31
Isleepwalked through the next week. My body went through the motions, but my brain had gone on hiatus. I made affirmative noises when people talked to me and gave appropriate responses using simple syllables when they asked me questions. I managed to ring up customers at the pet shop and point when they needed to know where something was. That was the closest I came to being functional.
"Hey, are you feeling all right?" my coworker asked. "You've been out of it all day, and I'm about to finish my shift. Are you going to be okay by yourself until close?"
"I'll be fine," I replied, but I didn't give any more than that.
She shot me an odd look, but shrugged, taking off her store-branded apron and tossing it behind the counter. "Okay. I'll see you next shift, then."
"Right."
She left and I was finally alone in the store. Alone with my own thoughts.
I busied myself by cleaning up the cash register area, tidying and dusting, wiping down the counter, until the entire area was sparkling clean. Then I grabbed another fresh cloth and did it all over again.
The door jingled.
A small part of me panicked, the way it always did now whenever someone walked through the door. What if it was Nathan? Hadn't that happened last time around closing? He'd shown up out of the blue.
I forced myself to calm down and turn toward the entrance.
I was completely taken aback when I saw a striking young woman with dark, dramatic makeup and a leather skirt standing in the pet shop.
"Can I help you?" I asked, my customer service instinct kicking in despite my uncertainty.
She smiled at me. "Oh, good, this is the right one."
I blinked at her.
"I went to all the pet stores in the area," she said. "Of course yours ended up being the last one I checked."
I looked at the woman, befuddled, eyeing her knee-high lace-up leather boots.
"Oh!" she laughed. "I forgot. Usually I'm in jeans and t-shirts, but I just came straight from work. It's me, Jessie. Gael's girlfriend."
"Where the hell do you work to dress like that?" I blurted out.
"A dive bar," she said with a wink. "The hot biker chick thing gets me a lot of tips."
The situation was so out of the ordinary, my brain had kickstarted out of its moping.
"Why are you here?" I asked.
The smile on her face faded, turning serious. She came over to the cash register. With her on one side, me on the other and the counter in the middle, it was like an odd standoff.
"I'm here to ask what happened with Nathan," she said.
My heart thumped loudly.
"What's there to say?" I replied. "We broke up."
"You stomped on his heart," she corrected, although her tone was gentle and not accusing.
I lowered my eyes.
"But that's not why I'm here," she said. "Can I ask you about something else?"
I hesitated long enough for her to power on.
