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“Good. Now go to Rogan.”
“I'm sorry.”
He nodded his head and watched as she walked off to her brother. He sent a quick text to Rogan letting him know the situation. It was improper what she did.
Miles had suspected Storm was a Little but didn't know for sure. The way she dressed and held herself reminded him of a Little. She was shy but he could see it and now it was confirmed.
He just wished he had found out from Storm and not Hedda.
CHAPTER THREE
STORM
Waking up this morning had been a struggle for Storm. Her body had ached, a deep ache, and she’d known immediately she was sick. She should have insisted on not going to the party, but Hedda didn’t believe she’d get sick. She said she did, but Storm knew deep down it was a lie.
It had been a battle getting out of bed, but she’d managed because she needed to go to work. She was getting paid next week, and she needed all the hours she could get. She had thought about calling in sick but knew it wouldn't be taken lightly.
Her boss wasn't mean, but she also didn't like it when people called on the day of their shift. It was understandable, but Storm knew people got sick overnight and some of them couldn't work.
She probably shouldn't be working but she needed the money.
Storm was currently at work, stocking the shelves and making sure they were in alphabetical order by the author's last name. Well, and genre. She had been here for several hours already and exhaustion was weighing down on her.
Every now and then, a cough would leave her, but she tried to keep it to a minimum. Drinking lots of water helped, but that meant she would need to go to the bathroom more. Every time she walked into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror, it reinforced her knowledge that she looked horrible.
With red rimmed eyes and her pale complexion, anyone could tell something was wrong.
She had thought about putting makeup on this morning but had woken up later than she wanted to and knew she wasn't going to have time. Storm wasn't very good at makeup anyway, and it took her what felt like hours to make herself look presentable.
Occasionally, she would put on mascara and lipstick to change it up but she didn't do it often. Those products cost a lot of money and she tried to keep her monthly expenses to a minimum since her rent was so high.
When she had walked into work this morning, her boss asked her if she was okay and well enough to work. She obviously said yes because she didn't want to get a warning. She told her she just stayed up late and was tired but she could work her shift and her boss bought it.
Her work was stupid in that any time a person missed their shift, even if they were sick, they got a warning. One warning would stay on your record for a year before it disappeared, and employees were allowed to get six warnings before they were fired.
It was stupid and Storm didn't understand how that was beneficial to anybody. What if someone had a family emergency and had to miss several days? What if someone got deathly ill and was unable to come in for their shifts?
It was kind of a flawed system when Storm really thought about it. Life was so unpredictable. She knew some would take advantage, but most wouldn't, and it made it harder on the people who were hardworking and actually needed the help.
She had only been working at the bookstore for a couple of months, but the other workers didn't seem like the type of people to just call out for willy-nilly things. They all seemed to be responsible adults who loved working there.
The chimes of the door opening were heard throughout the store. They always had a steady stream of customers coming into the store. It was nice because work didn't get boring. There were some hours when nobody came in but normally, there was at least one customer in the store.
“Storm!” Hedda's excited voice filled the store.
Her whole body tensed. She knew Hedda was coming today but secretly, she had hoped she wouldn't. She was sick and didn't need Hedda feeling bad because it had happened from the party.
“Storm?” she asked. “Are you okay?”
She turned around and looked at her hands, not wanting to give Hedda a full look at her face.
“Shit,” a deep voice said.
Storm's head whipped up and made eye contact with Miles.
What was he doing here?
“Are you okay?” Hedda asked again.
