NGL... I Want You

Chapter 1

Becca

         Hey, Becca! I hope you find the condo in alright condition. My husband and I hired a cleaning service before you arrived to make sure it’s clean for you! I know you’re going to love New York City! Emily certainly did. It’ll take some time to get on your feet, but I believe in you, cousin!

         With lots of love and hugs, Jamie.

         Blowing out a stream of air, I stare at the condominium that my cousin just gave me. Not only is it huge, amazing, and completely out of this world, but it’s nothing like anything I’ve lived in before.

         “No wonder Emily dropped everything to come here,” I whisper to myself, setting down my things on the kitchen island. “Jamie had it made.”

         Ever since I attended Emily’s wedding to Alfred, I’ve been thinking about following in my sister's footsteps and coming here to the big city myself. I don’t have anything to lose. It’s not like I’ve got a lot of opportunities awaiting me in our hometown. Greenville, North Carolina, population 2118 at the last census, isn't exactly a cultural mecca.

         I didn’t have much of a plan, but when I spoke to Jamie about my wild dreams, she told me that she was moving out of her condo and needed someone to take it over. Can anyone blame me for taking the chance of starting over somewhere new?

         Now that I’m here in this big ol’ space by myself, I don’t even know where to begin! Should I stand on the terrace with a glass of wine, sloshing it around as I gaze at the horizon? How about I explore Skyside a bit? Jamie and Emily both mentioned a huge pool, saunas, an incredible gym…

         God, there’s so much to do!

         “What if I meet some cute guy in the elevator like Emily did?”

         Rushing to the door, I open it and peek towards the elevator. It’s currently in use, bringing someone down to the lobby.

         “Damn,” I whisper, shutting the door and retreating into the living room. “What if the man of my dreams was in that elevator just now?”

         Oh, well. I don’t fixate on that right now. I need to start making money and fast. With no one to depend on for groceries, clothes, and all that jazz, my finances depend entirely on me.

  Sure, I’ve got some savings from back home, but I’ll be drowning soon if I don’t get moving on the job search. Luckily, I don’t have rent to worry about, so even an entry level job should do.

         I wish I could just walk into some publishing house and beg a literary agent to take me as a client. I don’t have any manuscripts at the moment, just some snippets of story scenes here and there that showcase my writing. If I want to make it as a writer in this big city, I need to have a novel under my belt.

         Sadly, I don’t know where to begin, or what to write about. Maybe I’ll be hit with an influx of creativity soon living in the big city, and I’ll write a bestseller one of these days. Then again, I might just be delusional.

         After a quick walk around the neighborhood, I walk into the first spot that has a ‘hiring’ sign hanging outside the door. Next Day Dry Cleaners. Behind the cash register, there’s a tall white man with dark hair and blue eyes flipping through a magazine with his chin on his hand.

         When I walk through the door, he straightens up. “Hello, there. How can I help you?”

         I gesture toward the hiring sign. “Oh, I just came into town and I’m looking for a job. I see you’re hiring, so…”

         “Ah. Perfect. We’ve been looking for someone to man the register,” he says, rounding the counter to meet me halfway. He’s wearing a flannel with jeans, casual with a bit of a rugged edge to him. “My name’s Connor.”

         “Becca Hawkins,” I reply swiftly, shaking his hand when he offers it.

He’s got a warmth to him, one that eases the tension in my shoulders. Mama says I’ve always had a bad tendency to be too trusting with people, but when you grow up in a small town with nice folk everywhere you go, it’s kind of hard not to be like that.

“When’s your availability? And when can you start?”

Damn. No resume, no cover letter, or anything? Job searching may be easier than I thought.

“As soon as possible. I’m free on weekdays from morning to evening.”

“Great! You should be a perfect fit, then. Do you live around here?”

“Yeah, just a few blocks down. It’s an easy walk from here to there.”

Pressing my lips into a thin line, I stick my hands into my pockets and hope he doesn’t ask me more in that regard. Not many people with my background live in Skyside, so I’m told. He’ll probably think I’m some stuck-up princess if I told him I inherited the condo from someone else.

“And you said you just came into town?” he asks, a smile on his lips.

I laugh, ducking my head as I scratch my neck. He’s a cute guy. The way he smiles makes my stomach start flipping.

“Yeah, I moved here from North Carolina. I’m a small-town girl at heart, but I wanted to try my luck in the big city.” I shrug. “But I figured I needed to find a job before I got too crazy.”

“Ah, looking to have fun?” Connor teases, but I wave him off.

“No, no, I’m not like that. Not really. I’m a pretty calm person.”

“That’s good to hear. I’d have some trouble believing that a sweet girl like you is secretly a party monster who gets down on the weekends,” he replies, organizing a cluttered mess on the front desk. He beckons me over with a hand, and I follow like a moth to a flame. “Have you ever worked with a cash register before?”

I blink. I’m used to electronic ones with tablets. The kind that you swirl around on a stand after tapping some buttons on them. The ones that hit you with a suggested tip option after doing next to nothing for the customer.

This one? It’s old-fashioned and bulky, an artifact of a bygone era.

“I have, but…” I hesitate, hoping I’m not looking like an incompetent fool right now. “The cash registers I’ve seen before are more modern.”

Connor laughs. “Yeah, I’ve heard that before. I don’t know why we haven’t switched these out for a newer tablet model, but whatever. They’re not too difficult to navigate.”

With a lot of patience, he shows me what buttons to press and how to properly finish a transaction. On my first try, I mess up because I accidentally press the decimal point. You’re not supposed to do that, apparently. That doesn’t make a lick of sense. The cash register starts making a loud noise, and I want the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

I mean, come on. I can’t even work a damn register. He must like me a little bit despite my incompetence. Otherwise, he would have waved me out the door already.

“You’re alright. Lots of people don’t know how to work these things on the first try. There’s a whole manual that comes with them, but we don’t have one lying around.” Connor taps some buttons, the noise disappears, and the register is reset. “Let’s try again. Thirty dollars.”

Three, followed by three zeroes. He taps another button to apply the tax. Then another to get the subtotal.

“If the customer pays with a card, they use this machine.” Connor points at the card reader beside the register. “Then you just press total and hand them the receipt. If they want to use cash, plug in the amount they give you so that the register can calculate the change for you. Simple.”

“Yeah. Definitely.” I always say that and end up messing up somewhere along the line, but he doesn’t need to know that just yet. I’m trying to secure a job here. “Easy enough.”

“Here’s a list of the services we do here along with the prices,” he says, taking a small laminated card and setting it in front of me. “With all that down, you’re basically ready to start working here.”

“Seriously? That’s it?” I blurt out. “Don’t you want to give me a formal interview to see if I’m a good fit for the company?”

Connor’s shoulders droop and he sends me an amused look. “Becca, this is a dry cleaning shop. I’m not about to sit you down and ask for your references when all you’re going to do is work the register.”

“Okay, got it, just making sure.” He makes me a little nervous, which is strange since I just met the guy. Not in a bad way, either. It feels like high school again when you’ve got a crush on someone and you try to act cool around them, but it’s not going your way. “When do you want me to start?”

“If you’re available as soon as possible, then why don’t you come by tomorrow? I’ll be in, so we’ll get to hang out a little more. Maybe I’ll learn you’re a crazy serial killer when we get to talking more casually. Who knows?”

I snort. “That’d be something, huh?”

He gives me a quick tour of the dry cleaning shop, which isn’t massive, but I can tell it gets a lot of high-profile customers. There are many dresses and suits that catch my attention, enclosed in clear coverings. Outfits that I could never dream of affording.

“So tomorrow’s okay for you, right?” Connor asks me as he leads me to the entrance. “I wouldn’t mind getting to know you more.”

“Tomorrow’s fine. Can’t wait.” I wave goodbye before departing the shop, feeling a heat rise to my ears and down between my legs that takes me a moment to shake off. My heart’s in my ears. “Holy shit. I need to tell Jamie about this.”