somewhere.” He glances down at me.
“How do you know?”
“Because I called before we came to make sure she was working today.”
“Lucian!” I give his arm a gentle slap. “Now she's going to know we're coming. We're never going to be able to find her.”
He rolls his eyes at me. “Don't be a baby. For all she knows, I could have just been a customer calling. It's not like I spoke to her directly. Besides, customers call in to find out when certain managers are working all the time. Do you know nothing about retail?”
My lips dip into a frown at the realization that he practically just called me stupid. Jerkface. I know he's right though. It's highly unlikely that Janice would suspect it was Lucian calling to find out if she was working.
“Well, how are we supposed to find her?” I keep scanning the crowd of people.
“The logical thing would be to just ask for her.”
“No.” I bury my face against his arm. “I don't want to embarrass her like that.”
He inhales deeply, tiring of my childish behavior. “Let's just walk around then. Maybe we'll run into her.”
“I like that idea.” I nod. It gives me time to recompose what I want to say.
We make a leisurely circle around the store with me pulling Lucian aside every few minutes to browse the aisles. If we're not going to find Janice, then I might as well enjoy the little shopping excursion.
Lucian is more watchful than I am, keeping his eyes on the people around us. I feel kind of guilty knowing that he probably doesn't think I'm taking this seriously—that I'm being a complete and total coward. There has to be a better way to mend things with Janice than this though. Perhaps I could contact the post office and get her forwarding address. Or maybe I could inject more begging into my text messages to her instead of being so casually conversational.
“Hey.” Lucian tugs on my arm while I'm trying on a pair of cheap pink flip flops. “Is that her?” He points to a Walmart employee in the boys' clothing area.
Sure enough, it's Janice scanning tags with a scanning gun and being completely oblivious to everything going on around her. It feels strange seeing her like this. I can count the number of times I've been to her job while she was working on one hand. It's like a secret rule we've always had not to bother each other at work.
I place the shoes back on the rack and stare at her like she's a deer in the wilderness that I don't want to disturb. Lucian looks down at me, waiting for me to make my move. A hard lump is forming in my throat. I know I should go to her, but I just can't make myself do it.
“Well?” Lucian's shoulders jerk slightly. “Are you going to talk to her or are we just going to stand here?”
“I don't know what to say.” I cower behind him.
“You've had a long time to think about it, Amy.” He stands like a protective wall though I fear that any moment he's going to take off without me to approach her.
“I know but...thinking was different when I wasn't looking at her.”
He turns around and grabs me by the arms, forcing me in front of him. My heart skips a beat as he starts moving, walking me in her direction while whispering in my ear, “Just say what's in your heart.”
“Lucian,” my voice is panicked. He's not stopping though, and the strangeness of our actions draws Janice's attention away from the task at hand.
She does a double take before realizing that it's us. Then she frowns. By that time, Lucian has marched me right in front of her. We have no choice but to face each other.
“What are you two doing here?” she grumbles, refusing to look at us as she continues scanning clothing tags.
“We came to see you,” I reply though it sounds more like a question than an answer.
“Well, you see me.” She pulls a stuck tag out of the rack so forcefully that the plastic string holding it to the article of clothing almost snaps.
“And?” Lucian urges me on.
“And I came to apologize.” I
“How do you know?”
“Because I called before we came to make sure she was working today.”
“Lucian!” I give his arm a gentle slap. “Now she's going to know we're coming. We're never going to be able to find her.”
He rolls his eyes at me. “Don't be a baby. For all she knows, I could have just been a customer calling. It's not like I spoke to her directly. Besides, customers call in to find out when certain managers are working all the time. Do you know nothing about retail?”
My lips dip into a frown at the realization that he practically just called me stupid. Jerkface. I know he's right though. It's highly unlikely that Janice would suspect it was Lucian calling to find out if she was working.
“Well, how are we supposed to find her?” I keep scanning the crowd of people.
“The logical thing would be to just ask for her.”
“No.” I bury my face against his arm. “I don't want to embarrass her like that.”
He inhales deeply, tiring of my childish behavior. “Let's just walk around then. Maybe we'll run into her.”
“I like that idea.” I nod. It gives me time to recompose what I want to say.
We make a leisurely circle around the store with me pulling Lucian aside every few minutes to browse the aisles. If we're not going to find Janice, then I might as well enjoy the little shopping excursion.
Lucian is more watchful than I am, keeping his eyes on the people around us. I feel kind of guilty knowing that he probably doesn't think I'm taking this seriously—that I'm being a complete and total coward. There has to be a better way to mend things with Janice than this though. Perhaps I could contact the post office and get her forwarding address. Or maybe I could inject more begging into my text messages to her instead of being so casually conversational.
“Hey.” Lucian tugs on my arm while I'm trying on a pair of cheap pink flip flops. “Is that her?” He points to a Walmart employee in the boys' clothing area.
Sure enough, it's Janice scanning tags with a scanning gun and being completely oblivious to everything going on around her. It feels strange seeing her like this. I can count the number of times I've been to her job while she was working on one hand. It's like a secret rule we've always had not to bother each other at work.
I place the shoes back on the rack and stare at her like she's a deer in the wilderness that I don't want to disturb. Lucian looks down at me, waiting for me to make my move. A hard lump is forming in my throat. I know I should go to her, but I just can't make myself do it.
“Well?” Lucian's shoulders jerk slightly. “Are you going to talk to her or are we just going to stand here?”
“I don't know what to say.” I cower behind him.
“You've had a long time to think about it, Amy.” He stands like a protective wall though I fear that any moment he's going to take off without me to approach her.
“I know but...thinking was different when I wasn't looking at her.”
He turns around and grabs me by the arms, forcing me in front of him. My heart skips a beat as he starts moving, walking me in her direction while whispering in my ear, “Just say what's in your heart.”
“Lucian,” my voice is panicked. He's not stopping though, and the strangeness of our actions draws Janice's attention away from the task at hand.
She does a double take before realizing that it's us. Then she frowns. By that time, Lucian has marched me right in front of her. We have no choice but to face each other.
“What are you two doing here?” she grumbles, refusing to look at us as she continues scanning clothing tags.
“We came to see you,” I reply though it sounds more like a question than an answer.
“Well, you see me.” She pulls a stuck tag out of the rack so forcefully that the plastic string holding it to the article of clothing almost snaps.
“And?” Lucian urges me on.
“And I came to apologize.” I
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