I patted his arm, enjoying the extra flex. “We’ll work on the pet names. I have to go deliver the rest of these presents.”
“Why? Did Shelby recruit you into some kind of secret Santa service?”
I pulled the bags away from his curious gaze. “I’m not a party princess yet. I just want to close some chapters and make sure Cassandra will survive the shift without her favorite coworker.”
“You’re a nice person,” he said.
My insides fluttered. No one gave me compliments like that. Most people commented on my appearance. Maybe he just saw the best in me.
“I’ll see you later.” I squeezed his arm, then hid my bags in the shoe repair station. But when I went to check our notes for theday, the white board was blank. Was Andre not in yet? I peered up the stairs. “Hello?”
I strained my ears for any trace of a snore.
Nothing.Weird.But whatever. I sorted through the new inventory for a few minutes, at which point expensive shoes clipped across the concrete warehouse floors in a power walk.
Andre slipped in an attempt to swerve around a stock barrel, then caught himself on a shelf and glared at the piles of shoes. “Why is this here?”
“Stock? I’m still working on it.” I moved the barrels aside to clear a path.
He slid sideways and knocked half of them on his way through. “Well work harder.”
“Okay, we just opened, but sure.”Asshole.I frowned and followed him through the stacks. “I need to talk to you at some point today about something important.”
“Later.” He ran up the stairs, each step pounding as he went.
What was his problem? That man could use a dose of class.
I stayed busy helping customers and sorting stock for a few hours.
“Good morning,” Cassandra crowed on her way in. “How are you, Nini?”
I pushed off the back desk. “Fine. I actually wanted to tell you something.”
“Me? Really?” Her chipper tone nosedived, and her eyes popped wide. “Did I do something?”
“Not that I know of.” I wouldn’t put it past her to categorize something wrong something though. I led her to the shoe repair cove. “So, this is kind of a secret, but—”
“Zack got you pregnant?” She grinned.
“No.” I yanked her wrist down and glanced through the stacks. Hopefully, that rumor didn’t get back to him. “I’m putting in my two-week notice.”
She gasped. “No kidding. You’ve got another job lined up?”
“Freelance stuff,” I said. “Model-adjacent.”
She raised her eyebrows, her mouth wide open. “Congratulations. Can I give you a hug?”
“Yes.” Today would be a nice little exception.
She squeezed me tight and rocked us from side to side. “I’m gonna miss you so much. I always knew you were too much of a superstar to stay here forever. Good luck, hun.”
“Thanks. And same to you.” I patted her shoulders. She was the nosy aunt I never had. If I did marry Zack, I’d have a handful of them. Not that I was holding my breath on marriage. Still, some tiny part of me clung to Cassandra’s genuine excitement about chatting with customers, bonding with me, and going home to her family. Maybe she told them stories about me. Now, I had my own special person who’d listen to me, someone who knew Cassandra, who cared about the Fancee family. Maybe I could ask Zack to update me on her life, see if she was still misplacing things or if she finally learned how to use the internal search system. I was sure she’d ask him about ‘Nini.’ Would he even know that was me?
I sniffled. I was moving onto bigger and better things, but it still felt like I was losing something. The old me. Memories of my first ‘real’ job. Growing pains, maybe.
Cassandra tutted. “Aw, don’t cry, honey. We can still keep in touch. I’m on a few social sites. Now, how do I search for you?”
I chuckled and wiped my face. “I’ll add you.”
