Melting Snow. Leora Gonzales
the employees entrance, she knocked on the door and hoped someone was close by to hear her. She stomped her feet a few times on the rubber mat. Sure that her shoes were clear of snow, she sighed in relief when Enrique opened the door and smiled widely at her.
“Hey Winter!” his voice boomed.
“Hey, E, how is it tonight?” she asked, hurrying into the heated back hallway.
“Well…it could be worse.” Shrugging, he pointed to a pile of trash bags waiting on the other side of the hall. “We have extra loads to take out to the dumpster, but the food court didn’t seem too bad. I think the day shift must have actually pulled their weight for once.”
Winter breathed out a tired sigh as she stored her coat in the mop closet. She grabbed her music player from the pocket before closing the door.
“What do you want tonight? Trash and windows or vacuuming and tables?” she asked, hoping he’d pick the trash option.
Enrique eyed her knowingly. “I’ll take the trash tonight. It’s pretty heavy and I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself,” he teased.
“Enrique, sometimes I love you.” Her voice came out as grateful as she felt.
“Only sometimes?” he asked, beginning to roll his trash bin down the hall. “I’m pretty sure if I didn’t have Stella waiting for me at home, you would be all over this.” Turning around, he motioned up and down his rounded body.
Winter couldn’t contain her giggles as he shook his hips and snapped his cleaning towel as if he was a stripper.
“Yep, you’re right. Stella is a scary lady.” She pulled out the vacuum and grabbed her own towel and window spray. “How is she by the way?”
“Little Belle is keeping her busy.” He pulled his phone from his pocket to show off pictures of his little girl. “I don’t know how Stella does it, but she keeps up with her.”
“Well, I’m sure it’s worth it.” Winter patted Enrique on the back, loving his pride in his family. “And how are you doing?”
“You know me. I’m tired but you gotta do what you gotta do.”
“How many more credits do you need again?”
“Only one class this spring and then passing the test,” Enrique said proudly.
“Hey, once you’re a certified accountant, I expect you to do my taxes for free,” Winter joked as she started moving down the hall, anxious to get this night finished.
Enrique’s voice faded as he headed in the opposite direction. “I expect payment in cupcakes or other baked goods!”
“I hear ya, E!” Shouting as she opened the door to the main entrance, she wasn’t looking straight ahead and almost ran her cart directly into a box on the floor.
“What the fuck?” Yelling as she stumbled into the handle of her cleaning caddy, Winter tried to maneuver around it.
By the time she arrived at night, the mall was normally cleared out and had been closed for at least half an hour. One lonely security guard and Enrique were usually her only company. Moving the cart aside, Winter turned the box around, searching for a label to identify the owner.
“Ornaments,” she read aloud.
Okay, so apparently they were Christmas decorations. But why was there a random box of Christmas decorations blocking the staff hallway? Checking around the atrium, she spotted a few more boxes scattered around the area but nobody in sight.
Better get Enrique on the walkie-talkie.
“Hey.” Letting go of the button, she waited for a response.
“I’m here,” came the staticky voice of her cleaning buddy.
“What’s with these boxes of Christmas stuff?” Winter asked.
“Sorry, I got distracted earlier. It’s the setup stuff for the Santa display.”
“Are we supposed to set this shit up?”
Winter was hoping the answer was a big fat no. She hated Christmas. It wasn’t because she was an atheist. Instead, the hatred stemmed from childhood teasing. Winter had had the misfortune to be born on Christmas Day. That wasn’t the big problem. The major issue with the holiday was that her mom had decided to take her birthday as a “sign” and name her daughter accordingly. Instead of being named Abigail like her mother had originally planned, Winter had been stuck with a Christmas-themed name. Winter wouldn’t have been all that bad if it hadn’t been combined with her last name of Snow. Every single time someone learned her full name, the strange looks or teasing started. Winter had heard them all. From little kids being mean when she was younger to awful pickup lines from men who thought it would be funny to make a cheesy play on her name. Christmas had become a holiday she tried to avoid as much as humanly possible. Gift-giving was okay, but decorating and watching all the sappy movies was going too far.
“Nah, there’s supposed to be a crew. Larry’s letting them bring the stuff through the front entrance,” came the crackled voice.
“Ten-four, I’ll keep my eyes open,” she answered, glancing around for Larry, the night security guard.
Not seeing anyone, she shrugged and put in her earbuds. Time to get cleaning.
Moving to the food court, she saw that it was indeed fairly tidy with only some of the tables needing a quick wipe-down.
Hips wiggling to the music playing in her ears, spray and rag in hand, she started dancing around the tables as she wiped. Might as well get some cardio in while she had the chance.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.