Now that we’ve been together again, I don’t know if that’s possible.
There’s a part of me that can’t help but wonder if my dad is right—that Jordan is going to hurt me again. But at this point, we’ve come too far to walk away. No matter what happens, I can’t picture my life without him in it.
It drives me crazy that my father is getting in my head. He’s doing it on purpose, but there is a hint of truth to the things he said. I’ve never understood what Jordan sees in me; the chemistry was just there, like magic. I never questioned it then, but I’m older now. Just not necessarily wiser.
I’m still mulling it over when I get to work. My boss is doing payroll and she glances up with a smile.
“Hey. How are you?”
“I’m all right. How about you?” I stick my bag under my desk.
“It was busy yesterday so I’m trying to get payroll done before I leave today.”
“Well, I’ll handle it out front and leave you to it.” I grab my name badge and clip it to my blouse before making my way to the front. We haven’t opened yet so I unlock the front doors and then turn on the register. I’m so lost in what I’m doing I don’t even notice when customers come in.
“Victoria.” I look up, startled, and see Juliet with two other wives from the team, whose names I don’t remember.
“Hi!” I smile and walk toward them.
“I’ve been meaning to stop by,” Juliet says. “I used to shop here all the time and then I had to go and get pregnant.”
“You’ll be back to your old weight before you know it.”
“I hope so but I’m not holding my breath. Anyway, I don’t know if you’ve met but this is Zoe, she’s married to Slava Yegorov, and you remember Eden.”
“Of course, hi!” I say warmly. “I’m sorry, I’ve met so many people the last few weeks, it’s hard to remember all the names.”
“No problem at all!” Zoe grins. “And I already see things I want to try on.”
The ladies disperse, and I follow them around, giving suggestions and showing them clothes I believe will look good on them. The store is trendy, with a nice mix of styles for both younger and older women. We also carry sizes from extra small to 3X, depending on availability from the manufacturer, which I love.
“This is a must,” Zoe says, holding up a fringed red leather jacket.
Eden rolls her eyes. “You and your love of fringe.”
“Hey, you can be frumpy if you want—I like fringe. And Slava loves it.” She wiggles her eyebrows and we all laugh.
“There’s a matching skirt,” I stage whisper to her.
Zoe’s eyes widen. “Show me!”
They spend the next hour shopping and when it’s all said and done, they spend nearly three thousand dollars. We get a ten percent commission on any sales over five hundred dollars so this will be a nice one for me, though I feel a tad guilty since they’re my friends.
“Thanks for your help,” Juliet says when I’ve packaged everything up.
“We have a book club,” Eden says. “Do you like to read? You should join us.”
“I’d love to,” I say, “but I probably won’t have time until I graduate in May.”
“Oh, that’s right around the corner,” Zoe says. “What’s your degree in?”
“Accounting.”
“You should work in design,” Eden says. “You have a great eye for clothes.”
Yeah, that was the plan.
Until my parents derailed my dreams.
