Cindy looks at me for a few moments as though she’s considering something. “There’s always something to buy. Let me think about this for a second.”
I roll my eyes at her, knowing she’s going to come up with something completely ridiculous. I pop one of my fries into my mouth while I wait for her suggestion. I could use a good laugh. I am still mad from last night. I didn’t get to enjoy the meal Marth made.
“Hello, ladies.” Jeff’s voice sends chills down my spine. “Breaktime is almost over.” He taps his watch. He’s not even working right now so I’m not sure what he’s doing here.
“We have fifteen minutes,” Cindy reminds him in a dismissive tone.
He glares at her. “You should eat with management.” Jeff turns his attention back on me.
“Is that a rule?” I don’t remember that being in the handbook. I read that thing from front to back when I got the job. I know it doesn’t state it but I like giving Jeff a hard time.
“No, but you shouldn’t mingle with the regular employees.” He shakes his head at me like I’m a naughty child before turning and stomping off. Making it clear who the real child is.
“You should buy this place and make his life hell.”
I bark out a laugh. “That would be fun.” I let out a long sigh. I don’t love my job but it fills the time. It’s better than sitting at home being ignored by the person that is supposed to love you the most in the world.
“I’m not joking. Think about all the food we could eat because you’d own it all.”
I have to admit that she makes a good point. The fact that it will probably piss off my husband only makes it sweeter. I don’t know why I enjoy sparring with him, but I do. It’s the only time I can get a reaction out of him. Even if whatever he says pisses me off.
“How do we even buy a grocery store? I don’t know what they cost.”
Cindy sits up a little straighter. “You’re really thinking about this. Please tell me you’re thinking about this. Man, this would be some serious job security for me. Can I have Jeff’s job? Wait. No, I don’t want that responsibility. Give it to me for five minutes and I’ll fire him and then you demote me back to a cashier. I can’t deal with management power. Things will escalate quickly.”
“I think they already have.”
3
Heath
“I’ll hold,” I say to Kale Blank. Blank is the owner of the biggest Manhattan hedge fund. Forbes has him listed as one of the wealthiest men in America at $4 billion in net worth. You wouldn’t know it by the way he’s dressed in sweats, a hoodie and sneakers that he might have bought at the same drugstore where Orchard bought hers.
“I’ll take two. These are shit cards. Who said Blank should be dealer?” complains Forest Wright, current reigning Super Bowl champion quarterback. He’s the one who should be wearing the sweats but for some reason chose to come wearing custom tailored wool pants, a collared shirt, sweater and bow tie.
“It’s his turn to host and the host deals. What’s with the tie?” asks Garner Redmond. He’s the brains of our group—a scientist with more patents than Wright has football cleats. He says he doesn’t count the cards, but no one believes him. He only wins one out of every five hands. No one can be that precisely unlucky.
“I had a date.” He picks up his cards and then tosses the whole hand in disgust. “I fold.”
“It’s nine. Shouldn’t you be in the heart of the date by now?” I toss in two more dollars to raise the other three.
“She asked to see my trophy case before the appetizer came,” he scowls. “And, no, it wasn’t a euphemism. She told me she wore black because she thought it would show well with all the gold on the trophies. I don’t know why I keep putting myself out there. All these women want is to have a photo op for their gram. Where’d you find Orchard?”
“A shipyard.”
“That’s right.” Wright snaps his fingers. “I forgot. You went to buy the shipyard and came home with a wife. Maybe I should start buying businesses.”
“You have the car dealerships. I’m sure there are women that buy cars.”
“Hmm.” He seems to take this into consideration.
“I‘ll see your two dollars and call,” says Blank, laying out his flush.
I fold my cards into a neat pile and place them in front of the discards. I had only a measly pair of fives, but felt like bluffing. A man knows when to give in. Blank gathers up the kitty and starts to stack his bills. “Speaking of buying businesses, I didn’t know you were in the market for a grocery chain. Are you moving into the food industry now?”