That stops me cold. The last thing I want to do is meet him alone after the double shift I got suckered into because of my inability to come up with a good excuse on the fly.
“Can you just ask me about it now? I mean, you can just put me down for whatever. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
He grunts and sucks on his bottom lip, a gesture that has my cereal threatening to come back up. “Nope, I’m going to need you to meet me in my office. There’s no time now, and you’re supposed to already be out on the floor.” He taps a pudgy finger against the watch that’s wrapped so tightly around his wrist it’s making his bulk spill over on either side to further make his point.
“Okay,” I finally say, making a mental note to ask one of my coworkers to come with me. No way am I meeting him alone. I turn my back on him and push the door open with my shoulder, slipping out and into the main part of the department store, smiling at customers as I pass them on my way to the back. In a moment of pure genius, or pure evil, depending on who you talk to, the builders decided to put the toy department right at the opening that leads out into the mall, forcing every single customer who’s entering the store from that direction to walk through the maze in the hopes of getting their kids to entice them to spend money before they can even fully enter Leeman’s and do the rest of their shopping.
Everything gets louder the closer I get to the toy department, and even though it’s still early, school is out so the place is packed. Kids run around, their eyes lit up with the excitement that I rarely see in the frazzled adults who are following along behind them, trying like hell to keep them in sight.
“Welcome to hell,” Jess, my coworker says, rolling her heavily lined eyes at me.
I laugh and nudge her shoulder with my own. “It’s not that bad. I mean, look at how happy they are. Don’t you remember how exciting the holidays were when you were young?”
“Not really. I was always a morbid kid. The sugar-coated cheeriness used to drive me crazy. It still does. Christmas is for suckers. Halloween is really where it’s at.”
I smile when I see that she’s wearing the mandatory elf costume, but has chosen to add her own touch of black combat boots and a pin beneath her name tag of a smiling skull wearing a Christmas hat.
“Cheery,” I say, pointing at it.
She shrugs her shoulders, her brown eyes lit up with mischief. “I thought so.”
A woman being pulled by a young girl comes up to ask about our selection of dolls, and I lead her away, looking back to see Jess shooting me a grateful smile and mouthing a “Thank you.”
The next few hours fly by in a rush of activity that leaves my feet sore and my head starting to hurt. I’m fixing a display of action figures when I glance up and see a man staring at me from across the busy mall’s walkway. He’s near the store right across from us that specializes in bedding and housewares, and he sure as hell doesn’t look like a guy just out for a stroll to buy a new duvet cover. He’s wearing so much black I’m guessing he could give Jess a run for her money when she’s all gothed up to go clubbing. I catch a glimpse of a neck tattoo when he briefly turns his head before looking right back at me. He scrubs a hand over his dark beard, and the movement has me sucking in a soft breath, wondering what in the hell is going on. I don’t drool over men. I appreciate a gorgeous man as much as the next person, but I don’t gawk, at least not openly. I’m much more likely to make myself as invisible as possible and enjoy some eye candy stealthy style. I can’t seem to take my eyes off him, though.
He watches me for a few more seconds before walking off without so much as a backward glance. Well that was pleasant, I think with a groan. God, he was probably just trying to see if a toy was in stock for his kid or something, and then he was probably wondering what was wrong with the sad little elf who worked here. Feeling my cheeks heat up with embarrassment, I force myself to turn away and go back to stocking the shelves. My mind keeps wandering back to the mysterious stranger, though, and as soon as it’s noon, I make sure Jess is okay and then head for the food court.
Leeman’s butts up against the center of the mall, so it doesn’t take long at all for me to get to the massive food court. Sure, I get a few odd stares in my elf getup, but it’s totally worth it for Mister Wok’s kung pao chicken and egg rolls. My mouth is already watering by the time I’m placing my order. I add in an order of crab Rangoon and a large sweet tea. If I’m going to gorge, I might as well do it right.
I find an empty table towards the back and sit down. Right when I take a massive bite and let out a moan of appreciation, I lift my eyes and see the same mysterious stranger looking at me. He’s sitting across the room, a tray in front of him with a scrunched up wrapper and an empty fry carton. I slowly chew the mammoth bite I took and look down at the embarrassing amount of food I’ve ordered. There’s easily enough for two people here, maybe even three, but I’m really hungry, and this meal needs to last me until closing time, so really it’s my lunch and supper, which makes it look not so bad. I have the ridiculous urge to go and explain this to Mr. Sexy Stranger. Thankfully, I stifle that need and pick my fork back up. Whatever. I’m hungry.
I eat my meal quickly since my lunch break is only thirty minutes. My eyes keep drifting back to the man. He’s no longer openly staring at me, and I’m surprised by how much that bothers me. It was nice having his attention. It’s been so long since anyone has even bothered to give me a second glance, mostly because I usually keep my head down and stick to myself, but even so, no one has ever stared at me as intently as this guy does.
When I look up again, he’s looking at his cell phone, swiping his thumb over the screen before holding it to his ear. I wish I was closer so I could hear what his voice sounds like. A sudden impulse overtakes me, a moment of pure insanity that has me standing up and taking my now empty tray to the garbage can that’s only a few feet away from where he’s sitting. I toss my stuff inside and start to walk past him, stepping closer to his table than I technically need to. My feet freeze when I hear him speaking a language I don’t understand in the sexiest voice I’ve ever heard. Looking over at him, I realize he’s older than I first thought, probably early to mid-thirties, and even more handsome this close up. The vivid green of his eyes has my body responding in ways that have my cheeks heating up.
He arches a dark brow at me, saying another sentence of pure sexy, as I will my feet to keep moving. I’m frozen, feeling like an idiot in my elf costume and my stomach painfully full of Mister Wok’s finest. Before I can decide what to do, the man says something to whoever is lucky enough to be on the other end of that phone call before giving me one more lift of his brow as he stands and turns his back on me, walking away without a backward glance yet again.
I’m mortified by the obvious and deliberate snub, and I curse my own stupidity. God, that was probably his wife he was talking to. They’re probably laughing in their sexy language about the young woman who’s ogling her husband at the mall. With a groan, I get my ass back to work, determined to forget all about this. It doesn’t work. I replay it over and over in my head as I help customers and joke around with Jess during the few moments when it’s not busy. When her shift ends at five, Gary comes in to take her place. We share a quick hello before we get bombarded by the after supper shoppers. When we finally get a lull in the crowd, I hum along to the Christmas music and work on stocking and straightening everything up until it’s almost time to close. I’m not sure if I’m relieved or sad that I didn’t get another glimpse of that guy. Relieved, I try to tell myself. Most definitely relieved.
At nine, I walk over to Gary, watching him empty the cash register into the large, blue pouch we always put it in. “Hey, do you think you could stick around for a bit? Mr. Belsky asked to speak with me about the schedule, and he kind of gives me the creeps.”
Gary gives me a sympathetic look, but I can tell what’s coming even before he opens his mouth. “Sorry, Holly. I really need to get out of here. I have to run and grab some diapers on my way home. My wife will kill me if I’m late.”
“That’s okay. I understand. How’s your daughter doing? She’s two months old now, right?”
He beams at the mention of his little girl and tucks a strand of brown hair behind his ear. “Yeah, two months. She’s doing great.” He laughs and adds, “Just goes through a lot of diapers.”
“Yeah, I bet,” I say, giving him a smile to let him know there’s no hard feelings.
“Keep your phone out while you talk to him.”
“Huh?”
“Mr. Belsky, when you talk to him, keep your phone out like you’re texting someone. If he thinks you’ve got someone waiting to hear from you and knowing exactly where you are and who you’re talking to, it might make you feel safer. I know the guy is gross, but I’ve never heard anything about him actually crossing the line. He does like to stare, though.”
“That he does,” I say with a groan. “But thanks for the phone idea. I’m definitely going to try that.”
He goes back to counting the money while I get the rest of our department ready to go. As soon as he’s finished, I grab the bag of money since I have to go to Belsky’s office anyway.