humble winner are you?”
Her eyes pop open. “Please, I’m the most modest person you’ll ever meet.”
“Clearly. So, I have some news. How would you feel about dating a guy who just quit his job?”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “You quit the supercenter? What happened?”
“I may have announced over the radio that my manager sucked dick to get where she was.”
Jani bursts out laughing. “Oh my god. The bitchy one who always tortures you?”
“Yep.” I take a drink and wait for her response.
“That must’ve felt good. Tell me what happened.”
Tilting my head, I gaze at her for a moment. “You aren’t worried about dating a deadbeat without a job?”
“Please,” she scoffs. “I know you, and you always work. You’re no deadbeat. And there’s only so much shit anyone is willing to take. I got fired for answering the phone with Hello caller, you’re on the air at the burger place so I’m not one to judge.”
“Well.” I swallow my last bite and sit back in my seat. “You’ll be happy to know I’m not actually unemployed. I got offered an internship at WFUK starting after the holidays. I put in my two weeks notice, but I didn’t last long since I couldn’t give a shit anymore.”
She grabs my arm and squeezes, shaking it back and forth a little. “You got a job at the station? That’s wonderful!”
“I’ll probably be fetching coffee and sweeping floors, but it beats the hell out of the supercenter. Higher wage, and I get college credit. I don’t know what kind of hours I’ll have yet, though.”
“We should celebrate.” She leans across the table. “Hypothetically, if I were to show up at your place tonight with movies and pizza, wearing my tiniest pair of panties, how would you react?”
“The panties are completely unnecessary. I’ll have them off of you before the pizza is cold.”
“Noted.”
I’m a lucky son of a bitch.
Chapter Six
January
The past few weeks with Noble have flown by. He’s been busy studying for final exams, so he doesn’t have a whole lot of time, but he goes out of his way to spend as much of it with me as he can. He’s the first guy to really make me a priority, and I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t make me feel good and completely terrify me at the same time.
Yeah, I have more issues than Playboy magazine, and I’m trying not to let my irrational fear of living my mother’s life mess up my own.
“Jani,” Mom calls from the living room.
I run my brush through my hair one more time before joining her. “Are you feeling okay?” I ask, taking a seat on the couch. I’m sure it’s annoying, but that’s usually my first question for her.
“Fine, honey.” She fumbles with her phone and sets it aside. “I was just talking to Leon and he invited us for Christmas.”
“Pass,” I mumble. Leon is mom’s older brother. He’s filthy rich and never lets anyone forget it. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with rich people. Take Cassidy’s fiancé Wyatt, for example. He could buy and sell Leon, but he’s an honest, good hearted man who would never flaunt it. Leon is a pretentious dick who loves to show off how much “better” he is.
Mom gives me the look. You know what I’m talking about. It’s the same look all mothers seem to give when they’re fed up with you. “I know you don’t like him, but it might be good to get away for a bit.” Her grin widens. “It’s two weeks in Hawaii, January, and you could bring Noble.”
The fact that even the thought of spending two weeks on a beach with a half-naked Noble isn’t enough to make me want to go shows how much I actively dislike this man.
“You should go, Mom, if you want to.”
“Leon said he’d pay for the plane tickets, and we can stay with them. Are you sure you don’t want to go?”
“I’m sure, but you should go. I know you haven’t seen him or aunt Helen in a long time. Do you feel like you can handle the plane ride and everything?”
Mom laughs and rolls her eyes. “For the chance to lie on the beach for two weeks? I’ll manage. I don’t want to leave you alone on Christmas, though.”
“Cass and Wyatt invited me over for Christmas dinner,” I lie. “I’ll be fine.” I don’t want her to miss out on something she wants to do just because of me. I’m really not bothered about Christmas. I’ll keep Scarlet Toys open and just work if Wyatt wants me to. They probably would’ve invited me, but they’re going away for their own little holiday.
“Well, if you’re sure…”
“Call and have him book your flight. Then call in your prescriptions and I’ll pick them up. You don’t want to run out while you’re there.”
“What would I do without you?” she asks, picking up her phone.
By the next morning, everything is set, and I drop her off at the airport to catch her incredibly expensive last minute flight to Hawaii. “Don’t forget to call me when you land!” I call out as she walks away.
“I will! You make sure you take advantage of having an empty apartment! I want grandbabies, you know!”
The crowd of people between us erupt in laughter, and I shake my head. Isn’t that a parent’s job in life? To embarrass their kids? She’s a natural.
I am looking forward to two whole weeks by myself though.
I have just enough time to get ready and get to work after I drop her off. I have to go in early because I planned something a little different for Christmas at Scarlet Toys. Cass and Wyatt have arranged a holiday party at the community center, complete with a Santa to take pictures with the kids, and it made me think, why not a Santa at Scarlet?
Henry, the new guy I hired to take my old position since I became the manager, didn’t blink an eye when I explained what we were going to do, so that’s a good sign he’ll work out.
Henry and Martha have been decorating with the traditional stuff like snowflakes and candy canes, and the place looks great. Martha helps customers while I clear out a large space in the corner, set up a tree, and cover a large chair with a swatch of red felt. My decorations won’t be as tame.
Henry keeps throwing glances my way and laughing as I proceed to trim the tree with tiny penis shaped lights and various sex toys as ornaments. He seems particularly amused by the large fleshlight I use as the tree topper.
“What? It’s red and white. That’s festive!” I insist.
“And the blow up doll just screams Christmas,” he laughs.
I grab a headband with reindeer antlers attached and put them on the doll. “There. Problem solved.”
“Woo-hoo, well, knock me down and steal my teeth, what we got here?”
Henry is too busy fighting back laughter at Martha and her country exclamations to reply as I make my way to the front of the store where two strippers have just walked in.
The guy is decked out in a Santa suit, minus the fake white beard, since he has a very real beard that is too damn sexy. His Santa suit is far from traditional. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Santa in bright red spandex shorts, connected to white suspenders that stretch over his bare, well- built chest. His shiny black boots complete the outfit.
The woman is wearing a little more, but her skin tight red bodysuit leaves nothing to the imagination, and those black garters are going to be a big hit, even if her stockings do end at a goofy pair of elf shoes.
“Hi, I’m St. Dick, and this is Gumdrop. Where do you want us?”
I’m tempted by the plethora of inappropriate responses I could give him, but I control it. “Right over here. You’ll just be playing Santa and taking pictures with the customers.”
“Sounds good.”
It’s a big hit. I swear this town is way more dirty minded than they like to pretend. People are lined up all day to sit on their laps and have their pictures taken. Stripper Santa is posing for his last picture with two giggling college girls when Noble walks in.
The smile that washes over his face at the sight of the stripper elf fades when it lands on the two girls posing with Santa.
“Hey.” I give him a quick hug. “Sorry, I forgot you were picking me up tonight.”
“Hey, Noble!” one of the girls calls out. “Come and get a picture with us! We’re going to flash the camera!”
Oh hell no. How do they know him anyway? It’s not like he knows every girl at the college. It takes every ounce of my self-
control to reign in the jealousy at the thought of two trollops hanging on my guy, but I manage. I want to see his response.
Shaking his head, he totally ignores them. “Can you get out of here soon?”
“Sure, let me talk to Clarence for a sec.” To his credit, he seems to have no interest in the two women vying for his attention, even when they both yank their shirts up for a picture. They wear identical expressions of disappointment when he looks away from them.
Ha ha, that’s right, bitches. Mine.
I have a quick word with Clarence about closing up, grab my stuff, and join Noble, who is now lingering by the door like he can’t wait to leave.
“How do you know the titty sisters in there?” I ask, following him to his car.
“From school,” he replies. It strikes me as a little odd he doesn’t elaborate, but I don’t push it. After all, he didn’t want any part of them, so I’m not worried.
We head back to my now empty apartment and sprawl out on the couch. “So, your mom is gone until after New Year’s?” Noble asks.
“Yeah, she’s visiting her brother.”
A bright smile inches across his face. “So, you could go with me then. I wasn’t going to ask because I knew you wouldn’t want to leave your mom alone.”
Noble has holiday plans to visit his mother in Ohio for a couple of days, then his father in northern Indiana. “I’m not going to intrude on your family visit.”
His expression hardens. “You aren’t intruding. I want to introduce you to my parents. Just be warned, they’re a little weird.”
“All parents are,” I laugh. My teeth rake across my lip as I consider it. I’m flattered and excited he wants me to meet his parents. I’m also curious and nosy as hell so this will give me a chance to learn more about him and how he grew up. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. Can you leave Scarlet Toys for a week?”
I think on it for a moment. “I already planned to close Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I should be able to juggle the schedule and take a week off, if it’s okay with Wyatt.”
“Good.” He slaps me on the ass. “Now, where’s my dinner?”