Page 13 of Semi Sweet
Evan finally turned to look before Bruce raised his arms in defeat and walked away. "See, if you were anywhere else, no one would be nosy."
Once again Evan lived in a dream world. People were nosy because of what his name was, what we were supposed to be.
"Just don't...like please, enough already."
Evan chuckled and leaned down and kissed the top of my head. "I know you've been mad at me." The gesture was one he would take out in a weak attempt to solace me. It was something he'd started doing once he'd become a corporate guy.
People were talking about you again because I made Russel switch you with someone so you could go to my parents’ anniversary party? Here, have a hair kiss. You wanted sushi, but I'm demanding tacos for the fourth time this month? A peck on the head.
It was the closest I would get to an apology, but in a classy, sophisticated way that wouldn't tarnish his corporate image, especially when we were in public. I hated it. It just brought further attention to the fact that we never did anything cute like couples were supposed to, even behind closed doors.
"Someday you'll see," he whispered. "All of these stuffy rules and guidelines will be worth it when we're loaded. We'll have the world."
Sometimes when he spoke like that it reminded me of who he used to be. A boy with dreams. I peered up at him. "Okay."
"No class tonight, right?"
I shook my head. "I'll be home after six."
"Looking forward to it." Then he headed to the deli to take care of whatever business he had. I tried to relocate my motivation to get ready for my shift in forty-five minutes. My mind kept wandering back toward my fiancé, my destiny, my life.
I'd been so upset and desperate after the writing contest incident, I'd considered calling my father. The fact that I was ready to take that avenue meant things with Evan had reached a new level of dysfunctional. My father wouldn't want me to suffer in an unhealthy relationship, would he? I figured if I told him how dumb and sorry I was, maybe he'd forgive me and let me come home. In the end, I'd been too afraid to even try. The fear of what I'd do if he said no was crippling, almost as crippling as being scolded in front of a store full of people.
There was a silver lining as I admitted defeat on my paper I was almost finished with. I was nearly done with grad school. I could find a new job and maybe if things got bad again, I could find a new place to live. That, and I hadn't heard back from the internship yet. I figured no news was good news.
As I switched to the other tab, the one housing a draft of my current work in progress, I surmised that Evan probably wouldn't let me go without a fight. Just like reaching out to my father, I hoped it would not come to that.
My life had become even more pathetic and sobering, but it didn't stop me from working on the manuscript until it was time for me to pack everything up in my floral backpack and change. I left the cafe, walking past the bakery department where several employees were watching me as I passed.
I knew they were much kinder than other people in the store, but they all seemed overly interested in me as of late.I didn't know if it was because of the drama in my life, the cupcake conspiracy I was a part of, or some combination of the two. I saluted the clerks quickly as I walked towards the employees only door and almost smiled when they broke apart and started busying themselves.
***
"Sir, do you know who you are sending this money to?"
"Um, yeah. I tell you every week that it's for my girlfriend in Zimbabwe," the skinny middle-aged man heaved an irritated sigh at me as he always did when he wired money to someone named Betty McBurney, who supposedly lived in Harare.
I pulled the suspicious activity pamphlet from a drawer and began to recite. "When you wire money, you often don't know if it's a scam until it is too late. Scams are a common way that criminals try to steal your money."
"They don't give me any trouble when I do this at Save and Go," the man snapped.
The rival grocery store chain was always open longer, had better sales, and did things that Cash Value Market didn't. I wasn't allowed to tell him that I didn't believe that, or if he truly felt that way that he should do his shopping at Save and Go and never come back.
Instead, I continued to read from the pamphlet. "Foreign lotteries, loved ones suddenly and strangely incarcerated, and fake relationships are just a few examples of how criminals can take advantage of you or someone you love."
The man grabbed his form off the counter with a dramatic flourish. "This isn't over! I'll be back!"
I continued to read the pamphlet until the man was walking towards the exit and out of earshot. I couldn't help but laugh, not necessarily at the man, but that sometimes my life seemed like it was in a strange loop. If it wasn't the fake fiancé man then it was the superstitious lotto lady, week after week.
"What's so funny?"
I looked up to see Evan by the door to the courtesy desk with his coat in his hand. I held in the jump that wanted to come out at the sight of him. I swore he was part ghost with how he seemed to appear out of thin air.
"Nothing." He would scold me for messing with a customer, even if I was following store policy. "Just chatting with a customer a minute ago. He always comes in with corny dad jokes."
Evan rolled his eyes like he didn't have time to interact with customers anymore. He was too busy creeping out his employees and attempting to catch their mistakes. "I just told Russel to send you on break."
I really wished that he would stop doing that. I saw the girl coming in to cover me roll her eyes as she saw Evan standing there.
