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She smiles and takes a step forward. “It’s really nice to meet you,” she says, giving me an even bigger smile.
Nodding once, I move toward her and extend my arm. She wraps her hand around mine, and we shake.
“I’m Allison,” I offer.
Harlow and I talk. She’s sweet and tells me that she’s getting ready to get married, but she wants to work. She needs to get out of the house and have something that keeps her busy. I wish I had a life that simple.
“I need someone who will be able to run the store for a few months,” I say.
“A few months?”
Nodding, I place my hand on my belly. “I’m pregnant, and I’ll need someone who can run the store while I’m recovering and finding childcare.”
Harlow sinks her teeth into her bottom lip, rolling it a few times before she releases it. “I don’t know much about sex toys or anything like that, but I can do this. I’ve worked in retail before. I can handle all of this.”
I want to tell her no, only because I don’t think she has any staying power. Whoever this guy is she’s marrying, he probably doesn’t want her to work. I mean, she is saying that she is only going to do this so she’s not bored.
Jesus, I can’t even imagine.
But there’s something about her that makes me want to say yes. So I do. “Okay, will you be my teammate?” I ask.
Her lips curve up into a smile. “Yes, I think that sounds like fun.”
“Then you start today. Come on and help me get this suitcase unloaded.”
And that is how I spend my afternoon. Unloading suitcases, back and forth, until the entire stock of my apartment is in the store. Harlow tells me about her fiancé but admits that it’s a rushed thing and she doesn’t know much about him. She tells me what he looks like, and he’s totally my type. Dark hair, light eyes, tattoos, and sexy as hell.
“So, does he have any brothers?” I ask.
“He does, two, but they’re married,” she laughs. “What about the father, though?”
I shrug a shoulder as I load up sex toys into the display case. “He isn’t around. It’s just me and the baby,” I say.
“You’re brave,” she whispers. “I don’t think I could do it. You know, you remind me a lot of my sister.”
Giving her a smile, I continue to work, and when we’re finished, I have her fill out some more paperwork and tell her I’ll get it processed and will contact her with her official start date, though I’ve already logged her hours for today.
“I get married in two weeks. Can my official day-to-day start date be after that?” she asks.
“Of course,” I say with a smile.
I’m glad that her wedding is so soon. It will give me time to hire someone else if she decides not to come back from her honeymoon, which she very well could possibly decide. Harlow smiles and tells me that she’ll see me soon and says again that she’s very excited about starting on her way out of the door.
Looking around the shop, I take my phone out of my pocket and make notes of things I need to order, like clothing racks and wall displays for toys. I also make a note to order some cabinets for overstock storage.
Luckily, the back of the shop has shelves where I can stack things, but sometimes you need a place to put overstock on the floor, like tights and nylons, panties. Things you can’t quite hang up.
When my list is finished, I lock up the store and head straight home, well, I stop by a fast-food drive-through and grab some dinner, then I head home. I’m just not in the mood to cook anything, so this is as good as it’s going to get, probably for the rest of my life.
With my food in my passenger seat, I decide to do something stupid and head straight toward Hendrick’s condo. Pulling into the parking garage, I make a pass through and notice that his car is there. It’s getting later in the evening, and if I know anything at all about this man, I know he’s a night owl.
So, like the stalker I am, I park in the visitor parking spot, eat my fast-food dinner, and wait. He doesn’t come out of his place. I sit there until midnight like an asshole, then I drive home and go to bed, but I don’t sleep.
I watch television all night long and cry.
I’m so lonely, and I know I’m going to get even lonelier. I’m not sure if I can handle that. Once Hendrick is married, he will do the right thing and be loyal to his wife. To his family. And I will be here raising his secret child that he knows is his, but I won’t admit.
This is my last night of feeling sorry for myself. After tonight, I am going to move on, up, and forward. This is ridiculous. I didn’t even feel this sorry for myself about my parents and my childhood.
