“Sounds good.” She spins on her heel, heading toward the door. “I’ll see you in a jiffy.”
“Absolutely.” I wave my hand, knowing fully well Christian’s head will explode if he sees me running this place alone. I stare at his closed office door. It’s clear he’s staying locked in there as long as I’m here. My gaze paces the lobby, and there’s no one here.
That’s probably my fault since most of my customers confessed to staying away since I was fired.
I smash my lips into a thinking cinch while pulling out my phone to stare at my app.
Might as well chat with these guys.
I have about a dozen choices. Since I’m only at level one, I can’t see any photos or even their names. Nobody sticks out over the others. That’s one of the features I built into the app. Scrolling for something to stand out, a message pops up from one of them, and I tap on it.
Heyyyyyy Profile 421! How are you? Fun fact. The more Ys people have in their greeting, the more interesting they are.
I snicker at the cheesy joke that reminds me of my dad’s jokes and reply.
He
I press send and drum my fingers along the counter, waiting to see if this dude has a sense of humor.
After several minutes of no reply, Arielle breezes back through the door with a grocery sack. “See, I told you I would be fast.”
I stuff my phone in my apron pocket, and slap on a cheery smile. “You didn’t miss anything.”
“He’s not that bad." Arielle’s peacock blue eyes trace the closed office door. "He’s under a lot of pressure with the Coffee Loft and family stuff. Underneath this moody facade, he’s got a heart of gold.”
I sputter out a cough, then throw my fist in front of my mouth to fake another cough, covering up my ill reaction to her description of her brother.Nobody with a heart of gold fires someone on ChristmasEve.“You don’t have to explain anything on his behalf.”
“That’s the thing.” She unpacks the milk cartons, stowing them in the fridge. “I think I do. I’m not making excuses.” She shakes her head as if she’s rejecting shame. “What he did to you was terrible. I don’t agree with it at all, and I intend to help him see that he was wrong. He’s been in this hating people stage for a while.” Lifting both shoulders up, she pauses while she takes a deep breath and exhales out the last part, “ever since our mother died.”
“Oh.” I pin a stoic expression on my face, unsure why I need to know about Christian’s personal issues. I’m not insensitive, but it’s clear we aren’t friends. Still, I’m not one to be rude when someone is opening up to me. I keep the conversation going. “Sorry to hear that. Was it recent?”
“No.” She pulls one side of her lips up into a disgruntled expression. “Like almost twenty years now. I barely rememberher, and we each dealt with it differently. Seeing how short life was made me want to live life to the fullest. Christian had the opposite reaction, swearing off people. He’ll never admit it, but it’s an act. He’s afraid to get close to anyone because he doesn’t want to get hurt. I almost think the worse he treats someone, it’s like an inverse barometer to gauge how much he could like you.”
“Well, then he must love me,” I sarcastically belt out, ready to laugh until my stomach hurt but Arielle’s expression didn’t waver from her serious one. “What?” I ask in my cynical tone.
“It’s not love, but I definitely would say you have an effect on him.”
Ice runs through my veins, and I sputter out another cough. I must be coming down with something. I didn’t expect her to reply so thoughtfully, as I had been joking. Swallowing, as the mere suggestion of Christian not hating me made me queasy, I push the idea out of my head, redirecting my sights to the lobby.
Nobody here.
“Are you hungry?” Arielle shoves the grocery bag in the trash and pulls out her own phone. “Today has been crazy. I got Christian some pain meds. They’d be better on a full stomach. Can you stay for pizza if I order it? Christian’s treat.”
She paces to the office, cracks open the door all the while still scrolling on her phone. “You should treat us to some pizza since nobody ate today.”
I don’t see him from my spot behind the counter, but I can hear his forlorn reply. “That sounds like a terrible idea.”
“You need to take some meds, and you shouldn’t take those on an empty stomach.”
“It won’t be empty. I have two ketchup packets in my wallet I’m saving for tonight,” he grumbles from behind the crack in the door.
I snicker and look away. I get he hurt his backbut come on!
“Christian. This is important.” Arielle steps inside the door, closing it almost all the way. Harsh whispers bicker back and forth until I hear Christian’s gruff sigh.
“Iguess,I can order pizza from that place across the street,” he mutters. “It’s just pizza.And my sanity.”
“I can run over there and grab it.” Arielle offers as she tugs open the office door, heading out the exit before Christian has a chance to rebuttal. “I’ll be back.”
