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Why hasn’t he texted me back? How hard is it to just type out a short text? I put my phone on the coffee table with the screendown so I won’t think about it, but I grab it only seconds later. No message. I type out a text and send it to him.
I hope there’s not too much traffic. I hate driving when there’s a lot of traffic.
Send.
I frown at my screen. What the hell was that? Did I really just send him a text about traffic? He must think I’m so annoying, but I can’t help it. I feel like I have to keep texting him, keep in contact somehow. I feel like I can’t relax otherwise.
After about two hours, I finally get a text back from Tanner. By that time, I’d already sent him three more.
Everything is good. I’m just taking a break.Grabbing lunch now.Is everything good back in Santa Town?
I smile. He’s been calling the North Pole ”Santa Town” for a while now, with good reason.
Everything’s good here. I’m about to head to work.
No answer. It’s no big deal, I tell myself. He’s at a work event. It’s fine. I go and change into my uniform, popping on that infernal Santa hat that we have to wear the entire month of December. I don’t bother putting on any makeup; I just don’t feel like it.
As I head downstairs, I check my phone again. Nothing.He’s working,I think to myself.Don’t overthink this.
The drive to the grocery store only takes ten minutes, and as soon as I walk through the doors, my boss scuttles up to me.
“Sophie, you’re late,” he sternly says to me, pointing to the massive wristband he’s always wearing. I frown, looking at the time on my phone.
“I start at eleven.”
“Well, you’re two minutes late,” Eric, my boss, says, shaking his head in disapproval. “You know, punctuality is something we value here at the company. After all these years, I would havethought you knew that. I’m afraid I’m going to have to write you up.”
Asshole.“Okay, fine,” I mutter, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. Eric is a tiny man who inherited this store from his mother. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him do any actual work. He just runs around making sure all his little elves don’t slack off. Not exactly a relaxing work environment.
“I’ll have you know that a lot of people would treat their job here with respect,” he continues. “A lot of young girls would be happy to fill your role.”
Ugh. I hate it when he calls me ayoung girl. I’m twenty-six, for fuck’s sake. And he must’ve bonked his head on something hard if he thinks people are lining up to work at his little shitty grocery store. Last year when someone quit, he couldn’t fill the role for nearly four months. It was kind of funny, actually. I know my job is safe.
“Am I on the cash register today?” I ask, and he nods.
“Yes, and go tell Lacey to head out back. We have a delivery coming in any minute now.”
He turns around to leave, and I head over to the registers. Lacey is sitting there, just staring into space. She’s chewing a piece of gum, as always, popping it with the most bored expression I think I’ve ever seen. There are no customers at the moment, as is usually the case, and when she sees me, her face brightens.
“Are you here to relieve me from this hell?” she asks.
I nod. “Yeah, you’re needed out back. There’s a delivery.”
“Thank, God!” she exclaims, stepping out from behind the conveyor belt. “This has been the slowest morning ever!”
As if it’s ever busy at the store. Most people tend to shop at the bigger supermarket right outside of town. There’s way more there, with much cheaper prices. Even I do that, and I work here!
As I predicted, it continues to be a slow day. Things start to pick up a little in the afternoon, but I still have time to check my phone every now and then. Tanner still hasn’t texted me back. I hide my phone when my boss walks by, a sour look on his face, but I take it out again as soon as he’s gone.
I go to one of Tanner’s social media profiles. He’s posted a couple of pictures, including one where he’s standing in front of a massive brick wall, riddled with street art. He’s smiling, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand, and he’s wearing an outfit that I haven’t seen before. A pair of dark blue jeans and a chunky knitted sweater that would look ridiculous on anyone else.
Somehow, he manages to make it look good, though. He’d look good in anything, his tall and slim physique the perfect body type for even the most hideous of clothes. I guess that’s why he has so many followers. I keep scrolling and see another picture of him with a woman in a tight, blue dress. They’re both looking into the camera with sultry eyes, and there’s a hint of a smile on Tanner’s lips.
I sigh. Damn, he’s cute. The woman is gorgeous, and I see that he’s tagged her in his caption. Brandy Daiko. I have no idea who she is, but when I click on her profile, I see that she has millions of followers. Her feed is just pictures of herself, wearing one extravagant outfit after another.
How do she and Tanner know each other? I guess through work, but I want to know howwellthey know each other. I scour her profile to see if he shows up in any of her pictures, but I don’t find anything. For some reason, that makes me feel better. Only a little, however. She really is gorgeous. The type of beauty that doesn’t seem real. There are probably a lot of girls like her in his line of work. Beautiful, confident, adored by everyone around them.
Girls like Brandy probably get more attention from guys than she knows what to do with. I can’t even imagine what her DMs must look like. It shouldn’t make me feel so insecure just seeing her standing next to the guy I’m dating. I know Tanner likes me, but there’s still a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that won’t go away.
