Page 8 of Always Be My Baby

“I’m not buying crotchless panties,” I whisper-yelled at her through clenched teeth, swiping them out of her hand when a woman and her little girl passed by us.

I felt my face light on fire when I heard the little girl ask her mother, “Mommy, what does crotchless mean?” The mother glared at me while scurrying her daughter to the other side of the store.

“Then you shouldn’t have brought her in here if you’re that worried about it,” Lena called after the woman.

“Oh my god.” I grabbed her arm. “Stop. You’re going to get us shot in the parking lot one of these days.”

“We’re not getting shot. A bad customer review at the restaurant, possibly, if they recognized us.”

“I go out of business you lose your job and that snazzy pay raise.”

“Point taken. C’mon. Let’s turn you into a package that sexy chef of yours can’t resist unwrapping.” And that was exactly what we did, finding new bras and panties along with a couple of really cute, really short, really expensive nighties.

From there, we updated my work attire, finding cute, stylish trousers without pleats. We updated my button-downs with more stylish three-quarter sleeves, folded cuffs. Pearl buttons and darts to show I actually had a waist. I looked stylish and professional.

And please, who knew cute, comfortable work shoes even existed? I found a pair of wedge booties with air pockets in the wedge to help with back comfort and memory foam for happy feet. So long, frumpy Lee. There was a brand new sexy, professional work world just waiting for me to embrace it. I opened my arms up wide.

For our last stop of the evening, Lena dragged me into Sephora, where we found all these products I just had to have, according to her and the pretty, petite saleswoman with such flawlessly applied makeup I’d swear in a court of law that she had to have graduated with honors from an Ivy League Makeup University, trying to goad me into buying five hundred dollars’ worth of cosmetics and brushes.

By the time we left, I had a makeover tutorial and she sent me home with a face chart with all the steps and tips to make me as beautiful as she did.

Now, if I could recreate it, Girard was about to get a hot mama for a girlfriend.

Fingers crossed.

Girard

We ended up having a late start this morning and not the fun kind. The furnace went out and as Lena’s the new assistant manager, Lee called her to explain the situation, that she had a morning of looking for HVAC repairmen, while sending me off to work. Lena seemed more than willing to put her training to use for the morning.

Lee had gotten a guy to come look at it. One thing about owning her own business, she was a shrewd negotiator. But when her terms were coming at you, even over the phone, in that throaty voice of hers, even if you were booked up solid for a month straight, you suddenly found room in your schedule. They could hope, but she was all mine.

Dinner preparations were in full swing. For one of this week’s specials, we served a French stew of white beans with sausage and wine—most recipes simply used chicken stock but we wouldn’t be The Bell Jar if we did. I’d forever been a fan of the bright finish the gruner I used offered. Dry with a citrusy pop. We packed the dish full of herbs. It was our unique take on a cassoulet. The kitchen smelled amazing. Judging by lunch service, customers were going crazy over it, and considering that I needed to pay to fix a furnace—keep those orders coming.

While I had the chance, I called the meeting with the servers to discuss any menu changes over the wireless now that our lead server and hostess’s earpieces had come in. When I walked out to the dining room, Serena stood at the server station, probably reorganizing the table numbers. “I need everybody for dinner service meeting,” she called to her busy co-workers.

As we waited for them to gather, Serena and I fell into casual conversation. “How are those big getaway plans going?” she asked me.

“You should see the place I booked. The woman’s never been on a vacation before. So this not only gets us away for a couple of days, but hopefully, it’ll show her the world won’t fall apart if she takes some time to enjoy herself.”

“That’s totally sweet,” she said, laying her hand on my arm. “Lee’s lucky to have you. I just got walking papers from my man. He lives over in Garnet and broke up with me by informing me that the other woman he’s been sleeping with, that I had no idea about as we were supposed to be exclusive, is pregnant with his kid and he wants to make it work with her.”

“Oh,shit. That’s rough. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, happy freaking Valentine’s Day to me.” She sighed. “But you can’t make someone love you if they don’t. I wish them all the happiness a cheater deserves.”

The front door opened, drawing my attention. Marilee walked in andholy hell—she was always gorgeous before, but whatever she’d done to herself today, it took my breath away.

“Just a second,” I said to Serena, then I darted over to greet Lee with a kiss. “Sweetheart… you look amazing. Something different with your hair?”

She smiled. “New makeup. I didn’t think you’d notice.”

“Woman, I notice everything about you.” I leaned in to press a kiss to her cheek. “The furnace guy show?”

“Yup.”

“How long before it’ll be fixed?”

“It’s heating the house as we speak, and for a hundred and fifty dollars less than he initially quoted.”

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