Special - Ch 1
I pulled around the grocery’s main building, heading for my regular parking spot near the rear entrance, only to find a shiny new Acura I’d never seen before parked in my slot.
Apparently the driver couldn’t read the sign on the wall that clearly said ‘Reserved’ in bright red letters. Today was orientation for the new hires, and chances were, it was one of them. Happened every time, even though they were told to park along the back fence.
Shaking my head, I parked where they should have and walked back. The weather was unseasonably warm for June in Ohio, and the heat hurried my steps.
As I passed the unknown vehicle, I glanced inside. It was black, with a black cloth interior, the window sticker was still lying on the passenger seat, but nothing else was visible. Still no clue who it belonged to, I reached for the building door just as it swung outward, painfully stubbing my outstretched fingers.
“Ouch! For goodness…”
“I’m sorry!” A female voice called from behind the door. “There’s no window.”
“It’s fine. Come on out.” Biting my lip to hold back a curse and shaking out my hand, I pulled the door the rest of the way open. Cold air rushed out, and I was about to slip past the slim figure in the doorway, but when her wide, dark eyes connected with mine, I froze.
The girl before me was about my height and stunningly beautiful. As she ducked her head, raven black hair slid over one shoulder reaching nearly to her elbow. Unlike me, she wasn’t wearing a store polo shirt, but rather a long tunic style top cinched at the waist with a thin belt and dark skinny pants tucked into boots the same brown as her top. All of it conspired to make the eyes looking up at me from beneath her lashes appear almost black.
“Are you alright?” she asked. “I shouldn’t have shoved it open, but I need to move my car right away.” She bit her lip and glanced over her shoulder into the store. “Apparently I parked in the boss’s spot.”
Staring at her like an idiot and unable to speak, I blinked as she eyed me curiously.
Finding my voice, I assured her, “I’m fine. And he’s not the boss.”
“Oh.” She glanced over her shoulder, an adorably confused look on her face. “They told me Andrew Matthews was the store manager.”
For a moment I considered telling her I was Andy Matthews, and I was the owner, not the manager, but my curiosity about who she was skyrocketed.
“He’s actually the owner,” I said.
Her brows shoot up, and I choked back a laugh.
“Great.” Flinging her hands in the air, she blew out a breath. “He’s supposed to be here any minute, and I ran out here because I didn’t want to get caught in his spot. At least I managed to get here before he did.”
As she stepped past me I caught a whiff of soft perfume, and the hairs on my arms stood up.
Who is this girl?
“He’s usually pretty punctual. Guess you lucked out this time.” I wanted to get inside and find out what department she worked for before she found out who I was.
She lifted a remote and pointed it at the car. The Acura’s horn honked twice, followed by the lights flashing. Before I could ask what she was doing, she reached for the car door and pulled, setting off the alarm.
I let go of the building’s door, stifling my laughter as she frantically pressed buttons trying to get it to stop.
“New car?” I asked over the blaring horn as I lifted the remote from her hand.
“Yes!” She covered her ears. “Dad insisted.”
Pressing the correct button, I disarmed the alarm, unlocked the doors, and handed the fob back to her. “Think you can take it from here?”
“Thank you, and yes. I’m not usually this incompetent.” Her shoulders slumped and I regretted my snark. She swiped her hair over her shoulder before shutting the car door between us.
I pulled the building door open and the air-conditioned breeze from inside ghosted across my cheeks making me aware I was flushed. Shaking myself, I strode toward the offices looking for the shift manager.
“Penny!” One of the produce workers got to her before I did. “We have a cooler that’s not working. Can you call service?”
“I’m on it.” Penny swept past me on her way to the office she and I shared. “Come on, Andy. You can look over the new hires while I call about the cooler.”
Penny’s side of the office was organized chaos. Folders, work orders, and inventory sheets covered her desk and the credenza beside it. She snagged a folder out of a pile without looking while simultaneously dialing the phone.
I took the offered folder and sat on the edge of my desk. Flipping it open, her neatly clipped new hire packets rested inside.
Rheys Thompson, grocery. Danny Baker, ironically enough, bakery.
I snorted and flipped to the next set. All guys except for one.
Charlotte Mays, accounting.
Setting the rest of the files aside, I pulled the clip from her packet and absently listened to Penny hassling the repair man until she convinced him to come within the hour. The woman was relentless, and the best hire I’d ever made.
“So.” She clipped the phone to her belt and crossed her arms. “What brings you into the office today?”
I held up the files. “Orientation?”
“Ah, yes.” She nodded. “Scare all the children on their first day.”
“You think I’m scary?” I looked down at myself. Shiny brown dress shoes, khaki pants, belt, and a dark green polo. At five ten, one forty I wasn’t exactly scary.
“I don’t.” Penny laughed. “But meeting the owner on the first day seems to make everyone nervous.”
I cocked my head at her. “What makes you say that?”
“Well, one of those didn’t show up.” She rested a finger on her lips. “Though that might be because he got arrested last night.” I closed my eyes in amusement. “The others are here, but that girl…” I opened my eyes as she pointed to the papers still in my hand.
How did she know that was the file I had?
“As soon as I told her the big boss always does orientation, she went white as a ghost.”
“Interesting.” I tossed the file on my desk and glanced at the clock. “Let’s go scare some children then.”
Penny arched an eyebrow and followed me out of the office and down the hall to the training room.Laughter filtered toward us, and when I walked through the door to the training room, I froze.
Charlotte was balancing a chair on her…nose? Penny bumped into me, and when we both grunted at the impact, the chair clattered to the ground as Charlotte whirled toward us.
“Sorry!”
She hurried to grab the chair and put it back under one of the tables before slipping into a seat next to a red headed boy whose head was thrown back in laughter.
“Stop it.” She hissed at him and jabbed him with her elbow. “You said we still had five minutes!” He laughed harder before her pitiful eyes landed on Penny. “I really am sorry.”
Biting back a grin, I stepped forward. “It’s fine, Ms. Mays. I can always buy new chairs.”
Her mouth dropped open and her face creased. “You said you weren’t the boss!”
Penny choked. “He’s not. He’s the owner.”
“Andrew Matthews.” I took a step closer and held out my hand. “You can call me Andy. Everyone does.”
Charlotte’s face reddened as she shook my hand. “Charlotte Mays.” She pulled her hand back and muttered, “You can call me special. Everyone does.”
My chest tightened at her self-depreciating tone. “Well, it does take someone pretty special to balance a chair on her face, so I suppose everyone is right.” Her eyes met mine and for a brief moment I thought I saw relief in them. Satisfied by her reaction, I turned to Penny. “I am going to leave the orientation speech to Penny today. You’ll be working with her most of the time. I just wanted to stop by to introduce myself.” Penny looked confused but nodded. “Have a great day, and welcome to the family.”
For some reason unknown to me, I looked directly at Charlotte as I said the last. Her eyes widened in response, and I quickly turned away.
Back in the office I ran my hands down my face. What am I doing?
This Charlotte girl was a little strange, but she lit a fire in my stomach I hadn’t felt in years. Something about her made me want to get to know her.
Resolving to keep my distance and observe, I headed out the back and stopped a few paces from my Audi. In a row full of unoccupied spots, she’d parked her car right next to mine.
As I unlocked my car and slid inside, the warm smell of leather greeted me. Revving the engine a little, I backed out and sped home trying to put the dark eyed beauty out of my mind.
'Special' is unpublished and unedited. Short stories may or may not be complete and may end on a cliffhanger. All works are the sole property of Michelle Bolanger and published through Risen Fiction. Copyright 2025 Michelle Bolanger. All rights reserved. No portion of this work may be copied or reproduced without written consent from the author.