Could the day go any slower?

So far, I’d had a grand total of one customer, who I couldn’t even talk to because I didn’t speak their language. Every minute seemed to drag on more than the last. And so, for hours, it was just me, the flickering florescent lights, and the stomach twist-inducing replay in my mind of what had happened last night.

“Yep, here you have it, ladies. My maid of honor—and New York city’s oldest virgin.” Nadia’s gorgeous face had broken into a mischievous grin, her cackle the loudest of all, the rest of the pretty pack of bridesmaid hyenas howling along with laughter.

The rest of the night, even when we had swapped one drinking game for another, the jokes had kept recurring about the virgin in the room, with Nadia joking about keeping things PG-13 for me, the 25-year-old virgin. At least I’d kept some dignity and had only let the tears come when I’d been safely in my bed at home.

I took a drink of water, holding back fresh tears. Replaying the horrible scene was about the worst idea possible, but I couldn’t help it. Like a moth drawn to a blazing light, again and again my mind returned to the horrible scene. I shouldn’t have been so bothered about it, but I was upset nonetheless.

The front door jangled and I looked up, eager for a distraction from my spiraling thoughts. Another foreigner had entered my shop, but this one was a handsome Middle Eastern man who was smiling at me. As soon as he reached the front desk, he started talking.

“Hello. It seems my phone has decided to pass onto the next realm, leaving me phoneless for an important meeting later today.”

His dark, thick-lashed eyes were already scanning the wall of phones behind me, while I put on my best enthusiastic voice.

“Well, that is a problem. How about I show you a few models and you can choose one that you like best?”

His smile spread to his eyes, and it was show-stoppingly gorgeous, revealing a small dimple in his chin. “Sounds like a plan.”

The man impatiently rejected the cheapest models. After seeing my face fall after a particularly brusque “No”, he smiled that smile again.

“I’m sorry, it’s been a rough night. Having no cellphone for the past fourteen hours has been akin to torture.”

I smiled back at him. “Oh, I don’t know. Sometimes I think cellphones are more trouble than they’re worth. It’s just this addicting little lit-up screen that makes you waste time while you think you’re being productive.”

Silence followed, wherein I realized that I was being the biggest idiot in the world. I held up another model and plastered on my most convincing smile.

“So, anyway, you should really buy this one.” I pressed a button on the most expensive model we stocked, showcasing an array of colorful icons. “You’ll love this. It’s the fastest we have in store and has more storage space than any model currently on the market.”

Now, I had his attention. Taking it in his hands, the man tapped a few icons while I continued my spiel.

“I can personally recommend that one. I own one, actually.”

“Oh, yeah?”

Grabbing my phone from my pocket, I handed it to him.

“Why don’t you try it out, if you like? There’s no video on our store model, but mine has a few you could see for qualit—”

“AND HERE YOU HAVE IT, LADIES: LACIE WRIGHT, NEW YORK CITY’S OLDEST VIRGIN!”

Stricken, I snatched my phone out of the man’s hands, the store now filled with the laughter of Nadia and the other bridesmaids as a video from last night played. Realizing the video must have auto-downloaded from our group chat, thanks to whichever one of them had decided to upload it, I silenced the phone.

But it was too late—far too late. My face was bright red, while the man was, thankfully, chuckling.

“Its volume capabilities are certainly impressive.”

My faked smile evidently did the trick. A few seconds later he was striding to the front counter.

“I’ll take it.”

After I’d rung him through, he slipped the phone into his suit pocket and grinned.

“Thank you…” he glanced at my name tag, “Lacie. I hope you have a good day.”

Well, after what just happened, that’s pretty unlikely, I thought.

“Thanks. You too,” I mumbled awkwardly.

Then, with one final sexy smile, he left.

As soon as he was out of sight, I slumped into my seat at the counter and put my head in my hands. A man more gorgeous than I thought possible had just been the latest person to learn that I, Lacie Wright, was a virgin. Could today get any worse?