AllFreeNovel
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I attempt to make sense of what she just said. "I'm not hiring."
She taps the glass-top counter. "And I'm not entirely sure I want to take you on as a client. I need to be sure the candy is worthy of my magic."
"Your magic?" Everything about this woman is screaming high-maintenance, possibly delusional, definitely carrying a ton of baggage, but I'm in it now. I need to stick around and find out what happens next. Plus, this will be my first sale of the day and I need it.
I fill a plastic bag with each of the candies on display and set it on the counter while I ring it up.
Cherry wrinkles her nose. "You don't seriously sell the candy to actual customers this way, do you?"
I keep tapping away at the register.
"Xavier. Sugar. Seriously. Your window display is not working for you. It's boring. And your displays in here aren't much better." She looks around. "I don't even see any candy canes."
"My candy is hand-crafted and gourmet. Everyone else sells candy canes. I sell art."
"Oh." Her eyes widen. "Art. I didn't realize. That's even more reason you should step up your branding game. Everything from the window display to walking into the shop to packaging the candy should be a cultivated, branded experience."
I nod like I understand the gibberish pouring from her. "Your total's sixty-five seventy-three."
She picks up the bag and waves a hand. "Deduct it from my final payment."
Yep, this woman is definitely off her rocker. "There's not going to be a final payment, because I'm not hiring you. I don't need another employee."
She fishes out a candy and pops it in her mouth. As soon as it hits her tongue, she closes her eyes and tips back her head. Her features soften and she lets out a throaty little moan.
When she drops her chin and looks at me, her eyes are bright and her smile is the most genuine I've seen from her yet. "Xavier. This candy is amazing." She takes out a lemon drop and repeats the procedure. I can't take my eyes off her.
"No more candy until you pay for it." I mean to sound stern, but there's a frog or something in my throat and my voice comes out gravelly.
She ignores me and walks the perimeter of the store, hips swaying. Every time she bends to look at a display case, her dress rises, rises… I clear my throat. I will not be mesmerized by her sexiness and forget to make her pay.
I stalk over and grab the plastic bag, but she's got a powerful grip and no interest in letting go. "I'm going to have to confiscate that candy. Until you pay for it."
"And I told you to take it out of my final payment." She wrinkles her small nose and plants her feet, eyes wide like she's shocked by my audacity.
I give her my most menacing glare. "There isn't going to be a final—"
The bell over the door jingles as a family walks into the shop. I drop the bag and jump away from the fiendish woman, contorting my face into a smile. "Hello, folks. Welcome to the Gourmet Candy Shoppe. Let me know if I can help you with anything."
Cherry smiles sweetly and pops another candy in her mouth, any sign of annoyance with me gone.
The kids run around, putting their dirty little hands on every glass case like they've been paid to destroy my shop.
"Ten dollars for four pieces of candy?" The mother, a woman bundled up so much I can just see her eyes, asks.
"It's handmade candy from my own recipe." I hear this complaint less often than I'd expected when I created the prices. Most people understand that quality costs money, or they're numb from the exorbitant prices of everything at the nearby ski resort. "If you want cheaper candy, the Outpost has a decent selection."
"Where are the candy canes?" The husband, also bundled up, but his face visible, asks. "We're hoping to get gourmet candy canes for our friends and family back home."
"I don't have candy canes, but I have—"
The family heads out the door before I even finish my sentence.
"You should have candy canes," Cherry says around the candy in her mouth.
"I don't make candy canes." I speak louder than is technically polite. "Stop eating my candy, you thief."
She moves the bag out of reach just as I swipe for it again. "I need to taste it so I know exactly what I'm going to be branding. Do you actually make all this candy yourself? It's delicious."
