Page 8 of The Lucky One

“Fine, have fun with Jon,” she said, the sourness back in her voice.

I hung up. I actually did have a few minutes left in my break.

Cans. Broccoli. Eggs...

“Emily!”

My gaze shot up from the groceries and landed on Mrs. Stone standing by the register, pearl necklace gleaming.

“Mrs. Stone, how are you today?” I gave her my practiced customer service smile.

A few days after I had collapsed on her doorstep, wasted on pills and blaming her for everything that went wrong, she had visited me for a candid conversation. It had been awkward, but with Gena’s mediating presence, we’d managed to discuss our differences. She had apologized—and by that, I mean a barely comprehensible barrage of words through her tears—so I had forgiven her mostly to end it. But it didn’t feel like the end yet.

“I’m fine, honey!” Mrs. Stone gushed. “What about you? It’s so great that you’re working here.”

From the next cash register over, Natalia mimed vomiting with her finger in her mouth. It seemed like Mrs. Stone was keeping an eye on my work schedule because she went grocery shopping unusually often and always paid at my register.

“I’m glad I got this job too, Mrs. Stone,” I said, motioning to her bags so she wouldn’t look in Natalia’s direction.

The tactic worked. She approached to collect her bags. “It’s refreshing to know that it’s you touching my stuff,” she said in an undertone. “No offense, but a lot of the people who work here smell like smoke.”

“Uh-huh.” I handed her the bags, keeping an arm’s length between us. “Have a great day despite the rain.”

“Thank you. You and Madison should hang out sometime. I’m sure she would love that.”

“Sure.” At school, Madison had painted a graphic picture of my breakdown at her doorstep to anyone who would listen. Neither of us was interested in friendship any longer.

“See you on Tuesday!” Mrs. Stone minced away with her bags dangling from her wrists, maintaining perfect posture.

Natalia glared at her exiting through the glass doors. “Damn, she literally found out your work schedule.”

“I guess so.” I shrugged, preparing the next bag to be ahead of the game.

“I don’t get how you can stay this calm,” Natalia breathed before welcoming a new customer.

“Lots of practice.” I yawned. I had hardly gotten any sleep last night. The conversation with Paul, not knowing what would happen with Jon... My overthinking list was long.

“You’re probably the most patient person I’ve ever met.”

I had to stifle a snort. Natalia didn’t know much about my history, but I liked that about her. She didn’t see a good girl. She saw the girl I had been at the party when we first met. The fun one, the confident one—the strong one who didn’t fall apart when the guy she loved took her virginity and left her behind in the woods. I could easily play pretend with her.

Natalia handed me a XXL bag of chips. “Could you put this back on the shelf? They didn’t have enough money to buy it.”

“Sure.” The bag was almost as big as my torso. I didn’t get the size of groceries here. Everything was humongous compared to Germany.

I hurried through the store for the chips aisle. I turned the corner, and just as I realized I’d gone the wrong way I collided with someone.

“Ah, crap!” A vibrant cherry-red lipstick tube spun through the air and hit the ground.

“Kiki?” I gasped in surprise. She was dressed in a tidy blouse, slacks and a beige coat. As usual, way too classy for our age.

“Emily!” She winced, but her tone was friendly. “I didn’t recognize you in that vest.”

“Yeah, it’s quite the look.” I tugged at the oversized blue vest, which almost reached down to my thighs. My smile felt too wide for my face.

“Mm.” Kiki backed up a few paces. “Anyway, got to go. See you around.”

I reached down to pick up her lipstick. “Hold on, you forgot your—”

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