Page 40 of I Saw You First

“Every Tuesday is extremely busy,” Mr. Wilshire says, exasperated. “Every day is extremely busy. That’s not an excuse. When you see an email with this store number, Kelsey—everyone—you open it immediately and resolve the situation. We’ve been over this.”

At her father’s words, the pink in Kelsey’s cheeks darkens, but to her credit, she straightens her spine and shoulders and says, “My mistake. It won’t happen again.” She does not apologize, I notice, and that’s admirable, too. I almost feel guilty for making the situation worse. Almost. “I’ll email the vendor and get a replacement sent immediately,” she says.

“Excellent,” Mr. Wilshire says. “Good to meet you, Aurora.”

It’s all I can do to not roll my eyes. “It’s Abbey,” I say but he’s already walking away.

Beside me, Wil gives an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Then a very tall, very bald, slender white man steps forward and extends his hand. He’s the only one in the entourage not in dress pants; instead, he wears ripped jeans and black Chuck Taylors that somehow still look exactly right with his stodgy Hometown polo.

“I’m Felix,” he says. “You’re Abbey. Not Aurora.”

“That’s right,” I shake his hand. “Abbey Rhodes.”

“I’ve heard good things about you,” he says.

“Abbey’s a natural,” Wil says. “We’re lucky to have her.”

The fondness and pride in his tone startles me, and I can’t help but smile a little. I’m proud of myself, too.

“Typically, I’d have Wil wait to go over the eval results with Aurora, but why don’t we walk the department and have a chat now?” Felix asks.

Kelsey tucks her Palm Pilot back into her handbag. “We’ll go ahead to the next store, Felix. Don’t be too long.” She strides toward the front door without saying goodbye. The woman with the lipstick gives Wil another long look and bites her maroon-stained bottom lip.

Go away, I think. He’s mine.

If only.

I rub the back of my neck, suddenly aware of the tightness and tension there. He’s the furthest thing from mine, but something in me feels ragey and jealous, like I want these people to leave us alone—me and the department and especially Wil.

As we walk the different sections of media, Felix explains what the team looks for during the eval. We scored a 94. Damn right we did, and I can’t say that I’m not irritated about the points we lost. We all busted our asses for weeks for that score, even Kevin. Wil’s got a copy of the final report on his clipboard and every now and then, he looks down at it and smiles.

“This is the highest number we’ve seen from this department in a couple of years,” Felix says. “Wil thinks that has something to do with you, Abbey.”

That’s the first I’ve heard of it. “Why me?”

Wil clears his throat and doesn’t look at me when he says, “Your attention to detail. Determination. When something’s not right, you want to fix it, and if there isn’t an easy resolution, you find a way. You’re a problem solver. You want to make things better for the team, for the fans. You did that even before you got promoted.” He rattles these things off like he’s said them before. “Aurora, on the other hand, is more… laid back.”

The way he says this makes me think not being laid back isn’t a compliment. “Are you calling me uptight?” I ask with slightly more aggression than intended. Felix chuckles under his breath.

“No, I’m not calling you uptight,” Wil says. “How in the world did you arrive at that?”

“You’re basically saying I’m the opposite of Aurora, who is laid back. The opposite of laid back is uptight.”

“I didn’t say you were the opposite of Aurora.”

“You implied it,” I retort.

“You inferred it,” he volleys back.

“I can only infer if you imply!”

Now Felix laughs more loudly. “Do you two always argue like this?”

“Of course not!” I cry at the same time Wil mutters, “You can’t argue with someone who’s avoiding you.”

That stops me in my tracks. He’s noticed. But Felix must not hear him, or it doesn’t register, because he laughs again. “You can hash this out later. I’ve got to catch up with the team. Abbey, it’s been a pleasure. Great work.”

“Thank you.” I bob a little curtsy.