Being Shelley. Qarnita Loxton
chocolate with every coffee, or something like that. I wanted to talk to you about it, but you got here too late.’ Di started walking towards the door.
‘Yes, fine. Good idea. I’ll look for some things to mark down.’
‘What else?’ She paused under the Coffee & Cream sign. ‘Wayde was fine with the customers yesterday. A lot of talking and smiling. I think he irritates Beauty with his flirtiness but he clearly has a way with the shopping ladies. I hope we get more sales than he gets tips out of it. I’ll message you tonight, okay? I’ve got to go or I’ll be late. Thanks for the snacks.’ And like that, she was gone before Wayde arrived.
I waited. In my black-and-yellow dress with my flamingo panties and pink bra, I waited like a girl waiting for her date to arrive. Pretending not to be nervous. It didn’t help that there was nothing to distract me. The shop was dead, mostly everyone around here caught in the school run. Table Bay is still a weekend mall, one of the mall management types said when I complained that things were quiet. I hung around at the counter, organising what I could without going into the storeroom and leaving the shop unattended. No-one was ever supposed to be alone in the shop.
Wayde strolled in at two forty-five. Face and hair crumpled and messy but his T-shirt and jeans not. He had to be living somewhere he could sleep late but still have his clothes washed and ironed. A girlfriend? Or his mommy? Had to be, I couldn’t imagine him ironing anything unless it was that extreme ironing Jerry mocked and said was for idiots.
‘Heyyy, don’t you look good today. That sun from Saturday with that yellow dress has a lekker holiday vibe on you,’ he said, looking me up and down as he got to the counter. ‘I’m sorry I’m late. I’m not a morning person and everything was slow this morning,’ he slipped it in before I could ask about it. ‘Won’t happen again, just getting used to new routine to work Sundays and Mondays. I’ll make up the time tomorrow.’
‘Okay, it’s fine. You don’t have to do that. I’m not a morning person either. So long as you don’t tell Di – she is strict on the time.’ I don’t know why I made Di the bad guy; it’s not like I’m a softie or that I need to hide behind her. It wasn’t a lie, I consoled myself – Di is usually on time. I would be a hypocrite if I complained about his being late since I was the one who was always late.
‘I won’t tell if you don’t tell.’ Wayde smiled that smile, reached back to pull his hair into a small bun he tied with something at the back of his head. I could see he had an undercut on the back of his head. ‘Let’s get this place going then,’ he said as he went to wash his hands at the basin behind the counter. ‘Mind if I change the music?’
We had something that sounded like spa music going that Di must have chosen before she left. ‘I invited some of my friends to come check out where I’m working … I mean, they won’t be into the stuff we’ve got,’ he pointed his chin in the direction of the shop displays, ‘but I told them they gotta buy a coffee or they can’t come back.’ He came to stand next to me, checking that the machine and all the coffee bits were in order. As if Di would not have left everything in perfect condition. He wasn’t standing that close to me but I was hyper-aware of his tallness. It made me nervous and I wanted to tell him to sit down when he spoke to me. Ridiculous. He was close enough for that Pina Colada Coconut Vanilla Dessert smell to swirl under my nose.
‘Okay, that’s cool. Put on whatever you like,’ I said. ‘And I got some new stock – you never know, your friends might like what we have. I’m going to be in the back to unpack. I might need you to carry some of the boxes out.’
‘Shot, just shout,’ he said, spotting a woman with a Woolworths trolley hesitating in the doorway. The lines creased between her eyes as she frowned at the window display, the sexy Bossa Nova playlist Wayde had chosen not yet getting her in the mood. ‘I’m going to see if I can help that lady.’ I watched as he went over, saw her do an instant drop of her frown and a five-second smooth down of her hair as he approached. I’m sure she didn’t even realise she was doing it. I spied on them as he talked her into the shop, as he said something that made her laugh while pointing to the fresh chocolate cake on the counter. It seemed to work. She released her trolley so that he could push it to the back of the shop, following him to the table closest to it. She hardly noticed me standing there. It was only when he walked up to me and touched me on the shoulder that she nodded a greeting to my smile. ‘Why don’t you do the stock – I’m going to hang out with Linda.’ Seriously, how had he got the name of this woman who looked like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth? He’d only been talking to her for fifteen seconds. I could swear I saw her shoulders doing a micro shimmy to the music. ‘She is looking for a gift for her sister, so I’m going to show her all our things over a cappuccino and cake.’ His hand was still on my shoulder, his smile still in my face.
I listened.
For a moment I forgot I was the boss.
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