ANGELA
On Sunday, I stayed home with Ayla, cleaning and organizing the house for the holidays. When she went to bed, I wrapped the presents. I told my parents I wasn't coming home to see them because of the store. I hadn't bothered to tell them that it was closed.
I didn't have the money to fly to see them, and I didn't want to admit that to them. They'd always assumed I wasn't capable of supporting myself. They offered to support me after the divorce, but I wanted to prove that I could do this on my own.
They felt that working for a company was more stable for a single mom. Opening a business was a risky proposition. I wanted to prove them wrong. I was going to do everything I knew how to do to sell my products.
When the first cha-ching came through my phone, I jumped. I'd sold something? I quickly opened my phone and navigated to my email. I'd sold a set of six holiday panties. I needed to pack and ship them out first thing tomorrow.
But first, I had to share the news with someone. I scrolled through my recent contacts. I didn't want to tell my parents I'd opened an online store; they'd want to know why I'd need to do that. And they wouldn't understand.
I could tell the women from the shops. They'd added me to their group message chain. But something had my finger hovering over Hudson's number.
I pressed his name to send a text.
Angela: I got my first sale!
I hit Send before I could second guess myself. Then I focused on cutting wrapping paper for the next gift when my phone buzzed with an incoming message.
Hudson: That's amazing! What did you sell?
I couldn't imagine he was actually interested. He was just being nice.
Angela: A pack of holiday-themed panties.
It was hard enough to typepanties; I wasn't going to tell him they were actually thongs.
Hudson called, causing me to fumble and drop the phone. By the time I recovered, it was on the last ring. "Sorry. I dropped the phone."
"I surprised you."
"Yes. No." Why did I sound so out of breath? This was Hudson. The man working on my shop. He wasn't a love interest. Even if I was attracted to him, he certainly wasn't interested in me.
He chuckled, and the sound reverberated through my body. "I just wanted to congratulate you. Your first sale is a big deal."
I cradled the phone against my ear. "I've sold things before."
"Yeah, but this is different. You've significantly increased your reach with an online store. There are no limits to what you can do."
I gripped the phone tighter, not wanting to put it on speaker phone because Ayla was sleeping. "I hope so. I could use something positive right now."
"You're selling your products in Belle's store and now this. The shop being closed hasn't slowed you down at all."
I let out a shaky breath. "It's so scary to try new things. I was sure that people would complain about panties being in Belle's store."
He cleared his throat. "I'm not sure I'm comfortable discussing panties with you. Hopefully, Bill doesn't say anything."
I sighed. "He thinks all change is bad, and he wants everyone to be as miserable as him."
Hudson was quiet for a second and then said, "I haven't heard you say anything negative about anyone."
I bit my lip. "Bill is difficult."
"But you can handle him." I heard the smile in his voice.
"I can." It felt good to have his support.
"But you shouldn't have to."
