AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Asher was turning out to be so much more than I’d ever expected. He was warm and kind, his dark eyes holding a hint of humor no matter how much of my snippy attitude I’d sent his way. Asher was the kind of family man that I’d never been lucky enough to experience, the men in my own family being nothing but cruel disappointments since day one.
No, Asher was everything that I could have hoped for in a man, and that was part of why I’d pushed him away so hard. Because when he stood there in my apartment, strong and steady and ready to take care of me, I’d absolutely fucking panicked. Terrified that if I let him in, if I let him burrow even deeper inside my wounded heart, that I’d never survive losing him.
Because Iwouldlose him; history had proven that I always lost.
Sitting behind the desk in my shop, staring at the empty appointment calendar and wondering once again if this whole venture was going to be an epic failure, my face heated with shame.
How could I have possibly said those things to him? All Asher had ever done was try to be amazing for me, and all I’d ever given him was shit.
Fuck. Even if he did come back, I probably didn’t deserve him anyway.
The bell over the door chimed, the light tinkling sound grating against my ears in the quiet of the shop, and I looked up to see a smiling Violet come dancing inside, a timid looking young woman in a skirt and blazer combo trailing behind her, eyes wide.
“Hey, roomie,” Violet gushed, placing a tray of to-go coffee cups down on the counter with a smile. When I’d finally managed to cover the giant hole in my apartment window, I’d called a ride share and made my way to her new apartment, where I had told her the entire pathetic tale before crashing into a fitful sleep.
She’d sighed like I knew she would, but rather than give me hell, Violet had simply poured me a drink, snuggled in beside me, and let me wallow in my self pity.
“Sorry I’m late, Ricki, but look who I brought you.” She held her arms out like a game show host to the woman and I raised my eyebrows.
“Am I supposed to know who this is?” I grumped, reaching for my coffee and taking a desperate sip.
“Ignore her,” Violet said to the woman, exasperated. “She’s been like this for two days.”
“I have not,” I protested, then considered. “It’s been, like, thirty-six hours at the most.”
Violet just glared at me.
“Anyway,” she went on, clearly also done with my shit already for the day. “This is Tillie.”
“Hello, ma’am,” came the quiet words from the tiny woman.
“Nope,” I said, holding up a hand. “We don’t do that here. My name is Ricki. I’m no one’sma’am.”
“Sorry, ma’am,” she squeaked, then gasped as she realized what she’d just said. “I mean, um, sorry Ricki.”
“You’re fine,” Violet told her. “And you,” she rounded on me with a long-suffering frown. “You need to lighten up and be nice to Tillie, because I’ve just hired her.”
“Hired her for what?” I asked, looking at Tillie a little closer. She was young, probably barely out of high school, but she was dressed like she’d just escaped from a retirement home, with a bad polyester skirt that came down to her knees, an ivory-colored blouse that was missing a button near the bottom, and a blazer with shoulder pads so big, she looked like she was trying out for the Jets.
“To work here, of course,” Violet replied, as though the answer should have been obvious.
It wasn’t.
“Uh, Vi?” I asked, sending a small smile to the frightened looking girl cowering behind her. “We don’t need to hire anyone,” I insisted, gesturing at the blank screen in front of me. “We don’t have a single client.”
“We don’t have a single clientyet,” she insisted, as though it was only a matter of time before our shop would be bursting at the seams. “Besides, you didn’t see her out there, marching up and down the street, applying everywhere she could think of.” I looked at Tillie again and I could see her pale cheeks turning pink. “That’s exactly what we need around here. Grit and determination. Tillie has that in spades.”
I eyed my friend, watching her impassioned speech closely as her voice got higher and higher with each exclamation, until she was sounding downright shrill.
“Violet,” I said slowly, flashing my friend an indulgent smile. “Exactly how much coffee have you had this morning?”
“Enough,” she replied, then grabbed my elbow and tugged me toward the staff room at the back of the shop. “We’ll be right back, Tillie,” she called over her shoulder. “Just have a seat at the desk and answer the phone if it rings.”
“It’s not going to ring,” I muttered under my breath, feeling like a total asshole as I said it.
“Ricki, babe,” Violet said when we were safely ensconced in the small kitchen area. “Talk to me. What’s happening?”
“Nothing,” I sighed, flopping down onto one of the chairs that surrounded the round dining table.
