Cuffing Season

TWO

TWO

I leaned back in my desk chair with a huge sigh of relief. All the projects that were due today were completed and sent out to the clients. I was worried that certain things wouldn't get done in time, but with my encouragement towards people on the design team, everything was done and done properly. 

I looked at the calendar on my phone to see what things I had coming up. Meetings with Sandra, more projects due, and my birthday dinner with my family. That was one thing I was not looking forward to. In fact, since my birthday was near the beginning of the holiday season, it felt as if sometimes my birthday was considered a holiday itself. At least that's how my family treated it. 

My mom would plan a huge dinner at the house, and invite anybody that'd be willing to attend. I've managed to deal with it for years, but I didn't know how I was going to handle it this year. My parents were expecting me to show up with me hand-in-hand with a date. Of course, the guy I showed up with had to be a man they'd approve of. 

I had no idea what I was going to do. There was no way in hell I could find a boyfriend in a day. I also didn't have the time to commit to a guy after this dinner was over. I just needed a fake-boyfriend for the night. It couldn't be anyone my family already knew either, knowing them they wouldn't leave the poor guy alone whether I was with him or not. 

A door was slammed closed behind me, bringing me out of my thoughts. "I need you to run an errand for me, please," Sandra announced as she walked over to me with something in her hands. 

"Hm?" I sat up obediently in my seat. 

"This envelope contains a preview for the new logo for Marshall's hardware store." She explained setting the manilla envelope on my desk. "The old man doesn't do email so I need you to physically go to his shop and show him," Sandra said with a hint of annoyance. "Get his thoughts on it and we'll make any adjustments on it that we need to. Can you do that?" 

"Yes, ma'am." I didn't question her as I grabbed my purse and the envelope. She smiled at me, "Thanks, Cordelia." Sandra retreated back into her office. I got up from my desk and started to leave. Marshall's hardware store wasn't that far, so I didn't mind. Plus it was nice to be able to leave the office for a few minutes. Even though I loved working at the place, I also sometimes got bored just sitting there waiting for someone to tell me what to do. 

I made it to my car and took the short drive to the hardware store, it was only about five minutes away. It was nice that the town was small, everything was pretty close. When I turned into the small parking lot there were only a few other vehicles there. I recognized Marshall's decently new looking white truck and an old truck that looked far too familiar. 

I raised a brow at it, wondering if it belonged to who I thought it did. It had been a couple days since the whole thing at the grocery store with Franco, I hadn't seen him around since. It seemed strange to me if he was still here since then. I got out of my car too eagerly to see if I was right about him still being here. If he was, what was he doing at the hardware store? 

As I approached the small building I glanced up at the old, out-dated sign that advertised the store. It was a good thing we were helping Marshall upgrade. I held the envelope in my hand tightly as I walked in. The old door squeaked with it being forcefully pushed opened and slowly closing behind me. It was pretty quiet in the store, other than the distinct noises of items being sorted through and stocked on the shelves. 

"No, boy, don't put it on the shelf like that! You gotta space them out more!" A cranky man's voice suddenly filled the store. "Ugh, just step aside! Let me show you," Marshall grumbled from between two aisles.