“I got home within ten minutes. I was so tired. I think it’s time I started looking for another job. This one is starting to take its toll.”
“Why?” Donna asked.
“The late nights and early mornings. I’m not a fan of working nights. I never have been. I’m thinking of putting my resignation in. I’ve just got to find another job before I leave.”
Donna was disappointed. She liked Lydia, and they worked well together.
“What about you?” Lydia asked.
“What about me?”
“Are you going to be giving in your notice?”
Shaking her head, she didn’t look up from stewing the tea. “I like it here. I’m not leaving anytime soon.”
“Honey, there are far better jobs out there for us. Don’t you hate working late and then having to come in early the next morning?”
They divided their shift with two other women who ran the shop. Both of them alternated working days.
“I don’t mind. I’ve got nowhere else to go.” Donna shrugged but offered Lydia a smile.#p#分页标题#e#
“Fine. When I leave I’ll keep in touch, okay?”
Donna nodded even though she knew it wasn’t going to be the truth. No one kept in touch once they left the old job behind.
“I’m going to go and open the shop.” She left Lydia alone to open up the blinds so customers knew they were open. They were in the middle of the city, and they had so many different customers to entertain. There was a red emergency panic button underneath the till that went straight to the police. In her year of working she hadn’t pressed it once.
Lydia spoke to her about the future. After the third time, Donna tuned out of the conversation concentrating on everything but what she had to say. By lunch time she was happy with the silence when Lydia went out to lunch with her current boyfriend. She didn’t ask for introductions and didn’t pay any attention as they left the shop. Sitting behind the desk, she took bites of her sandwich while waiting for customers to enter the store.
There were times when there were long lulls in activity. Not everyone wanted a ring or a gift.
With her lunch finished, she headed toward the back to place her containers in her bag. The bell went, and she turned only to pause when she saw the man from last night.
He closed the door and started looking around the space. When he spotted her, he stopped.
“Hello, Donna.”
How did he remember her name?
“Can I help you?” she asked, rubbing her hands together. Walking behind the counter, she stared at him. He was dressed in a suit again, and she noted his knuckles were still badly bruised. “Did your lady friend not like the bracelet?”
“I imagine my lady friend is pawning that bracelet to get what she can.”
There was no response for her to say.
“Erm, okay. Do you need anything else?” she asked.
“My name’s Caleb.”
What was going on?
His black hair was pushed off his face, but his eyes were still as dark as last night. All of her warning bells were going off like crazy, telling her to stay away from him.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
He kept staring at her. She started to move toward the panic button. Caleb was scaring her.
His gaze followed the movement of her hand. He reached out and stopped her from touching the panic button.
“Don’t,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“You’re scaring me.”
“I want to get to know you.”
“I don’t.”
His fingers banded around her wrists, and she gazed down to see his slightly tanned flesh against her pale skin.
“Can’t I convince you?” he asked.
“I don’t know you.” Why didn’t she shoot him down? Why did she believe that he wasn’t going to hurt her? None of her reactions toward him made any sense.
“Then let me get to know you.”
He wasn’t hurting her. His grip was firm yet not painful. The heat from his body was making her warm inside.
Licking her lips, she glanced down at his touch then back up at him. “Could you please let me go?”
“Don’t touch the panic button and I will.”
“Okay.”
She’d agree to anything if he’d just let her go so she could think. His touch shouldn’t do this to her. Having no control over her reactions unnerved her.
Caleb released her hand. Keeping her palms on the counter in front of her she stared at him.
“Have you heard of the club Ecstasy?”#p#分页标题#e#
“Yes.” She’d heard of it and hated it. Why name a club after a drug? In the back of her mind, she knew the word was also used for something else, too, but she wanted to see the negative more than the positive. It was almost as if he was begging for the cops to come charging down his door.