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Exhaling, I smile. “Thank you, for giving me a chance.”
Waving a bony hand, the elderly woman scoffs. “Please, child, don’t do that. I could smell the deliciousness a mile away and I knew it the minute I walked in here that you were good.”
I chuckle and nod in appreciation. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I finish the sprinkles on the cakes and bag up the rest. I hand it over to the elderly woman and she pays me in crisp, clean dollars, then tips me. Heavily.
Oh, it's my lucky day!
I beam a happy smile. “Thank you for coming once again.”
“Sure. Take care of yourself." She’s about to leave, then turns to me. “Do you offer catering services?”
“Yes, I do. What’s the occasion?”
“Well, my grandson is turning five next month and I’m throwing him something. Do you think you can wing that?”
Without hesitation, I nod. “Absolutely.”
“Alright, I’ll call you.” She look at the store-purchase plastic bag. “Is your work number on this?”
“It is.”
“And your name?”
“Kaylee.”
Damn, I really need to change the store name.
“Okay, Kaylee, I’ll phone you during the week. I’m Evelyn Emory, by the way.”
I recognize the surname immediately. Yup, she’s definitely old money. “Thank you so much, ma’am. Please come again.”
When she leaves, I turn over the Opened sign and lock the door. Pulling down the blinds, I cross the room to sit at my desk. I switch on my computer to Google Jamila Chopra. I’m still smarting from the food court. Jamila’s underlying innuendo and Ian’s casualness honestly have worked me up. Still, I know an old flame when I see one, and from the looks of things, she wants Ian.
Not like I care, anyways.
The search page is taking time to load. Shit. Wi-Fi must be down. Biting my nails, I tap my knee against the side of the desk. Closing my eyes, I lean my head against the headrest. This is stupid. I don’t even care at all, so why am I doing this? But that’s a lie. I do care. I do want to know the women he has known. It doesn’t make me a stalker. It just…puts me ahead of things. Yeah, that’s it. I like to be aware of things. It’s simply human nature.
Or is it just plain jealousy?
I inhale sharply as I deliberate on that. Is this true? Does it count as jealousy? Am I jealous of the women in Ian’s life? I shake my head slightly. No, no, I can’t be. I don’t even care. No way. Am I in love with Ian? Doesn’t jealousy usually arise from loving someone so much that it hurts to see them with another woman? or even sensing that they might have feelings for someone? Maybe.
“Not bothered at all.”
I sit up, ready to shut down my computer and go home. Then my eyes land on the screen. The page is already loaded and the first search result reads, Meet The Caltech Student who Created Fringe: an app designed to lessen the burden for nursing mothers. There’s a picture of him with Jamila, and two men I don’t recognize. His arm is around her, and they’re all smiles. Envy coils around my neck like a twine, and I quickly click off the page.
My finger hovers over the mouse, my eyes focused on the Instagram app on my screen. Quickly, I snatch it up and turn off the computer. No, there’s no way I’m checking out her social media platforms.
Why am I so attracted to Ian? Now, I’m even daydreaming intense sex with him and checking out old flames of his. In a bid to distract myself, I set out to clean the shop.
Chapter Fourteen: Ian
I weave my way through the arena seats and locate one in the fourth row. Perfect. It’ll give me a good view of the speaker. A blonde-haired woman holding a microphone comes up to the dais to say, “Please let’s get seated, people. We’ll be getting started soon.”
When the audience’ chatter has quietened down, she continues, “Welcome to the third day of our Innovative Minds conference. My name is Patty Morgan, and I’m the moderator of today’s session. We have a very special guest. He’s an alumni of the Terry College of Business, a two-time AGEUS award winner, a collegiate professor at the Wharton School of Business, a labor representative of the United States Chamber of Commerce, as well as our very own beloved native. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome for our keynote speaker, Barrett Andrews.”
