“Yeah.”
“It’s fine. I can help.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. My emails aren’t going anywhere.”
“Oh, thank God.” Jane puffs out her cheeks. “I was so worried, what with everything going on. If this isn’t perfect, then it really will be us, won’t it?”
“How do you mean?” Locking my computer, I grab my phone and head out into the hall with Jane. “What will be us?”
“You’ve heard, right?” Jane lowers her voice and glances around as we hurry to the elevator.
“Heard what?”
“Well…” She cranes around to ensure no one is listening, then shoves me into the elevator as soon as the doors slide open. “I heard that they’re going to be closing us down.”
“Us as in Angelic?”
“No, us as in the subscriptions.”
My eyes widen and I press the button for the delivery floor. “Where did you hear that?”
“Around.” Jane shrugs and crosses her arms over her chest. “I heard it from Taylor.”
“Shop Taylor?”
“Mmhmm. She said that they’re looking to cut back and that Elijah? The hot guy? He’s not here just to check up on stones. He’s checking on everything because he wants to invest or something.”
It takes no time at all to work out where Taylor might have heard something. Victoria apparently couldn’t keep my question to herself and sent the rumor mill into a frenzy leading to Jane now panicking beside me that she’s going to be out of a job.
“I haven’t heard anything like that,” I try to assure her, but she shakes her head.
“You’re management. Of course they wouldn’t tell you if you’re about to be out of a job. They don’t want you to jump ship.”
“Jane.”
“No, listen! He’s the CEO of Amber, right? And sure, they deal in stones and gems, but you know, they only deal in storefronts, right? They’ve always dealt with stores. They have never worked online. And what do we do?” She lightly prods my shoulder. “Online. If anyone’s getting the axe, it’s us.”
My reassurance dies on my tongue as the elevator doors slide open and we step out onto the floor. She’s right. We would be the first to go and suddenly, it makes sense why Victoria was so sure that the stores wouldn’t close. Amber Limited doesn’t care for websites and subscriptions. They’re a classic old-school company. The storefront is where they thrive.
Shit.
While it’s a new worry to add to my overflowing cup, throwing myself into work is actually a decent distraction. Several hundred boxes were delivered to us, all containing gemstone piercings for the eyebrow, belly, and tongue that will go on sale on the regular section of the website, and rings that were to be included in February’s subscription box.
The only problem is, after Jimmy forced me to include the Onyx bracelets in the January parcel, the regular January gems have moved to February. The entire year is knocked off theme thanks to his bad decision. I stare down at one ring set in a gorgeous pink cushion inside a sleek black box and admire how it twinkles in the light. I’m so distracted that I don’t hear anyone approach me until a throat clears softly next to me.
“Oh!” I jump in fright and the ring box snaps closed. “Elijah! You scared me.”
“Sorry.” Elijah’s lips pull into a polite smile. “I did call your name.”
“You did?”
“He did,” Jane confirms from the other side of the shelves.
“I’m sorry, I was miles away.” Placing the ring box back down into the cardboard box, I smile. “What can I help you with?” Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Jane peering at us through a gap in the shelving. She looks anxious, like she expects Elijah to fire us on the spot.
“I was informed that you are one of the few people with access to stock here, in the stores, and at the warehouse?”
