Moments In Time: The Complete Novella Collection Read Online Free PDF Page B

again but what did I have to lose by
hoping?
    Maybe fate would intervene.

Chapter Six
     
    “Carlene, meet Sam Doherty.”
    “Pleased to meet you.” Sam looked to be in
his late forties or early fifties. He was tall and wiry, and his
smile was more of a frown, which had left a permanent line between
his brows. His hand shook mine, but his eyes remained frozen. He
was going to be a tough one to win over.
    “He’s the man you want to please,” Lilliana
continued.
    Great. I forced a smile. “It’s lovely to
meet you.”
    “Sam, Carlene is the first honest person
I’ve met in a long time, and I have a feeling she will be an asset
to Stalford.”
    Relief had washed over me when Lilliana
hired me without asking to see credentials or references. With no
graduation behind me or experience in the area, I’d never have
gotten the job if I’d applied for it.
    Sam turned to Lilliana. “Can I have a
word?”
    Lilliana nodded and followed him up a wooden
staircase.
    A chill ran down my spine. Every fiber of my
being warned me that Sam wanted to talk Lilliana out of hiring me,
a woman with no education or experience. Hopefully he wouldn’t
insist on seeing credentials.
    I took advantage of the time to look around
again. The store was on two floors and so still, despite the
presence of customers and other sales associates.
    Earlier, while we were waiting for Sam to
arrive, Lilliana had shown me around. Upstairs were several
offices, one of which belonged to Sam and another to Lilliana,
opposite an inventory room with maximum security locks. Lilliana
admitted that she was never at the store long enough to use it. She
preferred to work from home.
    Around me were sparkling glass cabinet
displays, drawer units, glass shelves, and showcases filled with
jewelry. Case lighting illuminated the facets of precious and
semiprecious gems. My fingers itched to touch the jewelry.
    Customers flaunting designer suits,
handbags, and shoes weaved their way through the displays and eyed
pieces of jewelry. Some had already decided on their purchases and
stood at the points-of-sale, credit cards in hand.
    How would it feel to be one of them,
shopping with no thought about the cost? To be past the point of
buying what I needed and instead purchasing what I wanted?
    How would it feel to be on the other
side?
    The ding of a cash register snapped me back
to reality. It didn’t matter what I didn’t have. Right now I should
be grateful for what I did have—a glamorous job that would pave the
way to a new life. What I had was better than what I could have
hoped for.
    If my luck held, maybe I wouldn’t have to
return to Oasis after all.
     
    ***
     
    The next few weeks were spent selling to
rich—but unknown—customers. All I could do was observe from a
distance as my colleagues attended to celebrities. I’d never
thought I’d see these people in real life, let alone breathe the
same air as them.
    I did everything to prove my worth. To
assure Lilliana that she’d been right to take a chance on me, and
to draw Sam to my side. I was almost always the first employee to
arrive at the store in the morning and the last one to leave.
    But Sam would never let me sell to the
wealthy customers. He never hid his disapproval about my employment
at Stalford. He rarely greeted me, and we only exchanged words when
absolutely necessary.
    “Sam doesn’t care for Carlene much, does
he?” I’d overheard Sarah say to Amanda in the staff room, last
week.
    Amanda’s laugh leaked through the slit under
the door. “Would you like her if you were Sam? Lilliana literally
dragged her off the streets.”
    “I think she’s odd. Something about her
doesn’t seem right.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “She keeps her distance from all of us,
except Julie. Almost as if there’s something she doesn’t want us to
know.”
    A tear trickled down my cheek. If only they
knew how close to the truth they’d come. If they knew about my
secret, they’d dislike me even