So Much for My Happy Ending (11 page)

“Mmm.” I couldn't meet her eyes.

“Just don't expect it to continue this way. The honeymoon period never lasts.”

Thank God.

A
nd to think I had worried about going back to work so soon after my return. Who the hell cared how sleep deprived I was as long as I had something to distract me from the recent changes in my husband.
My husband.
I leaned against the wall as I waited for the employee elevator. I had expected those words to be so soothing. I had assumed marrying Tad was going to provide me with the sense of security that came along with being part of a normal family. But we weren't normal. Every day, I was becoming increasingly aware that Tad wasn't normal at all.

Although the night of our return had been somewhat less than horrible. After checking his e-mail Tad informed me that a major manufacturer he hoped to represent was one step closer to signing with SMB. That was the most forthcoming he had been since the wedding. We ordered Chinese food and he had eaten his share while reviewing files on the computer. I hadn't been feeling well lately so I let most of my food sit. Most people came back from their honeymoons with a tan. I came back with stomach upset.

The elevator at Dawson's finally arrived and when I got to my floor I found Gigi folding some twinsets into the shelves on the back wall. “Ohmygawd, you're back!” She flipped her hair out of her eyes before pulling me in for a quick hug. “Wow, you look so great! Was it wonderful? Tell me everything so I can be green with envy.”

“What can I say? It was…it was unbelievable. And of course Barcelona was gorgeous.”

“No way! The Custo designers are from Barcelona! But I thought you went to Spain.”

I laughed. “Right, well, at the last minute we decided to go to Barcelona instead.” It wasn't until I saw the blank look on Gigi's face that I realized she wasn't joking. “Barcelona's
in
Spain, Gigi.”

“Oh, it is? I just figured you'd go to Madrid. You know, a lot of fashion comes out of Madrid, too.”

“You don't say.” I managed a tight smile. “What are you doing here so early? You know we don't have to be here until eight.”

“Early bird catches the promotion,” she sang. “We didn't get any new merchandise today—weird, huh? Our shipments lately have been totally light. I asked Marilyn if we could get a doublesize run of Juicy Couture next time and she seemed into it…”

I nodded and made mmm, hmm and uh-huh noises while Gigi launched into a monologue designed to demonstrate that she hadn't let a single thing fall between the cracks during the eleven days of my absence.

“Well, Gigi, I must admit I'm impressed,” I said as soon as she paused for a breath. “You've obviously been running a tight ship.”

“I am, like, so glad you think so. I am totally excited to be part of your team and—”

“And my team and I are happy to have you,” I interjected quickly. I needed to stop her before she started making me nostalgic for Tad's silent treatment. My eyes wandered toward my office door. “Tell you what, why don't you finish setting the floor while I try to catch up on a little paperwork. I was supposed to do the schedule for the second half of February before I took my vacation days and I didn't so—”

“Don't even sweat February's schedule. I already did it and handed it in.”

My head snapped back in her direction. “You did the schedule? Gigi, only managers are allowed to do the schedule.”

“I'm totally with you. That's why I put your name on it. It's been approved by both Liz and HR, and I gave it to the girls yesterday, so we're good to go.”

“No, no, we're not.” I shook my head furiously. “Gigi, I need to be the one doing the schedule. I use it to keep track of selling costs and figures and…and everything. It's not something I can delegate and it's certainly not something that you can do for me without asking!”

Gigi lowered her head slightly and peered at me through her long lashes. It was a look that had undoubtedly inspired forgiveness and leniency in countless numbers of straight men and quite a few lesbians, but it did nothing for me. “Where's the schedule?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“On your desk. I'm so over-the-top sorry, April. I totally thought I was doing you a favor.”

I sighed and looked down at my shoes. Maybe I was overreacting due to the stress that I had been under. If Liz and HR had approved the schedule it had to be fairly decent and I could always tweak it here and there in order to accommodate selling costs. And if Gigi had wanted to undermine me, she wouldn't have put my name on it. Gigi was now giving me her “I'm-a-sad-little-sex-kitten” look. I sighed again. “It's all right. Just don't do it again, okay?”

Gigi's pout turned into a toothy grin. “Gotcha, the schedule is totally your deal.”

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Dorita and Sally approaching the sales floor and I took the opportunity to walk away from Gigi to greet them. The four of us set the floor as Gigi babbled about this year's “totally awesome new neckline.” By the time the doors opened I was ready to smack her. “You should go home,” I suggested. “God knows you've earned the break.”

“I really don't mind staying. On your first day back I imagine you're going to need a lot of time off the floor to play catch-up.”

“Well, thanks to you there's nothing to ‘catch up' on.”

Gigi shook her head. “I did, okay, yesterday but, like, for the most part I've been so busy learning the ropes that my sales have suffered a little and I totally want to make up for that today.”

“If you're sure…” Gigi was definitely strange. A Dawson's assistant manager refusing a day off was kind of like a state penitentiary inmate refusing a weekend pass.

I watched as Gigi buzzed from fixture to fixture dusting the silver bars until they sparkled like fine jewelry. I motioned to Dorita to follow me into the back room.

“You know that of all my staff I trust you the most,” I said as the door to my office swung closed behind us. “So you're the one who gets to fill me in on the dirt. How is the staff adjusting to Gigi?”

Dorita tucked her perfect curls behind her ears. “She's kind of…um…”

“Annoying?”

“I was going to say hyper, but
annoying
will work.” Dorita smiled. “But she knows her stuff and no one's been able to get anything by her. You know how Sally will pretend to call personal customers while she's really calling her boyfriend?”

“She does that?”

Dorita blushed. “Not that often, not at all anymore, I bet. Gigi caught on right away and set her straight.”

“Huh.” I sat down in my chair and motioned for Dorita to take a seat, as well. I had been working with Sally for eight months and never caught on to the personal phone call trick. Gigi had been working with her for three weeks. “How is she with the rest of the staff?”

“Okay, I guess.” Dorita swiveled her chair back and forth. “She can be a little sharky at times but then there are times when she'll go out of her way to help us build and close sales, so I guess it balances out—and I'm sure you saw our numbers for the last week.”

I nodded and absently tapped my fingernails against my desk. The numbers had been great. I had picked a winner. Why did that make me nervous? “How are the big shots reacting to her?”

“Liz
loves
her.”

“And Marilyn?”

“
Loves
her.”

“How about Blakely?”

“Blakely
tolerates
her.”

I started to laugh just as the door to the office swung open, banging against the wall as it did so. “You're back!” Liz exclaimed as if she had been under the impression that I had been in Spain applying for citizenship. She looked over at Dorita, who had shrunken away from Liz's self-perceived brilliance. “Am I interrupting a one-on-one?”

“No, no. Dorita was just filling me in on the requests from her customers.” I waved a hand at Dorita, signaling that this was her moment to escape. Dorita quickly got to her feet and left me with Liz.

“So good to see you. I am so excited about Gigi. You really have an eye for talent, don't you?”

“I'm glad you—”

Gigi pushed into the room and glowed at Liz, who reached out and playfully punched her in the arm. “Hey girl, I heard about that seven-thousand-dollar sale you had yesterday! Way to go!”

Hey girl?
Liz had never called me anything other than April. Well, that wasn't entirely true; for the first few months we worked together she called me June.

“I'm glad I caught both of you,” Liz said. “I want to go over next month's promo. First off, kudos to you, April, for coming up with such a fantabulous idea!”

“Thank you,” I said. “You know I've always thought that a wardrobing seminar during cruise season would be…”

“Predictable and stale?” Liz offered helpfully. “I absolutely agree, which is why I was so excited when Gigi came in with your alternative action plan. Timing-wise we're cutting it close, but I know if we put our heads together we girls can pull it off.”

I sat in my seat, dumbstruck. I had no alternative action plan. The wardrobing seminar had been it. I looked at Gigi but she was now giving Liz one hundred percent of her attention.

“I've arranged for televisions to be brought in from several of the other northern Cal stores, plus we'll be renting a few so there will be a screen in every department involved, and of course we'll have the sports bar where most of the activities will take place.”

Now I was completely lost. Was I going to be on television? Did Dawson's have a sports bar? Or was she referring to our wine bar in which the San Francisco Junior League members traditionally gathered to watch the Olympic gymnastics competition?

“I've talked to Shoes, and Accessories, and they're all set,” Liz continued. “Oh, and Cosmetics, of course—Caleb is completely on board. PR will have the postcards sent out by the fifth of the month. Now, on your end, have you been spreading the word amongst your customers?”

Gigi went to the little table that constituted her desk and pulled out a sheet of paper with a long list of names on it. “I've been making the girls give me the names of the customers they've pitched the promotion to.” She handed the list to Liz, still avoiding eye contact with me. “I also had them make a brief note about the feedback they've been getting. As you can see, everyone is totally stoked on the idea.”

“Of course they are, it's genius!” Liz gave me an approving wink. I tried to look flattered.

“So from this survey it appears that the stars who have the most coveted looks are Halle Berry, Kiera Knightly, Reese Witherspoon and, of course, right on the top of the list is Charlize Theron—Why am I not surprised?” She turned to me. “You know, you would be a good one to help give women that Halle Berry style. You kind of look like her.”

I flashed a fake smile. I looked nothing like Halle but we were both biracial, so I'm sure in Liz's eyes we were twins.

“Okay, but I don't think we should make this all about the nominees,” Gigi said. “Just because Cameron Diaz isn't nominated doesn't mean we don't all want her look.”

“How true, and what girl doesn't want to be as adorable as Drew Barrymore, or flawlessly beautiful as Gwyneth Paltrow,” Liz mused. “But April's already thought of that.”

“I…have,” I said slowly, trying extra hard to keep the question mark out of my voice.

“Okay, well, it's looking good.” Liz smiled genuinely at Gigi. “April, don't you think that this poor thing deserves a break? Why don't you take the rest of the day off, Gigi. I'm sure April has everything covered.”

“April made me the same offer but I feel like I should be here while she gets settled back in.”

“Nonsense. You're settled, right?” Liz looked at me expectantly.

The one thing I wasn't was settled. “If Gigi would like to take the day off nothing's stopping her.”

“Good!” Liz flung an arm over Gigi's shoulder. “I'll walk you to the elevator. Is that your purse?”

I watched as Gigi and Liz exited my back room, arm in arm. At least Gigi had the courtesy to give me an apologetic look and to mouth the words
I'll call
before the door shut behind her. I slowly lifted my hand to the phone and dialed the extension to Cosmetics.

“M•A•C counter, can I help you?”

“Is Caleb there?”

“I saw him a minute ago…oh wait, I think he's in a meeting with one of the sales staff.”

“Page him.”

“We're not supposed to interrupt meetings unless there's an emer—”

“This is an emergency. Page him and tell him April has a 911 up in Sassy.”

“O-kaay,” the girl said uncertainly. “A 911 in Sassy.”

“Thank you.” I hung up the phone and drummed my fingernails impatiently against the receiver waiting for Caleb to ring back.