Chapter 12

“I think what Veronica meant to say was that she’ll bring out our finest bags at once for you to look at,” Mr. Morgan said, making Veronica shrink into herself.

“Yes sir, of course, right away,” she hurried towards the back of the store.

“Please follow me,” Mr. Morgan said, leading Logan and me to a back corner of the store. It was set up almost like a bridal shop, with mirrors and a tiny stage and seats surrounding the stage. We sat.

“Amelia dear, please bring out some champagne for the lovely couple,” Mr. Morgan yelled across the store to the other saleswoman, who jumped to action as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

“Oh, no,” I said. “We’re not…”

But Mr. Morgan was gone almost as quickly as he had first appeared.

Veronica returned with several bags hanging from her arms. She delicately laid them on the counter closest to us.

“I never got your name?” She said to me, suddenly all smiles now that she thought I had money.

“Hazel,” I fake smiled in return.

“You know, I see a lot of couples in here, and I have to say, you two seem to go together perfectly,” she said.

“No, we’re…”

“Now, let’s have you try on some of these bags, shall we?” She smiled and turned away before I could explain.

She grabbed a dark purple hand bag first and brought it over to me. I caught a glimpse of the price tag as I slid it onto my shoulder. My eyes bulged.

$7,900? For a purse?

“What do you think?” Veronica asked Logan.

Logan studied the bag. “Let’s see another.”

She grabbed a black one and handed it to me. I avoided looking at the price tag on this one. The money for a single bag would be life-changing for me. It made me sick to think about.

Logan gave the bag a quick look and said, “This one is nice.”

“Your husband has good taste,” Veronica smiled at me. “You’re a lucky woman, he treats you very well.”

My face burned. “He’s not…” I snuck a glance at Logan to see his reaction to being called my husband, but he was busy typing away on his phone.

“This one will do,” Logan said, still looking down at his phone. “Let’s keep trying them on however, I’d like to purchase two today.

Veronica had me try on the rest of the bags. When we were finished, Logan told me to pick out the second one he would purchase. I tried to imagine what kind of purse I would see on Nat.

“Let’s also do the light brown one,” I told Veronica. “She’ll probably get the most use out of those two options, “ I explained to Logan.

“Good thinking,” he smiled at me. My heart did a little flutter.

We walked to the front to pay.

“That’ll be $4357.87,” Veronica said, giving us the biggest smile I’d seen on her yet.

“Oh, is that all?” I muttered to myself.

Logan handed over his credit card and looked around while Veronica ran it. “You know,” he said, turning his eyes to me. “I want to buy her some shoes as well. Will you try some on?”

“Oh,” I hesitated. I hated to tell my boss no, but I had some reservations. “Women have very different tastes in shoes…do you even know her size?”

He looked down at my feet. “I feel like you both are very similar in build.” He looked at Veronica, not even giving me a chance to say no again. “Would you mind pulling some shoes for us?”

I sighed. “Heels. I wear an 8.”

“Yes, right away,” Veronica practically ran to the back this time. I imagined she was already thinking of ways to spend her commission from today’s sales.

Logan and I walked back to the seats we started in. “More champagne?” He asked.

I was touched by his thoughtfulness. “That would be great, thank you.”

He took our empty glasses and found Amelia, who took our glasses back and returned to us with half-full ones.

“I brought the rest of the bottle for you too,” Amelia winked at us as she set everything down on the table between us.

“Thank you Amelia,” Logan pulled a hundred dollar bill from his wallet and handed it to her.

“Oh, no sir, I couldn’t…” Amelia began.

“Please, I insist,” Logan pressed the money into her palm. She blushed.

“That is too kind…thank you sir,” she pocketed the money. “Please, let me know if there’s anything else I can get you.”

Logan nodded and she returned to stocking shelves.

Veronica returned moments later, carrying at least ten boxes of shoes. I didn’t even want to guess where the prices started on these.

She brought the first box over to me and took the shoes out of the box: tall, hot pink stilettos. I slid my flats off nervously. I hoped they didn’t want to see the shoes in action. There was no way I’d be able to walk in them.

Veronica cringed slightly when she saw my feet, which made me blush. They were not ready for human eyes to see. I was in desperate need of a nail trim and I had calluses on the sides of my big toes.

“Let me get you some pantyhose,” she said, running off again.

I blushed harder and hid my feet under my chair until she returned. She put the hose on me, then the shoes. She looked at me expectantly, but I remained seated in my chair, staring back at her. Then she grabbed me by the hands and hoisted me up out of the chair.

Time stood still as I froze in place, slightly crouched, arms stretched straight out with Veronica’s hands still in mine. I was pretty proud of myself for being able to stand with those very tall, skinny shoes, but it was only temporary. As soon as Veronica let go my ankles began to quiver and I could feel myself falling over.

Logan leapt out of his chair and threw his arms around me to catch me. I fell into him with my face and hands landing on his chest. Not exactly a soft place to land, but I certainly wasn’t complaining.

He scooped me up and returned me to my chair. “Maybe we’ll just try the shoes on sitting down, hmm?”

I nodded, too stunned to really say anything, hoping he didn’t hear my heart pounding in my chest. This man had really just caught me, then scooped my up into his arms. It was like a fairytale.

“I just need a second to…” cool down, I thought, then shook my head. “Uh, to soothe these nerves.”

I chugged the rest of my champagne. Damn, that was just about the hottest thing a man had ever done for me. I took a deep breath. “Okay. Next pair.”

The other nine pairs went off without a hitch. After Veronica removed the last pair from my feet, Logan stroked his chin, deep in thought.

“I can’t decide. They all fit okay, yes?”

I nodded.

“We’ll take them all then,” Logan said and nodded at me.

We walked towards the front counter and waited for Veronica to box up the last pair of heels and join us with all ten pairs. She scanned each pair, her smile growing larger with every scan.

“Your total comes out to $15, 983.45,” she said, grinning from ear to ear.

Mr. Morgan walked up behind Veronica. “How was your shopping experience today?”

“Oh, just fine,” Logan said. “Could we credit these purchases to Amelia? She was most charming and helpful today.”

Veronica’s eyes nearly popped out of her skull and her jaw dropped open. I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing.

“Yes, of course sir,” Mr. Morgan smiled.

After Logan paid we gathered up our bags and headed to the car. I was surprised by how considerate Logan had been today. There was a very sweet, kind man under that cold exterior. I snuck a peek at Logan while we walked. He had a little more pep in his step than before. I wondered if he was thinking about his wife.

We arrived at his car and I helped him put all the bags into the trunk. I started to open the passenger door as he stepped in on the driver’s side.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Logan said.

“I’m…getting in the car…” I said, confused by the question.

“You don’t think I’m suddenly your chauffeur, do you?” He leaned through to pull my door shut, then sped off out of the parking lot. My mouth hung open as I watched him drive out of sight.