then, you decide to take a jog near the
place where I almost had a fatal accident, and now you turn out to
have applied for a job at the same store I’ve been working at for
the past week. What does it look like to you ?”
Shucks, he
was right. Julia resisted the urge to stamp her foot like a little
girl. “In your dreams, you arrogant bastard,” she muttered. “Everybody says I should stay away
from you.”
In the
silence that followed, she could still hear her heart beating in
her throat.
“I can
imagine,” Michael quietly said, in such a low voice she wasn’t even
sure he’d actually said it until she saw the look in his
eyes. It was a look of shame.
“Look, I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so mean .”
Julia’s face grew hot with embarrassment. “It’s not like I can’t
work together with you – that won’t be a problem.”
Michael was
still watching her, his mouth set in a grim line. “I’m sorry he
hurt you like that.” Once again, he spoke so softly she wasn’t sure
she’d heard him correctly. Julia blinked in confusion. Who was he
talking about – himself?
“Okay, why
don’t I go and do what Mr . Haider has
asked me to do,” Michael abruptly switched to business mode.
Apparently he’d caught sight of their boss. He walked over to the
cash register and beckoned for Julia to join him. “By
the way, you can call him Martin. Don’t
feel shy about it – he insists. He says he feels like a grandpa if
we call him sir.”
With wobbly
knees, Julia stood next to him and listened with half an ear as
Michael explained to her things about ringing in customer
purchases, punching in the codes for regularly-priced books,
special prices, discounts, and completing sales.
Her gaze
swerved to his face instead of the buttons under his hands. He looked so relaxed
and at ease. So handsome. She just
couldn’t forget about that last kiss he had given her, the morning
after. She wanted to know if he had really changed. She wished she
could feel him that close once more. She wanted…
Oh, she had
to stop doing this to herself! He’d never even said he was sorry.
In fact, he acted like nothing had happened. And here she was –
daydreaming about dragging him behind the first available pile of
books to suck face with him out of sight, when she was really
supposed to pay
attention . Her lewd ways would turn her
into a clumsy, incompetent mess on her first day at work. She’d
sell new books to customers at a ninety percent discount by
accident, and Martin would fire her on the spot.
“You think
you’ll be okay?” Michael interrupted her inner harangue, looking at
her from aside.
“Yeah. I’ll
manage.” Quickly, she scuttled away,
determined to ask Donna for help later so as not to perish
ingloriously. She didn’t look back on purpose, running up the
stairs to unpack the day’s shipment like Martin had asked
her.
‘Gab… 3
guesses who works here 2 :$’ she texted Gaby as soon as she entered
the stockroom. She couldn’t help it – she had to share
this.
‘thorsten??’ her phone dinged one minute
later.
‘no… kolbe.’
‘is the mofo
stalking u?!’ Gaby texted.
‘can ’t b. he was here b4 me. this
= NOT good 4 my rep…’
‘hang in there. ttyl. X!’
With a big
sigh, Julia put away her phone and tried sticking to her task.
After ten minutes, Donna came in with a boy and a girl who were
clearly siblings . She introduced them
both to Julia. When she sat down for a cup of coffee in the break
room around eleven with Marco and Silke – the twins – Michael was
nowhere to be found, fortunately.
“Have you guys worked with the cash register
yet?” she wanted to know.
Marco nodded. “Yeah, it’s
pretty simple. Didn’t Michael explain it
to you this morning?”
Julia shrugged. “Yup, but I wasn’t paying attention. Sorry.”
Silke
star ted laughing. “He’s quite a
distraction, huh?”
“Why do you
say that?” Julia turned red.
“ Oh, come on,
don’t think I
place where I almost had a fatal accident, and now you turn out to
have applied for a job at the same store I’ve been working at for
the past week. What does it look like to you ?”
Shucks, he
was right. Julia resisted the urge to stamp her foot like a little
girl. “In your dreams, you arrogant bastard,” she muttered. “Everybody says I should stay away
from you.”
In the
silence that followed, she could still hear her heart beating in
her throat.
“I can
imagine,” Michael quietly said, in such a low voice she wasn’t even
sure he’d actually said it until she saw the look in his
eyes. It was a look of shame.
“Look, I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so mean .”
Julia’s face grew hot with embarrassment. “It’s not like I can’t
work together with you – that won’t be a problem.”
Michael was
still watching her, his mouth set in a grim line. “I’m sorry he
hurt you like that.” Once again, he spoke so softly she wasn’t sure
she’d heard him correctly. Julia blinked in confusion. Who was he
talking about – himself?
“Okay, why
don’t I go and do what Mr . Haider has
asked me to do,” Michael abruptly switched to business mode.
Apparently he’d caught sight of their boss. He walked over to the
cash register and beckoned for Julia to join him. “By
the way, you can call him Martin. Don’t
feel shy about it – he insists. He says he feels like a grandpa if
we call him sir.”
With wobbly
knees, Julia stood next to him and listened with half an ear as
Michael explained to her things about ringing in customer
purchases, punching in the codes for regularly-priced books,
special prices, discounts, and completing sales.
Her gaze
swerved to his face instead of the buttons under his hands. He looked so relaxed
and at ease. So handsome. She just
couldn’t forget about that last kiss he had given her, the morning
after. She wanted to know if he had really changed. She wished she
could feel him that close once more. She wanted…
Oh, she had
to stop doing this to herself! He’d never even said he was sorry.
In fact, he acted like nothing had happened. And here she was –
daydreaming about dragging him behind the first available pile of
books to suck face with him out of sight, when she was really
supposed to pay
attention . Her lewd ways would turn her
into a clumsy, incompetent mess on her first day at work. She’d
sell new books to customers at a ninety percent discount by
accident, and Martin would fire her on the spot.
“You think
you’ll be okay?” Michael interrupted her inner harangue, looking at
her from aside.
“Yeah. I’ll
manage.” Quickly, she scuttled away,
determined to ask Donna for help later so as not to perish
ingloriously. She didn’t look back on purpose, running up the
stairs to unpack the day’s shipment like Martin had asked
her.
‘Gab… 3
guesses who works here 2 :$’ she texted Gaby as soon as she entered
the stockroom. She couldn’t help it – she had to share
this.
‘thorsten??’ her phone dinged one minute
later.
‘no… kolbe.’
‘is the mofo
stalking u?!’ Gaby texted.
‘can ’t b. he was here b4 me. this
= NOT good 4 my rep…’
‘hang in there. ttyl. X!’
With a big
sigh, Julia put away her phone and tried sticking to her task.
After ten minutes, Donna came in with a boy and a girl who were
clearly siblings . She introduced them
both to Julia. When she sat down for a cup of coffee in the break
room around eleven with Marco and Silke – the twins – Michael was
nowhere to be found, fortunately.
“Have you guys worked with the cash register
yet?” she wanted to know.
Marco nodded. “Yeah, it’s
pretty simple. Didn’t Michael explain it
to you this morning?”
Julia shrugged. “Yup, but I wasn’t paying attention. Sorry.”
Silke
star ted laughing. “He’s quite a
distraction, huh?”
“Why do you
say that?” Julia turned red.
“ Oh, come on,
don’t think I
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