18
Lauren
In the month to follow, Isaac had stayed true to his word. He made sure each and every day to show me how much he loved me and to earn my trust back. He sent me flowers at work daily, called me every hour on the hour, and even gave me his access to his bank account information. While I felt like my checking his bank account was some type of personal intrusion, just the act alone told me I could trust him.
With Marco in jail and everything with us back to normal, my world seemed like it was finally back to normal. We had even started planning for our wedding again and I was back to wearing my engagement ring.
Cole, Isaac, Jagger, and Smalls had even made up and we were all back to hanging out again like nothing had ever happened.
“What are you thinking about?” Melanie asked as she waved her hand in front of my face.
I was stationed at the cash register at the boutique and was so lost in my thoughts I hadn’t even seen her come in.
I shook my head to try and regain my focus. Smiling, I glanced around to make sure no one else saw my daydreaming. That wouldn’t look good for my recommendation for management.
“You forgot I was coming in today, didn’t you?” Melanie asked as she giggled.
She was also aware that Isaac had been spending a lot of time lately getting back into the swing of things and that meant extra time in the bedroom.
Lying, I smiled back at her. “No, I didn’t forget. I was just thinking,” I admitted.
“Sure, you were just thinking about Isaac,” she said as she playfully nudged my arm.
“Kinda,” I blushed. “That doesn’t matter. We need to get you some new work clothes,” I said as I clapped my hands together and walked around the counter.
Melanie had come to me a week ago and said her boss was giving her an incredible promotion to head editor at the publishing company where she worked. This had been her dream forever. There was a time when I thought she was going to give up on her dreams. Melanie’s dream had been to move to California and work in a publishing house there. However, after meeting and falling in love with Cole, that dream changed. Thankfully, she had an amazing employer who saw her talents and gave her the dream job she wanted and more.
Now, it was my time to make sure she looked her part.
Following me through the store like a lost puppy, Melanie watched as I pulled several tops and skirts and dress pants off the racks and began piling them into a dressing room for her. I had always had a touch for style, I had studied fashion magazines as a little girl and knew that when I grew up, I wanted my hobby of shopping and looking sexy to become my career.
Shoving Melanie inside the dressing room, I began playing dress up like she was my own personal doll. We spent two hours fitting her in pencil skirts with silky tops, dress pants with a sexy button-down tops, and dresses that hugged her curves perfectly but were long enough in length to be appropriate for the workplace. When we were finished, Melanie had a completely new wardrobe and a sexy little lingerie piece I was sure Cole would enjoy seeing later.
“Thank you again for playing dress up with me,” Mel teased as she grabbed her shopping bags and made her way toward the exit.
‘No problem. You know I love dressing you up,” I smiled back.
“What are your plans tonight?” Mel asked as she shifted the large bags in her hands.
“I’m going to pick up some dinner and take it home for Isaac. He has been cooking for me each night and I want to do something nice for him now.”
“Great. Cole and I are going to go see a movie. If you and Isaac want to come, just let me know,” Melanie offered.
“Thanks, I will call you,” I said as we hugged and then Melanie left.
My shift was almost over and I helped close down the register before I locked up and made my way home.
“Lauren, can I talk to you before you go?” my boss Andrea asked as she grabbed her purse.
“Sure,” I smiled.
“Well, I reviewed your application and of course with your degree and years of experience in retail, you are more than qualified for the position of manager when I leave. However, your dedication to this store even through hard times,” she paused and smiled. “I want to offer you the management position. I leave next week and I know I will only have to train you on scheduling the shifts and keeping up with the account ledgers, but you have helped with that before so I am not concerned in the least.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. She was offering me the position. This was a dream come true!
“Thank you so much,” I exclaimed as I jumped up and down.
Trying to compose myself, I smoothed down my black pencil skirt and checked my floral top as I tried to act professionally. “I’m sorry, this is just really great news.”
“Well, I couldn’t think of anyone better for the job,” she said.
We talked for a few more minutes and then we both left together. I was floating on cloud nine as I drifted to my car. Today was turning out to be a great day. I found a coupon for the Italian restaurant that Isaac loved and grabbed us two dinners of Chicken Fettuccini. I even stopped to pick up some wine so we could celebrate my promotion, and I didn’t hit one red light on the drive home. Only, that should have been my first sign that something wasn’t right.