Moments In Time: The Complete Novella Collection (5 page)

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 more.

So what. I had to make the most of this
opportunity and not waste my time worrying about whether or not my
colleagues liked me. So I concentrated on being the best I could
be.

After work, since I had nothing else to do,
I spent hours on the Internet informing myself about jewelry and
the jewelry business, and this evoked in me the desire to know even
more. In my third month at Stalford, I enrolled in an evening
gemology class, which taught me about the physical and optical
properties of gemstones—pearls, quartz, turquoise, ruby, and
tourmaline—and how rare they were, and was even introduced to
gemstone testing methods.

If I was going to do something, I’d do it
right.

My efforts paid off when, a few weeks later,
Sam led two major celebrities in my direction. Since everyone else
was occupied, he had no choice but to hand them over to me.

Jodi Moore, the opera singer, and Steve
Lear, a famous actor, walked right up to me, and I received them
with a wide grin.

Putting into practice what I’d learned from
my classes, I managed to sell them two of the most expensive pieces
in the store—a vintage watch and a diamond necklace.

If Sam didn’t appreciate my skills after
this accomplishment, he never would.

I’d done it again. I’d sold an old man a
pricey diamond and Burmese ruby necklace, a present for his wife on
their fortieth wedding anniversary. Just as I locked the display,
Sam called me.

“Carlene, I’d like to introduce you to
someone.”

I shifted my gaze to the man next to him,
and my eyes locked with familiar ones. Eyes I had not been able to
forget since the first day I saw them. I still remembered how
they’d looked closed, the long lashes grazing Nick’s cheeks as we’d
kissed.

“This is Nick Johnson,” Sam said. “He’s one
of our most valued customers.”

Who would have thought the next time I saw
him would be at my workplace? I guess it was bound to happen. If
one wished to meet public figures, Stalford was the place to
be.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you... Mr.
Johnson.” I extended my hand toward him. My heart did a flip-flop
when our palms touched.

“Glad to meet you too.” No sign on his
face at all that he knew me. I guess I was a distant memory to him,
someone to kiss and forget.

When I saw the woman next to him, a
gorgeous, Bambi-eyed blond, ice spread through my stomach.

Nick draped an arm around her waist. “This
is Elizabeth—”

“His fiancée,” Elizabeth finished and kissed
his cheek.

A stab of jealousy rammed through me like a
steel pole. He was getting married?

Wait a minute, when we’d kissed, had he been
in a relationship? Did he cheat on his fiancée? What kind of man
would do that?

“We’re looking for an engagement ring.”
Elizabeth clapped her hands like a small girl in a candy store.
“I’d always wanted to pick out my own. Not that I don’t trust your
taste, darling.” She kissed him again, this time on the lips.

“Carlene will help you do just that.” Sam
flashed a rare smile. It was clear he was sucking up to Nick.

“Great, let’s get started,” said Nick.

Elizabeth headed to the glass display with a
huge “diamonds” sign hanging above it.

Nick gave me a swift glance and a
tight-lipped smile and followed her.

Sam disappeared to attend to other
customers, and I stood there for a moment, composing myself.

Why was Nick acting as if he’d never seen me
before? Of course I wouldn’t expect him to embarrass himself or
ruin his reputation, but I at least deserved a knowing glance.
Our kiss might have been insignificant to him, but it had changed
my life.

I sucked in a deep breath and gritted my
teeth, then followed them. I had to be professional.

As we normally did for special customers, I
handed them each a glass of champagne. As I handed Nick his flute,
our fingers brushed and he glanced up for a second, then looked
away. He knew who I was. That comforted me some, but not much.

I asked Elizabeth what she had in mind for
her engagement ring, but apart from “very expensive,” she had no
further specifications. The more time I spent with her, the more
she made me want to gag. She was clearly a gold digger. Her
favorite word was money. How did Nick not see that?

After thirty minutes of indecision,
Elizabeth settled for an emerald-cut diamond ring you could see
from a mile away.

She admired the sparkling gem in the light
and thanked Nick for making her the luckiest woman in the world,
then made him promise to buy her an equally expensive wedding
gown.

Under the pretense of offering them privacy,
I sneaked away. On my way to the front of the store, something
caught my attention. A silver bracelet with a diamond and silver
key pendant attached to it. It took my breath away every time I saw
it. The most beautiful piece of jewelry I’d ever seen. I reached
into the case and caressed it with the tips of my fingers. Of
course I had tried it on—just once, when no one was watching. But I
wasn’t naïve; I would never be able to afford it, even if I worked
for ten years and starved myself.

“We’re ready to pay.”

I startled and almost went flying into the
display. Nick reached out in time to grab my wrist and break my
fall, just as he had last time. Why did I keep falling around
him?

For an instant, our eyes locked, and my
heart skipped a beat.

Releasing my wrist from his grasp, I broke
the connection.

Luckily, Elizabeth didn’t seem to notice our
shared moment. She seemed to be more in love with her ring than
with Nick.

I rubbed my wrist, which felt warm, as if
his touch had scorched it. Then I locked the jewelry shelf with the
bracelet. “Follow me,” I said, and turned my back to him. I led
them to the point-of-sale station and handed them over to Amanda,
who finalized the transaction.

As I walked away, someone touched my
arm.

I wheeled around, hoping it was Nick, come
to his senses, but it was Sam.

“Nice job back there.” He grinned.

I was shocked. He had never smiled at me
that way before. It was the type of smile he reserved for when he
studied the jewelry while he thought no one was watching. He had
also never given me a compliment. Not once.

“Thank you.” I realized I was still rubbing
my wrist; the heat from Nick’s touch surrounded it like a
bracelet.

“Can I have a word?”

“Is something wrong?” I lived every day in
the fear that what I had would be snatched away in the blink of an
eye.

Sam shook his head and laughed. “Not at all.
I have a proposition for you.”

I frowned but nodded and followed him
upstairs, past the inventory door, to his office.

“Please take a seat.” He waved at a
cushioned chair on one side of his glass-top desk. “Would you like
some champagne?”

“I...no. I don’t drink at work.” I squinted,
wondering at his agenda. Why was he being so nice to me all of a
sudden? In all the time we’d worked together, he’d never uttered
more than five words to me at a time.

“Like I said down there, you’re a great
salesperson. We appreciate all your hard work.”

It meant a lot coming from him.

“We’d like to promote you.”

I perked up. “Really?”

“Really. In addition to selling jewelry in
the store, we’d also like you to sell it in a different way.”

I frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“Carlene, we’d like you to be the face of
Diamond Dreams, our new jewelry line.”

The revolving doors of the photo studio
opened and I stepped into the cool interior. Black-and-white photos
of models in various poses adorned the walls.

Today was my first shoot, and adrenaline
pumped at rapid speed through my veins.

Being the face of the Diamond Dreams jewelry
line meant I would be able to afford a nice place and have enough
money left over to spoil myself.

Having blown-up images of me in the display
windows and in magazines was an added bonus that also terrified me.
I had never felt comfortable being the center of attention. As a
teenager, I had dreamed of being a model, even if I never thought I
stood a chance with the acne that had tormented me since the age of
twelve. By the time I went to college, it had cleared up, but I
still never thought of myself as beautiful. Until Chris came along.
It had taken months for me to finally accept his compliments and
start feeling good about myself. When I did, my confidence
skyrocketed. He was the first man, my first love, and he’d made me
feel beautiful.

A hair and makeup team awaited me.

“Let’s make you stunning,” said MaryAnn, a
woman with a ballerina bun decorated with chopsticks. She lifted a
strand of my hair. “You need curls. A little romance.”

She whisked me off to a mirrored room with a
basin in one corner and sat me down. First she washed my hair, and
then her fingers moved deftly between my hair, and various tools
and products. Finally, she sighed with content. “All done.” She
swiveled me around and I gasped.

My hair was unrecognizable as it curled and
twirled into a romantic, glossy updo. I moved my head from side to
side, admired the bronze highlights that gave my brown hair
life.

“I love it. Thank you.”

“Now you look the part. Silvy will be in
shortly to do your makeup.” She squeezed my shoulder and left the
room.

When Silvy entered, she, too, wasted no
time. She cleaned my face, plucked my eyebrows, rubbed creamy
foundation into my skin, and ran eyeliner along my upper and lower
lash lines, all the while explaining each step to me. Then she
applied various shades of brown and bronze eye shadows. Finally,
she lengthened and volumized my short lashes with dark brown
mascara and smeared nude lipstick and clear gloss onto my lips.

“You’re gorgeous.” Silvy winked at me.

Gazing into the mirror, I had to agree. My
skin was smooth, and my eyes had never looked bigger or brighter.
Apart from lip gloss, I’d never used much makeup. Maybe it was time
to start.

While I admired my new look in the mirror,
another woman entered, laden with clothes on hangers.

“I’m Marjorie,” she said. “I’m here to dress
you.”

She helped me into a nude, backless cocktail
dress with a sequined bust.

I stood in front of the mirror, watching as
the dress produced curves I never knew existed. I was blown
away.

“I know you’d rather stand there all day,
but we’re not through yet.” Marjorie snapped a bracelet on my
wrist, hung diamond drops on my ears, and framed my neck with a
matching necklace.

The shoot lasted three hours, with five
outfit changes and lots of jewelry. It started off stilted, with me
being an amateur and all, but I soon found my groove. In the end, I
pretended that Mark, the photographer, was Nick and I was modeling
in front of him. In the end, the photographer got a lot of great
shots, and I was ready to go home and sleep for a week.

Much as I longed to go straight home and
climb into bed, I had promised to help out at Oasis. On my way I’d
pass by the chapel to light a candle for Chris and give thanks for
all the blessings in my life.

Sometimes it was hard to believe all this
belonged to me. Secretly, I waited for someone to pick up the
remote and stop the movie of my life.

***

Two weeks after the photo shoot, I got paid
for it, in addition to my normal salary as a sales associate. I had
never had so much money in my life. I was going to be responsible
with it. I decided to save some, donate a portion to the shelter,
and get myself a decent apartment.

“I’m sad to see you go,” the landlord said
when I told him of my plans to move out. “It’s not often I have a
pretty lady around.”

“It was nice living here, but I need to find
a place closer to work,” I lied. It was the worst place to live.
The loud music from neighbors, the middle-of-the-night screams as a
husband beat his wife, the unflushed shared toilet, and mildewed
shower curtains. I was glad to be rid of it all.