Page 88 of Emergency Exit
“OK, I know this is a little weird, but it does come with IT assistance, and I’ve got someone who will sew them all in.”
Harper stared in bemusement at the strange pile of fabric tags in the box. They were all printed with QR codes.
“What are they?” she asked.
“They’re clothing tags! You put them into your clothes and then simply scan them with your phone, and it auto-updates an online clothing tracker. I had Mel make me a program!”
“Ohhhh,” gasped Harper in awe. “That would save me so much time and no double entry!”
“Yes! There is some initial set up because you have to connect each tag to a clothing item, but Romeo has people who will help, and he swears they can be done in an hour once the tags are in the clothes. And they can go on hems or other places that aren’t scratchy.”
“That is absolute genius!” Harper paused and considered. “I’m probably weird about my clothes, aren’t I? That’s one of the things you meant about pretending we’re normal. Normal people probably don’t invest this much time into their outfit choices and clothing rotation.”
“I mean… most people probably don’t, but if it makes you feel confident, then it’s OK.”
Ash had thought about how to make her life easier and didn’t judge her because she wasn’t normal. Harper didn’t think she’d ever felt so seen.
“You have more boxes,” she said. “You can’t possibly top this one. How can there be more boxes?”
“I bought you jewelry and a staple gun. You complained about that one at Piper’s house last week for some reason.”
“It was a piece of shit!”
“Well, they said this one was top of the line.”
“Yay!” exclaimed Harper, grabbing the box she hoped was a staple gun.
“I was going to buy you a car,” said Ash, reflectively, as she tore into the paper. She looked up at him, startled. “But Mom thought you would freak out.”
“I would freak out.”
“Oh, well, good thing I didn’t.”
Harper shook her head as she pulled out a small velvet box. It contained large diamond studs, which she promptly put in her ears.
“Those have insurance,” said Ash. “You can lose them. No one will get mad. Or out you on social media.”
“Well, since no one is ambushing me with a Jumbotron, I’m not going to lose them,” said Harper, and Ash chuckled. Harper twisted the earrings until they felt comfortable and wondered what Cooper had been thinking. He was conservative about money and always got the extended warranty. It was hard to picture Coopernotgetting a policy on the ring. Harper tucked the thought away for later consideration and tore the paper on the next box.
“Ah!” Harper extricated the staple gun from the box. “It’s the Stanley! This one also does nail brads! Oh, you are the bestboyfriend ever!”
Harper crawled over to Ash and threw her arms around his neck.
It had been weeks, and Harper supposed she should be used to the thrill of kissing Ash, but she really hadn’t. The feeling of his breath and skin gave her a warm glow, and the taste of his lips was now familiar, but somehow, the familiarity only made her happier.
“Mmm,” murmured Ash. “I don’t suppose I can have all your pants now?”
“I’m not wearing any pants,” said Harper happily. Her Christmas was going so well. “I’m wearing the negligée you put in my bath basket.”
“My Christmas is going so well,” said Ash, sounding shocked, and Harper giggled.
“It’s about to get even better,” said Harper, standing up and heading for the bedroom.
“Oh, fuck yeah, it is,” said Ash following her with a laugh.
28
Ash
