He scooted to the edge of his seat. “And who might receive that honor?”
No one, yet, I wanted to snap.
But logically, someone had vouched for me despite a disaster. They’d showed me compassion. They had some sense of humor, of connection, and I wouldn’t hate seeing them again. “A-ash,” I blurted out.
My brother tilted his head. “Your boss?”
“Yes.” I shoveled food into my mouth so I wouldn’t haveto expand on it.
“She’s not supposed to be friends with subordinates. Kat learned that the hard way after her promotion. I didn’t need an excuse to keep my distance from my coworkers, but it was nice to have one.” He pulled his lower lip with the fork tines and narrowed his eyes. “Of course, picking her would give you an excuse for not making friends. Keep your distance.”
Oh, he was evil. Evil and correct.
Well, I’d prove to him that I could make a friend, not just build them.
4
Assessment
In theory, Ash was a decent choice for companion.
Over the course of my next few shifts, I studied her behavior, which proved to be level-headed in most situations. She’d perfected the blank stare and nod whenever a customer babbled beyond logical comprehension.
The latest culprit was some heavy-set businessman who shoved his phone in her face. “Best Tech has this exact laptop for two hundred dollars cheaper,”
She glanced at the screen. “They look the same, but the hardware is different. This one has four gigs of memory and that one–”
“No, they’re the same,” the customer insisted.
She tapped her tablet. “Here, we have that model for the same price on our website. Let me pull up the comparison chart for you, and you can decide which one you want.”
“Well, I want you to price match because they’re the same,” he said.
She raised her brows, then chuckled politely. “Let’s try this again. I’ll show you the two models and we can go over which one suits your needs and price point.” She glanced over, so I tugged my cap, then haphazardlytidied the desk.
Did I smile? I should’ve smiled. Smiling was friendly.
Ash walked by my desk on the way to the stockroom. “Hey, Zero, do you want to get started on fixing the scratch? Then, you can go home.”
“I’m on it.” I grabbed a keyboard brush, an old rag, and a tube of toothpaste from my bag. The internet swore this would be a successful combination. Too bad it looked ridiculous in public.
I smeared the white gel across a small scratch, then buffed it with the brush. A test subject. The aroma of baking powder and mint grew with the cleansing foam. This was going to work. It had to work, right? I licked my lips and prepared to paint another dollop onto the glass wall.
“Can I borrow some of that? I’ve got a date after this,” Sal said.
I flinched, gripping the toothpaste hard enough to squirt some onto the floor. “Shit,” I muttered, wiping the glob with my Converse. It only smeared it in streaks. Another thing to clean up.
“Didn’t mean to sneak up on you.” He leaned his shoulder against the glass wall. At least his bare forearms didn’t touch it. No smudges, then. “How’s it going?” he asked.
“Fine.” I sighed, just messing up more than I should. I swiped the bigger streak up with the paper towel. Would it be weird to use this cloth on the scratches? The sediment in the formula shouldn’t be too affected.
“Okay, see ya.” He waltzed inside and waved at Ash. “Hey, baby girl.”
Baby girl?She was a grown woman. I scowled, but she laughed.
“Hey, hot stuff. I’ll just be a minute,” she said, returning to the customer with two laptop boxes.
Weird. Too weird to process. Was she datinghim? That goofball?
