Traces of Delilah

Ten

I wanted to speak with the woman at the flower shop, but I didn't know how to approach her. What kind of information could I, a stranger, get out of her without overstepping my boundaries?

There were more than enough thoughts plaguing my mind. Was Damon was ever found, dead or alive? Was he still missing? Even though it's been an entire year since his disappearance. That wasn't something I could just casually bring up.

With a sigh, I forced myself into the sports shop, my feet dragging behind me.

I didn't want to be here. I wouldn't have come here either if it weren't for the fact that I needed to pick up my paycheck. It was the first one I earned since I'd started working here. I needed to treat myself. That'd help take my mind off this for now.

There were three other employees' working the floor and another one near the register, whom I didn't recognize. One of which, wasn't Oliver, but an average-sized man with brown buzz-cut hair. He stood on the other side of the counter, counting money and storing change into the cash registers. Could he have been a new employee too? I had never even seen this guy working here before. Oliver and I were always working the counter.

"Oh, hello. Where's Oliver?" I walked up to the counter, eyeing him closely. When I'd searched for his name tag, I noticed the name Jace was written across it. That name didn't ring a bell at first but I knew I recognized it.

"Today's his day off"—the guy paused as his eyes flicked up studying me—"huh I've never seen you before."

"I just started working here. Um . . . I'm just here to pick up my paycheck."

"Oh!" He snapped his fingers, a smile easing onto his face. "You must be that new employee Thomas told me about then. The one who started working here while I was on vacation."

My eyebrows drew in close together. "Huh?"

"You have no idea who I am, do you?" Now, there was a smirk.

Was I supposed to know who he was? He didn't seem like the most professional nor likable person here. Something about his smirk gave me the feeling he was going to irk me during my time here.

"Chastity, don't waste your time with this one. You'll be here all day if you entertain him. This is Jace. He's the manager." Thomas' voice startled me. "She said she's here to get her paycheck."

"Thomas! Didn't know you'd show up today. It's been a long time." Jace clapped his hands. 

Thomas sent him a look. "Now, Jace." Geez, who pissed him off this morning?

"Okay, okay, I'm going. I'll be back." Jace retreated from the counter with his hands in the air. Thomas and I stood there patiently, waiting for Jace to return. One glance at him and I didn't miss the red claw-like marks running across the edge of his chin. Ouch. Those looked painful.

"Long night?" I questioned.

"What?" Thomas whirled around. "Oh, I guess you could say that."

"You've got a little something there," I said, gesturing to my chin, to show him the spot where the marks were. "What happened to your face?"

"Huh, what are you talking about—oh! This. Oh yeah, no, I know. Julia and I got into a little disagreement yesterday."

My eyes widened. "She hit you?"

"I may have said something that pissed her off." He chuckled. "Eh, it doesn't hurt that much anymore. It's okay though. I'll give her a few days to cool down." This must have been what Delilah meant by toxic. I wasn't sure toxic wasn't a strong enough word to describe Julia and Thomas' relationship.