A telling-off from Mrs Cradley was nothing new, she thought as she packed up a pair of gold and ruby earrings for a woman in a fur coat. But what was odd was Dragon Lady letting her off so easily after the incident with the horrible couple. Sure, it hadn’t been Merry’s fault, but they would definitely have mentioned it had been her serving — they would have made her look bad. And they definitely would have accused Christian of assaulting them with a mop. So why had the case been dropped so quickly? And why had the big boss himself, Lewis Carroll, got involved?
It didn’t matter. The important thing was that she was off the hook — for that at least. But what about Christian? Mrs Cradley had said that nobody was at fault, but was she just talking about the shop floor staff? Would he lose his job? She wished she could find him and ask him if he was okay, but things were too hectic.
And she didn’t just want to find him to check on him. She wanted to find him to see if what had happened — what hadalmosthappened — in the bathroom was just a fluke, or if there genuinely was something between them. She still couldn’t quite believe it. She couldn’t remember a single time in her entire life where she had almost been touched by someone and felt her entire body electrified. It had been like she was on wheels, racing downhill.
You sound like a crazy person, Merry!she silently yelled to herself as she smiled at the next customer.Enough with the fairy tales!
She tried to put him out of her mind, but it was a useless battle because every time she blinked she saw him smiling ather, and every time she breathed she thought she smelled his citrus scent. She managed to keep her mind on the job for the rest of her shift, the department so busy that she didn’t even have time to take her break. By the time seven o’clock rolled around she was exhausted, starving and her mouth felt like it was lined with sandpaper.
“I’m sorry,” she said hoarsely to the next customer. “Somebody will be with you very shortly.”
He started to argue, but she broke away and practically ran out of the department, escaping into the staff corridor. Her head was pounding. She pulled off the Santa hat and massaged her temples. As she was waiting for the elevator, she heard a rumble of wheels, and her heart leaped into her throat as she recognised the sound of a janitor’s trolley.
It was Christian. He’d been waiting for her.
She ran a hand through her chaotic hair, grinning her sweetest smile as a man in blue overalls emerged from the stock room door.
It wasn’t Christian. It was Harvey, an older, portly janitor who Merry always said hi to in passing. He caught sight of her beaming smile and one appeared on his own wrinkled face.
“Now if that ain’t the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said, limping towards her. “Honestly, if people greeted one another every day with a smile like that there wouldn’t be no trouble in the world.”
If anything, his words made Merry’s smile even wider. It hadn’t been meant for the old janitor, but no smile was ever a waste of time, and if it had brightened his day then it had brightened hers too.
The elevator doors opened, and she held them for him. “Going up?” she asked.
“Yes, miss,” he replied. “Thank you.”
She entered after him and the service elevator grumbled upwards.
“You done for the day?” Harvey asked.
“Yes, thankfully,” she said. “That was a tough shift.”
“Uh-huh, it always is this close to Christmas, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone working anymore.”
“Yeah, right?” Merry said. “I thought that too. Where is everyone?”
Harvey shrugged, wiping his red, tired eyes. “People come and people go. That’s the way life works.”
“Speaking of which,” she said as the elevator continued to rise, “do you know anything about the new guy? The one on your team?”
“Chris?” Harvey said, and she nodded. “Oh, sure, seems like a nice young man. Very polite, very thorough. Thought it was weird how he was taken on so soon after another three janitors were let go, but the management must have their reasons. He’s certainly a credit to the store, and a good man.”
His words reassured Merry. Christianwasa good man, she was utterly convinced of it. Some people just revealed the quality of their nature in everything they did, in every word, in every smile, in every movement.
“It’s just a shame he ain’t hanging around,” said Harvey.
The elevator suddenly felt twenty degrees cooler.
“What?” Merry asked.
Harvey pulled out a cloth from his pocket and wiped his nose, sniffing. “Chris,” he said. “He ain’t staying. This is a temporary job, it always was. He came on board to cover the janitors who left, he says, but it’s only until Christmas. After that everything will quiet down.”
“How do you know that?” Christian hadn’t mentioned leaving at all, but then they hadn’t really talked about the future, and there was no reason he’d have wanted to discuss it.
“He told me.” Harvey glanced suspiciously at Merry, as if she was a police sergeant and he was a perp. “He told all of us he was only here till the end of the year. Why so curious?”
“Oh, no reason.”
