The restroom door opened, making Christian jump and empty of all his thoughts into the bucket. A well-dressed older man walked in, looking at Christian like he was a rat that had scurried out of the toilet.
“Careful, sir,” Christian said. “The floor is a little wet.”
The man ignored him, marching into a cubicle. Christian put the bucket back on to his janitor’s trolley and wheeled it outside. The store was heaving, even though it wasn’t even ten yet. He politely weaved his way between the groups of customers, butnobody looked at him. He was invisible in his janitor’s overalls, and as much as he hated Margot, he knew she had been right — this was the perfect role for him to investigate what was happening in the store. He’d spoken to several other members of the janitorial team already and they had all agreed that something strange was going on. For a start, three of the team had been laid off in the last month, as well as quite a few other people from different departments. The store was chronically understaffed, and customers were starting to notice. Nobody knew why it was happening, though.
He was just entering the aisles of the kitchen department when he heard his radio bleep. He unclipped it from his belt, hearing a short hiss of static then the gruff Brooklyn accent of Harvey, the senior janitor.
“Anyone on three?”
“I’m on four,” Christian said. “What’s up?”
“Spillage in the watch department,” Harvey said. “They’s freakin’ out ’cos it’s on the Rolexes.”
“I’m on it,” Christian said. He returned the radio to his belt, wheeled the trolley through the staff doors and down the bleak back corridor to the new freight elevator. It was a short ride down, and when the doors opened he pushed the trolley out on to the third floor. It was even busier there, and it took him an age to get through the mob of customers. It was weird, because there were only three staff members in sight — way too few for such a busy day. They were all flustered, fighting off impatient customers like they were under attack.
It was only as he walked past Jewellery that he recognised Merry. He quickly realised he was grinning like an idiot and forced the smile away before anyone noticed. He turned his attention back to where he was going, before he accidentally wheeled into somebody, but something drew his gaze back to Merry. She looked as stressed as the other members of staff, butthere was a desperation to her expression that made him think it was more than just being overworked. She looked worried, her mouth a grim line, her teeth clenched.
Christian stopped walking, studying the people she was talking to. One was a well-built man in his fifties who looked like he was ready to coach a high school football team. The other was a glamorous woman dressed for a wedding — or maybe a funeral. The man had his arm possessively around the woman, holding her like he was worried she was going to run away. But it was the way he was looking at Merry that made Christian feel like his blood was simmering. There was something cruel in his expression. He had the face of a bully.
The Rolexes could wait. Christian edged the stubborn trolley around and walked into the jewellery department, making his way slowly towards where Merry was standing. Nobody paid him any attention, apart from to step warily out of the way of his slopping bucket, and it didn’t take him long to cross the room.
“. . . though with the way she looks I wouldn’t trust her to wrap a sandwich, let alone something expensive,” he heard the man say. “Don’t they have any standards here anymore?”
“Sorry,” Merry replied, a tremor in her voice. She was facing away from Christian, so he edged a little closer, running a cloth over the glass face of a cabinet to wipe away an imaginary mark. “That’s fine. A diamond?”
“Obviously,” said the man. “A big one. We’re not here to mess around with cheap tat. Though by the looks of it, that’s all you’re selling.”
The woman next to him gave a sharp laugh. “Honestly, I’ve seen better displays at a yard sale. And the staff . . .” She eyed Merry’s uniform and freckled face with a sneer. “Well, I guess it’s festive if you’re going for thrift-store elf.”
Christian’s hand clenched more tightly around the cloth, wishing it were the man’s smug, over-moisturised face. Theydidn’t even know Merry, and yet they were treating her like dirt beneath their designer shoes.
Merry, to her credit, didn’t flinch. “We have a range of diamond cuts,” she said calmly, pulling open the case behind her. “If you let me know your budget, I’ll be happy to show you a few options.”
The man gave a smirk. “Oh, we’re not worried about budget. I just want something that’ll make every woman in the room jealous. Not that you’d know anything about that.”
That did it. The only thing Christian wanted to do was punch the man’s lights out, but that would only land him and Merry in trouble. Instead, he pulled the stinking mop out of its bucket and walked up to the couple. The floor was immaculately clean, but he slapped the mop down at the man’s feet hard enough to splash water all over his brogues and her ridiculous heels.
“Excuse me!” the woman yelled, stepping back so clumsily that she almost fell. “What are you doing?”
“Sorry, lady,” Christian said. “Just trying to get rid of a nasty mess.”
He flicked the mop over the man’s shoes again, and he stumbled away.
“What’s your problem, buddy?” the man roared. “You’d better be more careful with that.”
Christian glanced at Merry, whose mouth was open in surprise. He winked at her, then swept the mop around again.
“These irritating stains just won’t get the message,” he said, jerking the mop across the floor, dirty water splashing over their shoes. The man and woman were retreating fast now, other customers moving out of their way with astonished smiles on their faces.
“You’re going to pay for this,” the man yelled, jabbing a finger at Christian. “I’m going to make sure you never work here again, you hear me? You stupid, good-for-nothing janitor.”
Christian flicked the mophead up, a spray of brown water splashing over the man’s face. He finally turned around, grabbed his wife by the arm and marched her towards the elevators. Christian waited for the door to close behind them before turning to Merry.
A smile danced over her face, and he almost had time to return it before it vanished and Merry turned and bolted for the staff door.
Chapter 9
MERRY
