The Jump

6 Day To Day

Over a month had gone by and Lucinda was doing well with saving money. Customers had really taken a liking to her and tipped her well. Although she did notice that there was a select few who would ignore her. It was usually the women who flirted with Raif or the older men who were stubborn in their ways and didn't trust that the 'new girl' would know how to make their 'usual'.

Other than that, Lucinda really enjoyed working at the Barrel Wave and was able to help Raif get caught up with his bookkeeping. In fact, she was able to get him reimbursed on back orders that he never received. With a huge, prideful grin, she slapped down a reimbursement check in front of Raif as he sat in his office. He lifted the check and began reading it over while saying the amount quietly to himself. Then he said it louder, the disbelief still in his tone.

"You can thank me later." Lucinda smiled and as she began turning to leave, he sprang up from his chair and pulled her back to him.

"Four hundred dollars!" He exclaimed as her body thudded into him. "How?"

"Easy." She shrugged, suddenly grinning like a fool. "You've been waiting over four months for those orders and in their company policy it says that if your back order exceeds three months, then you get reimbursed."

"Really? Why didn't I know this..."

"Cause you're too busy to read the fine print." She smiled up at him. "Aren't you glad you hired me, after all?"

"Glad?" He asked as he quickly bent his knees to wrap his arms around her. Next thing Lucinda knew, Raif was lifting her off of the ground and she let out a little squeak as he raised her into the air. "I'm ecstatic!"

He spun her around so fast that the office blurred and despite being caught off guard, she felt butterflies in her stomach, even a bit of disappointment when he set her back down. She smoothed down her hair, trying to hide the blush in her cheeks, but his hands were too fast as he lifted her chin so he could look her in the eyes.

"You've made my day, Lucinda." He motioned over his desk. "Here I was trying to figure out how the heck I was going to afford the repairs for the deli cooler and now you've solved the problem for me."

He kissed the top of her head and that zing of flutters past through her again. For the rest of the week Lucinda tried to push the memory of it away, but every time she thought back on his reaction she could still feel his strong arms around her. Her flesh would instantly tingle, but the last thing Lucinda wanted was to get hurt again or to become distracted from her goal of happiness. She needed to keep her eyes on the prize, except it wasn't always so simple. Raif was just so pleasant to be around. He was nice, funny, considerate, appreciative, patient and his smile was contagious... oh boy was it contagious!

Sometimes Lucinda stayed up at night, laying in bed going over the events of that day and would find herself smiling just at the memory of him smiling. It was so honest, especially the way he looked her in the eyes, as if they really were windows to her soul. Like the day she was walking over to the soup station and somehow slipped, landing right on her bottom with feet in the air. Raif was immediately by her side and lifting her up by the armpits to get her to her feet. He stared so deeply into her eyes as he asked if she was ok, and it took her a moment to realize that she had gone completely mute with how hypnotizing his gaze was. Then with an embarrassed blush, she replied she was fine and wiggled out of his grasp.

He was overwhelming at times, so she often avoided his intense gaze, convincing herself that dodging his eyes would help her keep her goals on track. So far the money she was making was enough to cover her living expenses, which was great because it meant she didn't have to touch her savings account. The only downside was that her savings account wasn't growing. She needed it to grow so she could hopefully put a deposit down on a studio to start her flower shop. Eventually she could even build up to something bigger like a storefront.