Page 29 of Trust Fall
She took her earphones out before entering the shop. Toni smiled at her as she arrived, and Oliver had his back turned while working through an order for a customer, so she managed to make it through to her office as she’d planned.
She got herself set back up at the computer and double-checked the staff training slots were booked correctly. Fresh eyes caught a mistake that wouldn’t have caused any major issue, but she was glad to have taken the break and caught it anyway. She went through the training slides and made some adjustments after speaking with Lucas about some of the designs which needed altering for the foam art section. After sending theupdated slides to the printing company they used and placing an order for a dozen updated booklets, she decided to take the next hour to look at properties before heading home.
She hadn’t realized the sheer variety of commercial spaces that were available. She knew the layout of all their shops and had an idea of the size she would be looking for, but nothing quite seemed to fit what she was looking for. She remembered the difficulties they had run into when opening the first shop, trying to get the aesthetic they had planned, and she wasn’t sure how easy or difficult it had been for the additional shops as Lucas had found all of those. This one would be entirely on her.
Nine property reviews later, and none of them ticked as many of the boxes as she’d hoped for. She knew there wouldn’t be one that would be walk-in-ready, but those she’d found would have taken far too much work to get right for it to be worth taking on.
Slightly more disheartened after another failed search, she shut the computer off. Her phone pinged. Her stomach fluttered, and suddenly she wasn’t disheartened any more as she saw Cleo’s name flash on her screen. She burst out laughing when the message opened to display a photo of Cleo’s face on a superhero, with the caption “Wait, you said NO power suit, right? ;)"
Ivy:Cute, very cute. See you in a few hours :)
Chapter 27
Cleo
“Can you play nice and help me with something super quick?” Cleo asked her sister on a video call.
“Well now, that depends,” Jade replied with a wide grin.
“On what?” Cleo asked dubiously.
“On what I get out of it.” Cleo didn’t think it was possible for Jade’s grin to get any wider.
Cleo narrowed her eyes. “Knowing that I won’t tell Mom and Dad about your tattoos.”
“Fine, but you can’t use thateverytime.” Jade huffed. “How may I help you today?”
“What kind of clothes are between jeans and a work suit?” Cleo asked. She knew how to dress for work, and she knew how to dress for comfort, but she’d never been great at knowing what to wear on dates.
“OK, so what I’m hearing is, you’ve got another hot date with your barista, and you’ve come to your awesome sister who has better fashion sense and more dating experience than you? Is that about, right?” Jade raised an eyebrow, and her grin was back with a vengeance.
“Somewhat. I wore jeans, boots, and a sweater when we went out on Sunday. She knows I wear suits for work. All she’ll tell me about tonight is that I’ve to dress a little less casual than the weekend but not a full suit. What does that mean?” Cleo looked over her phone at the contents of her open wardrobe.
“Well, with what she’s told you, I’d go for jeans, heels, and the green sleeveless silk top with that rockin’ new green military coat you wore on Friday. I mean, she clearly likes that one as she gave you her number when you were wearing it!” Jade laughed.
“For the love of, will you please stop?! I’m stressed out enough getting ready for tonight without you adding to it with your jibes too.” Cleo walked over to her wardrobe and removed the top Jade had mentioned. She lifted it up in front of herself. “Is this the one you mean?”
“Yes, that one, and the dark jeans that hug those glutes you’ve worked so hard for and your green heels the same color as that top. You’re welcome.”
Cleo tried to glare at her sister, but the smile wouldn’t stay hidden. “Thanks, I guess. Now, I'm going to go and get ready, and I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Go get her, tiger! I expect a full run down tomorrow night, or else I’m not going to play nice until you do.” Pulling a face that could only be described as the wink emoji with the tongue stuck out, Jade hung up before Cleo could retaliate.
Half an hour later, Cleo was changed and had selected a few pieces of jewelry: small diamond stud earrings, a single diamond drop necklace, and a few rings on various fingers. She sprayed her favorite perfume into the air and walked through it, not wanting it to be too strong, just as she always did.
She had decided to leave her hair as it was from this morning to keep it out of her face. Deciding to wear minimal makeup, she went for some dark green and brown smoky eyes with a light brush of neutral lipstick. Then decided against the lipstick and wiped it off to replace it with a simple lip balm instead.
She checked herself in the full-length mirror in her hallway before putting on the coat Jade had suggested, then headed out.
Cleo stood outside the old bookshop that Ivy had suggested as their place to meet. The street was busy with cars, and the path was lit in the area, but as the shop was closed and the windows covered on the inside, Cleo wondered why Ivy had picked this location to meet.
“Hey you,” Ivy’s bright voice carried over the traffic from the street.
Cleo turned and her breath caught at the sight of Ivy. Her blonde hair was French braided at one side in a Viking style and hanging loose on the other. She wore a fitted light grey coat, jeans, and heeled boots. While there wasn’t a great deal of light,Cleo could make out the sparkle in her eyes as she drew up closer.
Cleo knew she was staring; she couldn’t help it. Once Ivy was standing in front of her, she finally managed to gather her wits. “Hey yourself,” Cleo said softly, as she reached for Ivy’s hand then stepped closer and kissed her cheek.
“Sorry, I didn’t, was that, ok?” Cleo worried, her brows furrowed.
