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“Oh,” Baxter said, staring down at Shoshana like he’d never seen her before, “I am impressed you know that, just like off the top of your head. How do you do that?”
Shoshana rolled her eyes and David couldn’t quite decipher the look on her face, but he suspected it was complicated. Finally she lifted a shoulder and said, “I mean I was at services last night, it was the same portion. I’m not Super Jew.”
“Right, okay, paper and a letter opener,” Baxter said, his dynamic eyebrows saying more about what he thought regarding her comment than the words coming out of his mouth. He looked at David before he said, “I really am very sorry, I wouldn’t have given her the key if I’d known--”
“Bax!” Shoshana said, a little exasperated now, “Paper. Letter opener. Please!”
“Okay, okay, geeze!” The man threw up his hands and stalked off toward the back of the building. Shoshana sighed, rolling her eyes heavenward for a moment before rising from her squat on the carpet.
“He really does feel bad,” she told David, crossing her arms over her chest. He couldn’t help noticing how well this cradled her breasts.
“I feel bad,” David said, hoping his thoughts weren’t broadcast across his face. “I’m usually better at stopping her before she’s charmed the important things off people, but I was distracted.”
“Oh yeah?” Shoshana said, “What distracted you?”
“Well this place, mostly. This is not what I expected at all. It’s magnificent,” David said, lifting a hand to encompass the whole showroom. He realized as soon as he said it that, of all the things he could have said, it was the most perfect because the smile that lit her face was the most gorgeous thing he’d ever seen. That was also about the second he realized he was completely lost and they hadn’t really started anything yet.
Nine
Shoshana was aware that she was smiling. She was aware that the smile on her face was probably too big, too bright, too happy. But the current showroom represented about ten years of her life, not to mention the five before that when her dad was still around and she had to fight tooth and nail to make any change, no matter how small. So, the compliment landed the right way. She couldn’t help that. She tried to rein it in, she really did, but then she decided fuck it, she worked hard she should get to bask in the praise. After a moment that was perhaps just the tiniest bit too prolonged, she said a quiet but awkward, “thank you.”
David looked at her for a moment, his face intent and unreadable before crossing his arms over his chest. “You said it’s been in your family since the twenties?”
“Yeah.” Shoshana coughed, running a hand through her hair, tucking it behind her ears, suddenly even more uncomfortable, “We’ve been in this building the whole time, too. Originally it was quality, custom furniture--like the kind that you order specially and gets made and delivered and the process takes weeks. Then it was ready-made, buy it off the showroom floor, but still quality, right? When my dad took over it was more assembly line style pieces, the trendier stuff that’s only meant to last a few seasons and everybody can afford.”
“This isn’t that, though,” David said, looking around. “This is something else.”
“This is--me,” Shoshana said, lifting her shoulder, feeling on display as though she were the one locked in the showroom window, “The workroom in back has always handled the custom stuff, reupholstering was still a big part of our business when Dad had the place. Remember all those pieces built to last? Well they last, but sometimes you want them to look different, yeah? Anyway, when I started working here I started cycling in repurposed antiques.”
She pointed out a few of her favorite pieces in the showroom.
“I’ve always loved the look of the older stuff. But I like to update. Make it new, you know? And really, the types of furniture Dad was selling just didn’t make a lot of sense, so when I took over I shifted things around. The art pieces you see around are on consignment from some local artists. Those mice your daughter likes so much, there’s a guy who does those for me. Last year it was ducks, if you can believe it.”
“I can believe it. This is really impressive. You’ve done something really great here,” David said, laughing. The showroom felt like an Addam’s family jumble sale, Shoshana knew, though it was in the best possible way. It wasn’t all black and white, of course, in fact there was quite a bit of color. He turned to take in as much of the space as he could.
“Okay now you’re trying to flatter me. I mean, you can flatter me if you want,” Shoshana said, but she knew she didn’t sound as though she had a problem with that. She craned her neck to see what was keeping Baxter and realized David was looking at her again.
“I’ll remember that,” David said quietly, and Shoshana’s cheeks burned. She remembered the sound of his voice right next to her ear, low and husky in the wee hours of the morning. She clenched her jaw, resisting the urge to shiver at the memory.
“David,” she started, not sure what she wanted to say, but knowing she should saysomethingto that. She trailed off, and the silence stretched between them. Not awkward, but something else. Warm, molten, even. Her cheeks were burning, she could feel it. And something about his eyes were--
“So now you sell custom pieces again?” He asked the question as though someone were twisting it out of him. She wondered if he were thinking about her the way she was thinking about him. Because the thoughts she was having were decidedly unprofessional.
Shoshana took a deep breath, deciding to be glad he took the conversation back to something she could talk about and sound like an adult instead of a breathy schoolgirl. She made herself speak calmly as she said, “Yes, a few years ago I posted a before and after picture on our company Instagram and someone asked how I did it. Now I record tutorials in the workroom every week so people can learn how to do this to their own stuff.”
“Wow,” David said, suitably impressed, “that sounds like a lot of work.”
“It’s fun for me. And I like teaching people how to remake something into something that’s completely new,” Shoshana said, wanting to tell him how good the validation felt. For a long time after she took over the business, she felt like her father was waiting to tell her he was right and she was wrong. It was nice to see some success, even if that success didn’t look like how her family had gauged it in the past.
“I bet you’d be good at that,” David said, but before he could say anything more Baxter materialized with the sheet of legal paper and a wickedly sharp, ivory handled letter opener. He handed both to Shoshana, triumphant.
“I told Derek to eat another donut. Do you want us to distract her or anything?” Bax asked, as though they were on a covert mission. Shoshana looked at David.
“That’s not the worst idea, would it freak her out if you went out and started watching her?”
“She’ll go for hours like that if I let her. I’m probably going to have to buy at least one of the mice before the day’s out.” David cocked his head to consider Dani. She was still playing, oblivious to the havoc around her. “I’ll go out front and take some pictures for her mom, that should give you a few minutes.”
Shoshana didn’t miss the way Baxter looked at her sidelong at that. She also didn’t miss the way her stomach twisted. She knew from their conversation last night that David and Dani’s mother were definitely divorced. It was legal and final and everything.
