One Drop of Golden Sun

Ch. 31 Mistakes Were Made

*Ray

Five days until Christmas, on Friday morning after her last final on Thursday, and Ray had never seen the store that busy. The scary part was that it was still early. She had believed Miller when he explained they would be slammed, but now she was living it.

But she wasn't complaining. It kept her mind off of things, and by things she meant what an ass Zach was and how Lokela looked in his fitted, sky-blue tee whose image was so faded, she had no idea what the black letters said. Maybe something about surfing...

Being busy was not helping her forget how it felt to be held by his arms, though. In fact, last week she'd gotten out the vibrator a friend had given her as a graduation gag-gift, and used that puppy. Every night for the last five nights in a row.

With Lokela on her mind, she barely needed the vibrator.

She shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. It was first thing in the morning, but the two of them were already working the floor, plus Miller was in the back going over the books before he would join them in an hour or so.

Snorkel masks, flippers, and rental umbrellas were flying off the shelves.

Miller came out the back, face puzzled. He frowned at Ray. "Can I talk to you for minute?"

"Sure." She held her smile in place, despite the mood-dampening tone of voice he used.

There weren't any problems she couldn't solve. She stepped in the back office.

"Ray, I don't want to accuse you of anything, but there is something off with the numbers for the last couple of months. I couldn't put my finger on it, so I compared work dates with the glitches and they all occur when you are at the counter."

"What kind of glitches?"

"It's weird. The number of rentals for snorkeling gear especially are up, definitely up, but the money we're pulling in should be higher than it is. It looks like there is about a three or four percent difference. Are you...are you pocketing cash payments?"

"No. Never. If someone pocketed cash payments, they wouldn't put the sale in the register, or they would cancel it afterwards," she said.

He shook his head, eyebrows pinched. "Good. I'm glad to see you know how to actually scam the company if you wanted to. So I'm going to ask you this one time—do you have an explanation for the missing amounts?"

"Yes." Her gut clenched. She should have talked to him months ago. She should have mentioned something before giving the discounts. She had no one but herself to blame... "I gave ten percent discounts on snorkel equipment to customers who had a proof of purchase from Naia's smoothie shop, and she did the same for our customers who went there. I wanted to talk to you first. I think this might have been a mistake, but that said, it did drive up our sales overall, you said so yourself. We have been making more money."

"Damn it, Ray!" he shouted. "That's not how it's done! I don't give a flying fuck about the other shops in Waikiki."

"But it's Naia we're talking about. You two spent the night together. This probably saved her company. It's win-win."

He pressed his lips together briefly, struggling with something. "I know perfectly well who she is. This is business, it's nothing personal against her. I have to look out for my family's shop, though. The bottom line is my responsibility. This is unacceptable, Ray."

"I'm really sorry, I meant it for the betterment of everyone. Customers, her and also us. When other shops that aren't in direct competition do well and make people happy, we all do better. When people are happy, they are more likely to spend money. It just makes sense in the long run to work together here on Waikiki. I wanted to prove that. I know I should have asked you first, but—"