was a line of people in front of the empty stand. They were clearly short-staffed, and Angie wondered if she should call Maya to confirm her interest.
Choosing to ignore the bustling counter, Angie quickly passed by, leaving Maya to decide her fate.
In the food court, holiday music played from the speakers, barely audible over the conversations around her. The lines at most of the stands were outrageous, but she had nowhere to be. She chose a sandwich wrap place she’d never tried before. While waiting, she scanned the area, fully expecting to run into more people she knew.
What would she say when they asked about her life and her job? She could lie, but Brett was a prime example of lies blowing up in people’s faces. She wasn’t that person, despite her embarrassment about her desperate need to get work after living in California.
After she paid for her turkey wrap, she waited off to the side for her order.
A guy in a charcoal-grey suit approached the counter. She blinked, immediately recognizing him. If she weren’t so concerned with the growling in her stomach, she would have fled the scene. Heat bloomed within her, and she regretted her choice of thick jacket. There was no way she could avoid him.
When the guy from the café turned around and met her eyes, his polite smile fell as recognition flooded his expression. His eyes narrowed slightly as he approached her to wait for his food.
‘It’s you,’ he said.
Angie gave him a shaky smile. There wasn’t much else she could do after he called her out like that. She got a better look at him without his jacket on. His tailored suit shaped his fit body. He looked like a runner.
‘Oh, hi.’
‘Hi.’ He smirked, and a chill ran down her spine. It was the same confident grin Brett always had for his employees. It was the same one which helped her fall for him.
Silence stretched between them, making the crowded food court close in around her. ‘Thanks again for the other day. I can pay you back for the bagels.’
He waved his hand in front of him as if to say it wasn’t a problem. ‘You figured it out, then?’
‘Yes, thanks.’ She wrung her hands in front of her, unsure of what to do with them.
‘I hope you enjoyed your breakfast,’ he said.
It seemed as if both of them were terrible at small talk. For some reason, it made Angie smile.
‘What did I say?’ he asked with a hint of a grin.
Angie tucked her hair away from her face, trying to cool off. ‘Nothing. So, are you Christmas shopping today?’
‘No, I’m on my lunch break.’
It made sense that he worked nearby since she had met him at the café the other morning.
‘I’m Nick, by the way,’ he said.
‘Angie.’
He cleared his throat.
‘Angie!’ a young man from the food stall called.
‘Excuse me.’ She sprinted to the counter to get her tray.
‘Nick!’ the guy called next.
Angie glanced around at the nearby tables and chairs. There were only a few open tables. She could take her food to go.
‘Do you want to sit together?’ Nick asked.
‘Sure.’ If he wasn’t going to take her money, it was the least she could do to repay him for his kindness.
When they sat, Angie was aware of his movements. His knee brushed against her leg, and he muttered an apology. She sipped from her soda and unwrapped her sandwich, desperate to look anywhere but at him.
‘What are you up to today?’ he asked. ‘I thought you said you said you were an online shopper.’
‘Good memory.’ Angie hesitated about the real reason for her being there, but she needed to get over herself. ‘I applied for a job today.’
‘Here?’
She inwardly cringed, unsure about how much she wanted to reveal about her life to this guy. ‘Yeah, I’m unemployed right now. I worked at a hotel as an event planner in California. Right now, I need a temporary place to work until I get back on my feet.’
‘Well, you came to the right place at the right time. The holiday season is perfect for a temporary job.’
‘When I was sixteen, I worked here. I blew all of my paychecks on new clothes.’
‘Which store?’
‘Oh, everywhere. I started at the Smoothie Shack, then the movie theater as an usher. I worked for a little while at Bloomfield’s department store. I was the best bow-tie-er in town.’ Angie laughed, and he joined her. ‘That was during the break of my freshman year of college. I never came back after that.’
‘You got around,’ Nick said. His eyebrows rose as if he was impressed. Angie’s barometer of men was off lately, and she wasn’t sure what to make of him.
‘Well, I only did one sport, and I loved to shop.’
‘I’m sure you have a good shot at getting the job.’ He took a bite of his sandwich as the words hung between them.
Angie had the urge to engage him more. The image of the door closing behind her in his face brought another wave of flames over her body. ‘For some reason, I was nervous about the interview. To make it even worse, I know the girl who interviewed me. We didn’t get along well in high school. I know I’m more than qualified for the position, but I hope she doesn’t use that against me.’
‘It couldn’t have been that bad,’ Nick said.
‘It wasn’t great. It makes me slightly anxious to think that Maya holds my future in her hands.’
‘I’m sure it will all turn out as it’s supposed to.’
Angie was supposed to be in California with her boyfriend and the life she’d spent so many years building. Working at her high school job wasn’t exactly her plan.
‘Do you come here a lot?’ Angie asked him. ‘Since you work nearby?’
Nick wiped his mouth with a napkin and smirked. ‘I like the food here. I’m not much of a cook. You?’
‘I know my way around a kitchen.’ Thanks to her mother. ‘But the takeout in California was much tastier than what I could cook up with the amount of time I spent at work.’
‘Did you go out a lot with friends?’
Angie tried to hide her burning cheeks. ‘Sometimes.’ She wasn’t ready to admit that she had the tendency to get swept up into the life of whoever she dated that she ended up seeing less of her friends than she liked. It was a habit she would make a point not to continue in the future.
‘I
