Page 71 of On the Double

“I’m working,” she said, scanning the next item on the belt. “How are you today?”

“Fine,” the woman responded.

“Me too. Absolutely fabulous. It’s a wonderful day, isn’t it?”

“Um…it’s okay,” the woman nodded.

“I just need a minute, Harper.”

“Don’t you just hate it when you’re having a great day and someone ruins it?” Harper asked the woman.

The woman looked to me, then back to Harper.

“I came to apologize,” I tried again.

A sharp laugh came out of Harper’s lips before she turned to me. “I know you think because I have this meaningless job that you can come here and order me around, but I do actually have to perform my job. Otherwise, they would fire me, and then I’d be even more useless than I am now.”

The woman sucked in a harsh breath at Harper’s words.

“Harper—”

“If you aren’t buying anything, you need to leave before you get me fired.”

I gritted my teeth and stormed away. I definitely didn’t want to get her fired, no matter how useless I thought her job was. So, I grabbed a basket and filled it with whatever was within reach. By the time I wasfinished, her line was three people deep and I was forced to wait even longer to talk to her.

By the time I made it to her, she flicked off her light and gave me a sweet smile. “I’m sorry. My register is closed while I go on break.”

Then she stepped out and walked quickly through the store to the back. I followed, not letting her get away from me so easily. I ignored the employee-only sign and followed her into the break room, closing the door behind us.

“How dare you!” she said, spinning and facing me. “This is where I work, and even though I have no ambition and will never get anywhere in my life, I still need the paycheck it provides! Are you trying to get me fired?”

I reached out for her, but she jerked away from me. “Harper, I know I fucked up?—”

She barked out a laugh. “Fucked up? No, that would require you and me to be something, which you have made perfectly clear countless times that would never happen. Oh, and I took the pill, in case you were worried.”

I actually hadn’t thought about it. In my anger and stupidity, I was only worried about proving that I was right and she was wrong, but she took my concerns seriously and followed through.

“Thank you,” I said sincerely.

She sighed, looking away. “Well, it’s not like I want to get pregnant by a man-whore who would leave me to raise a kid on my own.” Then she looked up at me sharply. “And just so you know, I take birth control. It’s not like I go around sleeping with men without worrying about that kind of thing.”

Wow, as if I couldn’t feel like more of an asshole, she found a way to point it out. “Harper, there’s a lot that I did and said that I wish I could take back.”

“You think?”

Man, this whole apologizing thing was harder than I thought. I’d never actually tried before with any woman. Friends were a different story. I always seemed to know what to say to make things right, but with her…it was like the fate of everything rested on what I said and how I said it. And I wasn’t even sure why I cared that much.

“I acted like a dick. I know that now. And I’m not sure why I said those things to you. I don’t even know if I even believe any of it.”

“There’s truth in everything we say,” she said, her eyes dropping to the ground as she kicked her toe at the floor.

With just that one simple gesture, I knew I had hurt her way more than she wanted to admit. I stepped forward and grabbed her hand. It occurred to me in that moment that it didn’t really matter what I apologized for. It just needed to be sincere.

“I’m sorry I hurt you. I can’t say that I won’t ever do it again. I am a man, after all.”

She bit her lip to hide her smile.

“But I do hope you can accept my apology.”

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