“And that’s how you know the difference between cubic zirconia and genuine diamonds.” Blaire finally ended her explanation and looked to be surprised yet again to see Anton diligently taking down notes about gemstones.
He was wearing a pair of fake glasses. Although he claimed to have a perfect vision, he decided to wear them to look smart for her lectures.
She didn’t want to stereotype people but she always thought that jocks like him could get easily bored with this kind of lecture.
“It’s strange that a fake gem looked so identical to the real deal yet it seemed so flawless.”
“There is a reason why a flawed gem is more priceless than homegrown ones,” she said. “Anyway, that’s basically the end of our discussion about jewelry. We should try testing out your customer service, Anton.”
“You sure? It’s only been two days since I started this training. I thought I needed to be an expert in this field.”
Blaire could only laugh. “Well, I’m still eighteen and I still have a long way to go. Trust me, if you are speaking with expertise, the boss lady fits that description.” She grabbed a paper bag and handed it over to him.
“Speaking of which, we’re required to wear something smart—usually black.”
“Oh, thanks, B!” He grinned, his eyes brightened like an excited child receiving his present. “I can pay you back with this suit once I have my first salary.”
She shook her head. “The boss was the one who bought it for you, not me!”
Blaire recalled the first time she had met Fin, she just gave a cute professional black suit that actually fits her perfectly.
Blaire was wondering if Fin knew his exact size. But then again, back when she was still her trainee, Fin just handed her out a cute black dress with a pink scarf, embroidered with golden flower trees around and she didn’t even ask for her measurements at all.
Blaire thought it was a coincidence but perhaps Fin has a natural eye for measuring things.
“Uh, Blaire? Earth to Blaire.”
Oh, she must have dozed off with her thoughts again. She had a terrible habit of going into her own world whenever she pondered.
She smiled at Anton and said, “Right, you need to get changed before the store opens.”
“Err…does that mean I have to start now?”
“Yeap! Think of it as your observation period. Watch how I handle customers.”
Anton looked hesitant before nodding and heading his way to the employee’s room.
“Make sure to wear the name pin,” Blaire said as she flipped the sign to open. It’s almost 10 AM, after all.
This is Anton’s first day of work and frankly, Blaire didn’t expect it to happen.
To think that the boss lady hired Anton right after he asked her was something she couldn’t understand till now.
After a month of getting to know Anton, she always thought that he was a simple-minded guy. But it caught her off guard when Fin called her the other morning that Anton would start working with them from now on.
She wasn’t sure if Fin hired him out of the goodness of her heart or she thought that the store was clearly understaffed.
Or perhaps her speculation was right after all.
“Blaire?”
She heard Anton approaching in her direction. She once again daydreaming in front of the glass door like an idiot and sighed.
“Yea—?” As she turned around her jaw slightly dropped.
She knew Anton was handsome but not in a way which made him more eye-candy to any straight girl’s eye. As expected, the black suit Fin gave him fit perfectly in his athletic build which emphasized his broad shoulders. It wasn’t too loose or too tight, it just fit perfectly well. He didn’t button his suit, as his shoulders probably got in the way but it gave a clear view of the shoulder blade as two were unbuttoned, making him, well… hot.
She didn’t realize because Anton always wears oversized hoodies. He could pass as a model.
“You think I don’t look weird?” Anton turned around while checking himself out. “I feel like a sore thumb wearing something fancy like this.”
“A-ah, no of course not! You look like…perfection!”
Perfection?
Really, Blaire?
She wanted to knock her head on the wall but instead she just laughed.
Anton in return sighed. “If you lie like that at least try to make it believable, Blaire.”
And with that, his naivety strikes again.
This gave her the answer of why Anton got unlucky all the time.
There was a creaking sound at the backdoor as expectedly, their boss, Fin, entered while tying her hair.
“Oh, good morning, boss!” Blaire beamed.
Fin nodded at her in acknowledgement after tying up a perfect bun which revealed more of her beautifully well-crafted emerald stud earrings.
If Fin Naese had to, she could also perfectly fit as a model for her own designs.
Anton mentioned he was sticking like a sore thumb, what would that make her then?
Her boss then turned to Anton’s direction.
And stared.
“Ah! Good morning, Fin—-err, boss!”
Now, this piqued Blaire’s curiosity. She waited for Fin’s reaction if she had the same reaction as hers. Hopefully a new expression she didn’t see from the boss lady since working here for two months.
“You should put your name pin on your right breast pocket,” she said, nonchalantly and afterwards, she went straight to her workstation.
So much for something spicy.
---
Anton always knew that the jewelry store was getting sales. But he didn’t expect to see a lot of people today.
Perhaps it was all about timing or perhaps it was because the university had a winter break that those kids from school had a lot of time to spare.
One thing for sure, he would have thought that he was ready to assist at least two or three customers.
He didn’t expect to be surrounded by a group of girls.
“Hey, aren’t you new here?” Blondie girl asked.
“What jewelry fits my eyes?” Another one asked.
“What time are you free after this?”
And they continued asking more questions that it became more difficult to deal with at the moment.
He glanced at Blaire and Fin who were also occupied with some customers. It seemed like it was up to him now.
He suddenly remembered what he had to do when dealing with customers for the first time. He brought a brochure and showed it to the group of girls. “We have the new motif for this week in stock today.”
The girls circled around as he continued to explain. “For the winter love collection, we would like you to see our latest designs that fit any winter clothes you have.”
“I would definitely buy what you recommend, only if you go out with me,” one of the girls smirked.
“Hey, I was about to ask him first!”
And soon, the girls started to argue. Their loud voices had already attracted other customers’ attention and Anton tried his best to do some damage control here.
“Girls, please, you don’t have to fight!”
Anton didn’t know how to deal with this. In his previous work at the real estate agency, he only dealt with people old enough to afford a house but dealing with young women wasn’t his cup of tea.
In fact, he often stayed away from women for Melissa’s sake.
“Excuse me, girls, I believe my assistant needs to do some delivery for me.” Behind him, Fin entered the crowd.
The girls stopped arguing and stared at his boss whose expression remained deadpanned all throughout the noise.
“Emma, here is the list and some of the jewelry you need to prepare for shipping.”
“A-all right, Fin.” He reluctantly accepted the list.
Just as he was about to leave the crowd, one of the girls whined.
“Aww, we want to get to know him better.”
This made Fin gritted her teeth. Anton could clearly see that Fin wasn’t a patient person. “If you don’t fucking buy our jewelries, might as well you, shitheads, leave my store.”
This startled the girls and when they were about to retort she continued,teeth seething with annoyance, “You are disturbing my customers, I ask you to leave or I’ll make you leave.”
The girls paled when they caught sight of her infamous icy glare. One of them nudged her friend as they slowly headed straight to the store.
A few of their customers went quiet before they went back to asking questions to Blaire.
“And that’s the infamous Fin Naese, everybody!” Blaire exclaimed, cheerfully. It seemed her cheerful announcement easen the atmosphere around.
Fin sighed as she rubbed her temples.
“Fin, I—thanks,” he said, as he gave a sheepish grin. “I couldn’t handle it myself without you.”
He wasn’t expecting her to reply till she said, “Next time, if customers aren’t interested in our jewelry, you have every right to kick them out.”
He blinked, then grinned, “Sure, will do!”
“And Emma?”
“Yeah?”
“The deliveries?”
“Ah, right!” His cheeks flushed in embarrassment. He almost forgot about it. “Yes, ma’am!”
As he was busy checking the list, all he could think about was that Fin actually had a conversation with him.
And nothing could ruin his mood.
----
Or not.
“What a day!” Anton slumped on his seat. “I am totally beat.”
After what had happened with the girls asking him out, he got busier sorting all the packages to be delivered to the express mail. It was a bit tiring going in and out of the store but it was way better than dealing with those university girls.
But still, customers kept coming in and he struggled recommending the finest jewelry to them. Blaire helped him along the way but the experience was too much for him to handle.
Blaire slumped on the seat next to him. “Phew, I didn’t expect today to be hectic. But I would like to congratulate you for your first day! You are a natural, Anton!”
“But I think I screwed it up with the girls earlier,” he sighed, rubbing his now tousled hair.
“Well, believe it or not, Fin Naese is slowly becoming a popular name in this industry. If anything, customers are well aware of her personality, right, boss?”
Fin was just next to the backdoor while they had a conversation. She was untying her scrunchie and letting her straight dark hair down.
“If that means I could get customers, why the hell not?” She shrugged, lazily. “It’s getting late.I’m going to order dinner so it’s on the house. Will sushi do?”
“Awesome!” Blaire beamed as her hands were waving, triumphantly. “Free food from the boss lady!”
“For someone who dealt the most customers, you still have more energy left?” Anton laughed, as he ruffled her hair.
She groaned. “I hate it whenever you do that!”
He couldn’t help but to tease his little sister. Blaire had been such a tease to him since they first met and he easily warmed up to her and acted like an older brother figure. Despite that, he treated Blaire with respect for handling the frontlines while Fin had to do some jewelry making.
Speaking of Fin, he had almost forgotten that she was still in the room. He glanced at her direction and Fin was just there staring at him.
He couldn’t read what was in her mind but oddly enough Fin had a new expression he saw for the first time. It was really different from her usual glare often shown at home.
In fact, today, she hadn’t been glaring at him ever since she arrived.
When she realized he caught her staring at him, she muttered something under her breath as she headed to the back door.
“Fin, wait!” Anton stood up which startled Blaire as he headed to her direction.
Once he caught up to her, she stopped.
“What?”
Yeah, why did he approach her all of the sudden? “Err…do you want to eat dinner with us?”
He knew he was testing the waters here. Anything he did might trigger a ticking bomb he called his childhood friend.
But surprisingly, Fin didn’t curse him like she normally did and said, “No, I have some stuff to do.”
Perhaps she was exhausted because she sure wasn’t glaring at him now. But he had to test his luck. “Where are you going, Fin?”
“None of your business,” was her surly response. “The sushi will be here soon. I’ll be back tomorrow morning.” And with that she left before he could say anything.
He could chase after her but he knew it would sour her mood again. So he stayed next to the back door, waiting for the sushi to arrive.
He was wondering about this for the past month.
Fin always came home past three in the morning. He knew because he could always hear her entering the apartment at that time.
If Fin wasn’t in her workstation at night or working with her designs in her room…
...then where was she going?