Lex straightened her blouse and glanced down at her badge. It said ‘store manager trainee’ now, instead of just ‘trainee.’ She had corrected the title with a black pen. She was pretty satisfied with the result.
If Mary had noticed Lex’s title tweak, she had chosen not to comment on it. Then again, they had hardly spoken since their fight. They had both avoided each other in every way possible.
It was already Friday and Lex welcomed the upcoming weekend. Two days away from the store and its team would be a much-needed break from the complicated situation she was in. What came afterward, was a whole other story, of course.
Hannah had insisted Lex would join Mary on a trip to Washington next week. Lex suspected her scheming cousin had left Mary little choice too. She doubted Hannah had been as blunt as she had been with her, though.
And so Lex would be stuck with Mary for five whole days. They were leaving on Monday morning and wouldn’t return until Friday afternoon. Hannah’s assistant, Suzy, had sent Lex train tickets, hotel reservations and a detailed schedule.
Lex grimaced every time she pictured herself in the same room as Mary. Or the same train. The same restaurant! Now that avoiding each other was no longer an option, they were bound to start arguing again, she reckoned.
The doors of the store slid open with their usual whoosh, pulling Lex from her thoughts. She spotted an elderly woman limping into the store and hurried over.
“Good morning,” she said in the honeyed tone she had been instructed to use.
“Morning,” the old woman replied, glancing around. Her hair looked like it could use a new perm.
“Can I help you?” Lex asked.
Sad, brown eyes looked up at her from behind silver, thin-rimmed glasses.
“I want to buy my daughter a gift,” the woman explained. “She loves your chocolate.”
Lex forced herself to smile. “Any favorites you know of?”
“No, sorry. I don’t know,” she sighed.
A profound sadness was emanating from the woman, Lex noticed, and it made her chest ache a little. She couldn’t help but wanting to fix things for her.
“Okay, no problem,” she said, presenting her arm for the woman to hold onto. “We will find the perfect thing anyway.”
The woman’s lips curved up slightly. Her delicate fingers curled around Lex’s arm as they shuffled in the direction of the tables with the gift boxes.
“Any special occasion I should take into consideration?” Lex asked.
“Not a good one,” the woman croaked.
Lex glanced at her. Her eyes were filling with tears, Lex saw in alarm.
“My daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer yesterday.”
Lex’s lips parted. “Oh no,” she uttered. “I’m so sorry, ma’am.” They had stopped walking.
The lady pressed her lips together. Lex felt her own eyes starting to glisten with tears. Something about this woman’s pain hit her like a punch in the gut. They stood there, holding each other’s gazes, for ten long seconds.
The woman suddenly nodded and said, “She will beat this.”
Lex covered her hand. “Yes.”
The woman sniffled and continued, “And I am going to lift her spirits with a small gift every week. That’s my plan.”
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Lex said, her throat tight.
“Then help me choose my first gift, dear.”
“It would be my honor,” Lex stammered, goosebumps on her arm.
She got a warm smile in return.
“Okay,” Lex nodded, pointing at a table to their left. “How about a mixed gift box? I actually think we just got some new spring-themed ones!”
“That might be just what I’m looking for!” the woman beamed.
Lex looked around, scratching her hair and trying to remember where she had seen the new boxes. She scanned the walls and the tables, but couldn’t locate them.
“Hmm,” she muttered, “They might still be in the back.”
“Oh,” the lady said, squeezing Lex’s arm. “That’s okay. I’m sure we can …”
“No, no,” Lex interrupted her. She was convinced the spring-themed collection was perfect for this customer. “Let me go check if I can get you one anyway, okay?”
“You would do that for me?” the lady asked, folding her hands above her heart.
“Of course,” Lex replied, feeling much lighter all of a sudden. “That’s what I’m here for, ma’am.”
****
Lex had grabbed her carry-on and thrown it onto the bed. Now, she was placing her neatly folded underwear in the suitcase. It was only Saturday afternoon, she didn’t *have* to pack yet, but she simply had nothing better to do.
After a long day at the store yesterday, Lex had spent her Friday evening listing more questions for Mary to answer. Helping the elderly lady find a gift had made Lex wonder about the seasonal and the special-occasions collections.
She had come up with several questions that would pleasantly surprise Mary, she thought. She had sent the email around midnight, feeling excited about it, and had gone to bed afterward.
In the morning, Lex had checked her email immediately, looking forward to what Mary would have to say. But there had been no message from Mary. After browsing Facebook for over an hour, she had rechecked. Still nothing.
So Lex had read the business news. Then some gossip. She had even spotted a short article about Hannah and Milly and that always made her grin. After two more hours, and still no email from Mary, she had slammed her laptop shut.
The thing was, without something to work on, Lex felt utterly lost. She had almost wished she had to go to work today. The store was open after all. But staff schedules were set weeks in advance and she wasn’t included yet.
She also didn’t have any plans to meet with friends. Not that she had many left after losing her job. The whole weekend felt like a big void, and to fill it up she had started packing.
Lex opened her closet and moved several of the blouses out of the way. She was looking for clothes that didn’t wrinkle too easily. She didn’t want to bother with the hotel dry cleaning service in Washington.
She was thinking about the trip almost non-stop now. Actually, if she was honest, she was mostly thinking about Mary Alexander. And it was driving her insane. She didn’t understand why the shop manager kept popping up in her thoughts.
At first, Lex had blamed it on waiting for the email. It was reasonable to wonder what Mary was doing instead of responding to her emails, right? But soon after, Lex had caught herself replaying conversations she had had with Mary.
Not that they had had many interactions in the last few days, of course. Most of their communication from the previous days had been through email. This had suited Lex fine. But now she felt uneasy about it.
She still hadn’t apologized to Mary. She wasn’t proud of it. Lex had actually vowed to make things right the night of the fight. But once she had been back at the store, standing in the hallway of Mary’s office, she had cowered.
Apologizing didn’t come naturally to Lex. She was taught by her father to never *ever*show weakness. And wasn’t apologizing just that? Except, she had to admit she was already in a weak spot.
Lex sat down on the bed, fluffing her pillow out of habit. She got a knot in her stomach every time she thought about the situation she had put herself in this week.
Mary basically had Lex’s future in her hands. She could still tell Hannah about their fight. She could still decide to quit. Or had she said things she regretted too? Lex was at a loss about what Mary was thinking.
In a way, Mary had been very patient with her. Lex saw that now. Despite her stubborn nature, Mary was much kinder and more thoughtful than Lex would ever be in her position.
Mary was different in so many ways. Her outfits, for starters. The store manager usually wore jeans, light or dark, and a company blouse. There was nothing special about her clothes and yet Mary always looked great in them. Not in a commanding or even a powerful way. No, Mary oozed confidence in her own, casual way. Mary’s team and the customers clearly respected her. The woman didn’t need a power suit. It was very …
“Stop obsessing!” Lex told herself out loud, pushing herself off of the bed. She placed her hands on her sides and shook her head. She had completely lost control over her thoughts. She was truly out of balance.
“I need to sort myself out,” Lex decided. She abandoned her suitcase and opened another closet. She found her gym outfit and barged into the bathroom. After freshening up and a change of clothes, she was ready to go.
Lex passed her home office on her way out. The laptop was still on the desk. So was her smartphone.
“Don’t check your email,” she told herself. “You’re done waiting for this woman to do her job.”
Her fingertips brushed over the laptop as she reached for her phone. “It’ll only take a second,” she thought and opened the computer after all. Her inbox popped up and the little loading circle started doing its thing.
Lex held her breath while she waited. A new line popped up at the top of her list with messages. She quickly read the sender’s name and topic. It was Suzy with some extra information about the event in Washington. Lex cursed out loud and slammed the laptop shut again.
She hurried out of the room, grabbed her gym bag and left the apartment. A long and strenuous workout would be the best way to get her to focus again. She hadn’t been to the gym since losing her job, so it was long overdue.
“Maybe I’ll even check if there’s a yoga class today,” she thought, and then snorted. There was no way in hell Lex would ever do yoga. Just no way.