When She Falls

by Jez Strider

  “That makes you all the more desirable. Plastic sporks are a much more useful utensil than a silver spoon.”

  Candice appeared speechless for once. It was a strange, silly sort of compliment, but one she took to heart. “That is true.”

  When she cracked a smile, Logan relaxed. He was winning her over and he knew it. “Get dressed. We’ll get your car and bring it here.”

  “I have to be at work in half an hour. There’s not enough time to bring it back.”

  “You don’t have to go to work.” He said firmly.

  Although she opened her mouth to protest, no words came out at first. “I have to work….”

  “No.”

  “You can’t just say no.”

  “Yes, I can and I did. Obviously, you have been through some heavy shit. Shit that I can’t begin to understand. You may want to share it with me someday, you might not. Right now, what you need is to take care of yourself and not worry about everything else.” His short speech left no time to interrupt.

  Candice’s smile had faded by this point and she lowered her eyes in confusion as she stepped away. “You can’t ask me to trust you. Today is great, but what about tomorrow when you’re done with me? I would be out of a job and worse off than before.”

  “A couple of weeks.” He held up two fingers, and as he’d intended, she looked at him. “If you want to move on after that I won’t try to stop you. Deal?”

  Worried, she nodded. “Deal. I can turn in a two week notice so that I can return if this arrangement goes south.”

  Logan’s chest puffed out a little with confidence. He knew she’d fall in love with him. The world was his to give. “It won’t.”

  The chance to quit her hated job tempted Candice the moment she entered work to start her shift. As she slid her badge through the time clock, “Boss Bitch” crept up and loomed over her from behind.

  “Late again.”

  “Sorry. I had a… friend bring me to work.” Candice responded as she pushed by the much broader and taller woman to head to her department.

  “You’re in customer service today. Brit is working your department since we weren’t sure you would show up.”

  This made Candice freeze in her tracks. I always show up. She thought angrily to herself. Slowly, she drew in a deep breath and exhaled it without looking back at the woman. “No problem,” was the lie that spilled out. It was definitely a problem. She hated working returns and dealing with the customers checking out.

  To compound matters, her checkout counter was cluttered and messy from the closing cashier the night before not cleaning up after their shift. “I must be f’in stupid for coming here today.” Her voice didn’t carry over the loud clatter of removed alarm tags being dumped into a bucket. She picked up the container and carried it hugged to her chest to the stock room.

  On her first step into the tagging area, she stepped on a stray hanger and nearly busted her ass. Half the bucket of sensors was dumped into the floor as she barely caught her balance. The scattered tags were picked up one by one and thrown back into the container.

  “Candice, report to customer service.” A voice announced over the intercom. Someone was waiting at her counter. Of course.

  Plastering on her fakest sincere smile, she approached the customer at the counter. “Sorry, Ma’am. I was taking something to the back real quick.”

  The middle-aged woman was dressed in clothing most akin to a muumuu. “Someone should be out here all the time. I have been waiting forever.”

  Liar. “You’re right. Once again, I apologize. What can I do for you today?”

  A shopping bag was placed on the counter. “I’m returning this and I want to buy this.” Beside the bag the customer placed a blouse.

  Without a word, Candice opened the bag and peered inside. A stretched and obviously worn bra was in it. Reluctantly, she removed the underwear from the plastic bag and held it up with two fingers while stealing a sideways glance at the woman. “Didn’t fit?”

  “It was a gift. I didn’t wear it. The price tag is still on it.”

  “I… don’t see it.”

  After snatching the bag and reaching inside, the customer pulled out the price tag with the store logo printed on it. “Must have fallen off.”

  Normally, Candice would have called management to confirm that the lady couldn’t return a worn or washed item, but she was in no mood to deal with her boss again. She entered the information into the register and marked the apparel as damaged so no hapless individual would end up buying the bra. Then, she scanned the shirt the woman wanted to purchase.

  “Okay…you own me four dollars and fifty cents as the difference.” She told the customer.

  “Are you sure that’s right?”

  “Yes, Ma’am.” Candice turned the register monitor toward the woman for her to verify. Hurry up and leave. Her inner voice yelled at the woman.

  The customer gave a nod of her head before reaching down into her cleavage and extracting a crumpled five dollar bill from the depths. As if nothing was out of the ordinary or even slightly unsanitary, she extended her hand toward Candice.

  Oh my god.

  A little bit of vomit came up in Candice’s mouth. People never understood how hard it was to work with the public. Drawing her second deep breath of the day, she reached out and accepted the payment. The bill was placed on the very bottom of the fives so she would hopefully not have to touch it again. She handed the woman two quarters as change.

  “Thank you and have a nice day.” Candice forced the words through clenched teeth and struggled to keep her smile.

  The woman took the bag without even a thank you or acknowledgement and walked out the door.

  “I can’t do this. I… just can’t do it anymore.” She repeated over and over as she gave several pumps of the hand sanitizer on the counter, soaking her hands to rid herself of whatever boob germs had come from the money.

  It was hard enough to drag herself to work every day before meeting Logan. With the chance to flip the bird and walk out now possible, she was struggling with resisting the urge.

  “Candice.” She heard her name called from behind and turn to see the boss stalking over again. Hadn’t she seen enough of the manager already so early in the morning?

  “Yes, Jill?”

  The manager blinked a few times, watching Candice fill her hands with another round of gel sanitizer. “Easy, that stuff isn’t cheap. Anyway, I need to you take a short lunch today. Tanya is sick so she’s leaving early and I have a salon appointment that I can’t miss. You’re going to have to be in charge for a few hours.”

  Another breaking point was coming on. Candice was a customer service rep, not a manager, and she sure as hell was far from the pay grade of one. Besides, it was Jill’s responsibility to take care of the store if someone was sick. Not get her weekly trim and style. Worst yet, the woman didn’t even have the decency to ask. She was telling.

  Candice held up a hand to stop her store manager from saying another word. “No.”

  “Come on now, we both know you need this job. You’re divorced, parentless, and not getting any younger. What other option do you have?”

  Bitch!

  “I quit.” Candice said simply. There was no yelling or cursing as she’d always fantasized. She left the boss standing there dumbfounded and walked confidently out the door and into the mall.

  It felt good… liberating and terrifying at the same time and she had one person to thank for it. Now, he only had to keep his word and not let her down like the rest of the world.

  In the short time he’d been away from Candice, Logan had chewed up the cap of an ink pen and the fingernails off his right hand. He had to see her, but his behavior would seem like that of a stalker if he headed to her workplace and peeked through the window. He stood up, debated heatedly with his inner voice, and then kicked the high end office chair across the room and into a filing cabinet.

  Stop being anxious. She’s just a girl. You’re
a stud with women. One touch and they’re yours forever.

  A low groan escaped him and he pulled the chair back to the desk, slumping down into it. The pep talk hadn’t worked. He was afraid. Scared that at the end of two weeks Candice would decide she was better off without him. Rejection had never crossed his mind with any of the other women he had dated.

  At the moment he buried his face in his hands, Candice showed up and alerted him by giving a faint whistle. He looked up immediately to see her with her hands shoved almost awkwardly into the pockets of the khaki workpants that had seen better days. His eyes went to his custom made Movado watch before returning to her.

  “A little early for lunch, but if you’re hungry….” He paused, noting the hint of worry that creased the corner of her eyes. The tiny wrinkles were one of the few signs that should have alerted him to her being older than she appeared when they first met.

  “I quit my job.” Candice said reluctantly, as if the offer of a roof and a place to sleep had disappeared or never existed.

  “That’s wonderful.” Logan was on his feet and standing just inches from her. “Wait. Did someone do something to hurt you? I swear I will go down there and beat the shit out of them.”

  The worry seemed to abate somewhat and she laughed. “As much as I’d love to see you kick that woman’s ass, please don’t. I… couldn’t bear to deal with all the bullshit anymore with your offer on the table. It does still stand, right?”

  “Of course.” He leaned in to kiss her and she turned her head slightly so that his lips pressed against her blushing cheeks.

  “Let’s slow down a little. Maybe stream a movie and order a pizza tonight?” Candice asked. “It’s been a long time since I’ve done that.”

  Logan smiled broadly, showing teeth that were whiter than humanly possible without cosmetic whitening. “I would love that. Why don’t you take your car to the house? I’ll finish up here and be there soon.”

  “Yep.” She turned on the heels of her flats, hands still in pocket, and headed for the door. In a quick glance back, she flashed a sweet smile of her own that made Logan the one whose heart melted. “Kind of exhilarating to be free falling into the unknown.”

  “Don’t worry. I got you.” He’d never spoken words more truthful.

  The rest of the afternoon, Candice had spent unloading her meager belongings from her car and carrying them up to her room in Logan’s house. She set her favorite, and only surviving, childhood stuffed animal on the bed. The tattered, floppy-eared bunny was a stark contrast to the immaculate room. Then again, in her eyes, so was Candice.

  “What do you think, Hops?” She asked the rabbit before picking up an armful of clothing and heading to the closet. “About time we caught a break.” Her words fell short when she opened the door to the huge walk-in closet. “Oh my god. I think it’s bigger than my sister’s house was.”

  Candice was so excited she tossed her clothing aside and ran back into the room, jumping on the bed. She picked up the bunny and danced in circles on the mattress. Her lyrical voice revealed itself as she sang and played, bursting with more energy than a kid on Christmas morning.

  Logan tried to stifle his laugh by placing his hand over his mouth. The dancing sprite of a girl stopped and turned around to see her… what was he? Lover, savior, maybe boyfriend? Whatever he was, he was leaning against the door frame watching.

  “Shit.” She fell to her butt with a look of mortification. Instead of just blushing cheeks, her entire face lit up like a beacon. “I can’t believe you saw me acting so stupid.”

  “It wasn’t stupid. Cute. Adorable even. Never stupid.” He placed several large bags on the dresser. “I’m glad to see you happy. I bought you a few things.”

  Curiosity lured the embarrassed woman off the bed and toward the gifts. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

  “One of the perks of being born rich is that I do what I want.”

  “Conceited much?” Candice asked.

  Logan slipped out of his suit jacket and tossed it onto a nearby chair. “A little. It came out more spoiled than intended, though.”

  Half expecting lingerie as she pulled the first item from the bag, Candice was surprised to find a set of rather conservative pajamas in her hands. The material was soft, blue, and had little sheep all over the pants. The top buttoned up the front.

  “I… know I’ve rushed all this. So, for our relaxed, comfortable evening I thought they would be nice to cuddle up on the couch in.” He reached into the other bag and showed her the next gift. “I wanted you to have a phone so we could keep in touch.” Logan continued to empty the gifts onto the dresser as Candice watched on speechlessly, still clutching her new jammies against her chest. Next, he tugged out an expensive looking purse. “I had no idea what to get so I bought the one that cost the most. The lady at the counter told me it was popular. Anyway… there’s money inside for you.”

  “Logan, I don’t know what to say….” Her eyes filled with tears and she fought to hold them back. For the first time, in a long time, they were of joy and thanks.

  “Hey, now. None of that. We have our slumber party tonight.” He turned to leave her alone. “What do you like on your pizza?”

  Candice sniffled once and turned her glistening eyes toward him. “Pepperoni, black olives, mushrooms, and extra cheese.” Her voice was unsteady, but she managed to keep the water works at bay. Barely.

  “Mushrooms... I can pick them off.” He laughed. “I will be in my office for a bit. Take all the time you need to get settled and don’t hesitate if you need or want me.”

  Her heart was pounding as she watched him walk out and shut the door behind him. It wasn’t that money could buy her love. Not at all. It was that he was so thoughtful and caring of everything she might need. That he genuinely seemed to want to make her life better. All while being so damn handsome.

  Difficult as it was, Logan knew he needed to give Candice space and freedom to get comfortable in her new home. He’d finished dressing when his phone rang. With hesitation, he answered the call. His father was not a man to keep waiting.

  “Hello, father.”

  “Son. A friend of mine is passing through that pitiful excuse of a town in a few days on his way to the city. I believe you will remember his daughter… ah what was her name?” He paused, finally giving Logan a chance to speak.

  “I don’t know. You haven’t told me which friend yet.”

  Maxwell Harworth scoffed. “Don’t get smart. Harold’s girl would make the perfect addition to the family.”

  “Maria.” Logan said simply, trying to hide any sort of emotion.

  “Ahh, yes. You had a crush on the girl. She’s filled out nicely and earned a degree in interior design. Her manners are impeccable.”

  Logan pulled the phone from his ear before cursing under his breath. Briefly, he contemplated tossing the cell through the window. Instead, he returned to the conversation. “What does this have to do with me? I’m busy.”

  “Right. Her father has a meeting and would like for you to spend an evening with… damn it, I forgot her name already.”

  “Maria.”

  “Yes. That would not inconvenience you, would it? It will be two weeks from this Saturday.”

  He could see his father’s manipulative grin in his mind. Logan knew it far too well. “It’s not a good time.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s important for me to focus on the store.”

  His father laughed bitterly. “You can’t expect me to believe you’re concerned with work. Show her a good time.”

  When he opened his mouth to argue, the line went dead. Logan gripped the phone tightly in his hand and clenched his teeth. “Love you, too, Dad.” He said sarcastically without hiding his disgust now that he was off the phone.

  The constant pop of corn kernels in the microwave bag fit Candice’s new found, bouncy, and light attitude. For the day, anyway. She was trying to be positive and enjoy life in the moment. At least it wasn�
��t going to be another night sleeping in a broken down car.

  “Do we need popcorn and pizza?” Logan asked after he’d placed the order to her specifications.

  “What’s all this “we” stuff? This is my food.” She threw her thumb back in a gesture to the microwave and placed her hand on her hip. Clad in her sheep pajamas, she once again didn’t appear to be in her late twenties. Although, she did purposely unbutton the shirt to show a little cleavage.

  Logan feigned offense as the popping stopped and Candice dumped the fluffy white snack into a big bowl. “I think I can convince you to share.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Of course. I’ll just tell you how pretty you look right now and that I’ve never seen a cuter woman in my life.” He started grinning when Candice blushed.

  She nodded before tossing a few pieces of popcorn into her mouth. “So unfair because I’m completely convinced to share now.”

  “Let’s pick something to watch. I suppose you get to decide that, too.”

  Candice put the bowl in the middle of the coffee table then fell back on the leather couch. Not the cheap imitation stuff she’d had in her trailer either. This one smelled and felt different. She turned on the TV and began browsing the movie selection. “What kind of movies do you like? Space stuff, I bet. You did take me to an observatory.”

  “I guess that was a little nerdy, huh?” Logan asked, tossing her a can of soda and then taking a seat beside her.

  “Nah, it was perfect. Really. Everything so far has been. That’s what is scary.” She waved a hand and laughed a little to dismiss what she’d said. “So, let’s watch something old with laser beam guns and aliens.”

  He took the hint and didn’t focus on her brief relapse into being worried. “Pick one that will make you scream and cling to me.”

  “I can’t watch horror movies, but we’ll watch this sci-fi flick and I’ll pretend I’m upset so I can still cuddle against you for safety.” She gave him a “wink-wink” face.