April's Glow Read Online Free PDF Page B

heard your name, he left a flower on your doorstep. What’s with all this over-analytical crap? Enjoy the gift, girl! I mean, boss.’
    April smiled. ‘You’re right. He’s just unnerved me for some reason. He’s a bit weird. Didn’t even introduce himself.’
    â€˜Did you introduce yourself ?’
    â€˜No, but …’ Damn. ‘Okay I get it. Anyway, back to work, my insightful young employee.’ April shooed her away from the counter and opened the stock list on the computer. Monday was usually slow, and being the start of the week, she liked to do the ordering of stock at the start of each week. That way they’d have plenty of the popular items ready for the weekend surge in sales.
    â€˜God, I love this smell.’ Belinda sniffed a lime green candle like it was oxygen. ‘I wish there was some kind of permanent aromatic nose attachment so I could smell it all day without having to pick up the candle.’
    â€˜Like a scented nose ring?’ April suggested with a chuckle.
    Belinda pointed at her and raised her eyebrows. ‘Yes! You could be onto something there, woman. What a cool invention. We should invent it.’
    â€˜I’ll leave that business venture for you, I think.’ April had a belly button ring, and her ears were pierced, but that was it. She didn’t think she had the kind of nose that suited a nose ring. Didn’t want one anyway. Belinda had enough piercings for the both of them. And tattoos.
    April resisted the slight shudder in her nerves that sometimes threatened her sense of stability.
    She hadn’t thought of her tattoo for a while. She’d loved the result of her impulsive decision to get one, after the redness had died down. It had made her feel unique and powerful, like she was expressing her own identity and projecting her confidence into the world. But now, that confidence, along with the tattoo, was gone.
    â€˜I think you should order more of these,’ said Belinda, and April returned her focus to her job. ‘With my enthusiasm and strange smell addiction for whatever is in this baby, I reckon I can sell a truckload for you.’ She held the lime green candle up and stroked it like it was a cuddly pet.
    â€˜Your wish is my command.’ April opened the website of one of her suppliers and added the candle to the shopping cart.
    If only enticing scented candles were all that a person could get addicted to.
    When she had finished her order and was about to change the window display, her phone beeped with a text message.
    Sorry I missed your birthday. Would have been there if I could’ve. This bad back of mine is making it hard to get around. How’s about my baby girl pays me a visit sometime? Miss you.
    April’s heart softened as it always did when she heard from him, then hardened. She was tempted to go see her dad on her lunchbreak, or after work, make sure he was eating properly and looking after himself as best as someone like him could. But she’d had enough of the ups and downs, the hot and cold, the abandonment followed by re-entry into her life. The inconsistency of his parental role. If she was to move forward with her life, she needed to put herself first. And that meant avoiding the inevitable hurt that came with continually bending to her father’s needs. Not that she’d let him fend for himself completely, but he’d had plenty of opportunities and support to get help for his addiction, but hadn’t committed to the process. They’d done all they could, for so long, but what more could they do?
    She typed back:
    I’m pretty busy with the new business, will see how I go for time over the next few weeks. Look after yourself.
    What she really wanted to type was: Stop drinking. Please, Dad. No more.
    But he wouldn’t stop. And there would be more. And more of everything else that came along with that; the drunken accidents, the fights and needing to be