Page 9 of Chic Steel

“He didn’t come back for it?”

I reach for my bag on the floor and slam a hand on the bench when my stool wobbles. Unzipping it, I reach my hand in and snag the wallet, his brown one sitting beside my patent leather wallet.

I place it on the bench and watch it, waiting for something to happen. Not sure what.

“Is there a business card or a phone number?”

“Maddy said the same,” I mumble.

“You haven’t checked?” Lily glances at Leo and they share a look which I’m sure is filled with pity, but I don’t care. Oliver left his wallet and I don’t know what to do.“I’m gonna take your panicked look as a no.”

“I don’t want to invade his privacy.”

“Ella, you shove needles in his dick.”

“Only when he wants me to!” I screech. “And that’s different. He consents to it. Me going through his wallet because I feel like it isn’t the same.”

“All I meant was he trusts you in intimate areas. Checking his wallet for a way to contact him to return his cards is different from looking through his personal items because you can.”

“You think so?” I ask as Leo puts plates filled with pasta in front of us and sits beside Lily.

“Why don’t you hold on to it until tomorrow lunch, and if he hasn’t contacted you by then, you can see if there’s anything in there to help.”

“Okay.” That sounds like a good plan. A well thought out plan. I can do that.

“Now eat, and tell us what he got pierced today.”

I grin when I remember the jewellery I put in him. A dino secret only we know. “No piercings today, just a jewellery change.”

Lily pouts. “That’s nowhere near as interesting as you made it out to be.”

“You don’t know where.”

“Tell me,” she demands.

“No,” I say around a mouthful of pasta. “Secret.” And it’s going to stay that way.

The clock ticks to one o’clock, and he still hasn’t called the store.

What if he needs to buy groceries but can’t pay for them because I have his wallet? Or his driver’s licence. What if he’s pulled over and given a ticket for driving illegally?

It’s been a quiet day, so I coulddrop it off to him. If there’s a business card with the address. Do people use business cards anymore?

I duck into the back room and dig out his wallet again. The leather’s cool and smooth, and I flip it open to reveal his secrets.

The left holds his driver’s licence, a gorgeous photo with no grey through his hair, taken a few years ago according to the date. I prefer the grey at his temples. My forehead raises at his date of birth, but I bypass it quickly to the right, holding his cards. Visa, eftpos, and a business card at the bottom. I slip it out and brush a finger across his name.

“Well, shit.” Under his name is his job title. I knew he was a businessman because of his questionable, albeit delicious, clothing. But CEO of a company? What the fuck is he doing at my little piercing shop, letting me put a dinosaur barbell through his nipple? I don’t recognise the business name. A sales thing? I own my business, but it’s one shop…not whatever he does.

There isn’t a phone number on the business card, which is weird, only an email address, and what I’m assuming is the company address. Some place in the city.

Notclose to the beach.

I know for a fact there are piercing stores in his area. Why does he come to me? A warm sensation spreads through my chest and heats my cheeks. And why isn’t there a phone number? Now I can’t call and tell him I have it. I’ll need to email.

But what if he doesn’t see the email in time? Or since he’s a fancy CEO, my email will probably go to his spam folder and he’ll never know I have his wallet.

I should go to the address. I don’t like the idea of him stressed or thinking someone stole from him. I’ve already stayed later than scheduled anyway and the late-night staff havestarted. Everything will be fine if I leave, and I’ll give the wallet to the receptionist I’m sure he has, and breathe easy knowing he has it.

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