Page 14 of I Saw You First

“Who’s here?” He doesn’t look up from scanning in a drop shipment of CDs. “You need these Alanis Morissette CDs, right?”

“Yeah, but that’s not important right now. You’re never going to believe this, but that woman from last night? She was here and she applied for a job as a media specialist, and Jeremy hired her. I think she’s the one. I think she’s the person who can pull the department out of this slump.”

Sam sets down his scanner and swivels his chair to look at me, eyes wide. “No way. Are you sure it’s her?”

“One-hundred percent sure.”

“Okay, that’s uncanny, but what do you mean, she’s the one?”

I sit in Eric’s chair, which is typically empty because he’s always somewhere in the bowels of the warehouse or helping customers with carry-outs and shooting the shit with Donnie at the front door.

“She’s the one who’s going to save my ass on the next merch eval. Mr. Wilshire wanted me to poach someone from another store. We hired her instead.”

“How did you find her?”

“I didn’t. She found us.”

Sam shakes his head. “I’m so confused.”

“I wasn’t sure it was her at first. But when she came up to the front lanes, I knew. I knew it was her. Same purple lipstick, same hair.”

“Purple lipstick?”

“Well, maybe not purple, but this deep purplish-red. I don’t know, what do you call that? Plum? Maroon?”

“Nah, maroon is more red than purple.”

“Plum, then. And goddamn, those eyes. They do things to me.”

“What the hell, Wil? Do you want her to work in the media department, or do you want to bang her?”

I huff out a laugh. No. No, even if I wanted to have sex with her—and believe me, last night I totally would have if things had worked out the way I imagine they might’ve—today, she’s off limits. Maybe it’s a good thing that we left when we did. Abbey might never have walked through those doors today if I’d gone home with her. She’s got a broad taste in music—I’ll give her a pass on the Mellencamp, who’s not my favorite, although I can see the appeal with Farm Aid—and she’s going to be perfect for the job.

“Earth to Wil.” Sam grins. “Still thinking about banging her?”

“Shut up.”

“Does she have a lot of retail experience, then?”

“No, she’s a journalist.”

He laughs. “Why does she want to work here?”

“Layoff. She worked at Mr. Movies in high school.”

“A video rental place is not the same as the complicated world of entertainment media at Hometown Electronics, Jaws.”

“I know that.”

“So why do you think she’s going to save you?”

“I’m sure this will sound uncharacteristically optimistic of me… but I can’t explain it. I just know.”

Sam snorts. “I know that you can trust your gut. It’s hardly ever steered you wrong, except for, you know, those four years with Candy, and the time at the Dig Me Under concert when you⁠—”

I cut him off. “Shut up. Never bring that up again. Or Candy, for that matter.”

“Anyway,” he continues, “your dad is going to think you’ve lost your marbles, thinking this girl who has no real retail experience is going to save the department and/or keep your career out of the toilet.”