Page 62 of Ordinary Girl

I stop in the doorway, and I look at him. Right at him.

“Don’t touch her again.”

Like I said. Fucking deluded…

Twenty-Six

Ana

“Hey! I didn’t think you were… Woah! What have youdone, girl?” Cady stops what she’s doing and stands there, hands on hips as she looks me up and down. “Shit, Ana. You lookhot!”

“I just wanted to look different.”

“Well, job done.”

I wantedhimto notice me. Joel. That’s what I’d really wanted, but that didn’t go the way I’d planned it in my head. That’s why I’m here, at the store, rather than the clubhouse. I got Kit to drop me off after we’d had lunch in the park together: burgers and fries from the club-owned deli down the street. Kit’s nice. He’s becoming a good friend, another one of the few people I feel I’m able to trust right now.

I look around, at the boxes of stock lying all over the floor: handmade jewelry; some T-shirts, scarves, hats; accessories. All very similar to the kind of things my old store had used to sell.

“I thought they were just coming to talk to us today?” I say, looking up at the ceiling. “Has that been painted already?”

Cady follows my gaze. “Yep. Thought I’d get an early start. And as for those meetings, let’s just say they were more helpful than even I’d anticipated.”

“And all of this stock, it’s… legitimate?”

“As far as I know.”

I cock my head and frown, but she just smiles. “Yes, Ana, it’s legit.”

“Okay…” I’m not sure whether I believe her or not, but I’m slowly learning it’s pointless to question too much. It doesn’t get you anywhere. “Do you need any help?” I might as well makemyself useful. And this is supposed to beourbusiness, not just Cady’s. I should start pulling my weight more.

“You can start laying out those rings and bracelets in the trays over there, on the counter. I have no doubt you have a good eye for that kind of thing, this not being your first rodeo in retail, so to speak.”

I smile at her. She smiles back. I really like Cady.

“And prop open the front door. Let some air in. The paint smell’s getting a little overpowering.”

We get to work, singing along to a playlist Cady’s compiled, of music she thinks we’d both like. And it’s proving to be a nice distraction, putting my time and effort into something that’s actually worth it. It’s nice, seeing something start to appear, a chance to have something constructive to do. Something to take my mind off everything. Or some of it, anyway.

“So, have you seen Joel today?” Cady asks, and I can tell from the way she’s looking at me, out the corner of her eye: the way she’s pretending not to look at me at all, but she knows, why I did this. Why I changed my look. She knowsoneof the reasons why.

“I saw him earlier, at the clubhouse. But only briefly. He was busy.”

“And?”

“And, what?” I know exactly what she’s getting at, I’m just not in the mood for this conversation. So I’m going to try and derail it before it even gets going. “Look, Cady, dying my hair, changing my clothes, I didn’t do that for anyone other than me.” I’m lying. Of course I’m lying!

Cady smiles and shrugs. “Okay.”

And that response irritates the hell out of me, but I suck it up and get on with what I’m doing, until we hear a motorbike pull up outside, and when I glance out of the window my stomach both drops and flips, all at the same time.

“Well, speak of the devil,” Cady says, and I feel her eyes on me, even though I’m not looking at her. I’m looking down, at the bracelets and bangles I’m organizing into neat piles, ready to be displayed by type, price, and design. “His ears must’ve been burning. Wonder what he wants?”

I have no idea what he wants. I have no idea why he’s here.

“Hey, Cady. Ana.”

“Hey, Joel. What you doing here?” Cady asks, while I give him no response. I keep my back to him. Keep sorting those bracelets before I can move onto the rings.

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