Page 4 of Cory Sloan is Swearing

They had a steady stream of customers. Cory was having a good time helping people spin the wheel for prizes and assisting others looking for certain types of liquor or wine.

When she looked up a while later she saw Taylor waiting on a customer near the coolers and took a moment to catch her breath. Cory had been in marketing and retail since she was a kid. Her first job had been as a salesperson at a local hardware store. So when she went to college she majored in marketing and worked nights and weekends as a bartender. She loved creating drinks and introducing her regulars to new wines, beers, and liquors.

This store would give her a better opportunity to spread her knowledge of spirits than owning a bar and the hours were a lot better.

She heard a jingling sound that indicated a customer had just walked into the store. Cory looked up to see a woman with very dark hair walk through the door. She gave Cory a measured look as Cory walked towards her.

Cory could feel the woman’s eyes look her up and down before meeting her gaze. The woman had dark brown eyes to match her dark hair and Cory felt her heart skip a beat. But then she heard warning bells go off in her brain: caution, caution, caution.

Cory called up her best smile and flashed it at the woman. “Hi, welcome to The Liquor Box. Can I help you find something?”

“Such an interesting name and logo,” the woman said with a hint of a smile.

Cory was proud to be a lesbian and wanted her store to be obviously welcoming to the LGBTQ community. Her logo, which was part of the sign on the front of the store, was a mouth with a tongue sticking out, much like the Rolling Stones’ iconic emblem. She thought the combination of the logo with the store’s name was perfect. It made her smile every time she thought about it, even though it might seem juvenile to some people. Cory had a good time wherever she went and wanted the same environment for her store.

“We like to have fun,” Cory said with another charming smile.

The woman nodded and this time she smiled. “Do you also sell wholesale, or just retail?”

“We are happy to supply all your spirit needs. Whether it’s an event or restaurant or something else, we’d be happy to help.”

Again the woman nodded and Cory couldn’t help but feel like she was being sized-up in some way.

“I’ll just look around,” the woman said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Let me know if I can help.”

A group of people came in from CeCe’s salon, taking Cory’s attention away from the woman.

Several minutes later Cory finished with a customer and saw the woman walking towards the door. “Hey,” Cory called to her.

The woman turned around just as she reached the door.

“Here’s my card. Give me a call if you need anything,” Cory said.

The woman looked at the card. “Corrine Sloan.”

“You can call me Cory.”

The woman nodded and smiled at her again then walked out.

Cory felt a flutter of butterflies in her stomach for just an instant when the woman smiled. She was beautiful when she smiled, but there went those warning bells again.

“Hey, Cory,” Taylor called. “Could you help me over here?”

Cory went back to her job, but couldn’t shake the feeling that the woman had been scoping out the store.

* * *

They had had a steady stream of customers for most of the day, but things had quieted down.

“Taylor, I’m going to run next door and check on CeCe and Cat. Text me if you need help.”

“Okay,” Taylor said.

Cory walked through Salon 411, but didn’t see CeCe so she kept going into the bookstore.

“Hey, Cory,” Cat said, getting her attention.

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