Josie is a sales associate by day and a lollipop-sucking hacker by night. She likes to stay in and feel the keys underneath her fingertips. When she decides to grace her friends at a club, she stumbles across a man who seems to send every part of he...
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I pop another bite of orange chicken in my mouth, savoring the sweet and tangy sauce. Across the sticky food court table, Reyes is demolishing his chow mein like he hasn't eaten in days.
"Slow down there, Speedy Gonzales. You're gonna choke," I tease, nudging his foot under the table.
He looks up, noodles dangling from his mouth. "Can't help it. This is the highlight of my day."
I arch an eyebrow. "Wow, Footlocker must really suck if mall Chinese food is your peak."
Reyes snorts, nearly inhaling a piece of broccoli. "You have no idea. Today I had a Karen threaten to call corporate because we didn't have the exact shade of pink Nikes she wanted. In a size 2. For her daughter's stuff animal."
I can't help but laugh, almost choking on my soda. As I reach for a napkin, I notice a guy in all back watching us from across the food court. It's been a week since I last saw Kade and Lynn haven't mentioned wanting to go back to club Arrival. If she has been going back, it's been without me, which is perfectly fine, but the thought of her going with Keyshia and Keyshia will be all over Kade. It doesn't sit right with me.
I try to focus on Reyes, who's now ranting about the evils of retail. But my eyes keep darting back to the man in all black. He hasn't moved, hasn't touched his food. Just... observing.
Crap. Time to go.
I don't know if he is one of Kade's men or just some guy upset; he had to be dragged to the mall to shop with a girlfriend or something.
"Hey," I interrupt Reyes mid-sentence. "As much as I would love to piss off, Adam, I have to get back. My lunch break was over five minutes ago." I half-tell the truth, yes my hour lunch was up five minutes ago, but I don't give two shits about actually being late coming back from it. Adam will have to suck it up like he has done countless times before.
Reyes grins, oblivious to my sudden urgency. "I'm surprised Adam hasn't fired you yet."
"Few people want to work at my store. So he's gotta suck it up. As I like to say, he needs me. I don't need him." I scoot my chair back and stand. "Are you going out tonight?" I ask as I slip a lollipop from my pocket and pop it into my mouth. The familiar cherry flavor soothes my nerves.
"Nah, why what's up? You wanna play COD tonight?"
"You already know," I grin back at him, the lollipop clicking against my teeth. "Yeah, I need to shoot some virtual bad guys to de-stress."
We say our goodbyes, and I can't help but throw a glance over my shoulder at the man in black, and he is gone. Shit. Now I'm gonna be paranoid all day. That is the very last thing I want to be. Especially since I have four more hours at work. Thankfully, I'm not closing. I would leave when it's still daylight outside—I mean, if someone wanted to abduct me, it wouldn't matter if it's morning, noon or night, they would get me.
