Page 29 of Working for the Mob

She looked away from me and stared at the window. However, the little amount of her face that I could see turned pink.

“And you’re not the type of girl you do that with. You want candles, candy, romance, and a ring. You’re the kind of girl that makes parents proud and you’re––”

She turned to me so fast she might have snapped her neck.

“I’m what, Art? A self-righteous dolt?” she asked, fiercely.

Shit. She heard that? The ‘you shouldn’t have said that’ hammer struck me right in the gonads this time. I thought I saw tears in her eyes.

“I shouldn’t have said that.”

“I really thought that I was doing a good job today. This was the first time that I had ever done book-keeping, my first real job. From what I could tell, I picked it up quickly. And then you opened your big mouth and shattered every bit of self-confidence that I earned.”

I was wrong. Those weren't tears in her eyes. It was pain.

I felt small. I felt like I had kicked a three-legged dog. I wanted to be anywhere in the world besides right here. I wanted to climb into a hole and never come out.

“I …”

“You know what? Save it. I think I can make it home from here by myself,” she said, opened the car door, and left me with my big mouth still open.

Chapter 9 – Genevieve

Lucy and I showed up to the café the next morning, worn out.

I felt lucky to get Lucy here this early. She didn’t spend her usual two hours in front of the mirror this morning. Instead, she settled for a quick eye-liner and lipstick.

She had not received a ride home from Lance the previous evening because Jamie let her out early after a ‘hard work day.’ I couldn’t help feeling relieved. The last thing she needed was to spend five minutes alone with a mob boss––something I kept reminding myself as well.

“Are you dolls doing all right?” Jamie asked, and I barely had the energy to wave at him. I had put off a cup of coffee until I got to the café, since their coffee was free.

“I have those mornings as well,” he said with a laugh.

“Sorry, Jamie, I,” I yawned, “just need some coffee.”

I made a smaller pot of coffee for the three of us, before I’d make a large, fresh one for opening.

“And Lucy, I have a present for you,” Jamie said, and Lucy turned to him in rapt attention.

“For me? But you didn’t have to do that,” she said, and placed her arm over her chest dramatically.

I knew that Lucy loved any and all presents. Jamie bent over the counter and brought out a shoebox.

“It’d be a health code violation if I didn’t,” he said, and chuckled.

Lucy opened the box and pulled out a pair of Oxfords. Similar to mine, but newer.

“Jamie, I love them. They’re so cute! You’re just the bee’s knees!” she said, and threw her arms around him in a huge hug.

“That’s a really nice gift,” I said, without thinking. “That must have been a couple dollars.”

“Consider it an investment,” Jamie said. He poured the three of us a cup of coffee, and his expression turned serious. “We had to go with a different bakery this morning and we don’t have any croissants or baguettes. We just have the bread for our sandwiches. Apologize to the customers and let them know that we expect to get them in soon.”

“Why did we have to go with a new baker?” I asked, innocently. I didn’t want him to know that I had been eavesdropping on him and Art the day before.

“Just business,” Jamie said, and the topic closed.

???

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