ALLY
I can’t help but laugh as I listen to Sandra and Karen describe in perfect synchronisation and great detail their eventful encounter with an elderly lady who refused to leave the store even though it was already thirty minutes past closing time.
“And then, when Sandra’s resting bitch face couldn’t get any more pronounced, she just turned around and switched off the lights and the poor woman was so confused!” Karen cries, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“You didn’t!” I sigh in astonishment.
I always thought the girl was less inhibited than the rest of us but she never fails to impress me on that account. No wonder Sosa doesn’t like her, she must be impossible to control.
“She did!” Karen answers in reply, the smile sliding off her face as she turns to Sandra and sees her staring fixedly at a spot somewhere above my left shoulder.
Sandra’s hand shoots out and clutches her shift mate’s elbow in warning as she says to me with a lowered voice, “Don’t look now, but I think The Boss is checking you out!”
I reflexively turn around and my eyes land momentarily on a very striking man with jet-black hair and piercing eyes just before the pair of them hiss at me and turn me back to face them. It’s all I can do to stop myself from bursting with laughter at the sight of their alarmed expressions.
“What?”
“I said don’t look!” Sandra tuts angrily.
“How am I supposed to see who he is and if he’s checking me out?”
Both their jaws drop comically to the floor and I feel my eyes roll into the back of my skull on their own accord. And then their expressions become very serious as their eyes again focus somewhere behind me and they start backing away from me slowly.
I turn around expecting to see a deadly monster making its way towards me but all I see is the same striking man they were claiming to be The Boss.
“Good evening. I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Jeremy James Cordina,” he says in a very smooth tone, a hint of a smile playing around his lips.
Something about him makes me hesitate for a moment. Probably his eyes. He has very particular eyes. They are cold, like ice, and yet warm at the same time with a vibrant glimmer.
I smile instinctively as I take his hand to shake it. “Alison Lewis. Apparently, I work for you,” I start, but stop as he lifts my hand to his lips and places a soft kiss on my fingers.
This sort of behaviour usually creeps the hell out of me but for some reason, this time it doesn’t and I find myself unable to hold back a sneer.
“Is chivalry a thing in Malta or is it just you?” I say jokingly.
A low laugh escapes his throat and it knocks all the mockery out of me. I barely register his words as he slowly replies, “It is very rare. Are you impressed?”
I want to say yes. I mean no! I mean...
Well, it doesn’t matter because I can’t get a word out anyway as he flashes me with a heart-breaking smile and I feel my mouth smile back.
He lets go of my hand and I watch him lift his glass of what looks like whiskey to his lips. He eyes me as he mulls the fluid around his tongue and swallows it slowly.
This man is different than any other person I’ve ever met. I can tell he is confident to the point of being arrogant, just like Jake, yet somehow he warrants it. He seems to have the stuff to back it up. And something about the sparkle in his eyes tells me he is adventurous to the point of being crazy, and yet not to the extent of being idiotic. Because there is a sense of maturity about him. Not like Samuel, who Sosa insists is a perfect match for me. Of course, this man must be older than him.
But it’s not just that. It’s something more. He means business. There are no twists and turns and corners. He’s very forward and while it’s somewhat intimidating, his directness is appealing and it eases me into a curious comfort I have never felt before.
He asks me where I’m from and I answer. Truthfully, not placatingly just to shut him up like I would usually do. And then he asks me if I like it here. He smiles knowingly as I tell him that it’s not an easy place to get used to but I’m trying.
The more we talk, the easier it gets to engage with him. It’s evident that he’s one of those people who knows exactly how charming and attractive they are but he soon becomes invested in conversation and seems to forget this for a moment, making him seem more human and more real than anyone I’ve talked to in a long time, apart from Millie and Sosa, of course.
“What are you drinking?” he asks eventually gesturing towards the empty glass in my hands.
“Oh, that’s okay. I can get my own drink,” I reply giving him my go-to answer whenever a guy offers me a drink.
His eyes glower momentarily and, with a painfully striking half-smile he counters, “I know you can. It’s an open bar, which I’m paying for.”
The heat rises to my cheeks and makes them glow fiercely and, even though he tries not to let it show, I can tell Jeremy James Cordina is deeply amused.
“Relax, Sparky, I’m just messing with you. So, what are you having?”
“Vodka Orange,” I answer embarrassed and resigned.
He bites his lower lip and I know it’s to stop him from releasing a chuckle at my expense, but I don’t say anything as he turns around and makes his way over to the bar.
I barely have time to watch him disappear into the crowd when Sandra and Karen are on my back.
“What the hell was that?” Karen shouts, eyes wide, mouth gaping.
“What was what?” I ask just as The Boss reaches the bar.
“You've been flirting for the past hour and a half!”
I turn to my colleagues. “We weren't flirting, we were talking!”
“You were flirting! He's Jeremy James Cordina for fuck's sake! It's what he does!”
“Well, he must be taking a day off because he wasn't flirting,” I reply scathingly
Karen looks at me sympathetically. “So, where'd he go?”
“To get more drinks,” I answer trying to keep my face straight.
But Sandra is not having it. As always, she just can't keep her opinion to herself. “l can't believe you're bagging The Boss!”
“I am not bagging anyone! It’s an open bar which he's paying for!” I cry, the heat rising to my cheeks as I hear myself repeating his words. “He's getting you drinks as well.”
“Sure! Try explaining it that way to Sosa! Maybe she won't tell Samuel you cheated on him with The Boss!” Sandra says as a mischievous grin spreads on her face.
I cross my arms over my chest to steady myself against her smug face. “Samuel and I aren't together. We went out on two dates and that's it.”
“Does Sosa know you're not together?” Karen asks timidly, her eyes wandering over the room as though afraid our supervisor, who also happens to be my best friend, might hear her.
“Yes! And it doesn't matter because the last time I checked, talking is not cheating!”
I lift my glass to my lips again, forgetting that it’s empty. Unfortunately, it’s still not enough for me to avoid Karen and Sandra's accusing looks.
“Oh my God! We were NOT flirting!” I shout a bit too loudly.
“Who wasn’t flirting?”
Karen's eyes go wide and her lips become thin as though they've been sewn together as Sosa comes up from behind me and puts her arm around my waist. I’m just about to answer her when Sandra butts in.
“The Boss and Ally. And yet, he’s getting our newbie a drink as we speak.”
I roll my eyes at her. She’s really getting on my nerves now. “I started two days after you did!”
“Who? Mr. Cordina?” Sosa asks disconcertedly. “He just left.”
“What?”
I know we weren’t flirting. And yes, the drinks are free, but still... If that’s true, it’s pretty rude. Not surprising, but rude.
“Yeah! Just now. Saw him leaving with some blonde hanging by the bar.”
“Oh,” I sigh, ignoring the irritation in the pit of my stomach. “I guess I better go get my own drink then.”
#
They should ban open-bar parties. My head is aching and my stomach is twisting and turning ad nauseum. Sosa seems fine though and she probably drank twice as much.
I try to focus on the order sheet in front of me as she goes on and on and on about the tall, blond bartender who had to drive her home after the party when the phone rings mercifully.
I reach for it and answer sullenly, “Morning, Lipstick & Co.”
“Really? Is that how you answer the phone?”
I recognise his voice instantly but his tone is nothing like it was yesterday. It’s snappy and moody and not inviting at all. I scowl at the receiver wondering what the hell his problem is.
“Mr. Cordina?” I start hesitantly.
“No, it’s the Queen of England!” he snaps back. Then, after a short pause, “Did you just roll your eyes at me?”
My mouth drops open in shock and my eyes wander around the room in search of how he could possibly have known. Then, I see at the far corner of the store a blinking CCTV camera directed accusingly at me. I look up above my head and see another one.
“I’m sorry, I,” I start but his sharp words make me swallow mine.
“Forget it. I don’t have time for this. Put Stephanie on the line!”
A soft sigh escapes my lips. I can’t believe this is the same man I conversed with so easily for over an hour yesterday.
“Hello? Are you hungover or are you always this slow?” his cutting voice says in my ear.
My lower lip starts to tremble. I am not usually the sensitive type and snarky comments don’t get to me, but I am so astonished by the change in character that my eyes start to sting.
Sandra’s nasty words come back to me. Maybe he was just flirting with me because that’s what he does. And there I was sticking up for him, thinking that he’s a genuinely nice person!
I’m suddenly consumed by a rush of anger and I get up from my stool, push the phone in Sosa’s hand and say, “Here. Houdini wants to talk to you. I’m off for my break!” just before storming out.